Insert the 7 into the originsl & weld them together.
The Schwinn Dixie Dreamcycle
- Thread starter Bike from the Dead
- Start date
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The layback seat post does fit inside the original, albeit a little loosely. I might try that, but I kind of want to hold onto the original post as-is, since I can't fit any other post inside the seat tube. For whatever reason, the outer diameter of that one seat post is slightly narrower than the rest...
Probly find sonething that will work as shim .. if ya take the two post for size compare.. to ACE Hardware in Turtle Creek Shopping Center. ACE Helpful Hardware Man . 
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Man, I had a lot to catch up on this build! Great idea on temp painting the parts to truly be able to see how they played together. Sometimes the contrasting visual weight of items make them look wrong, when they are actually perfect for each other. Glad you are steering away from the violet. Anytime I hear that color, I think of "you're turning violet, Violet!" oompah loompah doopity doo
I'm digging this build though. Great frame and parts.
I have to say this was the most SHOCKING photo of all!!!
I'm digging this build though. Great frame and parts.
I have to say this was the most SHOCKING photo of all!!!
Thanks for taking the time to catch up on my build, Kingfish! It was an unorthodox way of figuring out the fenders, but spray painting everything one solid color worked. I would love to have a violet/purple bike, but not this shade of violet/purple, and not on this bike. I'm hoping I'll have a sample piece with the actual color this bike will be sometime in the next week or so, but that depends on when Dad powder coats again.
Thanks Kingfish! It's not my greatest vision for this bike, but I think I just need to focus on getting this bike done for now. I just entered the Build Off this year to give myself that extra push to get this bike riding again after I got it 3 years ago.
Hahaha! Yeah, I should mention that my Dad's shop, though now close to opening, is still under construction. But hey, at least the sandblaster and powder coating equipment are all fully operational! No complaints there!
Also, that reminds me, I still have everybody else's builds to catch up on! I saw what you did to that Hextube bike of yours. I had no idea how much you could improve on the original design of that bike, but man, you made that bike look like it could've been released from the factory this year!
Sorry for the delay, but here are the results of using Evaporust on some of the chrome parts I may or may not use on The Schwinn Dixie Dreamcycle. Got to say, I'm genuinely pleased with how everything turned out so far!
With that out of the way, I finally took the bearings apart and stuck them in some Simple Green to soak for a bit.
Next, I took apart the pedals that I'd like to use. They came apart easily enough, but I ran into yet another problem...
...How am I supposed to disassemble this middle piece so I can clean the bearings and soak the rusty bits in Evaporust? I see no way to take these apart, and I don't even know how I'm supposed to regrease the bearings either. One pedal spins okay, but the other needs some t.l.c. So... now what do I do?
While I figure out the next step of this build, I put the other pedal parts in the Evaporust to soak, along with a fender from another bike I've been occasionally working on.
So, I know this seems like I'm dodging the whole seat post issue right now, but part of that is because I can't get ahold of my welder right now. The other part is that I'm getting ready for another week-and-a-half-long house/pet-sitting gig, so I'm trying to do whatever I can to make some amount of progress on this bike before then. I'm not sure how things are going to play out at this time, but I'm still hopeful I'll get this bike done in the next month.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for more!
With that out of the way, I finally took the bearings apart and stuck them in some Simple Green to soak for a bit.
Next, I took apart the pedals that I'd like to use. They came apart easily enough, but I ran into yet another problem...
...How am I supposed to disassemble this middle piece so I can clean the bearings and soak the rusty bits in Evaporust? I see no way to take these apart, and I don't even know how I'm supposed to regrease the bearings either. One pedal spins okay, but the other needs some t.l.c. So... now what do I do?
While I figure out the next step of this build, I put the other pedal parts in the Evaporust to soak, along with a fender from another bike I've been occasionally working on.
So, I know this seems like I'm dodging the whole seat post issue right now, but part of that is because I can't get ahold of my welder right now. The other part is that I'm getting ready for another week-and-a-half-long house/pet-sitting gig, so I'm trying to do whatever I can to make some amount of progress on this bike before then. I'm not sure how things are going to play out at this time, but I'm still hopeful I'll get this bike done in the next month.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for more!
Dangit, I just realized that I didn't shoot a picture of the backside of the chainring. Whoops!
Those pedals look like the end is pressed on, like a lot of caps on tricycle and wagon axles from way back when. They weren't expected to last long enough to rebuild.
You could give the end a good tap with a hammer to see if the axle breaks loose, then clean and grease and tap it back on.
