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The Schwinn Dixie Dreamcycle: My Entry for the 16th Annual Rat Rod Bikes Build Off

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Yeah flat foot = seated & stand over with clearance. You might not have to worry about it as much; just make Sure your shim tightens down so it doesn't spin (don't wanna mess up powdercoat) nor unexpectedly come off the seat. Worse case give it go ....
Ok cool. I'll wait and see everyone else says here and on ratrodbikes.com, just in case. If there's any reason that this might not work, then I'll want to fix the problem as quickly as possible.
 
Made a little more progress on the bike today. I decided to try using Evaporust on some of the parts I want to use, namely the chainring, crank arms and seat post. I've let them all set for a few hours now, and I'm already seeing results! I want to let them soak overnight though, as there are a few spots with deeper rust I want to tackle.
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Also, fun fact: in the few days that have past since I tested out the sandblaster, the bike frame has developed some incredible flash rust. Oklahoma humidity doing what it does best.
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I'll let the few chrome bits soak in Evaporust overnight, but I still haven't figured out the seat post issue. I really need help solving the problem mentioned in my last post, and I can't really go any further until that issue is solved. So, if anyone here can give me some advice or input on what I should do, I would greatly appreciate it. Until then, that's all for now!
 
Made a little more progress on the bike today. I decided to try using Evaporust on some of the parts I want to use, namely the chainring, crank arms and seat post. I've let them all set for a few hours now, and I'm already seeing results! I want to let them soak overnight though, as there are a few spots with deeper rust I want to tackle.
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Also, fun fact: in the few days that have past since I tested out the sandblaster, the bike frame has developed some incredible flash rust. Oklahoma humidity doing what it does best.
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I'll let the few chrome bits soak in Evaporust overnight, but I still haven't figured out the seat post issue. I really need help solving the problem mentioned in my last post, and I can't really go any further until that issue is solved. So, if anyone here can give me some advice or input on what I should do, I would greatly appreciate it. Until then, that's all for now!
Cut the post out & weld a new 1 in. Problem Solved. I say this because last post you sound like you don't have much faith in what I said. Measure down the length of your post, add 1/2" and always remember when welding steel to bevel your joints ......
 
Sorry for the delay, but here are the results of using Evaporust on some of the chrome parts I may or may not use on The Schwinn Dixie Dreamcycle. Got to say, I'm genuinely pleased with how everything turned out so far!
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With that out of the way, I finally took the bearings apart and stuck them in some Simple Green to soak for a bit.
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Next, I took apart the pedals that I'd like to use. They came apart easily enough, but I ran into yet another problem...
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...How am I supposed to disassemble this middle piece so I can clean the bearings and soak the rusty bits in Evaporust? I see no way to take these apart, and I don't even know how I'm supposed to regrease the bearings either. One pedal spins okay, but the other needs some t.l.c. So... now what do I do?
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While I figure out the next step of this build, I put the other pedal parts in the Evaporust to soak, along with a fender from another bike I've been occasionally working on.
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So, I know this seems like I'm dodging the whole seat post issue right now, but part of that is because I can't get ahold of my welder right now. The other part is that I'm getting ready for another week-and-a-half-long house/pet-sitting gig, so I'm trying to do whatever I can to make some amount of progress on this bike before then. I'm not sure how things are going to play out at this time, but I'm still hopeful I'll get this bike done in the next month.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more!
 
Sorry for the delay, but here are the results of using Evaporust on some of the chrome parts I may or may not use on The Schwinn Dixie Dreamcycle. Got to say, I'm genuinely pleased with how everything turned out so far!
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With that out of the way, I finally took the bearings apart and stuck them in some Simple Green to soak for a bit.
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Next, I took apart the pedals that I'd like to use. They came apart easily enough, but I ran into yet another problem...
View attachment 1458243

...How am I supposed to disassemble this middle piece so I can clean the bearings and soak the rusty bits in Evaporust? I see no way to take these apart, and I don't even know how I'm supposed to regrease the bearings either. One pedal spins okay, but the other needs some t.l.c. So... now what do I do?
View attachment 1458244
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While I figure out the next step of this build, I put the other pedal parts in the Evaporust to soak, along with a fender from another bike I've been occasionally working on.
View attachment 1458246

So, I know this seems like I'm dodging the whole seat post issue right now, but part of that is because I can't get ahold of my welder right now. The other part is that I'm getting ready for another week-and-a-half-long house/pet-sitting gig, so I'm trying to do whatever I can to make some amount of progress on this bike before then. I'm not sure how things are going to play out at this time, but I'm still hopeful I'll get this bike done in the next month.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more!
Dangit, I just realized that I didn't shoot a picture of the backside of the chainring. Whoops!
 
