Yesterday, I took advantage of one of the last warm, dry days we'll probably have in Tulsa for a while, and did some more work on the Schwinn.
First, I pulled the 2 tires off one of my donor bikes and washed off as much dirt as I could. Turns out they were the only 2 off-road tires I had in stock with no cracks. They don't match, but I don't mind.
Then I fitted both tires to a set of wheels similar to what I had on previously, except I hadn't messed with the hubs. While I could use one of the matching sets of silver wheels I have in stock, I like these wheels because they're wider, and they make the tires look bigger too.
Here's how the wheels and tires look on the Hornet. I like how they look, but that light peach color on the wheels just doesn't sit well with me...
So here's what I'm going to do to fix that: I got this half-empty can of "vintage white" spray paint from one of my neighbors earlier this week, and it's a close match to the scallops on the frame, as well as the seat.
I want to use this paint to get the wheels to match the scallops on the frame as close as possible. Truth is, I really need a whole new can of paint to cover both wheels.
I haven't painted wheels before, so I want to try a card trick I've seen car guys use to paint their wheels. I'll mount a set of junk tires to the wheels to keep paint from getting inside the rim of the wheels, but I'll use a deck of playing cards to further mask off the paint... or not. If I'm using junk tires, it might not even matter. Either way, I'll mask off the inside of the wheel and the spokes using painter's tape and a few sheets of cardboard or paper so that only the outer wheel hoop gets painted. I'll scuff up the existing paint with sandpaper or a shower sponge first, so the paint can adhere to the wheels better. Since I've never tried this before, I may want to look up a couple tutorials to see what the best method is for painting wheels on a budget.
Since I plan to paint these wheels with a cream/off-white color to match the scallops and seat of this bike, I'm also thinking of using a dark red paint to add a couple pinstripes on the wheels to make them look more like original Schwinn wheels. I've got this thin pinstripe paint I've been dying to try out for a while now, so this could be a good opportunity to use it.
I'm thinking of either adding crimson pinstripes along the narrow outer ridges between the lip and middle of the wheels, or maybe painting the middle section all crimson red while the rest of the wheels are cream. Either way, I'll want to do a few test pieces first.
Another thing I made sure to check while I had the bike mocked up was clearance for the chainring being flipped back to an "innie" instead of an "outie." I also checked clearance for the chain passing by the tire, as well as making sure the chainring and sprocket were both lined up.
I also put the chain guard back on to make sure the rear tire would clear. Thankfully, it cleared with room to spare.
I put the Schwinn back on the stand and took apart the bottom bracket assembly so I could flip the chainring around to an "innie" configuration. Reason for that is so the chain won't scrape against the chain guard like before. I also flipped the rear sprocket to match. Once I had everything reassembled, I threw the chain back on, and tested the new rear wheel. Bare in mind, I haven't messed with this hub so far. Thankfully, everything worked just as I'd hoped. No weird noises, no sticky freewheeling, and the brake stopped instantly, at least without me riding on the bike. In fact, during one of my tests, the rear wheel spun freely for over 2 minutes after 1 full rotation of the crank! (
You can watch the videos of these tests here on ratrodbikes.com)
So what's left to do?
Well, I think I'll leave the rear hub alone for now. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and all that. I do need to grease the front wheel hub though, but that's no big deal. I still have that gap between the crown race and the top bearing cup, but I've noticed that gap is there on a ton of stock bikes in my collection. I don't know if it's a sign of improper assembly, or if that's just normal, but if I can't find an alternative set of bearings, cups and crown races online (I already dug through my personal collection; no luck,) I'll just use it as is until a better option comes up. I want to paint the wheels, but I need to buy some paint for that to happen. I also probably won't be able to paint for a while, unless I can use one or more of Dad's space heaters to warm up a place to good painting temperatures. It's going to drop down into the 20s and 30s for the lows after tomorrow, so I don't know what'll happen there. Other than that, I just need to install the handlebars, adjust a few things, and this bike's ready to ride!