I would soak the pedal in rust remover then squeeze grease into the bearings without taking them apart.
You could give the end a good tap with a hammer to see if the axle breaks loose, then clean and grease and tap it back on.
I would soak the pedal in rust remover then squeeze grease into the bearings without taking them apart.
Can't say I'm surprised. Planned obsolescence isn't a new concept. I can give the end tap a try. If that doesn't work, I may just have to order another set of pedals.
I would try the detergent, rust remover and grease, as Wildcat suggested. I usually run a thin oil through them before greasing to make sure all the gunk is washed out and then the grease. I don't know about now, but it used to be common to soak motorcycle chains in hot grease before o-ring chains and aerosol lubes came along.
Story time: So last Wednesday, I got an email response to my Craigslist ad for these 2 Schwinn frames.
Called the guy, arranged a meeting, the usual. We meet, and the guy, Allan, brings his custom-built board track-inspired motor bike that he fabricated himself to show me what he hopes to do with my frames.
He's looking to use the 2 frames I have to build his next motorbike. Unfortunately, they aren't what he's looking for, as he needs something with bigger tubing than what I have. No worries, I understand. We get talking about his bike and the others he built, and I ask him if he does custom fabrication for clients, figuring he might be able to help me with some of my bike projects, like Schwinn Dixie. He does, and he was all on board for helping me with my projects!
Fast forward to Sunday, yesterday. I make the hour-long drive over to the small airport where Allan's equipment is, and he gives me tour, which includes two of his other motorbikes. He pulls out this bike out and lets me take it for a spin. He hops on the board track racer, and we cruise around the compound together for a bit.
Then Allan busts out his award-winning Outlaw, with a whopping 50+ mph 8 horsepower! And to my genuine fear, he shows me how to operate it. I should mention, up until this Sunday, I had never really rode a motorcycle before. So, I was pretty nervous. Nevertheless, I get on it and cruise around for a few minutes. I mostly babied it, but I could tell this bike wanted to go! This thing is a riot!
After riding the motorbikes around for a bit, we went over the Schwinn. I needed Allan's help to replace the steerer tube on the fork I want to use, smooth out the fenders, and touch up a spot on the frame. So he starts cutting up the fork and the steerer tube donor.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take into consideration that the handlebar stem needs to be able to fit inside a certain depth, which the sleeves inside the forks prevented. So, we accidentally measured once and cut twice. Allan's like "no problem, I got another fork we could use." So he pulls a fork out from under his work bench, and after checking out measurements twice, he cut the steerer tube off and welded it up to the fork I wanted to use.
I didn't get a lot of photos of the other progress we made, partly because I couldn't get a good angle for a shot, mostly because I was just enjoying the whole experience. Still, I did shoot a few photos of the end results. Thanks to Allen, I can now use the fork that was mangled in the last Build Off, the fenders are nice and straight, and the couple of holes on the back of the seat tube were filled and filed smoothish. Best of all, Allan offered to do it all free of charge! (Not that stopped me from offering to pay him. He politely turned down payment, but I'll be keeping an eye out for any parts he needs for his projects.)
We still had some time to kill, and what we did next was probably the highlight of highlights from yesterday's adventure: Allan taught me how to weld! I think what we did was TIG welding, since I fed the welding rod by hand, but I don't know for sure. We started with some scrap thin sheet metal he had laying around. He placed the spot welds to get me started, and explained the process in a way that just clicked. Basically, I heat the two metal pieces I want to join until they glow "cherry red," then I melt my welding rod until it "flows" into the spot I want it to. I also want my weld to "flow" or blend into the previous weld. After I did my first weld, Allan bent the metal back to test how solid my weld was. The metal bent, but not the weld!
We tried welding something a little thicker next. Once again, Allan got it started for me. Took a little more heat, but I was able to get it fairly easily.
How that weld looks cleaned up.
I was genuinely grinning from ear to ear, especially after Allan told me I did a great job for my first welds. Even cooler, Allan's offered to teach me some more whenever I want to come over again!
We ended up cooling off in his office and shooting the breeze for a while after working on the bike and welding, but I had a blast the whole time I was there. I not only have a new resource to help me with my bike projects, but a new teacher and friend as well! And thanks to Allan's help, all the hard parts of this build are now out of the way! All that's left to do now is strip the paint off the fenders and fork, order the few parts I don't have, get everything else sandblasted and powder coated, and get everything assembled! I still have most of the week left before I start my house/pet-sitting gig, so I should be able to make a decent amount of progress before then!