Story time: So last Wednesday, I got an email response to my Craigslist ad for these 2 Schwinn frames.
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Called the guy, arranged a meeting, the usual. We meet, and the guy, Allan, brings his custom-built board track-inspired motor bike that he fabricated himself to show me what he hopes to do with my frames.
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He's looking to use the 2 frames I have to build his next motorbike. Unfortunately, they aren't what he's looking for, as he needs something with bigger tubing than what I have. No worries, I understand. We get talking about his bike and the others he built, and I ask him if he does custom fabrication for clients, figuring he might be able to help me with some of my bike projects, like Schwinn Dixie. He does, and he was all on board for helping me with my projects!

Fast forward to Sunday, yesterday. I make the hour-long drive over to the small airport where Allan's equipment is, and he gives me tour, which includes two of his other motorbikes. He pulls out this bike out and lets me take it for a spin. He hops on the board track racer, and we cruise around the compound together for a bit.
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Then Allan busts out his award-winning Outlaw, with a whopping 50+ mph 8 horsepower! And to my genuine fear, he shows me how to operate it. I should mention, up until this Sunday, I had never really rode a motorcycle before. So, I was pretty nervous. Nevertheless, I get on it and cruise around for a few minutes. I mostly babied it, but I could tell this bike wanted to go! This thing is a riot!
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After riding the motorbikes around for a bit, we went over the Schwinn. I needed Allan's help to replace the steerer tube on the fork I want to use, smooth out the fenders, and touch up a spot on the frame. So he starts cutting up the fork and the steerer tube donor.
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Unfortunately, I forgot to take into consideration that the handlebar stem needs to be able to fit inside a certain depth, which the sleeves inside the forks prevented. So, we accidentally measured once and cut twice. Allan's like "no problem, I got another fork we could use." So he pulls a fork out from under his work bench, and after checking out measurements twice, he cut the steerer tube off and welded it up to the fork I wanted to use.
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I didn't get a lot of photos of the other progress we made, partly because I couldn't get a good angle for a shot, mostly because I was just enjoying the whole experience. Still, I did shoot a few photos of the end results. Thanks to Allen, I can now use the fork that was mangled in the last Build Off, the fenders are nice and straight, and the couple of holes on the back of the seat tube were filled and filed smoothish. Best of all, Allan offered to do it all free of charge! (Not that stopped me from offering to pay him. He politely turned down payment, but I'll be keeping an eye out for any parts he needs for his projects.)
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We still had some time to kill, and what we did next was probably the highlight of highlights from yesterday's adventure: Allan taught me how to weld! I think what we did was TIG welding, since I fed the welding rod by hand, but I don't know for sure. We started with some scrap thin sheet metal he had laying around. He placed the spot welds to get me started, and explained the process in a way that just clicked. Basically, I heat the two metal pieces I want to join until they glow "cherry red," then I melt my welding rod until it "flows" into the spot I want it to. I also want my weld to "flow" or blend into the previous weld. After I did my first weld, Allan bent the metal back to test how solid my weld was. The metal bent, but not the weld!
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We tried welding something a little thicker next. Once again, Allan got it started for me. Took a little more heat, but I was able to get it fairly easily.
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How that weld looks cleaned up.
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I was genuinely grinning from ear to ear, especially after Allan told me I did a great job for my first welds. Even cooler, Allan's offered to teach me some more whenever I want to come over again!

We ended up cooling off in his office and shooting the breeze for a while after working on the bike and welding, but I had a blast the whole time I was there. I not only have a new resource to help me with my bike projects, but a new teacher and friend as well! And thanks to Allan's help, all the hard parts of this build are now out of the way! All that's left to do now is strip the paint off the fenders and fork, order the few parts I don't have, get everything else sandblasted and powder coated, and get everything assembled! I still have most of the week left before I start my house/pet-sitting gig, so I should be able to make a decent amount of progress before then!
 
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