BradCon

I just bought this thing. It’s a lot rougher than I first noticed. Does this look like something worth working on, worth scraping out or cut my losses and recycle? Anything of value on it?
I’m new to working on these and don’t know my boundaries yet.

BradCon

Splendidtutiona

I got in over my head early with this stuff. Still getting out from under my first few projects, but I bit off a little more than I anticipated (see crown race set issues thread). I have been around and working on bikes my whole life, just usually more contemporary and less...extensive repairs than what I am doing now.

Varsity's were pretty low in the Schwinn line, like basically the bottom, so there is little of value. Someone would want to deal with the oddities of Huret derailleurs (that's who made the rear on your Varisty, it's a huret Allvit) to want that and nothing else is likely to be of high value. I have seen those Allvits go for like $25 on Ebay, so you could take your chances there.

I would strip it, clean it, replace the bearings, grease everything, put it back together, and call it a learning experience. I think business people call it a "loss leader" or some such silliness. Get good penetrating oil and good sized hammer!

Classtime 

Don't replace anything unless absolutely required. It's a good project. Nice rack. Cool mirror thing goin on. Cut the fender in two then figure a way to put one piece in the front. Looks like fun. Shirt the fasteners with PB blaster and wait 24 hours.

BradCon

Thanks for replying. I’ve got $25 in it so I knew I couldn’t get hurt too bad, which is why I bought it unseen. Once I saw it I figured it would turn into a learning experience. I’ve never dissected a bike, but this is a good donor. Maybe I’ll disassemble, reassemble and dispose/donate.

sovende

"Is it worth fixing" might depend somewhat on how you value the $25 you paid for it! I've paid less for nicer and more for worse . .... Ido believe it could be a fun project. While agree with the reply that said "don't replace anything that doesn't need to be replaced", I do see a few things that definitely need to be replaced. Chain for sure, cables and housings for sure, tires and tubes very likely. The wheels look to be a hot mess 😬. Chromed steel with significant rust. The rust has to go but there's not much else (short of replacement or rechroming) that you could do. Both of those suggestions wouldn't be fiscally responsible 😉. Personally, I'd ditch the mirrors. Might be able to cut your losses if you put them on EBay. I'd keep the rack. If you keep the bike and use it mfor short, in town trips, the rack might come in handy. RE: the bike itself, I'd do a total tear down. I'm not suggesting that every component be disassembled but everything should be removed from the frame. Take pics as you go along so you can figure out how it all goes back together. Working on bikes often requires specialized tools but sometimes you can improvise. You'll prolly,want to remove the gear cluster/freewheel from the rear wheel. A special tool is required. Just take it to a LBS (local bike shop) and have them do it for you. With the right tool, it takes just a few seconds. If they charge more than a dollar, I wouldn't shop there for the rest of the parts you're going to need. If you tell them what you're doing and plan on getting parts from them they may not charge you at all. 🙂
Google will be your friend on this project (as well as this forum). If nothing else, it will be a fun (hopefully) learning experience. Good luck😎

branko_76 

If you want to learn how to restore bikes, you have a good project on your hands. As Classtime stated, reuse as much as you can. If you keep at it and finish, you'll have a nice bike you'll be proud of.

BradCon

Thank you to everybody who responded or will respond. I appreciate the information.

Vintage Schwinn

You're in luck, as your AUGUST 1972 (HH.......first letter is month....2nd letter is year......H=1972 ).....your in luck because you have the GT-100 REAR DERAILLEUR which is made by SHIMANO, which is five times better than the Huret Allvit rear derailleur. The GT-100 was standard on the COLLEGIATE and Five Speed SUBURBAN. The GT-100 was fitted to Varsity-Continental and tenSpeedSUBURBANS when on days when the Chicago factory production line was short of Huret Allvit-SCHWINN APPROVED rear derailleurs. Schwinn was producing millions of bicycles at this point in time as it was at the PEAK of the bike boom (1972 and 1973). Schwinn dealers were selling everything at full boat retail.

