# 46 Schwinn DX



## Terry66 (Jan 21, 2012)

I thought I would post some pics of tearing apart my new '46 Schwinn DX. It is pretty much a base model. No tank, no trusses, no light, etc. I picked up the bike last weekend. The bike has a few nicks, paint blemishes and faded paint, but overall I am real happy with the condition. Here is the before pic that I posted in the "Schwinn" forum last week.






First thing I did was pull the crank. There was a bit of surface rust on the crank arms, but it cleaned up VERY well. The crank arms have AS & Co on one side and 9620-A on the other.









The sprocket is near perfect....





Cleaned the bearings with carb/parts cleaner and they look brand new.





The rear hub sounded really nasty and was very rough to turn. I think the grease on the hub was at least 50 years old. It was hardened and a real pain to clean off. A few hours later and I had the hub parts all over my bench and the shell/spokes cleaned up.





I found some schematics and a tutorial on how to rebuild the hub. A couple of hours later, I had everything back together and butter smooth!





I also went ahead and cleaned/rebuilt the front hub as well. The rear wheel needed trued in a bad way. The front wasn't as bad, but I put them both on the truing stand and now they are spot on.





Tomorrow I am going to start cleaning up the frame and hopefully get everything re-assembled.


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## robertc (Jan 22, 2012)

Looking forward to seeing your bike as the project goes forward. It looks in great shape to begin with. Good luck.


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## Terry66 (Jan 22, 2012)

I don't think there will be that big of a difference visually in the before/after. Mechanically the bike will be better, but overall its going to look about the same. It's funny that I almost didn't bother calling about this bike, but now it is one of my favorites. I just like the simple look. I have it all back together as of tonight. I am missing some script oval grips and I am on the look out for the Mesinger seat.

Here it is as I was putting it back together along with a nice shot of my messy workbench....You can see that there is hardly any rust or dirt even under the fenders.





Even though the tires are cracking a little, I swear the tread looks like they were never ridden on. They have the excess rubber from the mold on the tread. Supposedly the indian head Lightning Darts that say "Carlisle, Pa" on them are the older tires and not the newer ones that were produced later.


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## bricycle (Jan 22, 2012)

Great pick, and nice work you're doing! Beautiful paint job...


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## okozzy (Jan 23, 2012)

*I have the Twin to your bike*

I have the exact same bike (prewar), the same "Indian Head White Lightning" tires and the same messy workbench.
This bike is a great rider and is great as part of any collection.

I am the third owner, the bike was originally bought in the 1rst. "Schwinn bike shop" in Las Vegas and it remained in Las Vegas until I found it.


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