# Paint it or leave it: '56 Corvette



## Cranky Chain Cycles

The painting process is overwhelming me. I'm debating whether or not I want to repaint this '56 Corvette. Obviously, it needs new rubber and decals. Some would probably say to leave the paint and just wax and polish it. I'm a perfectionist and want it to have a show quality look. With that said, I'm leaning towards repainting it. Keep in mind I've never done a full blown strip and paint. 

I've gone over Momo608's thread extensively and to be honest, I don't know what half of it means. Reducers and sealers…huh?  I love his results. I've refurbished a bunch of Schwinn lightweights but I've always found ones that had good original paint so they just got a good polish. The Vintage Schwinn website makes it sound like all you need is a couple bottles of primer and enamel and you're all set. 

My father-in-law insists that I go with lacquer because it's the most brilliant. Vintage Schwinn uses acrylic enamel. Again, I've never seen a side-by-side comparison so I have nothing to base my own opinion on. I've tried YouTubing and Googling the subject; most of what pops up is old cars. 

Can someone tell momo608 to make an instructional in-depth video please? If you know of anything like this that exists, please post a link.


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## Dizzle Problems

Personally, I'd leave the original paint, and just clean/polish. I buy most of my bikes based on the paint, and wouldn't buy a repaint unless dirt cheap or rare to find original.  But I also don't mind wear and tear. That being said, it is your bike to do as you please and enjoy the process!


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## GTs58

I'm pretty picky about the paint on my bikes, but I'd have to be forced to repaint that Corvette. I would clean it up and maybe redecal it if it was mine, the paint still looks very nice from what I can see.
As far as a how to video painting a Schwinn Opal, Radiant or any other translucent color, I've never seen one. It's more involved and takes more talent then shooting a frame with Black paint out of a spray can. Momo goes for show quality and uses high dollar materials that in most cases probably cost more than the bike itself. His choice of paint would not be considered an equal or close to what was used originally but it does look very nice and it is a professional job. If you are shooting for a show quality finish and plan on doing it yourself, I would suggest getting some practice on a few clunkers or beaters first. Expecting to get a show quality type paint job the first time around isn't going to happen, no matter how many videos you watch or how many articles you read. You could have that frame blasted and powder coated in a candy red for 200 or so. Having it painted to match the factory paint would cost you twice that easy, unless you know someone that owes you a big favor. I've seen where some people have used a color matched metallic paint bi-passing the aluminum base coat (momo and others ) and that works but it's not what was on these bikes originally, and the finish does look very different even though the color is dead on. 
Read up on painting, watch vids, ask questions and paint a bunch of beaters for experience.


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## vincev

Corvettes clean up really well.I would leave it as is.I would redecal it .Schwinn chrome cleans up almost like new.Paint if you like but thats your decision.


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## modelcarjedi

I wouldn’t paint it. But I’m lazy and like original worn paint. Either way post lots of pics and ride it like you stole it ! 


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## phantom

IMO that bike is way too nice to repaint. It will clean up beyond expectations.


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## rusty_apache

If you plan to keep it forever and you want perfection then paint it. 
They are only original once and if you clean and wax it it should be quite brilliant as is. 
It will also be more valuable if you ever decide to sell it.


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## Cranky Chain Cycles

phantom said:


> IMO that bike is way too nice to repaint. It will clean up beyond expectations.




I really hope so. 


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## Cranky Chain Cycles

rusty_apache said:


> If you plan to keep it forever and you want perfection then paint it.
> They are only original once and if you clean and wax it it should be quite brilliant as is.
> It will also be more valuable if you ever decide to sell it.




I have no plans on selling. So far that’s about 6 votes NO, 1 YES (my father-in-law) for repaint. I’m sensing a trend. My plan now is to see the results after it gets polished up. 


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## rusty_apache

twinflight said:


> I have no plans on selling. So far that’s about 6 votes NO, 1 YES (my father-in-law) for repaint. I’m sensing a trend. My plan now is to see the results after it gets polished up.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I think you will be amazed with a light polishing compound and a wax. 

