My '69 Typhoon

[DesmoDog]

This thread may be a bit premature, but if nothing else it will help me keep info/ideas in one place so here goes.

For a lot of years I had an idea to build up a multi-speed Typhoon. I finally kind of scratched that itch a few years ago with a Sanctuary 7 that I already posted a thread here about. Then a couple weeks ago I stumbled onto a Typhoon frame, and now I'm all abuzz about building that up again.

Here's the frame as I got it;

That's all there was, but notice the bottom bracket adapter. I think someone already had plans for this?

I broke one of my project rules and ordered parts before I had a clear plan of what I wanted to end up with. But they were the right color so what was a boy to do?

With a chain guard and fork already bought, I started searching the 'net for inspiration/info and ended up here. After poking around here for a while, I think I have a better idea of what I want. I'm over trying to make it look more or less stock. I've been looking at the "Show us your klunkerz" thread and there are a few bikes there that look like what I'd like to do.

The one thing I"m sure of, no derailleurs. I want to stay away from a mountain bike look. I'm pretty convinced I want a coaster brake. The question is, three speed coaster or single? Single speed means no cables, which is cool. So I'm leaning that direction.

As I see it today, the end goal would be;
Coaster rear hub, likely a single speed but I go back and forth on that
Alloy rims, but not a modern day fat tire bike.
One piece alloy front hub, high flange would be cool but not required.
BMX style bars and stem, not mountain bike low bar style
Tubular fork? Or old school bracing on the stock fork?
Maybe a 3 piece crank?

Those are roughy in order of preference/priority. To put together what I'd like using new parts is cost prohibitive, this is supposed to be a low buck project I screw around with when I'm not working on the stuff I really should be doing. I've been looking at donor bikes and there is a Schwinn Breeze local to me that seems interesting for a starting point. Except it's not a coaster brake. And it wouldn't have an alloy front hub. Or a 3 piece crank. Or alloy rims. Or BMX bars/stem. But it is the right color so if the fork fits I'd have the capability to add a caliper brake up front. And for the moment I'd have enough parts to maybe make this a rider - assuming I could attach the rear brake in the same way I'm thinking someone here did it. I can't post the example, it was just one I saw along the way.

Buying the Breeze and building from there could be version 1 for the bike, I could collect parts/mod it from there. I could probably sell off unused parts to cover it's cost. So why haven't I bought it yet? Because the ultimate version of the bike would use nothing from it, and it's not in stellar shape.

But maybe I don't really want a coaster after all? It's been... 45 years since I've owned one! ;-)

Anyway, that's where I'm at. Progress will be slow on this one me thinks.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Buying the Breeze and building from there could be version 1 for the bike, I could collect parts/mod it from there. I could probably sell off unused parts to cover it's cost. So why haven't I bought it yet? Because the ultimate version of the bike would use nothing from it, and it's not in stellar shape.

Haha you've been infected. You have the rat rod condition. Expect to break out in too many bikes shortly. There is no cure other than N+1.

 

[Wildcat]

Maybe a 2 speed coaster? No cables, just kick back. There's also an auto 2 speed but not made anymore, but still available.

 

[DesmoDog]

Maybe a 2 speed coaster? No cables, just kick back. There's also an auto 2 speed but not made anymore, but still available.

Whataya stalking me or something? I am at this very moment waiting on a text to set up a meet to look at a different Breeze, a Deluxe this time, specifically because it has a yellow band kick back hub... ;-)

 

[DesmoDog]

And the madness begins. I bought a rear hub.

It came with a free bike attached!

If I recall my serial numbers correctly it's a 1966. The guy told me it was his mother-in-law's, but she didn't ride anymore. He thinks she bought it brand new.

I mainly wanted it for the rear hub, but I may use some other parts off it too for the time being. It could be a nice bike though...

A very quick look at the rims didn't show any bends or dings. I think they'll clean up pretty well.