Called the guy, arranged a meeting, the usual. We meet, and the guy, Allan, brings his custom-built board track-inspired motor bike that he fabricated himself to show me what he hopes to do with my frames.
He's looking to use the 2 frames I have to build his next motorbike. Unfortunately, they aren't what he's looking for, as he needs something with bigger tubing than what I have. No worries, I understand. We get talking about his bike and the others he built, and I ask him if he does custom fabrication for clients, figuring he might be able to help me with some of my bike projects, like Schwinn Dixie. He does, and he was all on board for helping me with my projects!
Fast forward to Sunday, yesterday. I make the hour-long drive over to the small airport where Allan's equipment is, and he gives me tour, which includes two of his other motorbikes. He pulls out this bike out and lets me take it for a spin. He hops on the board track racer, and we cruise around the compound together for a bit.
Then Allan busts out his award-winning Outlaw, with a whopping 50+ mph 8 horsepower! And to my genuine fear, he shows me how to operate it. I should mention, up until this Sunday, I had never really rode a motorcycle before. So, I was pretty nervous. Nevertheless, I get on it and cruise around for a few minutes. I mostly babied it, but I could tell this bike wanted to go! This thing is a riot!
After riding the motorbikes around for a bit, we went over the Schwinn. I needed Allan's help to replace the steerer tube on the fork I want to use, smooth out the fenders, and touch up a spot on the frame. So he starts cutting up the fork and the steerer tube donor.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take into consideration that the handlebar stem needs to be able to fit inside a certain depth, which the sleeves inside the forks prevented. So, we accidentally measured once and cut twice. Allan's like "no problem, I got another fork we could use." So he pulls a fork out from under his work bench, and after checking out measurements twice, he cut the steerer tube off and welded it up to the fork I wanted to use.
I didn't get a lot of photos of the other progress we made, partly because I couldn't get a good angle for a shot, mostly because I was just enjoying the whole experience. Still, I did shoot a few photos of the end results. Thanks to Allen, I can now use the fork that was mangled in the last Build Off, the fenders are nice and straight, and the couple of holes on the back of the seat tube were filled and filed smoothish. Best of all, Allan offered to do it all free of charge! (Not that stopped me from offering to pay him. He politely turned down payment, but I'll be keeping an eye out for any parts he needs for his projects.)
We still had some time to kill, and what we did next was probably the highlight of highlights from yesterday's adventure: Allan taught me how to weld! I think what we did was TIG welding, since I fed the welding rod by hand, but I don't know for sure. We started with some scrap thin sheet metal he had laying around. He placed the spot welds to get me started, and explained the process in a way that just clicked. Basically, I heat the two metal pieces I want to join until they glow "cherry red," then I melt my welding rod until it "flows" into the spot I want it to. I also want my weld to "flow" or blend into the previous weld. After I did my first weld, Allan bent the metal back to test how solid my weld was. The metal bent, but not the weld!
We tried welding something a little thicker next. Once again, Allan got it started for me. Took a little more heat, but I was able to get it fairly easily.
How that weld looks cleaned up.
I was genuinely grinning from ear to ear, especially after Allan told me I did a great job for my first welds. Even cooler, Allan's offered to teach me some more whenever I want to come over again!
We ended up cooling off in his office and shooting the breeze for a while after working on the bike and welding, but I had a blast the whole time I was there. I not only have a new resource to help me with my bike projects, but a new teacher and friend as well! And thanks to Allan's help, all the hard parts of this build are now out of the way! All that's left to do now is strip the paint off the fenders and fork, order the few parts I don't have, get everything else sandblasted and powder coated, and get everything assembled! I still have most of the week left before I start my house/pet-sitting gig, so I should be able to make a decent amount of progress before then!
That’s a true epic adventure.
Thanks! It was quite a trip!
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
Awesome stuff, those bikes are bonkers! And fast, quality work on your project too, that's a bonus!
Thanks! Yeah, they're pretty sweet! Yeah, I'm glad we got those issues ironed out with the bike, but most of the time was spent just hanging out and having fun!
Great story. It's awesome watching a fabricator make it all look easy. This reminds me of the fun day I had with @Skydreamer when he saved my but with the killer BB crack repair on HEXy.
Thanks! It was cool to watch him take my parts and fix them up. I saw that! I cringed hard when I saw the crack in the aluminum. It was cool to see you got it fixed! On that note, I still need to check out and catch up on everyone else's builds, yours included. I hate that I join these build offs and don't like and comment on other people's projects. Hopefully I'll get some downtime to do just that.
