My brother's bike build (FINISHED)

[roadwarrior]

I posted in fresh finds when I picked up the '69 Schwinn Stardust and also showed the '74 Fastback that I picked up last year. This is a project I have wanted to do for a long time.
Rewind to December 1966 my brother got this brand new 1966 Schwinn Stingray Fastback 5 speed bike. Violet with white seat and he loved that bike. Once he got older and bought a car the bike went to my other brother. Some time during his possession of it the shifter got broke and it became a single speed bike when dad took it to the Schwinn dealer and bought a coaster brake wheel for it. I ended up with the bike and stripped it down and made a chopper out of it.
Now I have acquired parts to make it close to original as I can afford to do. It won't have ALL og Schwinn parts and it won't be a 5 speed either. I would have to spend $$$ to get it to original.
Simple 3 speed SA hub and a NOS 333 shifter, powder coated frame, and a lot of polishing of chrome.

Chopper days

THANKS, goes to East Coast Custom Coating, West Berlin, NJ for a superb job on the color!

Autosol chrome polish is amazing. Schwinn had the best chrome, too!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Very cool!
That is coming out nice!

 

[roadwarrior]

I got the Stardust stripped down and have been cleaning parts most of the day. Mailman dropped off my Fastback decals and pedals I ordered. I put the head set and badge on.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

That powder looks amazing!

 

[fjernt]

Wow, that color really pops! This is gonna be goooood.

 

[roadwarrior]

Spent all of last week out of state. I at least took the rims with me and cleaned them up while I had all of the guts soaking in mineral spirits. There are a few parts to assemble on a S-A 3 speed hub.

 

[roadwarrior]

Frame unwrapped.

 

[Muttley]

HAHA, I have that exact same set of wooden folding tables..............the last time I used one was in November when I rebuilt a Bendix Red Band for the MBBO.

 

[roadwarrior]

3 Speed Schwinn shifter acquired. Needs a little bit of cleaning.

 

[roadwarrior]

The differences between Schwinn's 3 and 5 speed shifters is evident in these pictures. Several more parts to the 3 speed. (probably why it cost me more and is the 3 speed a bit more rare?)

The main body of the shifter is the major difference. There is a round hole at the bottom right where the spring cup, spring and bearing goes. On the left side, near the cable guide, is a small square hole that keeps the spring tension lever in place. Also there is a "3" stamped on the body.

The 3 speed is a bit of work to reassemble where as the 5 speed is quiet simple.
A dab of white grease is required on the moving parts to keep them moving smoothly.

 

[roadwarrior]

During the past couple of weeks I've been away working. I took some parts with me and cleaned them up and I'm starting to hang some parts on the frame.

 

[Scribble]

Looking sweet

 

[roadwarrior]

Decals and sorting out the shifter.

 

[roadwarrior]

I know I have quiet a few aftermarket pieces, and a few reissued pieces. The bike is looking good IMO but I would like an opinion on this choice.
I bought a non-Schwinn muscle bike yesterday ONLY because of the seat that was on it. Looking at the pictures it was not apparent of the minor imperfections but I think it cleaned up rather well for this project. It has some wear and a tear where it is not seen unless your very short. Let me know what you think.

 

[Modelcarjedi]

Great build !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Scribble]

For me the OG Schwinn seats are the way to go even if there a little worn, after market banana seats just have something off about them.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

I like the seat.

 

[roadwarrior]

The gray brake cable I ordered arrived yesterday. (THANKs, Junky Rusty Bikes) The OG brakes were in pretty good shape but the springs, and assorted nuts/bolts were pretty rusty. So, I had one brand new 1080 on hand for the front and I ordered another 1080 for the back from "Pork Chop". Using the guts from those I was able to reassemble the pair after a good cleaning and they look brand new. I left the plastic spacer (instead of the thin steel washer) for a smoother action.
Two things that would not transfer from the 1080's to the 810's are the cable adjusting lugs and the cable stop lugs. I had some new stops and just cleaned up the adjusters.

 

[roadwarrior]

I added a LED light to the back. I made the bracket from a piece of 3/4" aluminum flat bar. I made it to only attach on one side because one side of the back of the light has a rubber boot to access the USB recharging port.

 

[TV Casualty]

Excellent project! That purple paint looks great.