Kasual Klunker (Formerly "The Ratical Rustin' Hornet")

[Bike from the Dead]

Lots of options, and most importantly your having fun doing it. Whatever you land up with will bring you joy! Here’s a few Straightbar builds I’ve done over the years for reference. A couple of DX’s hère also.

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Thanks! You've got a fine collection of Schwinns there yourself!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Gonna keep the descriptions short because it's already 2pm and I haven't started on the bike yet today.

Here's what I got done yesterday:
I stripped the fork and gave it a satin clear coat. Once that was done, I stuck it in my dad's powder coating oven to let it dry.

I shined up the fork spring using a mix of steel wool, the brass wire wheel on my dad's grinder, and a variety of hand and drill-mounted brass wire brushes.

I also cleaned up the seat post, crank, bearing cups, bearing races, nuts, bolts, and other fork parts using the same technique for the fork spring. I also decided to take a few macro shots of the Schwinn stampings on a few of the parts. It's just neat to see those little markings on these parts. Anyone know what the little crown shape is about on some of those?

I would have worked on more parts, but it was already past 10pm, and I figured it'd be better to head home before I got too tired to drive.

It's raining all day here today and tomorrow, so I may have to change a few of my plans around to accommodate for that. Today I'd like to clean the headset and bottom bracket bearings, get the wheel hubs apart so I can clean those up, buff the paint on the frame and chain guard with rubbing compound and Johnson's Paste Wax, install the bearing cups and maybe the complete bottom bracket assembly, and continue cleaning up whatever parts need a good wire brushing if possible.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Ok, I didn't make any progress on the Hornet Monday and Tuesday because something had come up (nothing bad, but certainly unexpected,) But I was able to make some progress on Wednesday.

I started off yesterday by testing out some rubbing compound on the paint. Now, I've heard and learned that you normally don't want to touch the accent paint on these old Schwinns, but I just wanted to try something...

I rubbed part of the stripe on the chain guard with a microfiber cloth, and found that it helped remove some of the oxidization!

I immediately went to work on the rest of the chain guard, and managed to bring back a bit of the original color and luster to the paint. It's not perfect of course, but it looks nicer.

But I wasn't done. If rubbing compound could remove the orange rust off the bit of white paint on the chain guard, then what would happen if I used it on the currently orange paint on the frame?

Magic. That's what happened. When I started this build, I was still on board with stripping the paint later when I had the means to build this Schwinn the way I wanted. Now that the paint is on its way to looking... not exactly show-quality, but certainly not as rusty as it did, I think I want to leave the original paint alone. It's survived 70 years so far, and all it needed to look less rusty and dirty was a little rubbing compound, a little patience, and a lot of elbow grease. I'd rather find another Schwinn straight bar to build and paint the way I want than mess up this one. Red and white are still my two least-favorite colors, but after rejuvenating the paint on this 70-year-old bike, I wouldn't want to paint this bike with any other colors.

I don't think my phone camera does it justice. This paint was DULL the way I found it.

Now there's an actual glossy sheen to it, especially on the white paint!

Before I got too carried away with shining up the paint on the frame, I went ahead and disassembled the wheel hubs yesterday. I wanted to get to Dad's shop so I could wire-brush the axles and a few other parts. There was also something else I wanted to take care of while I was up there...

I forgot to bring the handlebars with me when I clear coated the fork, but this time I remembered to grab them, and I cleaned them up and got them cleared. Admittedly, I sprayed the clear on a little too thick on both coats, so I had to quickly wipe where it dripped. It'll probably show in the final product, but this is just a quick and dirty "get it riding" sort of build. I can always come back and do it better later. Right now, it's all about meeting that October 30th deadline.

I also cleared the little caps for the springer fork, just to help slow the rust. I guess these were chrome at one point, but the chrome ain't there now!

I also wire-brushed a ton of other parts while I was up at my Dad's shop; nuts, bolts, axles, races, just about anything that I couldn't clean with the ultrasonic cleaner or a soak in Evaporust.

Here are today's goals:

• clean bearings
• clean coaster brake parts
• finish buffing the paint on the frame
• install bearing cups
• install bottom bracket assembly
• soak various rusty parts in Evaporust
• whatever else is possible to get done today

I don't know if I'll be able to finish all of it today, but I'm going to do as much as possible.

