Rat Trap Ray - Updated 2/20

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kram

kram

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This bike has been waiting almost fifteen years to get built. I found this frame buried in the snow on a farm when I was a teenager, the only parts that were there were the frame and the chainguard. It's a '69 frame that was originally green, but when I got it there wasn't much paint left on it. I was collecting parts for it and then I got a car and bikes were forgotten for a long time. I have started collecting parts for this bike several other times, but it has just never worked out. So finally it is time. Out of all the bikes I have this is the only one I'm very sentimental about because I have been dragging it around for so long. I don't even know how many times I have moved with this frame. I was planning on using it for the next build off but I don't want to have to worry about a deadline.

So here it is with the parts I've got for it so far. A pair of 24" rat trap springers, and a unity spotlight I just got off of ebay. I had stripped the rust and paint off the frame about ten years ago and painted it orange but never got any further than that. For now I'm planning on going with an orangey yellow with red rims. I was planning on going with blackwalls but the whitewalls look kind of nice too. Other plans include a 3 speed nexus and a '59 Cadillac taillight under the banana seat. It'll be more of a kustom than a rat, but should be fun.
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I got the spotlight for really cheap but it's more beat up than it looks in the picture. It was kind of squished but I got it banged back so that it is pretty round and straight. I'll probably paint the back half because the chrome is flaking and the there are a couple creases. Also I'll probably find a non sealed headlight so I can switch it to led.
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By the way does anyone know if Stingray's used a certain size of headset bearing cups? I have tried every pair that I have and they are all too big.
 
Re: Rat Trap Ray

I dont know what size bulb you have ,but I stripped the lense ,bulb and plastic cover out of a cheap $3.99 6 volt flashlight and glued it in the back of my light and it worked good. They measure 4'' or so and it pretty easy to come up with 6 volts to power it.
Its good you build it ,15 years is long enough to wait. :lol: :lol: Nice color so far.

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Re: Rat Trap Ray

All Schwinn's of that era take a headset with a smaller diameter race mounting surface than other manufacturers.They come in both normal and reversed upper cone versions. The fork threads are different as well, but you can get away with using just the outer races, as long as you don't use the reversed kind. There are some reversed cones from other manufacturers nowadays, but I don't know if it would work, or where you would find them. $5.00 postal money order will get you a pair of normal type with bearing. :wink:
 
Re: Rat Trap Ray

Progress is being made it's just slow. I got a cool rear wheel from ratina. It was an old 36 hole 20' rim laced to a blacked out new departure hub. I stripped the rim and painted it red/brown primer and then clear coated it. Then rebuild the rear hub and laced it back together with some new spokes. A big thanks to Uncle Stretch with the help on how to do the hub! I also got the frame stripped and in primer. I ordered some of those schwinn stencils from ebay and the frame will be cream for the scallops and a blueish gray for the main color.

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Re: Rat Trap Ray - Updated 2/9

That's the original paint on the hub, there are some scratches and nicks here and there but overall pretty nice. All the chrome parts and everything were in good shape once I uncovered them too. The insides looked good, it's just that all the grease that was supposed to be in there was on the outside :D .
 
Re: Rat Trap Ray - Updated 2/9

Wheel turned out nice. I'm glad that you have gotten motivated to get it going. Paint is the first part. I'll be watching . The good thing is I don't see any mudslides in the background. :lol:
 
Re: Rat Trap Ray - Updated 2/9

it's nice to see a bike being built that has been a long dream. I too have recently over the past year finally been building a bike that has been planned for about as long, mine started out as a light/horn that I found in my grandfathers basement that was bought for my father in 1956 when he was 12.
 
Re: Rat Trap Ray - Updated 2/9

The stencils got lost in the mail, but finally they showed up yesterday. This is the first time I ever used the stencils and they worked pretty good. I think I let the paint dry a little too long before taking them off and some of the edges aren't the best. Overall I like how it turned out. The color comes across as a little more blue than it is in the pictures. In person it looks a bit more gray, kind of a machinery blue color. I got the idea to cut the bottom stencil around the cantilever bar from Rat Rod's 'Tuxedo'.

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Man those turn out nice. I'm surprised that whoever makes them dosent do the rollfast...columbia..and others. It seems like they would make some money out of them. Getting closer to finished. Still got one more free day ...need riding pictures by sunset tomorrow. :lol:
 
I work in a mill that has its own machine shop, and I've asked the guys here what they could do with a fork, i.e. extending the threads for a ladies fork down so I could cut off the tube and shorten it.

The answer always comes back to, cut it off with a tubing cutter, and re-weld the tube together at the shorter length.

In the end it'll probably be cheaper and easier than finding someone who can successfully cut that super fine thread.

Good luck, it's gonna be a cool little bike when it's done.

BTW if you didn't find headset parts yet, they are all the same sizes for all 60's and 70's Schwinns... I have a few spares. The only differences are that some of the 26" models (none of the Stingrays) had the reverse-cone or "deluxe" headset top bearing. All the Stingrays, Fairladys, Lil Chiks, Fastbacks, Krates, Bantams, etc etc all have the same bearing cones and interchangeable, if not identical, bearings.

--Rob


kram said:
It would be really nice if they offered the stencils in other styles. I don't think I will quite have riding pictures by tomorrow. The thing that is really holding this one up is I can't find a bike shop that will run the threads further down the fork tube. Most of them don't even have the die.
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I found someone to cut normal threads but those Schwinns are gonna be tough. I am in the same situation looking for a 20" fork with a short head tube.
 
The reality is that running threads is not a big deal, the shop just needs the die and willing to do it. Maybe if I went into the local shops wearing spandex I would have a chance. For the most part they want nothing to do with the bikes that I work on :lol: . The fork is a rat trap so it is just standard threads. There is a shop a little bit further south that deals with old bikes that I'll probably give a call and hopefully they can do it. If all else fails then I may have to use Uncle Stretch's solution with the spacer.
 

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