# 1941 Schwinn Admiral Autocycle project



## John G04 (Jun 26, 2020)

Another prewar schwinn tanker for me in June! Went to pick up this diamond in the rough green on green 1941 schwinn autocycle. The picker for the auction I won it from said he found it outside a barn (if only they knew) and brought it back to the auction house. Although the paint is rusty theres no rust holes in the tank or rack and it’ll clean up pretty decently I think. The wheels are pretty much gone but I have an extra set that’ll work. Bikes been in Pennsylvania all its life. Super excited to work on this one!


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## Carlos0056 (Jun 26, 2020)

You don't sell it


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## Carlos0056 (Jun 26, 2020)

Great proyect


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## Maskadeo (Jun 26, 2020)

You don’t remove that front headlight!


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## John G04 (Jun 26, 2020)

Maskadeo said:


> You don’t remove that front headlight!




Sorry but its going bye bye lol. Think the stock one is gonna look better


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## Handle Bar Hoarder (Jun 27, 2020)

Nice project right there killer... that is going to look real good when you’re done with it love that colour


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## juanitasmith13 (Jun 28, 2020)

Extra cool! Someone in Cali will give you enough for that headlamp to cover the price of the one you need.


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## cyclingday (Jun 28, 2020)

Somebody gave that bike a Wedgie!


Fabulous!
We’ll be looking forward to the progress reports.
Work slow, and take care!


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## John G04 (Jun 28, 2020)

cyclingday said:


> Somebody gave that bike a Wedgie!View attachment 1220326
> Fabulous!
> We’ll be looking forward to the progress reports.
> Work slow, and take care!




Will do, the cleaning tips you gave me have been working well so far! Waiting on the bar keepers friend to arrive tomorrow and will really start working on it then.


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## lounging (Jun 28, 2020)

juanitasmith13 said:


> Extra cool! Someone in Cali will give you enough for that headlamp to cover the price of the one you need.



I highly doubt it


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## 1motime (Jun 28, 2020)

juanitasmith13 said:


> Extra cool! Someone in Cali will give you enough for that headlamp to cover the price of the one you need.



Is that where the money is?


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## juanitasmith13 (Jun 28, 2020)

That's where the most bikes of the brands that used that lamp are collected and ridden..... and otherwise, Yeah... I had to use one like that because I am TOOOO POOR to by the headlamp my Shelby originally had. This one was to bare metal; $65.00 plus mailing.


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## 1motime (Jun 28, 2020)

juanitasmith13 said:


> That's where the most bikes of the brands that used that lamp are collected and ridden..... and otherwise, Yeah... I had to use one like that because I am TOOOO POOR to by the headlamp my Shelby originally had. This one was to bare metal; $65.00 plus mailing.View attachment 1220367



Nicely done!


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## juanitasmith13 (Jun 28, 2020)

That lamp, and one un-fixable fender brace, are all I lack of being satisfied with this one. It rides GREAT! @John G04 needs to clean his back to OG. He has a winner! (I'm partial to green).


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## John G04 (Jul 4, 2020)

Got to work on it alittle bit today. It has a weird brownish coating on all of the light green and I tried removing it with nu wave which worked in spots, then tried waxing it off which did nothing, only thing that kinda worked was scotch brite pad and dish soap along with aggressive scrubbing. Has anyone else run into something like this? It kind of flakes off when scrubed


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## juanitasmith13 (Jul 4, 2020)

Looking Good! If frame and fenders follow suite this will really be a great OG score! (I don't agree with the folk who never wash and wax their car 'cause it lowers the value)!


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## Hammerhead (Jul 4, 2020)

Great looking project. Loving the two-tone green. Good luck with the cleaning process. 
Hammerhead


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## 1motime (Jul 4, 2020)

John G04 said:


> Got to work on it alittle bit today. It has a weird brownish coating on all of the light green and I tried removing it with nu wave which worked in spots, then tried waxing it off which did nothing, only thing that kinda worked was scotch brite pad and dish soap along with aggressive scrubbing. Has anyone else run into something like this? It kind of flakes off when scrubedView attachment 1223394
> 
> View attachment 1223395
> 
> View attachment 1223396



It looks like someone put some sort of clear coat on it


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## John G04 (Jul 4, 2020)

1motime said:


> It looks like someone put some sort of clear coat on it




Thats what I was thinking, maybe shellac?? I thought I remembered @Freqman1 having a bike with the same coating