Those wheels are probably still solid (check to make certain.....look underneath the tire.....as long as there are no weak areas where rust is such that you could poke a hole through any weak area with a coat hanger, ice pick, or thin phillips screwdriver......you're okay as long as the surrounding steel is stiff and strong.......IF THERE ARE HOLES OR VERY THIN AREAS WHERE IT FLEXES LIKE CARDBOARD OR WHERE YOU CAN POKE THROUGH THE RUSTED METAL, THEN YOU SHOULD JUNK THE WHEEL, Don't Ride That Wheel....FIND A SUITABLE USED REPLACEMENT WHEEL, or new or used aftermkt replacement wheel!
The existing Rust there appears to have penetrated the Chromium plating in several places. You can still ride the bike with the Chrome loss in numerous spots along the wheels. Braking will be okay. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PAINT OVER THE AREAS WHERE CHROME IS LOST WHERE THE BRAKE PADS MEET THE RIM. It won't improve anything. Cosmetically you can't do anything when Chrome has rusted away. Now, there is a slim chance that much of the rust is surface rust which has not yet eaten through the chrome, and if so, most of the rim will clean up nicely. I recommend a copper pot scrubber thingy and COMET cleanser wetted with water slightly into a paste and then lots of elbow grease. You can alternate with a Scotch Brite scouring pad with liberal amount of damp COMET cleanser.
You also want to make certain that you smooth out any areas on the inner rim area which are rough and sharp from corrosion or wear & debris. Get some extremely fine sand paper....something in the vicinity of 1000 grit and make it smooth so that if you were to run your finger tip across any place on the inner portion of the rim that it would not feel sharp to your finger.

It is a VARSITY and it is incredibly simple to re-hab and get it back rolling again, all two and a half tons of electroforged Schwinn greatness. I mentioned earlier that you do not want to try to paint the outer perimeter of the rims where the brake pads meet the wheels. You can paint the other part of the wheels where the brake pads do not meet, in an effort to make significantly rusted wheels look a little better where Chrome is lost. You can use that Aluminum look ("chrome" $4 spray paint) or any color Rustoleum or whatever you like if the wheels are really ugly and most of the chrome is gone. Your VARSITY does not appear to have wheels which are that bad, so I would just try to clean them up as best as possible, and not paint them and call it a day. You can always find perfect chrome wheels from one of millions of old Schwinns or other parts bikes. The Varsity is simple and heck yeah it is heavy but it is also heavy-duty and supremely durable and it really rides nice especially when set-up in Upright-Tourist configuration. Yours is already there. Have fun with it. The BELL pitcrew 600 cable set is $10 from WALMART online and ACE HARDWARE online, and you can sometimes find it in the bike accessories area of your local WALMART but I'll bet you that it is sold out on the peg where it hangs because it is quite good for the price and thus incredibly popular. In these Covid times, telephone your local Walmart and make certain that they have them instock on the store shelves and get them to hold one for you at customer service for you to pick up within two hours. Otherwise don't waste a trip and add to your risk comingling with non-masked, hoax theorists and Fauci haters who don't do social distancing. ...Just source it online and have it within four days...........the price is the same, and you don't have to visit a packed store with more than 100 shoppers inside at that time. Be forewarned that you will need a proper brake cable cutting pliers tool......you can find an acceptable one online from various sources from between $16 including shipping and about $23 including shipping...................You can pay more but those within that price range are all acceptable. If you're planning to do hundreds of bikes, this low cost tool might not last as a tool which is five times that cost. These inexpensive tools should last enough to do twenty five to thirty bicycles before needing replacement.......maybe more...

Have fun with your VARSITY. Do it up however you wish. If you want to do a Partridge Family bus paint scheme, go for it. The KOOL LEMON (what Schwinn called that Yellow color) is one of Schwinn's best colors in my opinion. Yellow is always great because of its visibility.............car drivers can see YELLOW................a light grey or flat black, or graphite color or dull brownish color just isn't visible like YELLOW. You guessed it, the reason cyclists wear bright, loud, neon colored attire and helmets is for maximum visibility. This can save your life. Again this is mostly why graphics and manufacturer decals are so big and bright on otherwise dull-ugly colored grey, or graphite looking frames.......not only for advertising but to be seen so you don't get run over. YELLOW is great, even if it has not been used as much in recent times as a bicycle color. Don't try to re-hab and flip for profit your VARSITY because you will have SUNK COSTS which cannot be recovered but even so, the total cost that you will spend to get your VARSITY back to roadworthiness will be minimal...........(less than $125 ....................... just buy tires and tubes from one of the many major online bikeparts-bikeshops......................You'll find the new 27" tires with TWO TIRES, TWO TUBES, TWO RIM STRIPS for very little cost(should be just under $40 and free shipping.........Don't let the idiots tell ya that there ain't no selection of 27 tires available...........yeah, your local bike shop will never carry them again, and they will probably ream you if you try to get them to order 630mm 27 tires for an old ten speed. It is an electroforged Schwinn, so you don't need the world's best tire, as you won't be setting any new land speed records or riding your Varsity in an IRONMAN Triathlon or riding the old Schwinn in next years Tour de France..........because even the best dope won't help you get there as a jockey riding the Varsity.

Have fun and ride often..................always wear a helmet..............................even a inexpensive new Walmart/Target helmet is perfectly fine....just wear it everytime you get on a bicycle.

downtube42

You're already in for more than it's worth. I can't tell if the tires are shot. If yes, you'll forever be upside down on this bike. OTOH, we're only talking about a hundred bucks assuming nothing but consumables need to be replaced.

