First Bike Build - 70's All Pro & Schwinn Speedster

[jcollinsia]

Hey everbody. I gave some back-story with my introduction but here's the gist of it. A year ago after a long day of partying I picked up a super ugly bike at a garage sale for $3 and spent the day clowning around on it. It's been sitting in my garage since that day so I decided what the heck. I've got some spare time, might as well rebuild it.

This is still in progress so any tips or feedback that you guys have would be much appreciated...good or bad.

Started out as a mid 70's Kmart All Pro.

Complete with a Shimano 3 speed hub that didnt work at all.

My little helpers. Barley is my 140 pound Great Dane/German Shepherd mix and my 6 month old Blue Heeler mix, Eleanor Rigby (Ellie).

So I stripped her all down (lol) and started thinking about what i wanted to do. I'm very much a "dive in first and ask questions later" kind of guy. So I did a lot of looking around on this site and others to come up with a few things that I definitely wanted. 1) very little chrome 2) stick with mostly parts from the same era 3) Loooowwww budget.

During the process I picked up a Schwinn Speedster parts bike for a few bucks from a local vintage shop. The frame is way too small for me so maybe this will be a 2nd build for a friend.

 

[jcollinsia]

Frame stripped down and mocked up

I dont know why but I just loved this fender

After the wire wheel, sanding, primer & paint

At this point I was apparently a space-case and didnt take many more photos. Here's the summary.
--Decided to use the single-speed coaster brake (Bendix 76) hub from the Schwinn, along with most of the other Schwinn parts. Now about the only thing original on it is teh frame, but hey, it was my size!
--Decided to go with a Harbor Blue paint color
--Picked up a new modern seat
--While she was stripped down I took the time to clean EVERYTHING, replace bearings, regrease, etc.

Here she stands as of this morning. Keep in mind that teh rear fender is not mounted right now, it's just sitting there. I need to spend some time to true up the rear wheel still. There's still a few more things that need to be done such as new pedals, new tires, polishing the paint & clearcoat, etc.

Without rear fender

Lessons learned:
--Painting wheels sucks. It isnt very durable and it could look a lot better
--While stripping to the bare metal may be gratifying, it isnt necessary
--Bearings are cheap, just replace them all (I skipped a couple and they broke)
--Be very very very patient during the paint process

Thanks a lot for taking a look guys!!

 

[Jake Sensi]

YOU DID A GREAT JOB!! YOU LEARNED SOME THINGS ALSO. WASN'T THAT FUN?!? NOW GO GET SOME MORE PARTS AND ON THAT OTHER FRAME...GET TA BUILDIN'!! PEACE

 

[jcollinsia]

Thanks Jake! After rebuilding a few cars and some motorcycles, I've gotta say that i love the fact that these old bikes seem so simple but are still pretty complex in the build process. I'm hooked! Up next is to try and rebuild my Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub and then rebuild that Speedster. Normally I'm a touring/bagger type of cyclist so these old bikes are a change.

 

[scrumblero]

thats tight!! i like the fenders! :mrgreen:

 

[Gdcast]

Nice build, like those fenders too.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Hey J,

Really sharp looking bike!
The only light blue and black paint scheme looks cool 8)
Had to laugh at "Lesson Learned" only because I learned them the same way :lol:

Nice Job!

 

[Craiggo]

hold on. you know how to rebuild sturmey 3 speeds?!?!? please pm me, trust me I wont bother you too much