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1956 Racer Rebuild

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I did some more cleaning today. The paint is so far gone it doesn't really clean up. A lot of rust and scratches and old touch up paint. I've decided not to substitute better looking parts from other bikes. I'll clean stuff up and remove rust, but if the part is still functional it's going back on, scars and all. The rear rim is a mess cosmetically but I'll de-rust it, replace the two missing spokes and re-use the others. The rim seems to be straight so it should work. Aside from rust on the front rim (though not as bad as the rear) the front wheel is in surprisingly good condition, it's straight and the hub spins smoothly.

Racer_6673.jpg


The crank went back together fine, everything was in pretty good shape once it was clean. The crank has the AS & Co mark but no date code. The headset was a different story. The adjusting cone was damaged (hence the indexing I noted before) so I switched out some of those parts with a Typhoon headset I had around. And I can't find the dang washer that goes between the cone and lock nut! It's always something.

I put the seatpost and clamp in place mostly so I wouldn't lose track of those too!
 
My first new bike was a red Schwinn Racer about 1956-7 year.
Have to go look at the bike in my shop later on and see if the details compare to Desmo Dogs bike. Great article, looking forward to others.
 
Another day, another pedal.
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Then I had to work on some other things so not much progress today. Which is ok since I usually spend Sundays cleaning instead of working! But that's boring so today I cheated and also finished rebuilding the wheel for my (off topic) Sanctuary 7 cruiser.
 
I've been casually looking at Speedsters and Racers for a while now. This one had been listed on Facebook Market place for a bunch of weeks when I finally saw the ad and for some reason I decided to get it. I'd rather have the next size larger frame but I'd have to get a later bike for that.
^^^From my first post in this thread

One of the reasons I didn't get much done today is I was trying to finalize a new purchase. For a few years now I've been casually searching for a 1962 Schwinn project bike. Today I picked one up. I got the frame/fork on ebay and picked it up in person since it was local. When I was there I asked about other parts for it and ended up coming home with the frame, fork, chain guard, and fenders.
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It's a February of '62 frame in the correct size for me. I don't know why that cardboard is taped on there, the frame is fine so it's not hiding anything. Yes I should have removed it before taking the picture. Oops. Anyway, it's got the finned front fender (woo hoo!) and the later graphics (Hmm...). It's also a coaster brake frame, there are no lugs for cables. I don't plan on doing much with it until the '56 is much further along but felt like showing it because, well, why not?! Purists, I'm warning you right now. When I get around to working on that one it's going to get a lot of "incorrect" parts, starting with graphics from the earlier bikes. You're just gonna have to deal with it! ;)
 
The front brake was pretty messed up with a bent pivot and a missing nut. I straightened it out best as I could and stole the acorn nut off the back brake since it will be less visible(?). This is still missing the thin washer/shim under the adjusting nut but that's the life of a 66 year old bike that isn't being restored. It does what it's supposed to do now, which is an improvement over when I got it.
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Rear brake got cleaned up too, and a nylock tossed on in place of the borrowed acorn nut.
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The brake shoes on both calipers were well beyond useless so they got pulled. They are old enough that the rubber pads are replacable in the holders but I'm guessing the pads themselves haven't been available for years? If you installed these the wrong way the rim could pull the pad out of the holder and you'd have no brakes. I'm guessing the safety groups didn't see the humor in that. Later pads were permanantly crimped into the holders.

The stem is dropped in place. It's going to take all my will power to put a stem with flakey chrome on a bike, but I'll try. I'll knock off as much of it as I can to remove the sharp edges. Knowing me I'll then build the bike, maybe ride it once, and switch this stem out for something that doesn't have flakey chrome. But first I'll buy an entire bike just to get the stem, and the acorn nut for the brake caliper.
Stem_6707.jpg


I also put the head plate back on. Don't be shocked if this plate happens to get lost if/when this bike is put up for sale. My '62 really needs one of these...
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You're going to see loose/missing fasteners because a lot of the parts are being more or less set in place so they don't get lost. And so I get an idea of what's missing. I should probably start on the fenders next so I can put the brakes on for real. I still need a keyed washer for the headset before I can put the stem in though, it has yet to reveal itself. Maybe it wasn't there to begin with??? Hmm...
 
If they are Weinmann pads, Kool Stop may make drop-in replacement pads for the refillable holders. Keep your old pads and see if there is a match available from Kool Stop online. Their basic black pads are fine for most uses (unless you're riding it in the rain a lot).

With the Weinmann brake calipers, you can buy replacement thin disc spacers and nuts from donor parts on eBay. They're still pretty cheap and plentiful. The double nut set up on the Weinmann is fiddly but a set of very thin wrenches helps.
 
If they are Weinmann pads, Kool Stop may make drop-in replacement pads for the refillable holders. Keep your old pads and see if there is a match available from Kool Stop online. Their basic black pads are fine for most uses (unless you're riding it in the rain a lot).

With the Weinmann brake calipers, you can buy replacement thin disc spacers and nuts from donor parts on eBay. They're still pretty cheap and plentiful. The double nut set up on the Weinmann is fiddly but a set of very thin wrenches helps.
I stumbled across those Kool Stop pads during some late night browsing. I'm surprised they still sell them! I haven't compared measurements yet but I'm guessing they will work. I also looked at a picture I posted earlier and saw that one of the pads on this bike had been installed backwards and was making it's way out of the holder when I got it.

I'll check for the caliper parts. I never found the set up to be all that fiddly on these but they were the standard brake back when I was a mechanic, so I've had countless sets apart before. Plus I have the secret weapon you mentioned.
Wrench_6712.jpg


That came out of the "Bike Tools" tool box I inherited from my dad. He was a Jr High shop teacher and one of the classes he taught back in the day was bike repair. It's not an extensive set of tools but it's come through in a pinch for me on numerous occassions.
 
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