The other advantage is you won’t be heartbroken when it gets it’s first nick.


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## fordmike65

I vote to leave it. Less work & those little scratches & nicks just add to it's history.


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## Balloonoob

Leave it. Btw i found the decals on ebay. Your fork tube decals already look great but i wonder if the color would match if they weren't changed and the others were. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Schwinn-Ap...929744&hash=item4d8aab3a1d:g:TvYAAMXQH-pRDOpN.      Where do my fellow cabers buy your decals? H Lloyd cycles had some cool expensive ones but i could not find any schwinn.


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## Cranky Chain Cycles

On a side note, does anyone know where I can pickup a gooseneck light post? I asked Bicycle Bones but they don't have any for this model.


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## kreika

Leave original


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## Eatontkd

This is the hardest decision for me as well. My wife likes "shabby sheik"; to me, it looks like it needs paint. That said, I understand the patina of time and use as a statement. I've purchased two bicycles of late; one a '53 Rudge, the other a '56 Hercules. I've come to restore one and clean the other.


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## Jeff54

Balloonoob said:


> Leave it. Btw i found the decals on ebay. Your fork tube decals already look great but i wonder if the color would match if they weren't changed and the others were. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Schwinn-Ap...929744&hash=item4d8aab3a1d:g:TvYAAMXQH-pRDOpN.      Where do my fellow cabers buy your decals? H Lloyd cycles had some cool expensive ones but i could not find any schwinn.





That does look like some good paint on it as is. That red: 'Opalescent' is two applications after red lead. an aluminum and then transparent red. You'll have a bunch of that transparent red to polish up pretty nicely. And trying to duplicate that ain't easy at all. Especially getting the right tint and the Opel effect, or 1950's Candy over aluminum that's lightly, very slightly crinkled. .  You paint that and you'll chip it, sorry later, B/C Schwinn baked it on good and hard. Even their own touch-up or spray cans were crap.    And as far as replacement decals, I strongly advise, especially if you're anal about it, you measure your originals before buying from anybody. Can say first hand that "_Approved_" does not mean it's correctly sized.


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## Ridge Rider

Leave it ...you can always change your mind and paint it ,but you can never change your mind and unpaint it. 
 Dave


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## Rivnut

If you decide to repaint it, stay away from lacquer.  The auto industry did away with it for health reasons some time ago.  For brilliance, use a base coat clear coat paint.  You'll still want to wear a respirator.  Try taking a clay bar to it and see what contaminates you can remove. Have you ever considered powder coating it?


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## bikecrazy

I’m a huge fan of restoring and refinishing bikes, but even I would give that one a good clean-up and just enjoy it. You will be surprised how nice it will turn out with the proper care.


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## Cranky Chain Cycles

GTs58 said:


> I'm pretty picky about the paint on my bikes, but I'd have to be forced to repaint that Corvette. I would clean it up and maybe redecal it if it was mine, the paint still looks very nice from what I can see.
> As far as a how to video painting a Schwinn Opal, Radiant or any other translucent color, I've never seen one. It's more involved and takes more talent then shooting a frame with Black paint out of a spray can. Momo goes for show quality and uses high dollar materials that in most cases probably cost more than the bike itself. His choice of paint would not be considered an equal or close to what was used originally but it does look very nice and it is a professional job. If you are shooting for a show quality finish and plan on doing it yourself, I would suggest getting some practice on a few clunkers or beaters first. Expecting to get a show quality type paint job the first time around isn't going to happen, no matter how many videos you watch or how many articles you read. You could have that frame blasted and powder coated in a candy red for 200 or so. Having it painted to match the factory paint would cost you twice that easy, unless you know someone that owes you a big favor. I've seen where some people have used a color matched metallic paint bi-passing the aluminum base coat (momo and others ) and that works but it's not what was on these bikes originally, and the finish does look very different even though the color is dead on.
> Read up on painting, watch vids, ask questions and paint a bunch of beaters for experience.





