# 1973 Continental Survivor



## Ernbar (Oct 27, 2019)

Came across this December 1973 Chicago built Continental listed in Offer Up. I originally thought of doing a repaint but once I got it home I experimented with Simple Green cleaning small parts on the frame which actually cleaned up pretty well. Now l think I will clean up the paint, re touch some of the chips and replace the decals. I need to pull those up so I’m thinking of using Solvaset which is stronger than Micro Set to soak and remove the ugly decals. Yellow tape will replace those ugly padded things on the handle bars.
I also used some 0000 steel wool with WD40 to clean a couple of spots on the chrome as a test.  I think I did ok for a $50 Schwinn Continental.





Lightly cleaned the chrome on top here just to see how good the chrome is.



Buffed out the small flat part on the fork which loos good



Small cleaned part looks good too







Top tube paint is decent and should clean up 




The saddle is in great shape, no tears or damage




Experimented on a small spot here too and looks good



I figure between the rear rack and the saddle I have at least $50 worth in parts.


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## Allrounderco (Oct 27, 2019)

Try Mr. Clean magic eraser on the decals before giving up on them. You’ll be surprised.


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## Ernbar (Oct 27, 2019)

Blackbomber said:


> Try Mr. Clean magic eraser on the decals before giving up on them. You’ll be surprised.





WOW bomber you r da man!!  It so happens I have several  from the Dollar Store and look!

Before




After



Before



After




It only took about 10-12 swipes to get all that gunk off. It even cleans the paint better that polishing compound. Thanks for saving me $ on new decals. Now I need the Kool Lemon color handlebar tape so back to evilbay.


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## Sven (Nov 1, 2019)

Cant beat that Kool Yellow


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## Ernbar (Nov 1, 2019)

Got some parts off the frame and began doing some cleaning. Got that ugly yellow foam grips off the handlebars. My matching yellow tape came in yesterday.




Evaporust at work



Took off the rear brakes and cleaned them. Compare them to the dirty front ones. I’m missing one of the pedal’s dust cover so any idea where I can get these, maybe eBay?



Been using the Magic Eraser to clean the paint. It does a great job !







Bottom got cleaned up



The rear brakes are back on and they look like new. Both frame side tubes had a ton of gunk, stains and what looked like tiny scratches but the Magic Eraser got everything off.



Can’t wait to clean these up.


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## Ernbar (Nov 3, 2019)

I’m really impressed with Evaporust and Flitz metal polish. I should have taken a before  picture of the Continental kick stand but didn’t cause I thought it was gonna be trashed. It had a lot of rust and had some brown crap on one side and lots of staining .
I dipped it in Evaporust for 48 hours and it still looked like crap. I took it out of the pan this morning and rinsed it with water and dried it. I used some 0000 steel wool to take off a yellowish haze and then rubbed it with some Flitz metal polish and man it came back to life! This is the top part of the stand that looked very bad before the de rusting and polishing.


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## Ernbar (Nov 19, 2019)

She’s all done, new cables, brake pads, bar tape, tires & tubes, overhauled pedals and crank bearings, touched up the paint and cleaned up the chrome. She looks brand new now and rides smooth as silk. I think the Kool Lemon color is just gorgeous.


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## bikemonkey (Nov 19, 2019)

Ernbar said:


> She’s all done, new cables, brake pads, bar tape, tires & tubes, overhauled pedals and crank bearings, touched up the paint and cleaned up the chrome. She looks brand new now and rides smooth as silk. I think the Kool Lemon color is just gorgeous.
> View attachment 1098452
> 
> View attachment 1098453
> ...


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## Ernbar (Nov 21, 2019)

Forgot to mention fellow Cabe member ABC Services gave me a great deal on some dust covers for the Atom 440s so Thanks ABC!


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## Tim s (Nov 26, 2019)

Ernbar said:


> Forgot to mention fellow Cabe member ABC Services gave me a great deal on some dust covers for the Atom 440s so Thanks ABC!



The  bike looks great, good work. I like the white walls with the yellow frame. Tim


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## eeapo (Dec 14, 2019)

Beautiful just plum beautiful, you have made us all proud.


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## morton (Dec 15, 2019)

The one thing I enjoyed so much about bicycles is that with very little money and some sweat equity you can transform something that looks like a piece of crap into a show piece.  I know they are heavy and have some quirks, but the inherent quality of the chrome plating and paint make old Schwinns prime candidates for "keep it original resorations."

Nice job.


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## Sven (Dec 15, 2019)

Looks like a totally different bike..great job!


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