WWII Schwinn New World VW1M with Factory Options

[rennfaron]

Also look here - https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1...large-frame-w-lots-of-black-out-parts.185792/

The bike is in storage but from the pics it looks the same too (on phone right now but will look for more pics later)

 

[SirMike1983]

Ah I missed that thread in my search. Good catch. That tall one in the link looks like it also has a gap in the fitting between the cone and cup. I'm thinking maybe it was a case of those being the parts available by 1942.

 

[3-speeder]

My wartime machine. Can you tell what color grease I used?

War Time Schwinn New World with '42 coded Morrow Hub | Lightweight Schwinn Bicycles

Just completed overhauling my Schwinn New World. Pretty happy with it. Thanks to @Autocycleplane for the saddle and @badbob for the plate. Both pieces really finished this project off right. I'm planning to change the tires but wanted to get some photos with the old Good Years. They're...

thecabe.com

 

[rennfaron]

@3-speeder I don't see a gap there at all...
Better pic of my wartime. Can't see the gap that well, but it is there.

 

[SirMike1983]

My wartime machine. Can you tell what color grease I used?

War Time Schwinn New World with '42 coded Morrow Hub | Lightweight Schwinn Bicycles

Just completed overhauling my Schwinn New World. Pretty happy with it. Thanks to @Autocycleplane for the saddle and @badbob for the plate. Both pieces really finished this project off right. I'm planning to change the tires but wanted to get some photos with the old Good Years. They're...

thecabe.com

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View attachment 1675178

That's what got me started on the question. I was looking at it and I could see the green Lucas grease in the headset. And I figured, "I know I didn't change any parts, but that still doesn't look quite right." I guess it's OK. It's definitely a kind of cruder headset than the pre-war and after-war items. It works but it's not as smoothed out and close-fitting as the earlier stuff. The war time level of finishing and parts are a unique feature of these bikes.

 

[SirMike1983]

I'm starting to think Schwinn completed at least some of these bikes using parts bought from whatever suppliers had spares left at the time.

This Western Flyer lightweight frame is an eBay item for sale, and appears to have the same rather rudimentary headset with knurled cone and large gap at the top. It is advertised as a pre-war frame, but it certainly looks to me like the same headset as the 1942 Schwinn, but with plating instead of paint. (Edit: frame below is alleged to be a Huffman product, which it might well be).

I also worked some more on the 1942 Schwinn New World project, and found that the bottom bracket cups were installed while the paint was still somewhat wet, and that the cups were not of any Schwinn type known to me. I tried the regular type, the odd square shoulder type, etc. and found that none of the bottom bracket parts I have on hand would even come close to fitting. The cups are very similar to the very deep, round cups I once came across on a 1940s Manton & Smith lightweight. I wound up replacing the weird, deep cups with those from a 1941 New World. But, at least for me, I am thinking that Schwinn had run out of some parts by the time my frame was made, and was sourcing them from wherever they could acquire them to complete the last bikes of 1942.

 

[Miq]

My 41

 

[SirMike1983]

That one has the gap as well. I put mine together and immediately thought, "I've done something wrong here...", but apparently they were more of a budget thing and the details reflected that. I have to admit the more deluxe headsets Schwinn used were more polished and streamlined.

 

[Miq]

Here’s one from an I serial balloon tire schwinn.