# Schwinn Straightbar Prewar project



## Schwinn lover (Mar 24, 2018)

Purchased this bike off a Caber & hope to revive it back to it's glory days. With a lot of elbow grease & hard work ,,,, I love a challenge like this type of find. Anyhow he was told it is a 1938 C-model Schwinn. Here is a pic of the serial number,,,, so with some help from our Schwinn experts  here at the Cabe can chime in & help confirm the year. Bottom bracket number  M1613 

 thanks, Roger


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## Schwinn lover (Mar 24, 2018)

Buddy of mine called ,,, said 1936? Will get more pics,,,, looks like it was green with white graphics.


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## Schwinn lover (Mar 31, 2018)

Update on this project. After long soaks of PB blaster & a couple times hitting with a torch ,,,, managed to disassemble it.  The cranks were pretty pitted but look useable for a rat rod. Odd enough they are dated 1934? Guess during the depression Schwinn used whatever was available to build them. Hope the frame turns out better,


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## Schwinn lover (Apr 20, 2018)

More progress,,, soaked with PB blaster for a few weeks.

Placed the seat tube in a vise & twisted back & forth on the frame while pushing up. Took a lot of effort but it moved & come out fine. Odd enough I was surprised how long the post is. Not to mention it still has great plating on it for 82 yrs old.
Here are a few pictures. It looks to be nickel plating. It has a yellow tint not bright chrome.


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## GTs58 (Apr 20, 2018)

Schwinn lover said:


> Buddy of mine called ,,, said 1936? Will get more pics,,,, looks like it was green with white graphics.




I agree with your buddy, but I'm no expert.


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## Schwinn lover (May 23, 2018)

Well the frame turned out great! Cost 35$ to have it dipped & cleaned.
Looking it over I was amazed it wasn't pitted all over the tubes. But the welds look a little rough. If you expand the pics you can see the welds were not as perfect as later Schwinn frames


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## Schwinn lover (May 24, 2018)

Here is the color choice  Looks like the Dark Red Maroon Schwinn color

This will be powder coated


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## GTs58 (May 24, 2018)

...... But have them mask off the serial number.


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## Schwinn lover (Jun 2, 2018)

Yes, good advise to keep the number visable 

The fork finally was found,,,, appearently it was lost somewhere iat the metal cleaners / powder coating shop. I wonder if these are correct forks? Looks like late 40s - 50s balloners? Another odd thing was the amount of threads on the steering tube? This was the fork that was with it when I bought it. Can anyone chime in & tell me if these are correct?  Thanks , Roger


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## ADVHOG (Jun 2, 2018)

Looks great stripped! I'm gonna have to find a place to dip some frames!


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## Schwinn lover (Jun 6, 2018)

I just received my copy of this wonderful book of prewar Schwinn  bikes. After hours of pouring over the pages & soaking in all the information I came to the conclusion that the forks were probably correct.  By the serial number shows 1936.
But which model? I believe what it is,,,, is a  C 97 Motorbike  unequiped. What do you guys think?


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## Schwinn lover (Jun 18, 2018)

Returned from powder coating!
Now for what I started with ,,,it's not that bad. But some others may not agree . Anyhow the color is Maroon Red. This build will be a daily rider as well. Now to find some nice handlebars , grips & a few other parts to finish it. Take a look & tell me what you think. Thanks, Roger


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## Schwinn lover (Jun 30, 2018)

All done,,,attached chain , seat , grips & pedals
Will get more pics tomorrow


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## Schwinn lover (Jul 1, 2018)

More pictures as promised


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## Schwinn lover (Aug 18, 2018)

My



 seat arrived today & looks great!  Installed  it & went for a ride this evening &  boy it's comfortable.  Here is a few pics of it.


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## GTs58 (Aug 18, 2018)

I'd ride that! Pretty cool daily rider. You plan on doing any fork darts or other graphics on the frame?


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## 49autocycledeluxe (Aug 18, 2018)

looks really good. maroon is a good color for these old  bikes.  I think I would have painted it, so it could have whatever cool scallops that year came with, they have the stencils on ebay.

I think I like the fenderless look better than fully equipped.


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## Schwinn lover (Aug 19, 2018)

I think I'm done & will keep as is.

Rides real nice & smooth!  Who knows Never say never,,, I might get bored a year or two & decide to put some fork darts & frame graphics on it. 
For now I just plan on riding the hell out of it!   Roger


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## bricycle (Sep 6, 2018)

Schwinn lover said:


> View attachment 775902 Purchased this bike off a Caber & hope to revive it back to it's glory days. With a lot of elbow grease & hard work ,,,, I love a challenge like this type of find. Anyhow he was told it is a 1938 C-model Schwinn. Here is a pic of the serial number,,,, so with some help from our Schwinn experts  here at the Cabe can chime in & help confirm the year. Bottom bracket number  M1613 View attachment 775899 thanks, Roger




Please check your PM's....


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## Schwinn lover (Oct 3, 2018)

Evening cruises are nice  when it cools down. And a nice light  helps too!


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