# 1946 LaSalle or 50's



## dageek (Feb 17, 2013)

This La Salle badges Schwinn has the pencil kickstand, braced truss rod forks, big bar frame, and skinny rear drop outs.  A newer kickstand fits but, sits at an odd angle that would not allow the cranks to turn.    BUT the K serial number and skip tooth suggest a possible 50's year of production.  Is this  La Salle a 46?  Bike also came with drop centers,  New Departure D back hub and Schwinn scripted front hub. Maybe a pieced together later post war frame?  Opinions would be appreciated.


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## dageek (Feb 17, 2013)

*more pictures*


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 17, 2013)

*46*

Early post war 46 numbering carried over prewar I and then  J andK before starting with A. Nica BA97 by the way. I have an A serial 46 that says it was made in 51..dont trust the charts when it comes to these big bar frames.


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## jpromo (Feb 17, 2013)

I think the serials began to get repeated right around the time Schwinn lost their records in '48. K suggests early postwar to me as I know F, G, H, I, and J turn up on '41-'46 bicycles so K would make sense as a '46 as well since several letters were used for a single year. Drop centers would also be correct before '48 when they introduced the S2. I'm no Schwinn guru, but it appears to all check out to me as being an original, uncobbled bicycle.

Oh yeah, and nice paint!


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## jkent (Feb 17, 2013)

Paint looks really shiny, Is it original or not?


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## dageek (Feb 17, 2013)

*Original.*



jkent said:


> Paint looks really shiny, Is it original or not?




Original paint.  Just gave it a good detailing.  (TR3 wax, love this stuff + Turtle wax Ice)  Paint on the frame is pretty good but the fender tops aren't as nice.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 17, 2013)

*skinny drops*

Skinny drop outs are dead give away being 46. I have had a 47 48 and 49 fat bar B107s. All of them had standard thickness drop outs except the 46. Also to note, little difference in thickness of  chainguard mounts both on frame and guard itself. They are a tad skinny too. Heads up, right now on Ebay under hornet, is a fat bar ba107 frame and tank if anyone wants one. Somebody apparently wanted to build a hornet, wrong frame for that haha.. Frames are pretty rare!


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 18, 2013)

*leftover bottoms*

There was a two tone green AC on Ebay a few months back, 41 I think, anyways this bike lead me to belive that Schwinn stamped off the bottom bracket serials way in advance. Instead of the serial being on the bottom, it had been partially covered in welds ie rotated further back towards the rear wheel from its standArd position at the time of frame assembly. This has made me wonder about the I J K serials during early postwar as to be leftovers from prewar production. I dont think there were a lot of the I j k number produced in 46 just them using up what stuff they had. A would be the first true postwar serial in my opinion.


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## WES PINCHOT (Feb 18, 2013)

Notice the early 1946 pencil tip built in kick stand!
Nice original b6.


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## Champy (Feb 18, 2013)

*47*

I have a 47 WZ Schwinn with tapered kickstand and skinny drop outs.  Serial C000...  

Does that make sense for a 47?  I assume 47 because it has 'flattened' stays for belt clearance not crimped.


Why do you call the bike above a fat bar?

Thanks
Brian


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 18, 2013)

*fat bar*

Its called a fat bar or big bar cause the straight bar tube which they get there name, is the same dia as all the other tubes like on prewar frames. Most straight bars have a smaller dia straight bar. your whiz is either a  very very early 47 if not its a very very late 46. My money is on 46


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 18, 2013)

*could be*

Bike frame was made in late 46 and the whiz parts added in 47


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 18, 2013)

*wondering*

Didn't people modify their fenders themselves for whizzers??


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## WES PINCHOT (Feb 18, 2013)

*Wz pencil tip stand*

It's hard to say after  sixty some years!
The pencil tip stand was a one year only on the early 46 bikes, 
not to say that one could have still been in the parts ben when building the wz.


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## Champy (Feb 18, 2013)

*Serial No*

Has anyone ever seen an 'A' (1946) serial number.  I've seen lots of B's and C's but never an A.  Maybe after I,J, and K Schwinn started with B?


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## Champy (Feb 18, 2013)

*WZ*



fatbar said:


> Didn't people modify their fenders themselves for whizzers??




Yes, but I was talking about the frame.  The inside of the stays are modified by Schwinn for clearance.  In 47 they were flattened and in 48 they were crimped.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 18, 2013)

*a serial*

View attachment 84792    my A 46


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## Champy (Feb 18, 2013)

*46*



fatbar said:


> View attachment 84792    my A 46




Cool! Finally!   Do you have a pic of the whole bike. Looks like no built in kickstand?


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 18, 2013)

*fell off*

Bike is being painted two tone brown at the moment, but I will post pic when I have it back. The thing with the Axxx on mine it is small type set which is cool. As for the stand, it fell off a while back haha


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 18, 2013)

*flattened*

Maybe 46 was flattened as well?


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 18, 2013)

*I j k*

I don't think they produced a lot of I J K A like how they would with say G on a normal postwar production run. B might be the letter that takes up most of the production for 46. This is just a formulated guess. I J K just might be left over prewar bottom bracket tubes they had to use up or weren't melted down to buikd tanks.


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## Champy (Feb 18, 2013)

fatbar said:


> I don't think they produced a lot of I J K A like how they would with say G on a normal postwar production run. B might be the letter that takes up most of the production for 46. This is just a formulated guess. I J K just might be left over prewar bottom bracket tubes they had to use up or weren't melted down to buikd tanks.




That seems like a fair assessment.  Like you said my C000 Serial might be a very late 46 production and was considered a 47 model. I have read that the WZ started in 47 and there is no such thing as a 46 model.  
So A B and low C numbers are likely 46 production, C makes up most of 47 with maybe some D, and then D into 48????????????????????  We will figure this out one day.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 18, 2013)

*pic to add*

View attachment 84793      this is I think proof that Schwinn stamped these ahead of time and why there would be carry over from pre to post


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## Champy (Feb 18, 2013)

*41*



fatbar said:


> View attachment 84793      this is I think proof that Schwinn stamped these ahead of time and why there would be carry over from pre to post




I have a 41 that was nearly welded over.


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## GTs58 (Nov 30, 2020)

Obi-Wan Schwinnobi said:


> *pic to add*
> 
> View attachment 84793      this is I think proof that Schwinn stamped these ahead of time and why there would be carry over from pre to post





Interesting thread. We know that Schwinn did stamp the serials on the parts before they were used to build a frame. Also Schwinn was EF the bottom bracket shells during the war as noted on some of the war time J series one piece crank lightweights. I believe there has been one I series war time shell to pop up that was EF also. How can we pin down the K series numbers to 1945? 90,000+ Schwinns were shipped out of the factory in 1945.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Dec 1, 2020)

GTs58 said:


> Interesting thread. We know that Schwinn did stamp the serials on the parts before they were used to build a frame. Also Schwinn was EF the bottom bracket shells during the war as noted on some of the war time J series one piece crank lightweights. I believe there has been one I series war time shell to pop up that was EF also. How can we pin down the K series numbers to 1945? 90,000+ Schwinns were shipped out of the factory in 1945.



By all means, feel free to contact Dave S and add all the info you have. The post you quoted me from is almost 8 years old!.. I’m sure some things have popped up since then. Makes sense, small fount A is 46, then just travel back on the prewar letters .. H is what 41-42 I is 42-43 J is 43-44 k is 44-45 A-B is 46 ... that work?


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