# 1961 Speedster - bringing it back to life



## chaparralian (Apr 24, 2021)

After a decade of thinking about it, I've finally decided to bring the 1961 Speedster my parents bought me when I was a kid back to life. I'm midway through the process and wanted to share my experience here. I had no idea how peaceful all of this could be. The other day, three hours went by without notice as I was un-kinking my old, rusty chain - Evaporust bath, pliers, WD-40 bath, pliers, working stubborn links back and forth; it was like the world didn't exist. Here's the full before photo. More to come.


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## coasterbrakejunkie1969 (Apr 24, 2021)

Welcome, love my middleweights. Great start keep up with pics everybody loves pics. Good luck all you need here just be patient and do some searching. A lot of really knowledgeable people here, just remember in person most of us are cranky haha. Good luck


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## Rivnut (Apr 24, 2021)

Looks like a complete bike other than the missing seat. I imagine that you put the ape hangers on it when you were a kid.  They were the craze back then.  Your Evaporust will pay for itself in short order. Or a bath in OA might be in order.


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## chaparralian (Apr 24, 2021)

Rivnut, I was lucky enough to pick up an original seat in pretty good shape. Decals are needed - but the current Schwinn decals for the horizontal post has a slightly different star configuration. Might just let the old ones be. Breaking down the hub and cleaning up the coaster brake was a wonderful experience. Ready to repack it now.


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## chaparralian (Apr 24, 2021)

PS Yes, about those ape hangers... yes, and as I grew I needed a way to make the handle bars fit my lanky long arms.


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## bloo (Apr 24, 2021)

Welcome! Looks like a fun project.

About the decal mismatch, do you mean the top bar? Here is a picture of my 61, i never noticed anything odd about those stars, but maybe I didn't have anything to compare them to. What is different? Has your fork been replaced? Mine and all others I have seen so far have a simple short dart on the fork. You might try dunking the frame and fenders in oxalic acid. I have not done that to anything as big as a bike frame yet, but I have seen some miracle paint recoveries posted in this forum. It might surprise you what is possible.

@rollfaster here on the CABE also has a 61 speedster, his is in very nice condition. Keep us posted on your progress.


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## Rivnut (Apr 25, 2021)

From what I gathered, the only decal on the seat post should be a white Schwinn Quality round decal



But, those are some wild decals on that replacement fork.  Schwinn usually just had darts on their forks.



Do you know what that fork was on before it was on your bike?


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## chaparralian (Apr 25, 2021)

Rivnut said:


> From what I gathered, the only decal on the seat post should be a white Schwinn Quality round decal
> 
> View attachment 1398160
> 
> ...




I was pretty abusive of my bike when I was a kid. Consequently, the front fork got bent and I bought a new one. Same color, but the decal obviously is from a different era. Geoff Greene's book, Schwinn Tech and Spec guide has a photo of the newer decal and indicates it is from the early '80s era. Doubtful I bought that fork in the '80s had long moved away from home and was married by then. It must have been in the late '60s early '70s as I bought my brother's Continental 10 speed in the early 70s and left my old bike behind.

Anyway, I'm removing those and replacing them with the darts. Also have a new quality seal decal to replace the one that has nearly disappeared on the seat tube.





The stars I was mentioning are on the horizontal tube on either side of Schwinn...





The new Schwinn decals have a kind of generic star that is much less exciting. So I'm going to keep the old decal.


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## GTs58 (Apr 25, 2021)

That fork has the 1981-82 Cruiser surfboard dart. It also might have a 3/8" axle slot where the standard fork that was on your bike had a slot for the 5/16" axles.


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## Superman1984 (Apr 25, 2021)

@chaparralian try taking a graphite/pencil rub of those stars & measurements where they are; if you intend on OA bathing it or even WD40 & #0000 steel wool will probably remove it. Can be carefully striped back on if you lose it or decide to restore it .... I like the later dart on the fork = a little different & kinda custom lookin' cool touch


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## Rivnut (Apr 26, 2021)

Here's a picture of my 1959 Speedster which I completed a couple of months ago. It has the Bendix manual two speed hub.

View attachment 1398919

Edit: The Wally World guard says we don't have permission.  Well pooh on him.  Scroll down a couple of post and you can see that I out flanked him.


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## bricycle (Apr 26, 2021)

Rivnut said:


> Here's a picture of my 1959 Speedster which I completed a couple of months ago. It has the Bendix manual two speed hub.
> 
> View attachment 1398919



why is John Candy ready to spank me??


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## Rivnut (Apr 26, 2021)

I don’t know. I posted the same question to the powers to be. I’m waiting on a response.