Crazy prices. The only pricing I could find for PPG products was $660 for a set that includes clear, hardener and a reducer. Not exactly practical.


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## GTs58

twinflight said:


> Crazy prices. The only pricing I could find for PPG products was $660 for a set that includes clear, hardener and a reducer. Not exactly practical.





LOL..............................................No it's not!

I- large can of Red Oxide Primer
1- Can of Aluminum base
3 maybe 4 Cans of Candy Red Enamel
or
1 Quart of Dupli-Color pre thinned Candy Red Lacquer

$60-70 tops.

Only issue with Lacquer is you have to have all Lacquer base products underneath.


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## A.S.BOLTNUT

Ther only Original once


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## rollfaster

I think you have a really nice original Corvette there, just carefully clean and wax like others have said. You’ll be pleasantly surprised about how this bike will turn out!


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## Sven

*CLEAN IT, SHINE IT*
If you want a professional paint job...take it to a professional. They have the equipment and know how. In the long run it will save you money and frustration. It truly is a science.


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## Jeff54

Actually for the money, time, practice to copy or even come close to mimicking the original paint, I mean, unless you can discover the 1950's aluminum coat and top candy red and,  bake each layer on like Schwinn did, you'd be better off buying a junker frame, fork and guard, painting it with Imron, (yes it's still out there in select paint stores albeit, prob not Calif. ) then selling off your parts. [grin]

Who nu, repainting a dang single colored Schwinn was so fricken hard? Guys like me, who learned back in the 60's that even Schwinn's own paint in their stores was just metal-flake rattle can, touch and chip  Crap! Compiled with having tried to hunt online where all the old paints are filed, Schwinn's paint is no more than the same auto paints of the day but, their secrets are confounding.


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## AndyA

Dear Twinflight:
Like others have commented, 1) I vote to save the original paint, and 2) I would not consider you an evil person if you did repaint. Here's the thing though: if you repaint, then the chrome will look shabby and you'll have to send parts out for rechroming, then the spokes will look rusty and you'll have to replace them, then the saddle will look kinda tacky and you'll have to send it out for recovering, then you'll need new handgrips. You can see where this is going. You'll spend a lot of money and end up with a bike that looks beautiful but, in my aesthetic opinion (which, I admit, is of little value to anyone else), one that doesn't look really authentic. If you shine this bike up and do some minor touch-ups and upgrades, I guarantee that people will tell you that it is cool and beautiful wherever you ride. Whatever you do, have fun.
Andy
p.s. When I was 12 or 13 years old, My best friend had a 3-speed red Corvette like that and I had a red 1960 J.C. Higgins Flightliner. That Sturmey-Archer hub was advanced technology.


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## Sven

@AndyA hit the nail right on the head.
 Keep us posted....


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## Scout Evans

Schwinn always had the best paint and chrome. I was asked to repaint a 64 American that looked worse than your Corvette. I dismantled it and cleaned/polished each part. Then followed that with a couple coats of paste wax. The owner thought it was repainted but it was the original Schwinn paint and chrome. I would do that to yours first before deciding to repaint.


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## Cranky Chain Cycles

Scout Evans said:


> Schwinn always had the best paint and chrome. I was asked to repaint a 64 American that looked worse than your Corvette. I dismantled it and cleaned/polished each part. Then followed that with a couple coats of paste wax. The owner thought it was repainted but it was the original Schwinn paint and chrome. I would do that to yours first before deciding to repaint.




I'll definitely go the clean and polish route to see what I've got. Do you have any before and after pictures?


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## Goldenrod

Clean it.


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## Scout Evans

I cleaned up that bike back in 2008, but no pics. But I was surprised by how well the chrome came back. It looked rusted through on the rims but they looked new after some wd40 and 0000 steel wool.


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## Jeff54

Scout Evans said:


> 0000 steel wool.




