This bike was given to me by my girlfriend's father, who had it hanging on the outside of his shed:
He honestly couldn't remember where it came from or how long it had been hanging on the shed, but most of the components were entirely rusted through, the chain snapped off in my hand. The frame was spotty with rust, so I thought I might attempt my first repaint job. I started by trying to strip the frame, but we picked a bad day to do it, a chilly day in November:
The paint stripper didn't really work for me, although it worked on Killmore's Varsity. Mine was left yellow, but now with splotches of brick red primer showing through. I should have just left it as it was, but now I am going to just go with it as it is.
I had originally thought I would just turn it into a single speed road bike. It was equipped with 27"s, but I thought I would throw a set of 26" road wheels I had sitting around. Then I got my hands on a free pair of 26" coaster brake cruiser wheels with balloons that hold air, and thought might look better as a Ratrod. I also threw on some mini-apes from my sister's old bike, the Schwinn Lil Chik (seen above on the left, the pink bike also being stripped). So when I put them on a 73 Varsity, it becomes the College Chik:
Like an average college chick in real life, The College Chik has already changed identities a couple times, trying to figure out what to do with her life. This is just a mock up, using a banana that was sitting around. The only problem with this is that the wheels don't really fit the frame. I have almost no clearance in the rear between tire and frame. On the front, the problem is that the axle diameter is too wide for the narrow dropouts opening. It seems like it would fit once all the way in, but I don't want to mess up the fork or the wheel trying to force it. Can I change the axle on a wheel without re-building it? Or maybe just get a springer...
I put the crank on for this one. I ended up putting it together with a 26" road bike wheel in the front, just to see how it would roll.
Obviously I am pretending to pedal here, because there still is no chain! But it coasted down the street pretty well with some momentum. I have to go pick up a new chain, as well as a gear for the coaster that will fit the chain size I need for the crank, since it's the original 10-speed crank minus the larger gear. And I still want to get that cruiser wheel on the front somehow. This may be an excuse to go by the springer fork that a guy a know has been trying to sell me for a while.
I was disappointed that I couldn't actually get it cruising for real just yet, but I am hopeful that it will come together soon, and be ready for "graduation" to the mean streets.
He honestly couldn't remember where it came from or how long it had been hanging on the shed, but most of the components were entirely rusted through, the chain snapped off in my hand. The frame was spotty with rust, so I thought I might attempt my first repaint job. I started by trying to strip the frame, but we picked a bad day to do it, a chilly day in November:
The paint stripper didn't really work for me, although it worked on Killmore's Varsity. Mine was left yellow, but now with splotches of brick red primer showing through. I should have just left it as it was, but now I am going to just go with it as it is.
I had originally thought I would just turn it into a single speed road bike. It was equipped with 27"s, but I thought I would throw a set of 26" road wheels I had sitting around. Then I got my hands on a free pair of 26" coaster brake cruiser wheels with balloons that hold air, and thought might look better as a Ratrod. I also threw on some mini-apes from my sister's old bike, the Schwinn Lil Chik (seen above on the left, the pink bike also being stripped). So when I put them on a 73 Varsity, it becomes the College Chik:
Like an average college chick in real life, The College Chik has already changed identities a couple times, trying to figure out what to do with her life. This is just a mock up, using a banana that was sitting around. The only problem with this is that the wheels don't really fit the frame. I have almost no clearance in the rear between tire and frame. On the front, the problem is that the axle diameter is too wide for the narrow dropouts opening. It seems like it would fit once all the way in, but I don't want to mess up the fork or the wheel trying to force it. Can I change the axle on a wheel without re-building it? Or maybe just get a springer...
I put the crank on for this one. I ended up putting it together with a 26" road bike wheel in the front, just to see how it would roll.
Obviously I am pretending to pedal here, because there still is no chain! But it coasted down the street pretty well with some momentum. I have to go pick up a new chain, as well as a gear for the coaster that will fit the chain size I need for the crank, since it's the original 10-speed crank minus the larger gear. And I still want to get that cruiser wheel on the front somehow. This may be an excuse to go by the springer fork that a guy a know has been trying to sell me for a while.
I was disappointed that I couldn't actually get it cruising for real just yet, but I am hopeful that it will come together soon, and be ready for "graduation" to the mean streets.
