Schwinn American Rebuild

[hotfoot]

This bike isn't anything too special, but thanks to RatRod's phenomenal bike cleaning threads I've decided to try and clean it up the best I can. Complete tear down, clean, and rebuild using all the original parts. I've done this a lot in the past, but never to the degree I want to give this bike. It's going to be a slow process, but I see potential for a really nice ride when I'm done. The bike is all original, down the the tires (even though they are cracked, they have very little wear on them). I'm a little worried about how I'll shine up the paint (plan right now is to use Color Back car polish, maybe wet sand) but I'll worry about that later.

I started tonight with despoking the front wheel. I've been slowly scrubbing the rim with steel wool (in my dorm room sink...) and it looks like it'll come out okay. Tomorrow I'm going to soak the hub and all it's internals in a solvent sink at the school shop, and take the spokes and nipples to the wire wheel. Hopefully rebuild it tomorrow night.

Here's how I got it:

And here's the front wheel as it sits, the chrome is shining up nicely. It's very pitted, but it gives it a nice patina. I'm probably going to wax it or clearcoat it so it won't rust up again if it gets riddent through the rain.

 

[gowjobs]

Sweet. I'm cleaning up rust the lazy way right now. I need to check and see if anybody's done a thead on electrolytic rust/paint removal yet.

 

[Pinche]

I'd pick up a couple of two liters of Coca-Cola and give all that rusty stuff a nice bath in it. That stuff has more uses then WD40 and duct tape besides just drinking it.

 

[hotfoot]

Coca Cola? Really? I might just have to try that.

I took the spokes and nipples to the wire wheel today and they came out great, front hub looks brand new (the heavy grease layer protected the chrome nicely!). I'll probably finish SOS padding the hoop tomorrow evening and then relace it.

 

[hotfoot]

Front wheel done! I'm really happy with it.

 

[NLCTVWguy]

THAT is the same front wheel? WOW, you did a gret job with it. I'd be happy too, no doubt about that.

I know Schwinn's chrome is awesome, I've cleaned up plenty of it myself, but that's really an impressive turnaround.

Try some Nevr-Dull polish on it to protect it. It leaves a wax finish that will keep the chrome nice for a long time. You can tell if you get it all wiped down as well since it turns white wherever it's left behind.

And you probably know to take extra care around the chainguard screen and the white fender stripes- anything at all can make the silkscreens and pinstripes come right off. A good car wax probably won't hurt them though but go slow and be careful.

I use Meguiars' products with great results on Schwinn paint.

Good luck, can't wait to see the whole thing finished.

--Rob

Front wheel done! I'm really happy with it.

 

[Rat Rod]

That does look nice!

I'll be watching this one to see the progress. :wink:

 

[A.S.BOLTNUT]

:shock: yer really getting down to the nitty gritty ,,nice work man!

 

[kinks]

keep the pics coming nice work

 

[hotfoot]

The rear wheel is rebuilt finally, had to replace a couple spokes, but it's looking great. Went to take the rest of the bike apart, and unfortunately the head of the stem bolt is stripped so looks like I'm going to have to grind it off...and I'm having difficulty getting the front fender screw out. Oh well, it is an old bike after all. I'll tackle those this weekend, and start going to town on the cranks and other chrome parts with the SOS pads. Also picked up some wax, but it's going to take a lot of work to get the paint back.

Here's the finished wheels, would've put the tire on the rear wheel but ran out of tubes. That's the original tire too, cracked but no bulges!

 

[hotfoot]

Finally finished this! I just got home last night for spring break, and after working all morning I finally got everything scrubbed and re-assembled. I'm a little dissapointed with how pitted the paint is, but everything else came out pretty great. I decided I didn't like the fenders so I left those off. It rides great, and hopefully sells in the next couple days on craigslist!