Steel wool on Chrome? Ouch!. Brass! Or, although messy but better,  softer than brass, eats rust while polishing the Chrome. A wadded sheet of Aluminum foil, a dab of water and elbow grease.


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## spoker

dont restore it and make it like a new bike,most of the ppl when ride on the pathways or around the lake will ask how much u paid for your bike at Walmart!!!!


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## Trout

Leave it.


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## mrg

Survivor!!, detail & ride!, its only OG once!


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## Cranky Chain Cycles

mrg said:


> Survivor!!, detail & ride!, its only OG once!




Original gangster? [emoji6]


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## Rivnut

Jeff54 said:


> Steel wool on Chrome? Ouch!. Brass! Or, although messy but better,  softer than brass, eats rust while polishing the Chrome. A wadded sheet of Aluminum foil, a dab of water and elbow grease.
> 
> View attachment 941202



Have you tried using Coke, Pepsi, or some other "soft" drink instead of water?  The acid in the Coke is some additional help.  I've seen Coke used to loosen rusted lids on old milk cans.  Turn them upside down, fill the lip with Coke and walk away for a while.  When you come back in a few days, the Coke will have eaten through the rust.

Here are a couple of pictures, before and after, of some chrome pieces off a Typhoon on which I used the aluminum foil method.


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## Adamtinkerer

Don't do it! There are plenty of much crustier Schwinns (like Rivnuts' above), that would be better candidates for a repaint!


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## Cranky Chain Cycles

Adamtinkerer said:


> Don't do it! There are plenty of much crustier Schwinns (like Rivnuts' above), that would be better candidates for a repaint!




What about this one? These are the best pics of a potential purchase. This is a half day drive away.


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## Rivnut

I'd go for it.  Paint is good and it has the rack AND headlight.  The rust on the rims looks like the surface rust I encountered on the Typhoon I pictured earler.

I'm driving a couple of hundred miles this weekend to pick up this bike.  The seller says it's a Corvette but it's missing the headlight and rack, and has an incorrect seat.  I'll decide whether to ride it as is or paint it after closer inspection.


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## Jeff54

And a bent front fork that does not appear to have the hole for front caliper brake too. [wink]  







Rivnut said:


> I'm driving a couple of hundred miles this weekend to pick up this bike.  The seller says it's a Corvette but it's missing the headlight and rack, and has an incorrect seat.  I'll decide whether to ride it as is or paint it after closer inspection.
> 
> View attachment 943403


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## Adamtinkerer

twinflight said:


> What about this one? These are the best pics of a potential purchase. This is a half day drive away.
> 
> View attachment 942073
> View attachment 942076
> 
> View attachment 942077



That looks pretty nice for the age, imho.


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## Rivnut

Jeff54 said:


> And a bent front fork that does not appear to have the hole for front caliper brake too. [wink]



Thinking/hoping it was a coaster brake model with a dealer added two speed.


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## rollfaster

Rivnut said:


> Have you tried using Coke, Pepsi, or some other "soft" drink instead of water?  The acid in the Coke is some additional help.  I've seen Coke used to loosen rusted lids on old milk cans.  Turn them upside down, fill the lip with Coke and walk away for a while.  When you come back in a few days, the Coke will have eaten through the rust.
> 
> Here are a couple of pictures, before and after, of some chrome pieces off a Typhoon on which I used the aluminum foil method.View attachment 941849
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 941848
> View attachment 941853
> 
> View attachment 941854
> 
> View attachment 941856
> 
> View attachment 941857



Thats one of the best before and after results ive seen!


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## Danny the schwinn freak

Definitely cool as is!