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## 1motime (Jul 4, 2020)

John G04 said:


> Thats what I was thinking, maybe shellac?? I thought I remembered @Freqman1 having a bike with the same coating



Doubtful that is shellac.  Probably lacquer.  Ask him.  He seems to be an expert


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## juanitasmith13 (Jul 4, 2020)

@John G04 Just maybe you've been hit by the curse that follows smokers... This may have been idle for years, indoors, @ a house/garage that had a cigarette/cigar/pipe smoker hanging out. Alfred E. Newman would say: "I know; I are one". I've found that Irish Spring bath soap gets the tar off my fingers that other bar soaps, dish wash soaps, and laundry soaps, won't touch. Still takes some scrubbing. Perhaps the 'barn' mentioned had a cast iron stove that burnt coal or even creosote blocks of wood. It may even be that this bike belonged to a young man who later in the 1940s went off to war (therefore the appearance of low mileage); and, did not come home... then again he may have come home but had enough money to buy a car and the bike was left behind.....


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## Freqman1 (Jul 4, 2020)

1motime said:


> Doubtful that is shellac.  Probably lacquer.  Ask him.  He seems to be an expert



The trolls are out today!


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## Goldenrod (Jul 4, 2020)

John G04 said:


> Will do, the cleaning tips you gave me have been working well so far! Waiting on the bar keepers friend to arrive tomorrow and will really start working on it then.




Advice: use Mothers Metal Polish but avoid the pin stripes.  Stainless steel brush on rims and then Mothers. Throne proof tubes to protect the tires from deflating and cracking.


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## John G04 (Jul 4, 2020)

Goldenrod said:


> Advice: use Mothers Metal Polish but avoid the pin stripes.  Stainless steel brush on rims and then Mothers. Throne proof tubes to protect the tires from deflating and cracking.




I tried some wax thats worked well at rubbing off dirt and grime and all that did was shine up what i’m trying to remove. Rims were completely rusted and no chrome left so I bought a girls bike that had a better set


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## all riders (Jul 4, 2020)

In the off chance that it is shellac, Alcohol is the thinner for that. Denatured alcohol is generally safe on many paints. you might try a small spot , say on the under turn of the tank. Dip a Q-tip in denatured and rub it around in a circle on a spot--it will take a little time to "float" the shellac when it does you'll probably feel it, a slick feeling, like the Q-tip is skating. At that point wipe with cotton rag


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## John G04 (Jul 4, 2020)

Few people have said it’s creosote, coating that comes from a coal furnance burning. Fortunately it seems to be thicker on the tank than anywhere else so hopefully cleaning the frame and fenders will be easier than this. The chainguard had the same coating but cleaned up super easy


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## Dave K (Jul 4, 2020)

If needed you can tape off the  pins for heavy polishing or even sanding with 1500 grit to get down to the original paint.  Just take your time because you can’t go back if you damage the pins or paint.


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## John G04 (Mar 29, 2021)

Been super slow getting this one back together but its getting there now. Have gathered all parts I need besides clay blocks for t10’s. Got a very nice and working EA horn from @ABC Services and some super nice repro clay grips with green jewels from @mr.cycleplane . Seat is currently being recovered, will rebuild the hubs wednesday, and get the fenders undented sometime soon hopefully, hate doing fenders haha. Decided to just leave the creosote on the bike, it slightly changes the shade of the paint and I cleaned it off all the light green so its not super noticeable


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## tacochris (Mar 29, 2021)

Boy those clay reds are gonna make that bike sing!!
Absolutely beautiful and my favorite color combo!


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## John G04 (May 2, 2021)

Maiden voyage at last! Memory lane being this week really gave me the rush to get it finished so i could ride it around the show, will finish cleaning up the rack tomorrow and mount it. Rides great. Big thanks to @bobcycles on a fantastic job bringing the roached seat back from the dead, @onecatahula for the trainlight, @sm2501 for the clay blocks, @mr.cycleplane for the grips. Wouldn’t of been possible to bring it back without the cabe!


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## cyclingday (May 2, 2021)

It looks great, John!
Congrats on the resurrection.


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## New Mexico Brant (May 2, 2021)

Looks outstanding John, congratulations!  I look forward to seeing it in person in a few days.


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## John G04 (May 3, 2021)

Rack on and its pretty much done! Just need to find some reflectors at ML as the ones that were originally on the bike are plastic and have a bunch of cracks.


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