Name plate is bent up but it could be worse

It's the De-luxe model, so that's not low buck cadmium plating on that stand, no siree. None of that entry level crap for me. That's honest to gawd American CHROME that's rusting away on there. I hope it works on the Typhoon frame?

I put it up in the stand when I got home. The hub still shifts but needs a rebuild. Everything on this needs to be rebuilt. I'll bet money it's still got the same grease in there that it had in '66.

My plan was to harvest the hub, then go buy the red Breeze I saw earlier. Pull the fork off it to have an option for a caliper brake on the Typhoon, rebuild the Deluxe for my wife with the hand brakes and 3 speed, then try to sell off some of the leftover parts.

I asked my wife how much interest she might have in riding a vintage Schwinn. She couldn't say "NONE" fast enough. Oh well. I may do it anyway, I think this bike could clean up pretty well.

I told my wife the plan and she said that sounds good, then I could resell it. She really has zero interest in this stuff!

Just rolling this thing down to my shop reinforced an old desire to buy a 3 speed Racer or Speedster...

EDIT: I just checked the records - an EB serial number places it as May 1966. The stem should fit the Typhoon too.

 

[DesmoDog]

The Breeze made it about an hour before being unceremoniously torn down.

Not exactly anti-theft, more like recovery ID. She had her name on the frame too, but this was more stealth

Someone should have taken me up on my bet about the grease being original, someone's messed with this before me.

The headset was rebuilt using a pipe wrench and wheel bearing grease. Strangely the bottom bracket looked rebuilt too, but with a very light use of white lithium grease. The hub feels a little crunchy though, I'm still betting it's original.

Master link is missing it's clip? Wait, do bicycles use a clip on the master link? They must, right? It's been so long I don't recall. Whatever, I couldn't get it to pop off so I pushed out a rivet. The chain is toast anyway.

The seat is in pretty good shape, with no rips or gouges. It's too bad about how dirty it is, I'm not sure what the best way to clean that will be. Not that I'm going to use it on this.

Ever wonder what a bare Breeze frame weighs? The same as an aluminum swingarm off a '93 Ducati 900ss. Ok, fine. About 8 lbs. Geez, ya try to teach people something...

And then of course I had to do a mock up.

The stem fits. Are there BMX bars that will work with it? The Sanctuary 7 bars work but aren't ideal. I may go with the Sanctuary 7 front wheel and relace the rim from the rear onto the Bendix hub. Or spring for new rims? Which means I may as well get a new hub too, right?

I was surprised how thin the spokes are on that rear wheel, then noticed they are double butted. Replacements will be straight gage.

The Breeze seatpost doesn't look original to me. It's too short to use and not like I remember Schwinn posts looking like. So I'll need something there, though I did notice some 1" aluminum stock by the lathe that could be persuaded to work?

I made up a list of the bare minimum I'd need to get this put togther. Depending on pricing this just may be rideable sooner than I had thought.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

The stem fits. Are there BMX bars that will work with it?

It's all about the bulge. If the bars that are in there have the bulge where they get clamped )looks like they do), you will have trouble finding a BMX bar that fits. They're usually narrower.

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

Those old master link chains don't have a retainer clip.

 

[Couch tater]

There are bars that will work with the stem you have. They will be crimped flat on the ends of the crossbar so as to pass through the stem. Usually the stems bolt will need to be removed to provide clearance while pushing them through.

 

[DesmoDog]

There are bars that will work with the stem you have. They will be crimped flat on the ends of the crossbar so as to pass through the stem. Usually the stems bolt will need to be removed to provide clearance while pushing them through.

I remember mounting bars like that back in the day but haven't seen any for sale. No worries though, this will be set up for bike path use vs off road use, so bars with no cross bar will work. Found a couple of those. And after I settle on a fork I can get a real BMX stem for real BMX bars...

 

[musclebikemadman]

And the madness begins. I bought a rear hub.

It came with a free bike attached!

If I recall my serial numbers correctly it's a 1966. The guy told me it was his mother-in-law's, but she didn't ride anymore. He thinks she bought it brand new.