 

[razinhellcustomz]

H

Last year on October 30th, 2021, I purchased this 1952 Schwinn Hornet for $40. I had always wanted to build a custom Schwinn straight bar, and this was a prime candidate for such a build. The frame was nice and straight with no damage or rust holes, the chain guard was in decent shape apart from a few small dings on the backside, and the rest of the parts, aside from the fenders, looked to be in good shape as well.
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Just one small problem though: I was torn about modifying a bike with such nice original paint and patina. On one hand, I liked the patina, but on the other hand, I was not a fan of the color. I wanted to paint this bike a different color, but I was hesitant to strip away the original paint job with the scallops still intact. So, to hopefully dodge a tough decision, I decided to try trading this Schwinn straight bar for one I would not feel so guilty about modifying at the 2022 Springfield, Missouri bicycle swap meet. Unfortunately, I didn't have too many people ask about the Schwinn, nor did I see any other Schwinn straight bars out at the swap meet. Between that and all the folks on ratrodbikes.com and thecabe.com suggesting I build this bike the way I wanted, I chose to keep the bike and build it whatever way I saw fit.

Well, just last week I was stuck trying to come up with some ideas for illustrations. I figured if I started with a "safe zone" (like sketching custom bicycles,) then it might lead to more ideas for commercial illustrations. So, I decided to play around with some ideas my 1952 Schwinn Hornet. I dug through loads of bicycle and custom car photos I had saved to my computer, looking for any inspiration I could find. Ironically, what really got the ball rolling wasn't the dozens of photos I picked out after spending a day or two browsing around on my computer; it was a couple Hot Wheels cars I had sitting on the radio receiver 6 feet behind me!
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Specifically, it was the slate blue-and-gold Mod Rod and Erikenstein Rod I had that gave me the whole vibe I wanted to shoot for: a classic hot rod wrapped in modern race-spec fabrication! These 2 little toy cars, along with this sick 1937 Dodge truck I found on Speedhunters.com and this wild Model A Ford I saw on Hoonigan, all gave me the inspiration I needed to decide on the direction for this Schwinn.
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Here's the first sketch I came up with. Granted, not everything is to scale, but the general gist of what I want to do has been established. I want to stretch the wheelbase out a few inches in both directions using dropout extensions in the rear and a modernized take on the classic flipped Schwinn springer fork up front. On the springer fork itself, I want it to look like it was build by a race car fabricator, with tightly curved tube bends and aluminum filler panels with dimple-died holes. Instead of the classic chrome spring, I want to use a spring and shock absorber from a mountain bike, to help emphasize the modern race appeal. A pair of modern LED lights will illuminate the way forward during night rides. The dimple-died holey aluminum panels continue on the tank and chain guard as well. For the tank, I decided to "draw outside the lines" by having the tank flow over the front of the straight bar, sort of like the tanks on some deluxe JC Higgins bikes from the 50s. The chain guard would receive an aluminum filler panel as well, riveted to the existing chain guard. I'd use a modern BMX chainring and some BMX or mountain bike pedals to help continue the "modern hot rod" flair. At the rear would be a bobbed Monark deep dish fender. The bike will ride on either a pair of 24" or 26" x 3" tires, with either Mooneyes wheel disks or a custom set of painted disks to hide the spokes. I'd also use a pair of number plates or hub caps to hide the drop out extensions. As for paint, I'm thinking metallic gold strips on flat or stain slate blue. Odds are as I build the bike, I'll have to redesign elements to fit the actual bike, but this is the whole vibe I'm shooting for.
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That said, I did come across this green and black version of the Mod Rod Hot Wheels car, and I may choose to go a similar route when painting this bike.
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Now that you know how I want to build my Schwinn, I now have to tell you how I'm actually going to build my Schwinn, at least for now.

See, thing is, I'm currently what you may call "financially-impaired." I don't have the funds to build such a wild custom bike right now. That said, I do still have a little loose change left to spend on my bike projects. Better than that, I've got a decent inventory of bike parts stashed away that could help get at least one or two of my bikes back to riding condition. So, what better way to utilize those parts than to use them to get a bike or two rideable once again?

Here's the plan: there's this lowrider/cruiser bike ride that supposedly happens every last Sunday of the month here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The last Sunday of this month is on the 30th of October. I bought this bike on the 30th of October last year. I want to fix this bike up in time to ride it around Tulsa with this lowrider/cruiser bike group a year after the day I brought it home! Only one problem: I have never built a bike this fast before. At best, I've rebuilt a bike in 4 months. Now I'm about to try building one in a literal week to 10 days!

