Schwinn Rat-phoon *UPDATE*

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RatfinkCustoms

RatfinkCustoms

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Jul 17, 2009
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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Hey guys, im new here. My names jeff and im probly significantly younger than most of you guys. Im nowhere new to building bikes, just new to the non-street bmx scene. I had always heard of a completely original '59 Schwinn Typhoon sitting in a guys basement but i had never seen it. Recently, i got a call from my grandfather to come over, he had a surprise for me. Turns out this mystery schwinn, his neighbor owned. He bought it brand spankin' new in 59 for the wife. 6 years later she decided to ride it. It's got an inspection sticker from 1965. Well when i got to my paps house, sitting on his back porch were him, his neighbor (gene) and this beauty schwinn. After the shock wore off that gene was giving it to me, i took her home and put some air in the tires and rode her all over gods creation. Got made fun of, but i just smiled and kept riding. Enough of my rambling! Pics! (my computer wont let me resize images so please forgive me if their freakishly large)
originalschwinn.jpg

Few days ago i was riding and decided it just wasnt cool enough. Reversed and slammed the bars, dropped and tilted the seat and shes already looking better!
Came across your website and decided to build me a rat.
newschwinn.jpg
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-pedo

Thanks guys. Boy was i pissed off today. Went to a swap meet today and bought some 24' white walls for my bike. YES, the bike IS a 24. The tires wouldnt go on if your life depended on it. I have Schwinn S7 wheels...could this be the problem? I laid the whitewall on top of the westwind tire and the west wind is clearly bigger. I almost went up a .... wall. But..there was some light at the end of the tunnel :lol: My mom saw how interested i really was in this project and asked me to come inside, that she had something for me. She brought out something in a box. i opened it and couldnt believe my eyes. It was her generator, bullet headlight and tail-light from her first bike. She wanted me to have it for my own first project. Thanks mom! :D Got my fender made, too. Started off with a standard schwinn Stingray rearfender, and broke out the cuttin' disk! Also got my spade laid outon the rear, going to cut out tomorrow if i get the chance. (still freakishly large pics) Pics:
generator.jpg

6 volt miller generator
fenderbefore.jpg

Before
fenderafter.jpg

after
spade.jpg

spade
Later, RFC.
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-pedo

RatfinkCustoms said:
Thanks guys. Boy was i pissed off today. Went to a swap meet today and bought some 24' white walls for my bike. YES, the bike IS a 24. The tires wouldnt go on if your life depended on it. I have Schwinn S7 wheels...could this be the problem? I laid the whitewall on top of the westwind tire and the west wind is clearly bigger.
Later, RFC.
Click to expand...

Nice bike. Yes Schwinn decided to have their own sizes for a while. If you haven't been to Sheldon Brown's site, he knows all. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-pedo

Yea the Schwinn tire thing is thorn in my side also :x but i had to just get over it and find an L.B.S that can help ya out. Bike looks cool man, cut that fender :) make some purists angree :mrgreen: Nice score.
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-pedo

Thanks guys, that generator and the bullet headlight polished up perfect. not super shiny, perfect for a rat. As for now, im sanding the heck out of my rims, goin into paint tomorrow (If this rain holds out!). Innr and outer lips...without removing spokes :lol: Thats how i roll.
Later, RFC
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-pedo

Double post.
Well, i threw an ad on craigslist for vintage bike parts and with in an hour i got a phone call. It was a woman tellnig me that when she was cleaning out her mothers basement, she came across her brothers old bike rack. She told me he bought it new and never put it on his bike so it sat int he basement for 35+ years. Well i asked her how much and she said real sweet "You can just have it honey." I was pumped. I went to meet her today, and thanked the woman profoundly. I even met her brother that bought it. He said it was perfect for a rat rod and he wants to see my bike when it's done. There are still a few good-hearted people left in this world :lol: Pics:
rackbefore.jpg

Before
rackbefore2.jpg

before (again)
rackafter.jpg

After a solid ten minutes with some steel wool and chrome polish & cleaner, she looks brand new!
Later, RFC
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-pedo

because it IS brand new! :wink:
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-pedo

