# 41 Ace Tank



## the tinker (Aug 8, 2015)

Put the tank on the 41 Schwinn Ace today. This bike was being parted out to E bay when I got it.
 Might say this was a "Save" by the Tinker. The tank came from another 41 I bought for parts. 
Fortunately this tank was solid but really dented up with a couple coats of heavy paint over it's original black paint.
After knocking the dents out and priming it I painted with blue rustoleum . Taped tracing paper over the graphics of another tank and outlined the design. then transferred  it to self sticking stencil paper and cut out the design  with an exacto knife.
Then one coat of Ivory paint for graphics.
 Sanded it lightly with super fine wet or dry paper[the paper didn't even feel like it had grit on it] 
Went over it lightly with fine rubbing compound and then turtle waxed it.
also left the tank nailed to the south side of my house in the sun trying to age it. 
The paint on the bike is original. I have rubbed it out and Wd 40 worked good on bringing some life to it.The rack is not correct for a pre war bike but at least it's a blue one. The chain guard is next.


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## the tinker (Aug 8, 2015)

What really gets me disgusted here I am trying to "save" an original 41 Schwinn original paint bike and here Mort of rock Island is selling the same bike a piece by piece on Ebay right now.  I hope the fellows that are buying his parts need them for a blue 41 and won't repaint them. It's one thing to part out a hunk of junk that is dented up and rusty but that bike is better then the one I am trying to save. I gotta stay off Ebay.


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## tech549 (Aug 8, 2015)

hey tinker I have a tank I am trying to straighten can you tell whats the best way to go about this ,that tank looks perfect,i have tried c clamps and wood with no luck.any imput would be appreciated thanks paul


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## the tinker (Aug 8, 2015)

tech549 said:


> hey tinker I have a tank I am trying to straighten can you tell whats the best way to go about this ,that tank looks perfect,i have tried c clamps and wood with no luck.any imput would be appreciated thanks paul




Hi Paul.   Go to Good will resale shop or the equivalent and go to the "ladies" section and for about 5 bucks find a women's leather handbag. [not a purse] 
Fill it tightly with fine sand and seal it up. Turn it upside down on your work bench and you have the best metal working tool for the price of a burger, fries and a drink.
Then go over to Harbor Freight [a place I am not fond of but] they have a cheap nylon round face hammer for about 3 bucks. Also I have a flat face plastic head hammer.    Got a small anvil and a little metal dolly too. 
No clamps, no 2 by 4's. The sandbag round face hammer and patience is the ticket.
You may buy the "shot bag" complete from Eastwood Supply for around 50 bucks. 
This tank was pretty rough when I got it. I traded my labor to cut and install a set of stairs for a bunch of old stuff that included a 41 frame that still had the original springer and tank on it.
Practice on a junk fender. Good luck.


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## Shawn Michael (Aug 8, 2015)

I like it, but it must be hard to steer. Thanks for showing your shop and tools used on the tank too. -Shawn


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## GTs58 (Aug 8, 2015)

Shawn Michael said:


> I like it, but it must be hard to steer. Thanks for showing your shop and tools used on the tank too. -Shawn




Tinker is really talented and I heard he is making a set of high rise handlebars out of some exotic schwinnwood for that cool Ace.


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## tech549 (Aug 9, 2015)

thanks tinker know just were to get this stuff,i will try it out this week and post some pics thanks  paul


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## the tinker (Aug 9, 2015)

tech549 said:


> thanks tinker know just were to get this stuff,i will try it out this week
> and post some pics thanks  paul




After I went to bed last night I had "tanks" on my mind and I thought maybe I was too vague in describing how to fix up a tank. First of all a body- man I am not. Just a tinker as the name implies. 
I have had a couple tank disasters. If you are paying $800 for a motorbike tank with a rusted hole in it , taking it to a body-man could be a wise investment.
 I have found out the hard way to carefully look at a tank before I purchase it. If it had been repainted , especially with house paint I look for any of those little "rust pimples" that could turn into a big hole very quickly.
I have pictured  3 tanks. the one at the bottom is what most of the tanks here in the Midwest look like on the inside..... rust. Pictured are the hammers, the white nylon one works great. the orange one is a dead blow hammer with shot inside. the body man hammer works good in those tough hard to get to spots. 
The first thing I do before banging out any dents or creases in the tank is I"sand" the inside areas of the tank, as illustrated in the 2nd. photo from bottom. This highlights any high spots of the dents and dings. Then I "carefully" hammer out small dents holding the tank on top of the small anvil or the end of a chisel or hammer head clamped into a vise serving as a dolly.[see vise photo]   the top Schwinn tank shows two small fiber glass patches that re enforce the tank in spots where small pin holes of rust opened up and needed to be backed up. 
I have fixed tanks that have had to be completely glassed on the inside because of these pin holes of rust.
When i think it's done I prime the outside of the  tank and when dry I lightly sand the outside to highlight any "high" spots. then hammer these down using the vise with the butt end of a chisel as a dolly on the inside .Any low spots I fill with 3m glazing putty. sand. prime. sand. prime and finish.     
I only use the shot bag on "big" dents. When rolling fenders I bump out the big dents first on the bag. This makes it much easier to roll out and makes it less brutal on the fender roller that can easily be worn out prematurely by careless use. [I am on fender roller #2] Never lend your roller out!
It's gotta be a labor of love!!!!!








And yes Gary I do have some Re pop 41 bars for this bike and THANK YOU for the info on fixing the wife's dryer.......... after replacing the two coils I discovered it was clogged with lint in the outside vent!


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## tech549 (Aug 9, 2015)

thanks for taking the time to help me out with this tinker,i am not a body man either and can use all the help I can find,i will practice with this as you have showed thanks again paul


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## WES PINCHOT (Aug 9, 2015)

the tinker said:


> after i went to bed last night i had "tanks" on my mind and i thought maybe i was too vague in describing how to fix up a tank. First of all a body- man i am not. Just a tinker as the name implies.
> I have had a couple tank disasters. If you are paying $800 for a motorbike tank with a rusted hole in it , taking it to a body-man could be a wise investment.
> I have found out the hard way to carefully look at a tank before i purchase it. If it had been repainted , especially with house paint i look for any of those little "rust pimples" that could turn into a big hole very quickly.
> I have pictured  3 tanks. The one at the bottom is what most of the tanks here in the midwest look like on the inside..... Rust. Pictured are the hammers, the white nylon one works great. The orange one is a dead blow hammer with shot inside. The body man hammer works good in those tough hard to get to spots.
> ...




Thanks Tinker for good advice!


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## tech549 (Aug 23, 2015)

*tank repairs*






   tinker thanks for your help,tank repair came out great really happy with it,ready for paint


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## WES PINCHOT (Aug 23, 2015)

Nice job tinker!


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## the tinker (Aug 24, 2015)

Good job Tech!  
A bike without It's tank is like a pizza without cheese.


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## the tinker (Aug 29, 2015)

The chain guard for the 41 Ace is not looking too good.
I had an original rusty one I painted blue as I did on the tank. Put some age on it with super fine sand paper.
I applied the decal that is shown on lower left that looks authentic compared to the one on the right.  The blue paint shows through, completely altering the look of the decal.    So... not happy about my paint job. and the decal looks just plain bad.    Wondering if I should have painted the area under the decal gold first.  I have an original chrome wing guard off an earlier Schwinn but it has been re chromed and looks maybe too good. May put that on the bike and see how it looks.


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