That said, I feel a lot more comfortable building bikes after my last project, and I should have enough useable parts to get this bike rideable in 10 days. I already disassembled most of the bike, so I know that the bearing cups and races are good enough to use, and the bearings appear to be salvageable, if my ultrasonic cleaner can remove all the crud off of them. I'm either going to ditch both fenders, or just use a bobbed rear fender. I've got a set of used 26" x2.35" cream-colored tires on some late-model Huffy wheels that I think will go with the bike's original paint and patina well enough. I've got a few handlebars and stems that would look good enough on this bike, and I have plenty of 1/2" pitch chainrings to choose from to replace the original skiptooth chainring. I've got at least 3 options for seats to choose from, so I can still ride in comfort. The only part that I may need to buy at this time is the chain, which I can get for less than $10 at Wal-Mart. I can't really use the original fork at this time (still got handlebar stem bits stuck inside,) but I've got a few springer forks to choose from: one classic Schwinn springer, one reproduction Schwinn springer, and one Murray rat trap springer. If I use the classic Schwinn springer fork, I won't have it raked forward like I have it in the photos below, as I need a 90-degree springer fork ring for the fork to fit properly. If I use the Murray rat rap springer fork though, I could rake the bike forward. I'll just have to see what I like best.

Here's one of the bottom bracket bearing cups before a quick wire brush cleaning:
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Here's the same cup after cleaning it with a wire brush:
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Here's the issue with the flipped Schwinn springer fork I mentioned earlier:
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Here's a couple photos of some mockups I did after coming up with my ideas for this bike. First with some plywood dropout extensions:
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And finally, a mockup closer to my current plans:
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So, what's my plan for later today? (It's already 1am at the time of typing this.) Well, I'm going to dig through my stash of bike parts I have stored out-of-town for more bearings and bearing cups. I'll also look at some other handlebars I have stored away to give myself a few more options. I'll also try to mock up both the unflipped Schwinn springer fork and the flipped Murray rat trap springer fork to see which one I like best. I'll also try to clean up the bearing races/crowns, and maybe remove the paint from the fork(s) using a few tools at my dad's shop. I might knock out a few other things if all goes well, but we'll see.

So, without further ado, let the mayhem commence as I attempt to build The Ratical Rustin' Hornet in 10 days or less! This is going to get wild!

Ey Austin, I like your vision for the Hornet project.. To bad they don't make a Girder style fork that you could put on this bike.. Looking good so far. RideOn...

 

[Bike from the Dead]

H

Ey Austin, I like your vision for the Hornet project.. To bad they don't make a Girder style fork that you could put on this bike.. Looking good so far. RideOn...

Thanks! Well, if I can't find a girder-style fork for this bike, I at least know someone who could probably help me make one.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Okay, today was mostly spent going full-OCD on buffing the paint. Got a bit carried away shining this thing up.

I might have messed up the seat post decal, but part of me actually likes it better with the white outlines instead of the black. I'm not too concerned either way.

I may have worn out my hands and ate up most of today buffing the frame, but dang if this doesn't look so much better than what I started with! I still feel like I could do more to shine this up, but I need to stop with the cosmetics and hurry up on the functionality on this bike.

I wasn't just buffing paint though. I was also cleaning up bearings and coaster brake parts in the ultrasonic cleaner, and soaking a number of parts in Evaporust.

I'm going to try and start bright and early tomorrow morning on the things I didn't finish today. I won't get into too much of the details, but my main goal for tomorrow is reassembly. I'd like to get everything assembled by tomorrow night so I can test ride and fine-tune everything on Saturday. It's getting down to the wire, but I still feel like I've got a shot at this!

 

[razinhellcustomz]

Okay, today was mostly spent going full-OCD on buffing the paint. Got a bit carried away shining this thing up.
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I might have messed up the seat post decal, but part of me actually likes it better with the white outlines instead of the black. I'm not too concerned either way.
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I may have worn out my hands and ate up most of today buffing the frame, but dang if this doesn't look so much better than what I started with! I still feel like I could do more to shine this up, but I need to stop with the cosmetics and hurry up on the functionality on this bike.
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I wasn't just buffing paint though. I was also cleaning up bearings and coaster brake parts in the ultrasonic cleaner, and soaking a number of parts in Evaporust.
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I'm going to try and start bright and early tomorrow morning on the things I didn't finish today. I won't get into too much of the details, but my main goal for tomorrow is reassembly. I'd like to get everything assembled by tomorrow night so I can test ride and fine-tune everything on Saturday. It's getting down to the wire, but I still feel like I've got a shot at this!

