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1948 or 1950 Continental with Cycle Lock!

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GT is correct - the bike is re-painted. It looks like someone made a rough guess at matching the original paint and sprayed the bike down. Your other Continental displays the correct color blue.

But the bike was still a good buy, considering what you received. I'd be inclined to strip that over-spray blue and see what's left underneath. Worst case scenario, strip the bike and re-paint. You already have a good one with original paint, so maybe do a color of your choice for this one. The frame is certainly worth the work - it's old-style Schwinn straight gauge Cro-Mo. They're really nicely made bikes. Opal Green would look nice.

I'm certainly happy to have it, and yes, at some point a strip down will be in order. Doubting if anything if left beneath, but ironically another bike shop (sticker is on the down tube) near me had at some point sold it with this respray.

I'll see which color I come up with as close to an original color offered around 1948-1950. Plenty of time for that. I just want to keep working on getting everything else up to snuff.
 
Yeah, repainted but should you strip and repaint, that's a toughy. B/c the thing that got my interest in this, is that paint. Schwinn's Opal and radiant paints are very difficult to copy. They look metallic or candy but it's dependent on an undercoating. IDK what Schwinn did in the 40's but Schwinn's mid-50's and later have a red lead primer and then an aluminum or silvery color and the final coat is transparent green, red, blue, brown etc. . That transparent top coat is what gives it that metallic sheen or deep rich candy coated luminescence without a ton of paint. If you look real close into Schwinn's paint, understanding the top is transparent, you can see why they'd called it Opalescence and later Radiant, that silvery color is reflecting, 'Radiating' through the top coat . .

So, to get this effect out of a can or just one coat, good luck wit dat. However, or about the only way to copy is from an old can of Schwinn's touch up or paint bottle. It's not a multi coat but does replicate it well. Otherwise, Multi coat it, and find the exact match, of blue or which ever color you choose, Schwinn did in 1948


Rats! You're right!! :(

I was looking closer last night and saw the paint around the lock and knew that wasn't correct. I forgot about the oiler cap and HAD seen it. To bad. Well, this has now turned into a larger project. Euphoria one day, dismay the next. But it does explain the complete absence off all decals.

Removing paint from the chain guard will be easier because it's all chrome. And from the chipping, it appears that a primer wasn't used. Maybe I'll find the original color beneath. It not, I'm pretty sure it will be on the fork tube when I remove it.
Also, I can't find any markings on the rims. I wanted to see if they're chrome, or stainless steel like my '46 has.

I'll be going back and forth between this bike and the 1958 Schwinn Hornet I bought along with this (photos in All Things Schwinn).
 
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Yeah, repainted but should you strip and repaint, that's a toughy. B/c the thing that got my interest in this, is that paint. Schwinn's Opal and radiant paints are very difficult to copy. They look metallic or candy but it's dependent on an undercoating. IDK what Schwinn did in the 40's but Schwinn's mid-50's and later have a red lead primer and then an aluminum or silvery color and the final coat is transparent green, red, blue, brown etc. . That transparent top coat is what gives it that metallic sheen or deep rich candy coated luminescence without a ton of paint. If you look real close into Schwinn's paint, understanding the top is transparent, you can see why they'd called it Opalescence and later Radiant, that silvery color is reflecting, 'Radiating' through the top coat . .

So, to get this effect out of a can or just one coat, good luck wit dat. However, or about the only way to copy is from an old can of Schwinn's touch up or paint bottle. It's not a multi coat but does replicate it well. Otherwise, Multi coat it, and find the exact match, of blue or which ever color you choose, Schwinn did in 1948

Hmmm...looks like at this point I might just leave well enough alone then. Except for the chain guard, which maybe I'll just strip and leave all chrome. Lots to do with the rest of the bike in the meantime to get that looking good.
 
GT is correct - the bike is re-painted. It looks like someone made a rough guess at matching the original paint and sprayed the bike down. Your other Continental displays the correct color blue.

But the bike was still a good buy, considering what you received. I'd be inclined to strip that over-spray blue and see what's left underneath. Worst case scenario, strip the bike and re-paint. You already have a good one with original paint, so maybe do a color of your choice for this one. The frame is certainly worth the work - it's old-style Schwinn straight gauge Cro-Mo. They're really nicely made bikes. Opal Green would look nice.

I'm really beginning to appreciate the condition of my 1946 model...
 
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It appears to have everything correct for an 1948 Continental Sports tourist except it's got a Brooks B72 verses a B17 saddle and the 48's were not Chrome molly.
Specifications- Model CNM

FRAME- 21" and 23" best grade carbon steel "Seamless Drawn" tubing, Seat mast and down tube 1 Ya" diameter, All joints reinforced and fillet brazed, Modified touring angles. Drop-out rear fork ends. . Fitted with Brooks B-17 narrow saddle, rattrap type pedals, Puff Tires and Dural rims, the Continental becomes one of the lightest sports touring bicycles available. All this equipment is available at additional cost.

Everything except the up-grade option for Dural rims and tires.
TIRES -

Schwinn Breeze 26" x 1 1/4": Schwinn Whirlwind 26" x 1 3/8" optional, both on Schwinn S-6 Tubular Rim. Schwinn Puff 26" x 1" high pressure road racing tire on Schwinn S-8 "Extruded Dural" rim available at extra cost.

And it's certainly possible that B72 saddle was an original option too. "B72 was first featured in the 1935 Brooks catalogue"

https://bikehistory.org/catalogs/1948.html




GT is correct - the bike is re-painted. It looks like someone made a rough guess at matching the original paint and sprayed the bike down. Your other Continental displays the correct color blue.

But the bike was still a good buy, considering what you received. I'd be inclined to strip that over-spray blue and see what's left underneath. Worst case scenario, strip the bike and re-paint. You already have a good one with original paint, so maybe do a color of your choice for this one. The frame is certainly worth the work - it's old-style Schwinn straight gauge Cro-Mo. They're really nicely made bikes. Opal Green would look nice.
GT is correct - the bike is re-painted. It looks like someone made a rough guess at matching the original paint and sprayed the bike down. Your other Continental displays the correct color blue.

But the bike was still a good buy, considering what you received. I'd be inclined to strip that over-spray blue and see what's left underneath. Worst case scenario, strip the bike and re-paint. You already have a good one with original paint, so maybe do a color of your choice for this one. The frame is certainly worth the work - it's old-style Schwinn straight gauge Cro-Mo. They're really nicely made bikes. Opal Green would look nice.
 
@Jeff54 Thanks for all the additional info. BUT...the '48 (catalog photo below) shows the pointed stainless steel fenders like on my '46. I have the front fender like on the '50 model. Also, the '48 shows different pedals than mine, mine having the Torrington No. 7 pedal. Very confusing to say the least.

Screen Shot 2018-12-16 at 7.48.42 PM.png



View attachment 920417
 
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I can think of a number of reasons for the changes to the bike in the last 70 years. Parts wore out or were damaged and people replaced them with what they had. It was just an old bike. Also Schwinn catalogs often were not correct for what they were really selling is a given year. They were for selling a bike not for future collectors. None of the slight differences change that you have a good old collectable bike. Roger
 
After all this time I just noticed something else.

Fenders on my '46 have a wire fender brace...this one has standard braces. Possibly the fenders were changed out at some point, like from a late '50s or an early '60s Traveler? They were also still Stainless Steel.
 
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