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Schwinn Base Coat

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I'm a chemist and I answered this in post #10.


This is incorrect. Paints are made up of many chemicals and may be a mixture of pigments. Red (like any color) can be a mixture of chemicals and pigments to give the exact color desired. As I already said, seems most likely that schwinn had a paint formulation in the mid '50s that was prone to chemical ageing where the pigment in the red region of the spectrum degraded/decomposed leaving other pigment(s) that did not decompose, which results in the gold color you are seeing in all the pictures. Again, use logic. How can you be seeing a gold base coat UNDER decals?

Are you an Automotive paint chemist?
 
No, I'm a professor of chemistry at a state university. What's your background?
Nothing personal, just asking.... Me......Okie/shade-tree painter, 45 years. Thus, my logo. Oh, also artist, drew the logo in 1983.....With you being a Professor, do I need to show my work? :cool:
 
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Often times I wonder- Schwinn being such a large business for so long where are all the people who worked there and how come we have so few first hand accounts of anything? So much speculation. Even on products that were made only 30 or 40 years ago?
I can answer some of this. As a collector and researcher for missing info for several years. Digging through patents joining different groups that are hunting for factory relics and advertisements plus, plus! There is very little to be found, few to no first hand people especially the older it is. And most of those who are or were alive, workers input, hardly knew the whole operation. In most cases when a factory goes under or changes hands, it's not like they expected or cared much about some dumb nut collector that would come along begging for info. Nor would one create storage space for 30, 40, 100-200 year. In a few cases though, docs and examples have been found in attics or basements of family members, but in most it would have no value to them and trashed. I mean it's not like collectors are knocking at their doors when stored junk had no value. Spring cleaning, or sale of a factory owner's sold their residence junk was trashed. In Schwinn's case, some items were saved by the family, but not much. It's likely tons of info was trashed when head quarters was moved to bolder.

I sold 100's of Mattel products as a kid. Hot wheels, Barbie's, thing makers gobalty (sp)-goop, Varoom plastic motors, you name and I had it. My little sister had the largest collection of Barbee stuff. Ya tinks it was kept when she was 18? Nope, spring cleaning trashed all but 1 Barbee and dress. . And I know where 1,000 s and 1,000's more are,. Prob a ton of old factory docs too. Right were I got my stock where Mattel dumped retired and discounted {discontinued, I meant} stock: . The La Puente City dump. All U need to do is excavate 20-30 feet under the Sheraton hotel and golf course they built around 1975, [grin].
 
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Although this isn't an old Schwinn, it was painted with a silver base and then had a candy red color coat applied. The red colorant in the paint has almost completely faded out leaving just the color of the original base coat.

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I don't have time now to read this whole thread but my Jag sure seems like it has a gold ( piss ) coat under red over silver and I thing I have seen Schwinn cans of gold undercoat, I'll have to search some catalogs. Always thought this was a neat after the surrounding red faded then the white decal finely gave way reveling og red. this bike was weird, when I stripped the house paint off there seemed to be silver and gold undercoat and shades of another name under the Jaguar, It being a 53 prototype I always figured they repainted paint reject parts which they did.
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After thinking this over for a while, does anyone have evidence of gold and/or silver base coat on the over spray portions of the steerer tubes of color of bikes in question. This portion usually holds true to the original finish as its been protected from any wear and sunlight.

Edit: I just saw GT had snuck this idea in also..
 
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Check the link from the 1959 Schwinn Reporter article and take the time to read directly from Schwinn https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/schwinn-paint-process.86284/ where they state in black and white, "coated with aluminum enamel" "and baked for 19 minutes". Wouldn't that be more obvious than all of this conjecture? Plus I have never seen any paint listing or can, samples etc. of gold underbase in any catalog or collection anywhere.

Paints have chemicals as ingredients that react to environmental circumstances such as time, temperature, UV exposure, etc.
 
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