Schwinn I.D and Price
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12/01/1950 :arrow: http://www.angelfire.com/rant/allday101 ... odes2.html
That's a great bike you've got there. Perfect as it is with just a little cleaning. A little earlier than you may think, too; I'd peg it as a 1941 Schwinn DX because of the horizontal dropouts and bolt-on kickstand. Value mm.. I'd say around 500$ as it sits.
Thanks for the info Jpromo. So my main problem now is what to do about cleaning it up. I would like to increase or maintain the value of the bike, but some areas are just in to bad of shape in my opinion(rust and peeling paint). I know in some cases you could hurt the value by repainting. So should I repaint or clean and neutralize the rust?
I love my '41 DX. I restored mine. Yours is right on the border line. If it was worse, I'd say restore it. Cleaning it, you might find a nice rat rod underneath. Clean it up first and see what you've got. Get some SB bars, early oval black Schwinn grips, some better pedals and some fat balloon tires and you'll see a big change. Gary
You will have a lot more into restoring it than it will be "worth" when it's done. To be done correctly, a restoration will involve rechroming ($$$) and all the paint, stencil sets, buying all the correct parts, saddle recovering, body work, time, etc. And it has to be done right to be worth anything. Personally, it's worth a lot more to me (and many others) as an original 10 footer than any restoration would do. With a correct restoration on this bike, it may bring 1200$ but you'd have more than that into it. The tank stenciling on this is beautiful for a 70 year old. If you felt inclined, you could even keep an eye out for original paint part upgrades to improve it. Especially since you show the chainguard and the carrier to be worry spots. Buy a nicer original black guard, and rack and you've got an improvement. Then you can sell yours and probably almost make up the difference. And it's a Schwinn.. so parts are out there.
Clean it with soap and water, rub rust spots with WD-40 and 0000 steel wool lightly, then put a mild polish on it. That's just my humble thoughts though.
Clean it with soap and water, rub rust spots with WD-40 and 0000 steel wool lightly, then put a mild polish on it. That's just my humble thoughts though.
I'm in auto body so the paint and body work wouldn't be bad, but I'm also in to history and would hate to lose the original paint. I think I will just clean her up, get it rolling, and neutralize the rust. Thanks for the help.
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Good move, that's exactly what I would do. Keep it original, polish it up, and enjoy it as the classic it is.
This could be tricky if you're not careful, but, I picked up a 1948 campus green DX girls Schwinn that had been in a field for 10 year or so.. pretty rusty if can imagine.. I've experimented on several things with a cheap,, toilet bowl clear, so figured wouldn't hurt this project. Dollar store has a cheap septic safe toilet bowl cleaner.. Just slightly less acidic than regular, which is decent too,.. I'm not really much of a hobbyist in bikes, but as a teenager in the late 60's I used to buy Schwinn parts, and completely restore a whole bike, and sell for a nice profit.. Including acid dip the frames paint original color and new Schwinn decals.. long, long ago.. Anyway always a fan of old Schwinn..
have a couple just cause they're still better than the junk made today. I've got about 200 bucks into my whole, 'collection'
First I took the frame completely apart and I actually just wanted to clean out the rust in missing paint areas I was scared to leave it on for even a minute as I've seen this stuff etch porcelain on old, old bath tubs, bad porcelain already, but leave it on over a minute and it'll get worse! LOL.
Anyway I wiped it on and seconds later rinsed it with distilled water. in a few places let it sit a tad longer,, but scary, so a few places a second try. And to my amazement,, it cleaned all the rust out of the paint too!! It was awesome as it cleaned the rusty color right out of the white paint leaving that nice mellow white original tint color intact.
I applied water on it and rinsed it several times after plus let it dry and rinsed again.. Used a soft tooth brush and gave a light scrub a dub in any cracked areas, or missing paint spots, to insure the cleaner washes out. , The paint cleaned out so well, I was a little shaky for fear it would ruin. But Nope!!
Got out my old trusty rusty ball pin hammer and gently tapped the dents out of fenders and chain guard then I bought some of the original paint colors for it, and added in some light touch ups. wasn't trying for a restoration, just a nice rider..
I did not attempt to make it perfect,, just cleaned up, touched up.
It's been about 10-12 years .. So, it's been played with since, and she still looks decent, from field rust bucket to this.
OH yeah, I've always just used lemon furniture polish on my bikes,, the chrome too.
95 cruiser deluxe BP 1995 frame recent purchase, 75 bucks,, very well USED! rust bucket couldn't pass up..
And 62 hornet from a flea market 13-15 year ago, 40 bucks. couple of bucks for tires on the DX, a little paint and about 200 in total 'collection' . not a big 'hobbyist', just an old Schwinn fan.
BTW, , a little piece of info I learned at about 13 years old. DO NOT PUT ACID ON CHROME!!.
Anyways, your bike is way better condition than my DX was, and would look awesome if ya managed to do the same as I. for just 8 hours labor and a few bucks.
have a couple just cause they're still better than the junk made today. I've got about 200 bucks into my whole, 'collection'
First I took the frame completely apart and I actually just wanted to clean out the rust in missing paint areas I was scared to leave it on for even a minute as I've seen this stuff etch porcelain on old, old bath tubs, bad porcelain already, but leave it on over a minute and it'll get worse! LOL.
Anyway I wiped it on and seconds later rinsed it with distilled water. in a few places let it sit a tad longer,, but scary, so a few places a second try. And to my amazement,, it cleaned all the rust out of the paint too!! It was awesome as it cleaned the rusty color right out of the white paint leaving that nice mellow white original tint color intact.
I applied water on it and rinsed it several times after plus let it dry and rinsed again.. Used a soft tooth brush and gave a light scrub a dub in any cracked areas, or missing paint spots, to insure the cleaner washes out. , The paint cleaned out so well, I was a little shaky for fear it would ruin. But Nope!!
Got out my old trusty rusty ball pin hammer and gently tapped the dents out of fenders and chain guard then I bought some of the original paint colors for it, and added in some light touch ups. wasn't trying for a restoration, just a nice rider..
I did not attempt to make it perfect,, just cleaned up, touched up.
It's been about 10-12 years .. So, it's been played with since, and she still looks decent, from field rust bucket to this.
OH yeah, I've always just used lemon furniture polish on my bikes,, the chrome too.
95 cruiser deluxe BP 1995 frame recent purchase, 75 bucks,, very well USED! rust bucket couldn't pass up..
And 62 hornet from a flea market 13-15 year ago, 40 bucks. couple of bucks for tires on the DX, a little paint and about 200 in total 'collection' . not a big 'hobbyist', just an old Schwinn fan.
BTW, , a little piece of info I learned at about 13 years old. DO NOT PUT ACID ON CHROME!!.
Anyways, your bike is way better condition than my DX was, and would look awesome if ya managed to do the same as I. for just 8 hours labor and a few bucks.
