PROJECT QUICK CHANGE - SUBJECT: Schwinn Dixie. CURRENT BUILD: Muscle Bike.

[Bike from the Dead]

Well, since I decided to put Poison Apple on hold until I can save up the funds to do it right, I've decided to fix up the very bike that got me into this hobby all the way back in March of 2018, my 1950/1951 Schwinn DX bike, PROJECT QUICK CHANGE - SUBJECT: Schwinn Dixie.

I won this bike at an auction for $65, and since then, I've been working on this bike on and off for over 2 years. I got this idea in my head early on that I would change this DX frame's appearance by swapping parts whenever I got bored with how it looked or rode. I was loosely inspired by the quick-change rear ends racers use on their cars to change how their cars drive, and by an old act of the same name I once saw on America's Got Talent where these people would quickly change their wardrobe and even their hair, hence the first half of this bike's name. Schwinn Dixie was just a quirky play on Schwinn DX and Winn Dixie, because why not? I gradually accumulated a stash of various forks, fenders, chain guards, wheels, you name it, all for this bike. Though I've never gotten this bike in a finished, functional state, I eventually come back to it and mock up different parts to see what direction I want to take it.

Now to the main reason why I'm posting Schwinn Dixie here; I've been spending all this time mocking up or modifying parts to fit this Schwinn, but not once have I finished the assembly of this bike. It has never had the chain on it since I got it, so this Muscle Bike Build Off seems like the perfect excuse to get this bike riding again. A few months back, I mocked up these parts to see what this old Schwinn would look like as a muscle bike. I like the general stance of it, but now that I've not using the 26" springer fork on Poison Apple, I'd like to use it on this project. The nice thing about putting this bike together is that even though I have less than a month to finish it, it doesn't need a lot to make it happen. I don't really need to get any parts for this, but I would like to install a Shimano 3-speed coaster brake hub into one of my wheels so I can use my little Shimano click-shifter pictured below. I also want to sandblast the frame to get rid of the rust, and shine it up and clear it similarly to my RRBBO entry from earlier this year, Dumpster Diamond. Other than that, I mostly just want to assemble it similarly to how it's pictured below.

I'll try mocking it back up with all the parts I plan to use tomorrow.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

First off, sorry for the poor quality pictures. I didn't give myself enough time to mockup everything before the sun went down, but I did mockup Schwinn Dixie regardless.

When I mounted one of my skinny wheels to the springer fork, I found that I could not position the axle one bolt hole ahead of the fork braces, as the bolt would hit the spokes if I kept the inside washer on, and barely clear it by a millimeter without the washer.

By moving the wheel axle forward one bolt hole, I was able to mount everything with room to spare. However, when I get these extensions redesigned, I might move the wheel axle halfway between the the two left-most bolt holes.

I know it's not the best photo, but here's the general direction I'm going with this bike. Most of what's on the bike right now will be what I use in the end, including the tires on the wheels.

I won't use the same front wheel, as I have a better one to mount the front tire on. I'm going to try my best to shine up all the chrome parts, but I might be sandblasting and painting the rear fender and sissy bar, as they're pretty rough.

While I've pretty much figured out the final build of this bike, what I'm still trying to figure out is the paint scheme. The only parts that will be painted on this bike are the chain guard, the fender, maybe the fork extensions, and a tank if I can make one in time. I'd also like to reupholster the seat to match the painted parts if I can figure out how to do that before the deadline. I've got a few ideas, but I've yet to make a decision. I know I don't want this to be a bare metal and black bike (yet,) as I already did that with my last Build Off bike.

Again, sorry for the lackluster pictures. I'll try to shoot some better ones with my Nikon tomorrow when there's daylight outside.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

To make up for the few low-quality pictures from last night, today I'll be posting tons of high-quality pictures. So, let's get right to it!

For those of you wanting to know what tires I've currently got on this bike: a 26"x1 3/8" Bell Streetser up front, and a dry-rotted 26"x2.125" W.T.C. SUP-R-TIRE in the rear.

Back when I was gathering parts for Project Quick Change, I acquired a stash of parts and frames that included an entire box full of kickstands. While the majority of them all looked about the same, this Lenton adjustable kickstand stood out and instantly became my favorite kickstand out of the lot. It's chrome plated, it's adjustable, and it makes a satisfying *click* when it locks into either position. I have no idea how old it is, but it's different, and I like different.