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## Rivnut (Apr 26, 2021)




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## chaparralian (Apr 26, 2021)

OK, so did the oxalic acid bath. The amount of crystal powder of the acid to use per vol of water was all over the map on the net. So I went with the lowest amount, 100:1 mass volume. Turned out to be about 3 tablespoons per gallon of water. Left the frame and rims in the bath for about 5-6 hours. The rims came out beautifully. There are a couple rust holes on the inside surface, but can use JB Weld to plug those up. BUT if you look at my fenders and frame... the rust did a lot of damage. Once removed, it took a lot of the paint with it as you can see below.

The fenders need more work obviously. The remaining paint the frame remains pretty fragile, and there is still some rust that is ready to fall off.

So my challenge is this - so I give it up and have the frame and fenders professionally repainted, or do I figure out a good method to just keep the current condition, maybe with a monthly dose of linseed oil? If I just stick with what I've got, I need to do something to preserve what paint is left and protect the exposed bare metal.

Ideas, advice would be appreciated.


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## Superman1984 (Apr 26, 2021)

I say soak it & get as much rust off as possible. Go from there; if you want to ride it & never worry about it then leave it with what survives at your content. A lot wish they didn't Restore them because then they fear them getting damaged riding etc but they Look Nice & New. It's a 50/50 in those Aspects. I do like that it's Blue vs Red ....


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## chaparralian (Apr 26, 2021)

P.S. I think the reason the rust is so bad is that it was stored in a shed for 20 years that had an unfortunate environmental condition. There was a bottle of ammonia and a bottle of HCL within. Both were capped, but I think fumes escaped, interacted and raised hell with all the metal in the shed. Nails, coffee cans, etc. were all heavily rusted. It likely played havoc with the bike and the paint.


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## chaparralian (Apr 26, 2021)

Superman1984 said:


> I say soak it & get as much rust off as possible. Go from there; if you want to ride it & never worry about it then leave it with what survives at your content. A lot wish they didn't Restore them because then they fear them getting damaged riding etc but they Look Nice & New. It's a 50/50 in those Aspects. I do like that it's Blue vs Red ....



Yes, after the shock has worn off, I think that's the direction I'm going in. I really wanted to do the whole job myself. The idea of someone else making it like new isn't appealing to me.


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## Superman1984 (Apr 26, 2021)

chaparralian said:


> P.S. I think the reason the rust is so bad is that it was stored in a shed for 20 years that had an unfortunate environmental condition. There was a bottle of ammonia and a bottle of HCL within. Both were capped, but I think fumes escaped, interacted and raised hell with all the metal in the shed. Nails, coffee cans, etc. were all heavily rusted. It likely played havoc with the bike and the paint.



Very well could be. I have seen some metals react differently in the same areas with the same weather but around oils & antifreeze. Not to mention a lot of metals being present that rust 1st then promote more to anything in the areas


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## Upchuck79 (Apr 26, 2021)

Pulled my '64 Speedster out of dumpster - 2 speed hub is a nice pick; what I need is a black and white messenger seat to make it complete. Anybody got one to trade me? Thanks


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## Superman1984 (Apr 26, 2021)

Upchuck79 said:


> Pulled my '64 Speedster out of dumpster - 2 speed hub is a nice pick; what I need is a black and white messenger seat to make it complete. Anybody got one to trade me? ThanksView attachment 1399161
> 
> View attachment 1399159
> 
> ...



Post a Want Ad in the Wanted to Buy Forum. It does help.


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## GTs58 (Apr 26, 2021)

If you were me you would blast the frame, fenders and guard and then shoot some fresh paint.    If you never did this to a bike as a kid it's about time you did one.  

Seriously, I would repaint it just for the fun of saving my childhood bike. It's not worth having it professionally painted and there is an off the shelf blue spray paint that's not totally exact but the color is pretty much dead on. Call it a Refurb, not a Resto, and it might be a fun project if you're into that kind of thing.


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## Rivnut (Apr 26, 2021)

Put on some rubber gloves, put the bike back into the OA bath, and take a red scotch brite pad to it.


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## chaparralian (Apr 26, 2021)

Upchuck79 said:


> Pulled my '64 Speedster out of dumpster - 2 speed hub is a nice pick; what I need is a black and white messenger seat to make it complete. Anybody got one to trade me? ThanksView attachment 1399161
> 
> View attachment 1399159
> 
> ...



Beautiful bike. I was able to get a blue seat for my speedster via EBay a couple weeks ago. Keep lookin!