I mainly wanted it for the rear hub, but I may use some other parts off it too for the time being. It could be a nice bike though...

A very quick look at the rims didn't show any bends or dings. I think they'll clean up pretty well.

Name plate is bent up but it could be worse

It's the De-luxe model, so that's not low buck cadmium plating on that stand, no siree. None of that entry level crap for me. That's honest to gawd American CHROME that's rusting away on there. I hope it works on the Typhoon frame?

I put it up in the stand when I got home. The hub still shifts but needs a rebuild. Everything on this needs to be rebuilt. I'll bet money it's still got the same grease in there that it had in '66.

My plan was to harvest the hub, then go buy the red Breeze I saw earlier. Pull the fork off it to have an option for a caliper brake on the Typhoon, rebuild the Deluxe for my wife with the hand brakes and 3 speed, then try to sell off some of the leftover parts.

I asked my wife how much interest she might have in riding a vintage Schwinn. She couldn't say "NONE" fast enough. Oh well. I may do it anyway, I think this bike could clean up pretty well.

I told my wife the plan and she said that sounds good, then I could resell it. She really has zero interest in this stuff!

Just rolling this thing down to my shop reinforced an old desire to buy a 3 speed Racer or Speedster...

EDIT: I just checked the records - an EB serial number places it as May 1966. The stem should fit the Typhoon too.

I do not think the kick stand will work on the Typhoon. Also that is a light weight seat they are ok if you are not a larger person. They can be uncomfortable on the keister. Was the seat post tapered to 5/8 on the top? That would be correct for both bikes. Cad plated and about 9 inches long. I love my Typhoons

 

[DesmoDog]

I do not think the kick stand will work on the Typhoon. Also that is a light weight seat they are ok if you are not a larger person. They can be uncomfortable on the keister. Was the seat post tapered to 5/8 on the top? That would be correct for both bikes. Cad plated and about 9 inches long. I love my Typhoons

The seat will stay with the Breeze, my intent is to rebuild it in 3 speed form and resell it. Or maybe coaster brake form. Time will tell.

Post is chromed and very short but tapered to 5/8.

I figured the kickstand was a long shot but it's easy to try it out so no harm done. I don't have access to a Park Tools kickstand tool, but a 1/2" open end wrench used as a prybar to push the ring thing in works in a pinch.

 

[DesmoDog]

I'm not sure why it took me so long to figure this one out, but as I was half asleep this morning I remembered I had some bars with a rise to them on my Rockhopper back when it was set up for path duty. I coudn't recall if I changed them out in it's return to MTB form but I thought I had?

Yep! There they were, right on the bike part shelf where I thought they should be. Right under the Sanctuary 7 bars that it had on it in the mock up. And yet I still missed them. Yikes...

Anywhos, behold the bars it will get in iteration 1, the shakedown stage.

At 24" wide they might be a little narrow, but that will come in handy when I'm trying to fit between the trees on those epic downhills we have around here.

Just kidding. All the sidewalks around here go uphill, not down. And there are no trees on them.

 

[Wildcat]

Seat posts for the Chicago Schwinns are 13/16ths, tapered to 5/8ths like musclebikemadman noted.

You could easily lace up that yellow band hub to a wider rim and get the wide tires, 26 x 2.125 on there. Being as it wasn't abused, a good complete overhaul might yield a good as new hub. Here's a page that shows the hub diagrams:

I used a yellow band on a Varsity conversion, using the Schwinn S-7 rim and tire. Plenty of room so a 2.125 would have fit also.

To clean that purple seat, just some mild soap and a little scrubbing is all it will need. Then it might be worth something to someone in that condition as it's a sprung deluxe seat.

 

[DesmoDog]

I'm hoping the hub hasn't been damaged. It feels like it works fine, but could use some new lube. it doesn't catch like a trashed bearing does when you spin it, but it doesn't feel entirely smooth when it spins either. I know the two speeds have a bit of a whine to them in one of the gears, this isn't that.