The rear fender is from a later-model Schwinn Heavy-Duti bike. It's already been modified a bit to fit this bike, but I want to see if my welder can shorten it up behind the seat stays so the ducktail sits almost directly underneath the seat, and lengthen it ahead of the seat stay so the original fender mounting hole lines up with the fender mount on the frame, so I don't have to use this adapter I had put together. The wheel came from the same guy I bought The Trashliner Trike from, hence the green spray paint spots all over the wheel.

Got this Shimano 3-speed Click-Stick shifter at a bicycle swap meet in Kansas City last year.

The pedals are from a 1970s Schwinn Suburban girls' bike that I scavenged for parts.

No idea what bike this chain guard's from, but I can at least guess it's from a Schwinn since it bolts one without any issues.

The seat's from the '79 Schwinn Fair Lady that I was working on turning into Poison Apple.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I switched to a slightly wider pair of ape hangers as the one's I had on just looked a little too narrow for this bike. I also tried mocking up my Mattel V-RROOM! motor and a speedometer I got at a swap meet last year. I'm not going to use either on this bike, as the motor's cord is frayed and just barely too short to fit on this bike with the ape hangers, and the speedometer has a cap that is busted and needs replacing. Also, it just ended up looking too cluttered for my tastes.

I took off the toy motor and the speedometer, but left the other handlebars on. Much better, but there's still missing something, and not just a tank...

I have a few fence post toppers I've been wanting to use as headlights/taillights or reflector housings for a while now. I had Dad help me mock these up. I'm not sure if I'll use these right now, but I'll definitely want to use them at some point.

I'm also thinking of using these old steel toes as "vents" on my tank. Not sure how I'll mount them yet, but I think they'd look cool.

There's still a few things left to figure out, particularly colors, but I feel pretty confident I've got the general look of this bike figured out. Feel free to let me know what you think of everything so far! More progress coming soon!

 

[sworley]

Very cool! Nice work!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Very cool! Nice work!

Thank you!

 

[coasterbrakejunkie1969]

I like the lights front and rear. The front is long maybe try a couple like you had up on the bars and maybe some below . I like how it is looking and the way it is streched out there is room to add some different things if you so desire. I dont know how much you want to clutter things up like you said. What is that you were proposing as nose of a tank ? Steele toe from a boot?

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I like the lights front and rear. The front is long maybe try a couple like you had up on the bars and maybe some below . I like how it is looking and the way it is streched out there is room to add some different things if you so desire. I dont know how much you want to clutter things up like you said. What is that you were proposing as nose of a tank ? Steele toe from a boot?

I've thought about stacking two lights on the forks 1970's chopper-style, but the only matching pair of fence post toppers I have are those two smaller ones I mocked up over the handlebars, and the angle of the forks doesn't really allow for that. I'm going to wait on adding lights until the rest of the bike's put together.

Yup! Those are two steel toes from a pair of boots. I thought they'd look something like those vents on the front doors of a '68-'70 Dodge Charger.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Ok, for the sake of saving me a little time and effort, I'm going to just try and find a banana seat that looks the way I want, instead of trying to learn how to reupholster the one from the Schwinn Fair Lady when I don't know the first thing about upholstery.

I do have a bit of progress to report: I've decided on the colors I want to use for this build. I don't know what sort of paint scheme I'm going for, but I at least have the colors picked out. I also got some thin masking tape for pinstriping. I'll share pictures of the paint colors tomorrow when I have better light. I probably won't have much more progress to report after tomorrow until after Christmas, as it's getting pretty busy at home.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Did some Christmas shopping yesterday, both for my family and for me. I hadn't really figured out what color I was going to paint the fender, tank, and chain guard at that point, but I was kind of leaning toward the faded blue and gold look, based on this Mod Rod Hot Wheels car (pictured left.) That changed when I saw this metallic blue 1970 Charger Hot Wheels car (pictured left.)

I liked how the white, gold and orange stripes looked against the blue, and I knew I'd seen a similar metallic cobalt blue spray paint at Walmart.

I ended up getting all my paint at Lowe's, though, since they're the only one who carries a satin clear coat, which I need for the frame. I couldn't find an orange I liked, and I didn't care for the light blue stripe on the toy Charger, so for accents, I got some metallic gold and silver, some gloss white, and this brilliant "gloss jungle green" Krylon paint, which I almost thought about using as the primary color for this build.

I got 2 cans of primer, one can of crystal clear coat, and once can of satin clear.

I've currently got my shifter, pictured top, soaking in some hydrogen peroxide so it turns white again. I'm also revising my digital mockup of the bike so I can figure out the paint scheme for this bike. I'll try working on more for this bike today, but with Christmas just around the corner, I've got other things to do. Either way, you'll be the first to know if there's any news on my build.