My Son's First Ratrod, A Patina'd 53 Schwinn

[HB Tommy]

This year my son grew enough to transition from a 24" bike to a 26" bike. Here in Huntington Beach, a cruiser is the preferred mode of transportation, and this type of bike (of all bikes) seems to never go out of style. I did not want to buy him a Walmart cruiser. Instead, I wanted to give him something that would stay with him all the way through adulthood. A bike that he helped create. A bike that would earn respect from all the other bike enthusiasts. A bike that represented the Americana of a beach town. So with months of searching, we found this bike on Craigslist.

 

[HB Tommy]

As a starting point, I wanted the bike to be mostly complete; I did not want to piece it together at a high expense. It needed to have pantina, truss rods, and an American made frame. This bike fit the bill. The DX fenders and near-perfect chainguard were a plus. I put in some new tubes and placed motor oil on the very rusty chain, and away we went!
After a few rides, we started to assess the bike. The first thing we wanted to address is the dented up fenders.

 

[HB Tommy]

With lots of patience, we hammered out 60 years of collective dents. Note the Harbor Freight dolly set in the background, the rusted screws holding the fender on, and the straightened front fender used to build confidence. I had to grind off the screws because they were rusted solid; had it not been for this rust, I believe these fenders would have been stripped off the bike decades ago. The metal was so thin on the edges, I had to JB Weld a skim coat on the inside so that they would not be dangerous to my kid. I found the replacement slotted screws and square nuts at Ace Hardware and dusted a little paint over the worked areas, being careful not to surrender the patina.

 

[HB Tommy]

...A happy kid (with eyes closed) and straight fenders.

 

[HxCforever]

Very nice.

 

[dougfisk]

Wow, nice job on that fender... I think you have done this before!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

That is great! You are making some great memories there!

Luke.

 

[HB Tommy]

Piece by piece, we tore down all the bearing-related parts and repacked them. Thank God for cone bearing setups. They can be rebuilt very easily, and in many cases, do not require new bearings.
The crankset was initially loose, and the sprocket was too tall for him. After soaking the pedal threads in WD40, they came loose enough to remove the cranks. I decided to spray silver paint on the cranks so the recently acquired Schwinn sprocket did not look too much out of place and the rust marks on the inside of his white shoes would be minimized. BTW, can anyone identify the old sprocket?
We also started a shopping list which included: tires, a front light, D bolt for seat clamp, a seat post, Schwinn grips, rear reflector, and a head badge.
Note how high the seat post is in the preciously pic. The base was no longer round and would not go down any further. The seat post became essential to safe riding.

 

[Wildcat]

Good choice of a bike. My 53 Schwinn has been mine since 1978. I believe that's a Rollfast sprocket that it had when you picked it up.

 

[mikeeebikey]

nice find you never find them that complete.
Awesome you are teaching a skill to our next generation.

 

[Wildcat]

As for a seatpost, I'd recommend a laid back post, as he may need the extra room as he outgrows the bike. I'm only 5'9" and need the seat post an inch higher than it can go to ride comfortably. I've gotten 3 from member slowriderz here and can vouch for their quality.

 

[noodlenoggin]

Very cool, especially that you're doing it with your son.

 

[kingfish254]

Great bike and great job teaching your son how to get his hands dirty.
BRAVO!

 

[HB Tommy]

Wow, nice job on that fender... I think you have done this before!

Thanks Dougfisk.
Initially my son, like many others, thought it would be suitable to repaint the bike. So I tried to get the fenders smooth enough to use just a filler primer.
After a few rides in the park, many parents became inquisitive on the age of the bike, and my son quickly began to respect the patina. He also noticed that no one really asked about the Walmart cruisers even though they look similar from a distance.
I do have a few vintage cars and have about 12 units in autobody I took as hobby classes. One could say my hobby cars helped with this bicycle, but I would argue that tinkering with bicycles with my brother at a young age lead to cars. Now I have come full circle.

 

[HB Tommy]

As for a seatpost, I'd recommend a laid back post, as he may need the extra room as he outgrows the bike. I'm only 5'9" and need the seat post an inch higher than it can go to ride comfortably. I've gotten 3 from member slowriderz here and can vouch for their quality.

Yeah that's a great idea Wildcat.
In fact daddy's 59 Schwinn is sporting a lucky 7 seat post. I picked it up at the swap meet when we went parts hunting for his bike.
Last summer I did a 15 mile cruise with the standard seat post and realized that these "adult-sized" vintage cruisers are closer to a size medium (when compared to my mountain bikes).

 

[HB Tommy]

Good choice of a bike. My 53 Schwinn has been mine since 1978. I believe that's a Rollfast sprocket that it had when you picked it up.

That's it! Thanks for clarifying the origin of that sprocket.

 

[HB Tommy]

We found much of the parts at the infamous Long Beach Bike Swap Meet. I also picked up an original working Delta bullet light off of eBay for about $32 shipped. We made a screw-in maglite bulb with an old bulb base. I wanted a light that produced higher lumens without any major alterations to the original design. The light mounting screws matched the two holes that were already in the fender.
It was a lot of fun to scavenge hunt all the parts with my son who quickly picked up on what parts to look for. Seems most of the OEM parts at the swap meet are a $5 bill.
We registered the bicycle too, just in case we needed some legal document to link him as the owner.
Here it is, all done.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Nice work and great time spent with your son!

Luke.

 

[ozzmonaut]

Those white tires stand out nicely under those deep green fenders

 

[Rockit!]

Rat Rodding 101.