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## Steve Baltera (Apr 27, 2021)

Try some fine bronze wool ( Hardware Store has it ) and polishing compound .It will remove the rust and not the paint.Give it a nice patina


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## Rivnut (Apr 27, 2021)

@Upchuck79 I took this one off of a ‘63 Traveler. If it’s something that you think you’d be interested in, PM me and we can negotiate.


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## RustyHornet (Apr 27, 2021)

Love this bike! I have it’s twin! In pretty much the same shape, maybe worse than yours. It’s the first middleweight that’s ever really caught my attention. I plan to do an OA bath like you, keep it ratty and enjoy it! I’ll be following along with yours and hopefully getting to mine soon! This one has a Bendix Red Band 2 speed kickback.


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## Knez68cougar (May 1, 2021)

chaparralian said:


> After a decade of thinking about it, I've finally decided to bring the 1961 Speedster my parents bought me when I was a kid back to life. I'm midway through the process and wanted to share my experience here. I had no idea how peaceful all of this could be. The other day, three hours went by without notice as I was un-kinking my old, rusty chain - Evaporust bath, pliers, WD-40 bath, pliers, working stubborn links back and forth; it was like the world didn't exist. Here's the full before photo. More to come.
> 
> 
> View attachment 1397503



So cool.  I like to see anything old lovingly restored... bikes, toy trains, old cars, houses, anything.  Great Job.  What did you use to clean up the rims?   I recently put a set of new WW on my '66 panther and cleaned it up a little


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## rollfaster (May 7, 2021)

Keep it up, these Speedsters ride great!


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## chaparralian (May 18, 2021)

rollfaster said:


> Keep it up, these Speedsters ride great!
> 
> View attachment 1406389




Hi Steve. This is such a great bike! I'm looking to replace my pedals, as the ones I have are newer ones with reflectors. From the looks of yours, they look original with nuts on the inner side of the pedal, yes? Can you let me know the dimensions of them and if they have Made in USA or Germany around the inner portion? Thanks so much!!!


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## bloo (May 18, 2021)

I'm curious about that too. I'm pretty sure they were waffle pedals, but is seems like there are a million kinds. I am also curious which handlebars those are.


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## chaparralian (May 18, 2021)

bloo said:


> I'm curious about that too. I'm pretty sure they were waffle pedals, but is seems like there are a million kinds. I am also curious which handlebars those are.



The handle bars on my bike are "ape-hangers" that I put on as I got taller so I wouldn't have to bend over to reach the original ones.

The pedals, yeah, lots of kinds. The early waffle block types apparently had problems as the rubber block was not properly secured. The better versions used nuts instead of cheaper clips. I'm looking for the more secured nut version.


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## bloo (May 18, 2021)

I have a pair of the German non-reflector waffle pedals with the nuts and the blocks secured by bent over tabs on the end caps. You cant actually turn the nuts. They are staked. I have had others like them apart (never to go back together), and the bearing adjustment is also smooshed so you can't take it apart. They aren't what they seem at first glance. I wouldn't call it a better version. It begs the question "better than what?".


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## GTs58 (May 18, 2021)

chaparralian said:


> The handle bars on my bike are "ape-hangers" that I put on as I got taller so I wouldn't have to bend over to reach the original ones.
> 
> The pedals, yeah, lots of kinds. The early waffle block types apparently had problems as the rubber block was not properly secured. The better versions used nuts instead of cheaper clips. I'm looking for the more secured nut version.




What kept the pedal blocks from spinning on the later issues were the bends on the end plates holding the block in place. Just be aware if looking on eBay that there are two sizes of pedals, maybe three with that style. 4" is the larger size.


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## chaparralian (May 19, 2021)

bloo said:


> I have a pair of the German non-reflector waffle pedals with the nuts and the blocks secured by bent over tabs on the end caps. You cant actually turn the nuts. They are staked. I have had others like them apart (never to go back together), and the bearing adjustment is also smooshed so you can't take it apart. They aren't what they seem at first glance. I wouldn't call it a better version. It begs the question "better than what?".



Thank you for that info. It's really helpful. My current reflector pedals have a flat pin at the end of the pad that secures it. I was hoping the older versions with the nuts would be friendlier to repair.


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## chaparralian (May 19, 2021)

GTs58 said:


> What kept the pedal blocks from spinning on the later issues were the bends on the end plates holding the block in place. Just be aware if looking on eBay that there are two sizes of pedals, maybe three with that style. 4" is the larger size.
> 
> View attachment 1414749



Thanks for the warning on size. Often times the sellers do not put down any measurements, so you have to ask. Seems like a basic description requirement.