That og paint under that old decal looks pretty nice for being as old as the bike is.. Did you ever run the #'s as to what year this frame is? Looks great so far...

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Well, I hate to say it, but I don't think this bike's going to be ready by the 30th. I was on a roll this evening getting everything assembled, and if everything went well, I probably could've had this bike all assembled by midnight. Unfortunately, I've run into a few hiccups that make me feel like I should stop and reassess everything before I go and make things worse. I'll post some photos and videos here soon, but here's what's brought this project to a screeching halt:

1. I can't get the crown race to sit all the way down on top of the top headset bearing cup. There's a gap that, small as it is, could let dust and debris inside the bearing. If this was the only issue, I'd just ride it as-is and worry about fixing it later. Sadly, that's not the only problem.

2. With the chainring and the rear sprocket facing out, I can't mount the chain guard on the frame. The chain scrapes against the chain guard really bad, so I need to either ride the bike without the chain guard, or I need to take thing apart just to flip the gears around. Again, not the worst problem to contend with, but it only gets worse from here.

3. The rebuilt coaster brake hub is not happy. I don't know what happened, but something is causing the rear wheel to continue pushing the chain when it should be freewheeling. I did notice 2 ball bearings that kept popping out of the cage on one of the bearings, but that's how I pulled it out, so that's how I put it back in. Still, I don't know if that one bearing is causing the coaster brake hub to shake and stick like it is, or if I failed to assemble some other part correctly. I'm hoping that all it is is that I just tightened an outer nut a little too much, but I don't know.

I could possibly throw on a different set of wheels and maybe tires, and at least get the bike rideable enough that way, but I feel like I need to stop and really think about what I'm trying to do first. If I can figure out a way to get this bike built before Sunday, that'd be great, but I don't want to mess up more parts and pieces in the process.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

That og paint under that old decal looks pretty nice for being as old as the bike is.. Did you ever run the #'s as to what year this frame is? Looks great so far...

Thanks! I did: 1952.

 

[razinhellcustomz]

Well, I hate to say it, but I don't think this bike's going to be ready by the 30th. I was on a roll this evening getting everything assembled, and if everything went well, I probably could've had this bike all assembled by midnight. Unfortunately, I've run into a few hiccups that make me feel like I should stop and reassess everything before I go and make things worse. I'll post some photos and videos here soon, but here's what's brought this project to a screeching halt:

1. I can't get the crown race to sit all the way down on top of the top headset bearing cup. There's a gap that, small as it is, could let dust and debris inside the bearing. If this was the only issue, I'd just ride it as-is and worry about fixing it later. Sadly, that's not the only problem.

2. With the chainring and the rear sprocket facing out, I can't mount the chain guard on the frame. The chain scrapes against the chain guard really bad, so I need to either ride the bike without the chain guard, or I need to take thing apart just to flip the gears around. Again, not the worst problem to contend with, but it only gets worse from here.

3. The rebuilt coaster brake hub is not happy. I don't know what happened, but something is causing the rear wheel to continue pushing the chain when it should be freewheeling. I did notice 2 ball bearings that kept popping out of the cage on one of the bearings, but that's how I pulled it out, so that's how I put it back in. Still, I don't know if that one bearing is causing the coaster brake hub to shake and stick like it is, or if I failed to assemble some other part correctly. I'm hoping that all it is is that I just tightened an outer nut a little too much, but I don't know.

I could possibly throw on a different set of wheels and maybe tires, and at least get the bike rideable enough that way, but I feel like I need to stop and really think about what I'm trying to do first. If I can figure out a way to get this bike built before Sunday, that'd be great, but I don't want to mess up more parts and pieces in the process.

#1, try taking a round file to the top of the head tube and make sure their is no rust or derbis keeping the race from seating properly, #2, making sure your sprockets are seated properly in their crank set and on the hub and #3, the brake clutch needs to also be greased properly or they do tend to hang up on the old style Bendix brakes and the bearings need to stay in the cages as sometimes you need to bend down the little spacers with a pliers and grease the bearings well or they won't spin freely in the hub races... Good luck and I hope this helps.. RideOn...