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## PCHiggin

Its original only once and  in very nice shape. I restored a '51 Phantom and a '55 Chevy years ago. When  all was said and done, I didnt like nor enjoy them any more then prior to restoration,probably less. It depends if you plan on actually riding it or just looking @ it. New paint is bound to get nicked or scraped a bit,that might bug you,it did me but I wasnt about to let my stuff just sit around and be useless. Its a nice one,enjoy it. My $.02


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## Tim s

Just a couple of thoughts- it really comes down to are you going to be happy with the results when you look at your bike? I have detailed many bikes and some of them I originally thought they would need to be repainted but after detailing them I was happy with the results. Leave the painting to the professionals and ask others in the bike hobby who they recommend. I have had good results using Mother’s and Meguiar’s compound and wax. I use Mother’s mag and wheel polish on the chrome and use steel wool with it if there is surface rust. I tried the aluminum foil one time on a Schwinn chrome wheel and found that it left scratches so never again for me. Enjoy your project. Tim


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## Oilit

Tim s said:


> Just a couple of thoughts- it really comes down to are you going to be happy with the results when you look at your bike? I have detailed many bikes and some of them I originally thought they would need to be repainted but after detailing them I was happy with the results. Leave the painting to the professionals and ask others in the bike hobby who they recommend. I have had good results using Mother’s and Meguiar’s compound and wax. I use Mother’s mag and wheel polish on the chrome and use steel wool with it if there is surface rust. I tried the aluminum foil one time on a Schwinn chrome wheel and found that it left scratches so never again for me. Enjoy your project. Tim
> 
> View attachment 1329683



Chrome is actually pretty hard. I've used Quick-Glo which has pumice in it to take off surface rust and it doesn't scratch the chrome. The only way chrome would scratch with aluminum is if sand or something else hard and gritty got trapped in the aluminum. But then I've also cleaned off wheels that were scratched (somebody had lightly sanded the chrome already attempting to get rust off) and I couldn't see the scratches until I got them clean. Keeping things clean is critical when polishing, sand can ruin your work.


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## kostnerave

Polish the paint ,wax and redecal where needed. Put the money saved toward sending the fenders to a good stainless guy, like Bruce Dell in Ohio. The paint on your bike is way too nice to redo and those pinstripes on your fork are awesome and very hard to replicate. Once a bike is repainted, the other components have to be in nos condition for the bike to have a natural "flow" or appearance.


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## Jive Turkey

I'd walk past 100 restored bikes to check out one with original paint.


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## SJ_BIKER

Lots to consider here. Let's say you do repaint and you do a knock out job ...you proceed to clean parts and then step back and realize dam...that seat looks a little worn out and dam dam all the chrome looks too dull or peppering is just a sore now. Wires are looking beat. And the rubber is looking cruddy to your liking.  It might better sense to let it go to someone who doesn't mind all that wear...patina does look nice if preserved.   
But I see your dilemma...the decals are faded...chipping away... and so forth. It's up to you how much you want to spend on it. Get some quotes and add it all up. If you're happy with that then go for it. If it were mine id do a good detail job(plenty YouTube videos on how to detail cars motorcycles etc) and replace the tires if the integrity of them is compromised. Lube and take it for a spin...if it rides great then it'll be a nice ridervbut if it's rides like crap then maybe it has structure issues...more money to fix is needed unless you know what to do yourself.  You can always sell it and have hefty down payment for something in better condition or buy a restored gem like some have to sell here from time to time. But I would consider the cost and whether or not it would clean up. Good luck. And I agree some people on this site would have a major following if they put out videos of what they do in their restoration processes.


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## mrg

Put a bunch of money in it to restore and lower the value , that will clean up nice, only OG once, Leave it Be!


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## ADKBIKES

Clean it up and you'll be happy with the results   I'm cleaning a 62 in black and looks great


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## 1motime

This thread is over two years old.  What was the decision?


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## Sven

1motime said:


> This thread is over two years old.  What was the decision?



@twinflight  hasn't been here since 12-31-20.
Hopefully he just cleaned and polished it up. It looks great to me.


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## Cranky Chain Cycles

A Jaguar that's been in my repair stand for some time. I had planned on working on the Corvette this Winter but most of my off time has been spent getting myself in shape (long hours on Zwift) for the gravel racing season. Time to shed some pounds and get my gravel bike prepped.


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