Somewhere around here I have a pdf of the rebuild procedure for it. I have only done one or two before, and that was 30+ years ago so my memory isn't all that sharp of what is involved.

I haven't found any "economy" 26" rims in wider sizes, so for now I think I'll just lace up the rim from the Sanctuary 7's rear wheel. It's narrow but the 1.9" whitewalls I have will fit it. I could also order some of the rims like I used on the Sanctuary 7 to get a silver finish instead of painted. They cost me something like $9 each back when I did that bike, but I see they have skyrocketed to $15 each now. They're only 19mm wide though... I'd prefer something wider but don't want to spend $200 on rims either. Not at this stage anyway.

Would it be wrong to buy an old mountain bike just to get the rims off of it? (Proverbial question, I know the answer to that one!)

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Would it be wrong to buy an old mountain bike just to get the rims off of it?

Yeah that's against the ratter code, a punishable offence. You'd definitely have to build the mountain bike too

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

Those bars you had on-hand should work fine. I have a few 25.5" wide 5" rise bars that look very similar and are going to be used for similar projects, getting a clamp-on crossbar after being mounted. A similar bar that is available would be the Wald 803 with a 5.25" rise and 27" wide.

Old MTBs for parts harvest are always a good idea. With pre-compact geo frames dominating the desirable parts years it's easy to just turn the framesets (and other parts not needed) into town bikes on the cheap for service industry workers. I recently cleaned and inventoried my hoop collection from those bought in the past couple of years and am set for a bit. I have four "orphan" rims that should get matched up from future purchases eventually.

 

[musclebikemadman]

I'm hoping the hub hasn't been damaged. It feels like it works fine, but could use some new lube. it doesn't catch like a trashed bearing does when you spin it, but it doesn't feel entirely smooth when it spins either. I know the two speeds have a bit of a whine to them in one of the gears, this isn't that.

Somewhere around here I have a pdf of the rebuild procedure for it. I have only done one or two before, and that was 30+ years ago so my memory isn't all that sharp of what is involved.

I haven't found any "economy" 26" rims in wider sizes, so for now I think I'll just lace up the rim from the Sanctuary 7's rear wheel. It's narrow but the 1.9" whitewalls I have will fit it. I could also order some of the rims like I used on the Sanctuary 7 to get a silver finish instead of painted. They cost me something like $9 each back when I did that bike, but I see they have skyrocketed to $15 each now. They're only 19mm wide though... I'd prefer something wider but don't want to spend $200 on rims either. Not at this stage anyway.

Would it be wrong to buy an old mountain bike just to get the rims off of it? (Proverbial question, I know the answer to that one!)

I believe that the one set of bearings is labeled this side out and it does not go this side out. I guess both side of a hub are out hahaha They are a bit trickey and it is worth it to replace the spring if you can otherwise turn the tabs out a bit with some pliers. I laced mine on a set of 26x1,75 hoops it also came from a breeze.

 

[DesmoDog]

I had some time to dig into the hub today.

First step in the manual, use the Bendix tool to unscrew the doohickey. I don't have the Bendix tool. I also don't have a sparkplug the right size to make one like they say in the manual. No worries. I've got scrap metal and tools.

Precise Sharpie marks placed with calibrated eyes for the tightest of tolerances.

It's not my best work but it'll do.

Success!

I was pleasantly surprised when things came apart. I was expecting more grime but it was mostly just 56 year old grease.

There are a couple areas worn on the index spring but it should work? At $50 for a new one I'll give it a shot.

Things are cleaning up pretty nicely. I didnt't find any wear on it other than a few witness marks here and there. Judging by the price bare hubs I've seen, I think I did ok with this one.

 

[Ulu]

I recently picked up a bike with a Bendix red 3-stripe hub. I don’t think it’s a two speed though. It doesn’t look that fat to me. But now I have to go clean the dirt off and check to see what it really is.