# Schwinn Panther Project



## Benryannj (Jan 11, 2020)

Hello folks,

Though I'd post quick on my latest project - a Schwinn Panther that's been sitting in a barn in Pennsylvania for 20 years... it's in slightly worse condition that I thought and the serial number is baffling as I thought the bike was 67-68 but the lookup says 1960. Also, I ran a wet rag over the chain guard and the paint came away from the decals  this hasn't ever happened to me before so I think it must have been a newer decal maybe and not the original. Not sure about the badge on the front fender also..

It always surprises me how well the rust comes off the old chrome with a bit of WD40 and wire wool  

Let me know what you think! I'm on the look out for a few parts if anyone can help it would be much appreciated.


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## phantom (Jan 11, 2020)

Are you sure that's not a EC which would be May of 67 ?


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## Benryannj (Jan 11, 2020)

phantom said:


> Are you sure that's not a EC which would be May of 67 ?




Yeah, I think ‘67


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## GTs58 (Jan 11, 2020)

Looks like the serial is EC or possibly FC. Should be able to tell if the drop out was cleaned up. Schwinn quit using decals on the chain guards after the 1958 models so the markings were painted on starting in 1959.


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## Schwinndemonium (Jan 11, 2020)

Confirmed, EC= May of 1967.


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## Rivnut (Jan 11, 2020)

A bath in Oxalic Acid will remove most all of that surface rust.  A pad made of aluminum foil and water scrub works well too.  A small brass detail brush will get into the cracks and around the spoke nipples.


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## JimR56 (Jan 14, 2020)

Rivnut said:


> A pad made of aluminum foil and water scrub works well too.  A small brass detail brush will get into the cracks and around the spoke nipples.



I'm an almost complete novice when it comes to working on bikes, but I can vouch for the wet foil technique, which I used this past summer on a vintage road bike I had purchased.  My research suggested not only that steel wool can scratch chrome, but that WD40 is unnecessary for removing rust.

I've had my eye on a '69 Panther on CL recently.  It's in much better shape than this one, but the slimline tank (chrome on top, white on bottom, black logo) is pretty rough looking.  I have zero experience with restoration, and don't have a great desire to invest the time, energy and money for even a minor DIY project to restore a tank.  So I'm just curious... is there anybody that you guys could recommend?  I don't know of anyone locally, so I'm wondering whether there's a reputable place that I could ship a tank to for restoration.  Thanks for any ideas.


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## rollfaster (Jan 15, 2020)

This bike will clean up nice, especially those rims. Try my suggestion..Krud Kutter with a brass bristle brush. Works wonders!


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## Rivnut (Jan 15, 2020)

Can you post picture of the tank?  It would help if we knew your whereabouts.


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## JimR56 (Jan 15, 2020)

Thanks for the reply, Eddie.  I'm not ready to buy the bike yet anyway, but I'm still curious about the possibility of restoration services, for future reference.  Here's the tank I was talking about.  I've seen far worse, but I tend to like a clean look, especially on 60's middleweights.  

I'm in the SF Bay Area.  Thanks.


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## Rivnut (Jan 15, 2020)

Looks simple enough to remove the old white paint, mask and repaint, and put a new set of decals on.  I'm assuming that there are no dents in it.


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## JimR56 (Jan 15, 2020)

I haven't gone to see the bike, but from looking at the photos I was assuming that (in addition to the paint loss and rust/discoloration) the tank has the common bilateral dents caused by impacts from the front rack.


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## Rivnut (Jan 15, 2020)

Looking at the pictures again, I think I see the dents to which you referred.


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