Man with this rain i cant get anything done! Yesterday was pretty nice so i got my rear rim painted but i cant do anymore as I am still waiting on my tire. I figured out what im gonna do though: Im just gonna paint up my S7 wheels and run s7 tires. When a tube or tire goes bad then to the rack in the garage they go. I will order "new" old wheels, paint them better and run my white-walls :lol: But since i dont have any pics of my wheel I'll tell you what me and my friends did to blow off some steam. I build minibikes. ...... minibikes. So we broke em both out, did some wheelies and hit jumps, real dirt jumps, haha and some burnouts, Well I've been working on a new one that im gonna keep and im painting it like an old hotrod. Powder blue, scallops, pinstriping, all that jazz. This mini has a 5hp rated engine on it that me and my dad cranked out to about 9. Bored over, new coil, hi-po quick-engage clutch etc. Well i didnt have the chain on it seeing that Iw as painting it, bu i have a wicked 2-1/2 inch chrome pipe exhaust pipe. This minibike sounds like a 4-stroke 250. Sooo..we put it out in the driveway, started her up and then the fun started. This is when we realized this minibike shot flames out of the exhaust. It backfires, so i cleaned the head, valves, piston head and all. But man this thing gets loud with that pipe! But we we're shooting flames. Not crappy flames, real flames, out of this pipe. NO wd-40, NO starting fluid, no accelerators. Straight carbon. Heres a crap pic of the unfinished minibike:
Minibikemock-up.jpg

More pics to come of the rat-pedo.
Later, RFC
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-phoon

Okay guys, its been awhile since i posted. I solved my rim problem, got a new intage rim and re-spoked the back hub to a 24' rim that'll fit. It was very rainy today so i couldnt get good pictures or work on anything. I did snap a few crappy cell phone pics of the bike, and my new headlight :lol: BUT I NEED SOME SERIOUS HELP HERE. I need a VINTAGE Frame-mounted pump. Please, any help is greatly appreciated. Please dont ignore me like you've been doing.Thank you guys VERY much. Later, RFC
sick.jpg

headlight.jpg
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-phoon

RatfinkCustoms said:
Okay guys, its been awhile since i posted. I solved my rim problem, got a new intage rim and re-spoked the back hub to a 24' rim that'll fit. It was very rainy today so i couldnt get good pictures or work on anything. I did snap a few crappy cell phone pics of the bike, and my new headlight :lol: BUT I NEED SOME SERIOUS HELP HERE. I need a VINTAGE Frame-mounted pump. Please, any help is greatly appreciated. Please dont ignore me like you've been doing.Thank you guys VERY much. Later, RFC
sick.jpg

headlight.jpg
Click to expand...

And while you're at it, you need to post a shot of that truck... in the light! Nice old truck too.
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-phoon

It would have been rather cool to see a whole fender of that size on there 8) Looking great!
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-phoon

Unchained said:
It would have been rather cool to see a whole fender of that size on there 8) Looking great!
Click to expand...
Wow...someone posted in my thread. But thanks and idk. I got another fender off a 70's muscle bike and i rawed it, cleared it and pinstriped it. Looks exellent. Havent got much work done, im all broken. 2 broken hands and a busted knee. Updates soon...maybe.
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-phoon

try removing the muffler and hopefully you have a threaded head. go to the local hardware store and get a pipe nipple about 6 inches long. then a nut and then some sort of long straight pipe that exits out the back. i used a chopper fork leg i had laying around the whole pipe is about 2 feet long and it will shoot flames about 6 inches out past that when at full song
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-phoon

karfer67 said:
try removing the muffler and hopefully you have a threaded head. go to the local hardware store and get a pipe nipple about 6 inches long. then a nut and then some sort of long straight pipe that exits out the back. i used a chopper fork leg i had laying around the whole pipe is about 2 feet long and it will shoot flames about 6 inches out past that when at full song
Click to expand...
I think I said this earlier..? But im not running a straight pipe. This motor runs hot and hot means burning up my exhaust valve without running a muffler. Sure they sound good but i dont dog my minibikes. Balls to the wall the whole time.
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-phoon

Really? I forgot to update this thread? Wow.
Well not much has gotten done, i still need to true out my back wheel. eckkkk. But i did throw it together and rode it a little. She'll be getting paint soon! :lol: So happy.
wicked.jpg
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-phoon

Well the time has come to lay down some paint. Got the front wheel painted, the forks, both fenders, and half (i know, weird.) the frame primered. But since this hellish rain wont hold out, The painting will have to wait. For now, this is what I can give you. (the fork pic is a little fuzzy)
seat.jpg

My seat, taken in the dark to show you the effect.
frontfender.jpg

The forks.
frontwheel.jpg

The front wheel.
frontfender.jpg

The front fender.
Couldnt snap a pic of the back because of the rain. More updates SOON!
Later, rfc
 
Re: Schwinn Rat-phoon

I'd really like to see this whole thread but all the pictures have been deleted or moved... What gives?

Later T
 

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