# Schwinn Spitfire Questions Again-Here are Pictures!!



## deedee_14 (Mar 26, 2015)

I have tried to google the numbers I found on bike parts with no luck or I have no clue what I am looking for..lol...So I am hoping someone with more knowledge than me can look at these numbers and figure out what kind of bike it is!! Thank you thank you!!!


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## rideahiggins (Mar 26, 2015)

The last photo is of a Wald after market fender. It didn't come original on the bike.


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## HARPO (Mar 26, 2015)

SA62.....crank is from 1962.....


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## greenephantom (Mar 26, 2015)

A picture of the bike itself would be more helpful. Although if it isn't still in original paint, then there may be no way to actually tell what it left the factory as.
Cheers, Geoff


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## GTs58 (Mar 26, 2015)

HARPO said:


> SA62.....crank is from 1962.....




SA.62.78 on the crank. The crank was cast in 1978

The number on the rear drop out is the part number. The left and right dropouts on a particular frame usually had the same first two digits and the last two were different.

All the numbers in the world will not tell you what model a bike was. If that is a 1978 built Schwinn then there are only a few models that it could have been. The headbadge should also have a four digit number which is the final build date.


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## ZOOK (Mar 27, 2015)

Appears to be a Schwinn 1978 something with after market parts. Maybe a middle weight something or other?


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## Metacortex (Mar 27, 2015)

Jeff54 previously identified the bike as a late '70s Spitfire here: http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?71199-Schwinn-Spitfire-Questions

Based on the crank numbers the bike is a '78 or '79 model. We would need to see the serial number stamped on the base of the head tube as well as the 4-digit number on the headbadge to narrow it down further.


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## GTs58 (Mar 27, 2015)

Jeff54's identification was just a guess, and made by looking at the pedals. Since the bars and fenders don't belong on that bike and the chainguard was never painted (picked up later) I can take a good guess and say that none of the parts are original to that frame. All the parts were found loose in an attic so the only thing about that bike that can be verified is the serial number date. If it's actually a 78 frame it could have been a Typhoon, Heavy Duti or a Spitfire. Funny that everything including the bearing cups were removed but the kickstand stayed on and was painted with the frame?


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## Metacortex (Mar 27, 2015)

GTs58 said:


> If it's actually a 78 frame it could have been a Typhoon, Heavy Duti or a Spitfire.




Of those isn't the Spitfire the only one that is a Ballooner, and aren't those frames different? Is there somebody who can tell whether it is a Balloon frame or not by looking at the pics?

In addition to the serial number, the forged fork should have date codes on the insides of the dropouts.



> Funny that everything including the bearing cups were removed but the kickstand stayed on and was painted with the frame?




I hate to see that, they aren't that hard to remove...


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## Jeff54 (Mar 29, 2015)

Metacortex said:


> Of those isn't the Spitfire the only one that is a Ballooner, and aren't those frames different? Is there somebody who can tell whether it is a Balloon frame or not by looking at the pics?




Poses an interesting question. Is there a difference between ballooner or perhaps better or easier said: S-2 verses S-7 frame in the 70-80's?  

Back in the day, it would seem that Schwinn began creating a universal frame. Can't say the time line but I'll guess when Schwinn seems to have undergone their first noticeable changes in cost cutting approx. 1974. Somebody would need to go through all of the catalogs to nail the date if the pictures can illustrate it well enough.

However, here in this 1978 cat. picture you can see, pretty much, Especially if you concentrate on the rear fender bracket, there's no difference between the Heavy-Duty S-7 and Spitfire S-2 frame sizing. 
 1978







*In other catalog pictures of middleweight bikes, you can not see this bracket well enough to be sure. 

Yet the heavy duty appears the same, 1981:*










*Regarding the Op's bike, we can see its fender bracket, and because the 60's and earlier middleweights (S-7's)  were smaller in diameter, easily smaller by sight, verses the Heavier S-2 Bikes, there's a visible difference showing that it's not a 60's frame. .

Here's a Blue 1962 S-7  and an 1948 Green  S-2:



*












*Now, if you've a keen eye, the ops frame,, that bracket is not as small as an earlier middleweight, nor large as early heavy.  The diameter is larger, I.E. the round pitch is not as narrow as either 50's and 60's shape.  This is a good indication that Schwinn created an universal rear fender bracket. Moreover it seems that these frames can be S-2 or S-7 fit. 
*





 

*


 Schwinn claims that the heavy duty frame has extra support but I don't see anything different.. Perhaps there is a difference  because at 45 pounds it's as heavy as the Spitfire 5 and cruiser 5 speeds. 

Regardless, the ops frame, that rear fender bracket is not a 60's middleweight, its diameter is wider and could be any of the 70-80's bikes in which the only difference other than whether there's a weight difference between others and the heavy-duty  is; which chain guard ya wanna put on it? 

You could extrapolate on this when ya get into the Cruiser models however, they carried two different types of brackets. 1980 Cruiser could have had the bracket seen in the ops bike or the bracket used for cantilever brakes in the Cruiser 5. Quite possibly for the catalog in 1981, the Cruisers may have had either brackets too. Because, in 1981 Schwinn's catalogs show the cantilever brackets for all Cruiser models, yet, given the universal size anything is possible.  

As seen here, a Sept 10 1980 badged Cruiser frame with rear fender bracket for cantilever brakes, while the 1980 Schwinn Cruiser catalog photos shows the same bracket as the op's and above 1981 catalog frames. *





*Anyways; with exceptions in the 5 speeds, It looks like, all ya gotta do in the later 70-80's, is; pick your chain guard and wheel size THEN: nobody would be the wiser. *


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## GTs58 (Mar 29, 2015)

Deedee,

If you could post the complete serial number that is stamped on your frame we can figure out what year the bike is. There were three different locations for the serial numbers over the years. 

Early bikes it was on the bottom bracket, or large tube where the crank is mounted
1952 to early 1970 it is was on the left rear drop out. The metal tab where the rear axle is mounted to the frame.
1970 and on it was stamped on the headtube bottom. This is the tube were the fork is attached.  

Note to the OP, other person. Schwinn never claimed that the HD frame was any different than any other cantilever frame. Don't read between the lines.
A caliper brake and cantilever brake are two different animals. Learn. 
Heavyweight is a slang name created in the 70's for the Balloon bikes. Weight has nothing to do with a bikes classification during these times. 
An "S-2" canti frame is not heavier than a S-7 frame. Only difference is the tubing bends.


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