# Newbie Here With Barn Find... Sort Of! ;)



## Theresse (Jun 2, 2016)

Hi folks!  Please see attached pics.

It WAS a barn, a hundred years ago... then in the 1950s it was torn down and the wood was used to build a 3-car garage (no doors) plus stable and gardening shed.  In the back of it my brothers and I have always had fun exploring all the cool old things, from antique sleds to old trunks to a few old bicycles.  So the "find" was actually years ago, and the bike I like the most belonged to my dear dear grandpa.  I remember as a kid he put air in the tires and let me ride them around a bit.  Bikes are a bit rusty - not the prettiest things you ever did see.  But still, pretty damned cool!

I want to get them up and running again and maybe scrape off some of that icky silver paint my grandpa must have painted on the older one (why did he do that??!).  Maybe I could clear coat what's left underneath, depending I guess on how bad it is or how much it would cost to sandblast/powder coat.  I'd really rather keep it in as original condition as possible, within reason.

I know the newer of the two bikes is a Schwinn Fiesta cruiser from the early '60s I'm guessing.  That appears to have all or most of the original parts and might clean up halfway decently.  The older bike seems to be from the late 1930s, from googling.  Due to the perfectly parallel and symmetrical curves of the double bar, I think it's a Schwinn BA67 double curved bar Roadster:
http://schwinncruisers.com/catalogs/1938.html#ba67

What I'd like to know:
- Am I correct about the make/model?  What can you tell me from the photos re. how complete, what's missing, what condition it appears to be in, etc?  I know the saddle can't be original.  I'm super bummed there's no longer a head badge on the older bike.  
- I'll also include a couple of pics of a third bike in there that belonged to my aunt - even newer - that happens to have a prewar seat or saddle on it and shouldn't I don't think.  The seat looks awful.  I'd like to know if it's possible to salvage it.  Can yo tell if there's even leather still on the seat?  I wasn't paying attention to the seat when I snapped the awful photo - and the bikes aren't with me right now.  Is there any chance that seat might be the one from the older bike??!  I wouldn't put it past my grandpa to be that resourceful in a pinch - just borrowing from another bike to help out his daughter.
- Can you tell from pics if the original color might have been red, or blue?!!
- I edited the second to last photo which is the head badge shadow (?) though it barely helps to make it out more clearly.  I have NO IDEA what he head badge might have been.  Are there any hints - ways to tell?  My grandparents were both in Chicago in the 1930s but that may only help so much.  And for all I know, he bought it used. 
- A local bicycle-restoration guy will probably get it mechanically in good shape again in the next week or so and then from there we'll determine whether we should start in at least a little on cosmetics.  If I were to get it in decent shape with cosmetic improvements, or even vastly improved, do you have any clue what the bike might be worth?  Although if I have my way, one of my boys will grow up and hand it down to his kids and then down to those kids' kids, etc. 
Thanks!!


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Jun 2, 2016)

The silver one is an early schwinn double bar roadster ..probably 1936? I'm going to say the original color was cream and blue then somebody painted it red and then silver. The fenders are not what came on it originally. The saddle on the girls bike was probably the saddle that was on this. The badge looks like it was the footed type so any of those would work. The front fork is schwinn and came on these early dbl bars. Notice the seat stays are straight. Later ones had a curve to it. Nice find...

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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Jun 2, 2016)

Yes the saddle can be restored 

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## CrazyDave (Jun 2, 2016)

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/schwinn-dbr.91648/


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## CrazyDave (Jun 2, 2016)

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/schwinn-dbr.91648/


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Jun 2, 2016)

As is I'd value yours at no more then 400 dollars. If you can get the paint off and expose the original blue and it's in ok shape then find truss rods and correct blue fenders with flat braces and drop stand like the one in the cl ad then the price  would be around 6ish with a restored saddle 700. I value the one in the craigslist add at only 800. That's my opinion. 

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## Jarod24 (Jun 2, 2016)

If you want to keep it as original as possible I'd pick up some good off pro strength and see if you can pull the re paint off


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## Theresse (Jun 2, 2016)

Thanks Obi-Wan!  That was my guess - that it was first blue.  If I could get the silver off (so far scrapes off easily with my nail) and were only able to get some of tbe red off and expose just some of the blue, it might still be an interesting look (?)!  Blue, red, and purpley in some areas maybe?

Where on Earth do I get the correct fenders?  Are you sure they're not original?  That's annoying.

Sorry for my ignorance but what do you mean by the footed type of head badge?  To me it looks like the bottom was oval and the too might have been slightly different.  No?

Here are pics of the Fiesta...


Obi-Wan Schwinnobi said:


> The silver one is an early schwinn double bar roadster ..probably 1936? I'm going to say the original color was cream and blue then somebody painted it red and then silver. The fenders are not what came on it originally. The saddle on the girls bike was probably the saddle that was on this. The badge looks like it was the footed type so any of those would work. The front fork is schwinn and came on these early dbl bars. Notice the seat stays are straight. Later ones had a curve to it. Nice find...
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk


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## Theresse (Jun 2, 2016)

That would be great!  Could you tell if there was leather still on it?  It was dark in there and the flash didn't help.



Obi-Wan Schwinnobi said:


> Yes the saddle can be restored
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk


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## Theresse (Jun 2, 2016)

Obi-Wan Schwinnobi said:


> As is I'd value yours at no more then 400 dollars. If you can get the paint off and expose the original blue and it's in ok shape then find truss rods and correct blue fenders with flat braces and drop stand like the one in the cl ad then the price  would be around 6ish with a restored saddle 700. I value the one in the craigslist add at only 800. That's my opinion.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk




Thanks!


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## Theresse (Jun 2, 2016)

Jarod24 said:


> If you want to keep it as original as possible I'd pick up some good off pro strength and see if you can pull the re paint off




Thank you Jarod!  My restoration guy is planning on testing out a couple of products in a hidden place on the bike to see which might hopefully allow me to do that.  I'm hoping to do some of tbe work myself, in part to save $ but also because I like to learn new skills and it will be nice for me to work on something myself that belonged to my beloved gramps.


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## Jarod24 (Jun 2, 2016)

Theresse said:


> Thank you Jarod!  My restoration guy is planning on testing out a couple of products in a hidden place on the bike to see which might hopefully allow me to do that.  I'm hoping to do some of tbe work myself, in part to save $ but also because I like to learn new skills and it will be nice for me to work on something myself that belonged to my beloved gramps.



Sorry that should have said GOOF off pro strength, it works wonders on taking off old repaints. You don't see a whole ton of this style schwinn its definitely worth fixing up, besides the fact it was your grandpas bike too. Good luck


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## Theresse (Jun 2, 2016)

Thanks very much!



Jarod24 said:


> Sorry that should have said GOOF off pro strength, it works wonders on taking off old repaints. You don't see a whole ton of this style schwinn its definitely worth fixing up, besides the fact it was your grandpas bike too. Good luck


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## Theresse (Jun 2, 2016)

Hey can someone tell me why it says I have messages but at the same time I have no mail?  By messages do they mean posts within a thread?


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## rustjunkie (Jun 2, 2016)

@Theresse: "messages" shows your post count, "Conversations" are found at the upper right, envelope icon...and welcome!


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## Theresse (Jun 2, 2016)

rustjunkie said:


> @Theresse: "messages" shows your post count, "Conversations" are found at the upper right, envelope icon...and welcome!




Thank you!


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