Two Schwinn Typhoon 2 Speeds - making of GoldenRod

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Having dragged these down from the loft where they've been for over 15 years, I've decided to fix the Gold one and sell or swap the red one.


So as I fix "GoldenRod" I am prepping "RuffnReddy" for sale. I bought these two at a bicycle shop closing auction for $6 each.
Here's Goldie with a spring seat cobbed from a Brooks racing saddle and taller handlebars, returning from a test ride. The 2 Speed brakes and shifts - although somewhat randomly.

I had to make a taller seat post and all I could find was an old Ford Tractor steering shaft which had to be turned a little in my ancient Atlas lathe.

The seat is at the right height for my long legs, but I can barely swing onto the bike. What do you think about using one of those seat posts with the curved extension? I've never tried one. How do they affect the handling?
I didn't want to get carried away but the Gold front hub was cracked from overtightened bearing, so I unlaced and relaced the Red hub into the better Gold rim.
The fenders had some bad dents and I wanted to try banging them out. I had to make this block with a hole saw and this oscillating tool I picked up somewhere.


Badly dented...

Not as badly dented...

More later...
 
Waiting for tubes and tires. The relaced rim, cleaned with a drill and wire wheel, and the shined up hub from the red bike. The fenders have their dents removed and look pretty good.

While waiting for tires I will attempt to disassemble, clean and lubricate the Bendix 2 Speed. Got instructions from Sheldon brown site.
The red bike is also being reassembled as I build this one, but with a bit less attention to detail.
 
Due to a cracked hub, I had to swap front hubs with the red bike. But the gold bike has better rims - which meant I had to unlace, swap hubs, and relace/true. That turned out OK, broke one spoke but found a replacement.
Well, today I had disassembled Goldie's rear hub and found galled races. So I pulled the red bike's hub apart and its races were fine. So here we go again - swap the red hub into the better rim. Tomorrow the fun starts as I assemble the 2 speed hub parts into the good hub.
 
The hardest part is trying to get spoke nipples to move after 50+ years. Heating the nipple with a propane torch without blueing the rim. Maybe a hallf dozen spokes in the two wheels were stuck. Just finished loosening both wheels - only broke 1 spoke.

I would be overwhelmed to repair the hub if it weren't for the clear instructions on Sheldon Brown's site. After assembling the hub I worked the sprocket by hand and it actually shifted (and braked). I have tires and tubes on order. Can't wait to try it out.
 
The hardest part is trying to get ... nipples to move after 50+ years. .
Sounds like a complaint from the 50+biking forums...

And Sheldon Brown is awesome. I've learned so much from his site. Everyone learning to wrench in bikes should have it bookmarked. So quirky, so diy. Rip Sheldon
 
The hardest part is trying to get spoke nipples to move after 50+ years. Heating the nipple with a propane torch without blueing the rim. Maybe a hallf dozen spokes in the two wheels were stuck. Just finished loosening both wheels - only broke 1 spoke.

I would be overwhelmed to repair the hub if it weren't for the clear instructions on Sheldon Brown's site. After assembling the hub I worked the sprocket by hand and it actually shifted (and braked). I have tires and tubes on order. Can't wait to try it out.
I have used a butane lighter to heat frozen spokes before applying penetrating oil.
Just enough heat and pretty quick too!
 
This is the tool I made from an spare socket to adjust the bearing locknut on the Bendix 2 spd.

Both wheels are swapped and back together. I just have to fine true GoldenRod's wheel. Anxiuosly awaiting tires now. The tubes came today.
 
I've been on this forum for less than six weeks and I'm almost done with 4 bikes - TopCatstrophe in the Build Off, these two Schwinns and the Rollfast. I have learned an awful lot from you all. The Schwinn GoldenRod is done, the red one is waiting for inner tubes to arrive and will get new blackwall tires. The Rollfast got a sort of fast treatment involving flat black paint and Rustoleum Satin Colonial Red. I'll post more on this later. I'm waiting for a chunk of leather to redo the seat.

So the Red Schwinn is very original, the rust is cleaned up as best as possible, everything adjusted, lubed and cleaned. I gave it a wipe with Boiled Linseed Oil, let it soak in and then wiped it down. When the new tires are fitted it will go up for sale.
But GoldenRod has all the shiniest parts and the only parts that really came from the red bike were the hubs. In order to ride it I had to have the seat so high I could barely get on. So I bought a layback seat post - what a difference! Easy mounting and altogether better.
The tires I ordered are the same size (both bikes have S7 rims and 1-3/4 tires) but a big difference in actual width of the whitewall tires. They barely fit in the fender. I had to push it to get the axle into the dropouts. I still need to fine tune the fit but I think it will be OK. I took the bike about 3 miles down the towpath yesterday and it rides/handles great. One of the best handling bikes I've ridden. The 2 speed hub allowed me to crank it up the thruway/railway bridge.

So how have I done so far? I have no idea what style/class of bike this would be. I'm still learning what a Rat Rod Bike is. I see the term Strandie but not completely clear on what that is.
I'm really pleased that these bikes are fixed and rideable again after well over 15 years storage.
Here's some more photos...



 
You have yourself a fine pair of classic cruisers there. Strandie is a specific type of cruiser, usually from eighties BMX builders, so they've got a performance lean and BMX style. What constitutes a Rat Rod Bike? That discussion is forbidden. Doesn't go well when we try to pin it down. Ride what you like!
 
Thanks Matti. I like the pics I've seen of Strandies but wasn't sure what made them that. Still waiting for leather to finish the Rollfast seat and tubes for the new tires on the red bike. Probably will take a break for a while to work on the truck and a motorcycle project. But I do have a frame I want to use with an S-A 3 speed coaster brake.
 
Well the tires are size 26 x 2" x 1-3/4" which explains why they are a tight fit. I believe these bikes were "middleweights" and did not come with 2" tires. Its a good thing they squeezed in there, the tires that went on the red bike were 1-3/4" and there was plenty of room.
The red bike is now finished. I was not as thorough with it as I was with the gold bike. The hub was rebuilt although there was wear on two of the ball races. Nevertheless it works perfectly. It got a thorough washing and a coat of BLO.




The two horses in the background walked away before I could a shot but this pinto saved the day - he came trotting over to see what was going on.
 

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