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## bloo (May 19, 2021)

Also I'm pretty sure the ones like mine (same as in GTs58's post) are newer that the clipped ones, not older. There is probably more than one type with the clips. Some of the clipped ones _might_ have rebuildable bearings if you could get the clips off and then thread the pedal rubber shafts. I have heard rumor of this but I haven't seen it and don't quite believe it. 

If any truly rebuildable waffle pedals with nuts exist they would be the oldest ones of all, and no doubt would have free spinning blocks. I wish I knew. 

I also wish I knew which version was original for 61.


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## Superman1984 (May 19, 2021)

@GTs58 is right. I call what he posted "cleated" like on the end caps as the blocks don't spin & they Shouldn't as that is the Pedals Job. I kinda hate when you go to ride something & the blocks just rotate which ever way they have been "worn" the most. Call it OCD but pedals should be flat & even Unless made not to be for purpose or reasons


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## bloo (May 19, 2021)

That was kind of normal back in the day. You might notice they had tread on all sides of the blocks.

I have MKS 3000r on my 61 speedster now, Rebuildable, high quality like Torrington and brand new. Mine have reflectors. They are also available without reflectors (MKS 3000s), but that is harder to find, and pretty much impossible with bike parts out of stock everywhere. The blocks do not spin because the block shafts are square.

You have to be careful buying because they are available in both 9/16" and 1/2", and the model number doesn't specify. Most places have only 9/16". I gathered chaparralian was trying to ditch the reflectors, but stick with waffle pedals. Some guys turn the blocks on MKS 3000r around backwards to get rid of the reflectors. Anyhow, they aren't waffle pedals.
​


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## bloo (May 19, 2021)

Now there's some really old (possibly 1955) waffles on Ebay, I just saw them on the ebay listings here. They have nuts that come off, and are rebuildable... BUT....

They use a cap to cover the outer bearing that snaps or screws or something, and both caps are missing. That was a problem on some of Schwinn's best quality pedals. Nice, but the bearing cones might be destroyed from rust because they have been open, and where would you ever find those caps?


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## chaparralian (May 19, 2021)

I just picked up a pair of waffles on Ebay. They look pretty good. Large 4" with a 1/2" bolt. I'll report back when I receive them.


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## chaparralian (May 19, 2021)

OK, here we are so far. Just purchased a nifty original seat (lost the first one long ago). Still need to put on the front fender (found some safety washers that go with the newer fork) and original waffle pedals on the way


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## Superman1984 (May 19, 2021)

chaparralian said:


> OK, here we are so far. Just purchased a nifty original seat (lost the first one long ago). Still need to put on the front fender (found some safety washers that go with the newer fork) and original waffle pedals on the way
> 
> View attachment 1415108



I kinda dig the bleached out fading look it has right now  
Keep goin' forward with it


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## chaparralian (May 22, 2021)

All done. Just received replacement pedals. A beautifully far cry from the cheapo reflectors I had before. What a difference Schwinn pedals with real bearings make. Rides like silk now. Also found original safety washers for the front fork (which had slightly larger holes for the hub screw for better security).


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## chaparralian (Jun 2, 2021)

Here's the final, full story of my restoration. Hope you all enjoy it.

*The Schwinn - Therapy to Calm the Mind*

“Be home for dinner.”

If you remember hearing your parents shouting this just before you flew out the door as a kid, there’s a fair chance that you’ll likely also remember what gave you the freedom to escape – your bike.

Sometimes with a box of stuff strapped on your book rack (for me, jars for bug collecting, BB gun, Snickers, a bottle of Nesbitt’s orange soda), you raced to meet your friends. Where you’d end up, no one really knew. You just rode – sometimes without hands, sometimes standing, always yelling, laughing, talking.

Freedom. Bike. Two of the same.

Although bikes have been around for a long time, there was a special time when they showed a couple generations the meaning of independence forged with an indestructible iron frame painted blue, red, green, or black with white pinstriping on the tubes, the front wheel fork, and fenders. Schwinn.

The only safety feature was a single, red reflector on the rear fender. And no helmet.

You didn’t come home early unless you’d taken a spill on the asphalt...

Please continue reading, view photos here.



Cheap, knock-off pedals.


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## RustyHornet (Jun 13, 2021)

chaparralian said:


> Here's the final, full story of my restoration. Hope you all enjoy it.
> 
> *The Schwinn - Therapy to Calm the Mind*
> 
> ...



Excellent blog post! Very much enjoyed reading that. Almost brought a tear to my eye as I remembered the freedom as a kid....


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