Schwinn Build - First Timer

[Venom5sc]

Over the past couple of months I have been reading a number of posts and thought I would share a current project I am working on. I picked up this 1946-48 (just a guess after looking at the serial number and kickstand) "Admiral" Schwinn Hornet at a swap meet and after a whole lot of elbow grease was able to reveal a good portion of the original paint. I kept the skip tooth chain and installed new wheels and tires. I am pretty happy with how its turning out. It's cute how my 7 year old daughter cannot wait for the day she is tall enough to ride it. Future plans are to recover the seats and make handlebar grips out of an old fire hose and make a set of fiberglass tanks. Please let me know what you think.

Before:

After:

 

[horsefarmer]

Nice!

 

[kirkpatrick]

Dang, that's the same bike? Nice save.

 

[Wildcat]

Nice bike, and I like how you kept the original paint. Any 50's or older frame I've had never has any original paint left on it.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Welcome! Bike looks good.

Luke.

 

[Venom5sc]

Thanks guys. Yes somehow they are the same bikes. I really didn't think there was any paint underneath all of the rust.

 

[deorman]

When you attach the file, it gives an option at the bottom whether to display thumbnail (the default setting) or full size (click where it says full size).

 

[Venom5sc]

Awesome! Thank you!

 

[Venom5sc]

I was able to sneak out into the garage this weekend an spend a little more time on the bike. During the week I made a fiberglass cover so I had something to bond the fire hose to. I cut up the hose and tried using the hose itself (rubber on one side and woven material on the other) but I couldn't get it to wrap around the edges and tuck it in between the pans so I used the plain outer hose material instead. I think it turned out alright but it still look too new so I took a file to the edges to roughen it up a bit. I also made some grips out of the inner hose.

Because the hose wasn't wide enough I tried a couple different ways to layout the material. Not sure how happy I am with the exposed edge on the left side of the seat. If it bothers me too much I can always redo it.

Saturday was our 11th wedding anniversary and my lovely wife suggested we go to a bike show/swap meet (our first). There I found a set of fenders that match color and patina perfectly but once I tried putting them on the bike I realized that the Fat Franks were too big to fit inside them. At this point I am not sure if I like the look of them on the bike enough to try to make them work. If nothing else, if I ever decide that I do like them on the bike and want to spend the money on new tires... I have them!

 

[horsefarmer]

Like the use of repurposed materials. Fenders look cool but never meant for such large tires! On my Hawthorne middleweight I had to run 26 x 1.50 tires to clear the fenders.

 

[DeuceWheeler]

Nice looking ride!

I bough my wife what appears to be the matching women's bike to this. I put fat franks on hers too and they rub a bit on the fenders as well. I think if her wheels were true, it wouldn't be an issue at all.