If you do this, it's because 1) Old Schwinns are cool, and 2) It will be a fun project.

An attraction of the Varsity is that it IS the bottom of the line. It's a tank. It's indestructable. Just look at those shifters! It's geometry is so relaxed you can ride it no hands until you're exhausted and bored. I am personally not digging the bars. I'd head to the local co-op (if open these days) and try to score an old drop bar and levers for about $10. But that's just me.

As a business venture, cut your losses. As a fun project that will result in a bike that will turn heads (a Varsity?), it can't really be beat.

cjenrick

Get a paper route. The Varsity is the only frame that won't break while delivering the Sunday paper.
Everyone I knew who had a paper route used the Schwinn Varsity. But they were slow so it was hard to out run the German Sheperd's that people would let out at 5 AM.

There was an old commercial where they would through a Varsity off a cliff, and a guy at the bottom would crawl out from hiding, get on the bike and ride away.

Those Huret derailleurs would brake cables all the time, but if they went into the spokes, you could usually straighten them, not so with the Simplex.

You did not have to lock up the Varsity when going to the drug store for candy. People knew that if they hopped on that you could easily out run them. Just leave them in high gear. By the time they got that Huret to shift you would be on them like a spider monkey.

SurferRosa

If the rims are steel, yes, definitely. Maybe you can sell the rack and make something out of the fork, like a truing stand for front wheels.

Vintage Schwinn

Here are a few perhaps helpful informative things for the novice Do It Yourselfer and first-time Chicago Sha-wimmer:

THE ONE-PIECE CRANK on Schwinns made after World War II ( is 28 tpi and takes the #64 caged bottom bracket bearings)
The original #64 bearings that are visible with SCHWINN stamped on them are EXTREMELY durable if Not pitted, or rusted, or already noisy-problematic!
Simply take them out, and make a note of which came out of what side....right or left...............cut two Coke/Beer cans in half and fill the cut in half aluminum Coke cans with "Formula 87" (unleaded gasoline of 87 octane). DO THIS OUTSIDE AWAY FROM PETS & CHILDREN and AWAY FROM FLAMES, SPARKS ETC!!! Place the dirty old bearings in the Coke cans filled with Formula 87. Label the cans RIGHT and LEFT so you know... Let the bearings soak for at least 35 minutes or more. This will remove the old grease and grease-dirt-crud..........you might need to soak for several hours but this should get them really clean....an old toothbrush and some wooden toothpicks should assist you at cleaning all the old crud/grease debris where the bearings now appear almost like brand new......... ONCE CLEANED, THEN YOU CAN DUNK THEM IN FRESH MOTOR OIL (weight & brand does not matter)........just dip them and then hang the bearings on an old piece of coathanger until they stop dripping....REMEMBERING WHICH BEARING BELONGS TO WHICH SIDE OF THE BICYCLE............................THEN YOU WANT TO PACK THEM WITH QUALITY AUTOMOTIVE/MARINE GREASE........use as much as you can and pack it really good and then apply the GREASE liberally on to the bearing "Cups" when you re-install the one piece crank assembly............................you can skip the dunking in motor oil after the gasoline cleaning but I find that I always have some leftover can of motor oil in the garage and why not if you already have it.......................my neighbor did it that way and I decided it was better also. My neighbor stores his used good #64 Schwinn bearings, and #66 other makes, and various headset caged bearings etc inside a 5 liter Motor Oil container using a bentcoathanger like wire with a J- bend to keep them dunked inside until he's ready to use them......and then screw caps the container so no dust etc. He claims that they cannot rust-oxidize from the normal high humidty here in southeast coast. Hey, it can't hurt anything to store them in motor oil in a capped and screwed shut big motor oil container.
******NOW IF THE BEARINGS HAVE PITS OR WERE PROBLEMATIC IN ANY WAY WHILE RIDING BEFORE REMOVAL, Just Replace The Dang Bearings With NEW Bearings because the New replacement #64 caged Bearings should only be about $4 each for brand new ones. Yes, they won't last 60 years like the old SCHWINN stamped versions but you'll find that they will last 25 years or so. (assuming that they are liberally greased with current auto/marine grease, and cleaned and re-greased at least every ten years....) The CUPS are likely still in good shape, BUT IF AN IDIOT CONTINUED TO RIDE WITH A TICKING-Noisy Bearing without decent grease, THEN that Cup is likely scored and worn. Heck, you can buy a brand new Taiwan manufactured Schwinn 28tpi bottom bracket set with two #64 bearings, and two cups and the threaded nut, lockwasher etc for about $16 total including free shipping from one highly regarded supplier out of Illinois on the bay. Yes, they aren't the quality of the original Schwinn bearings and cups but they are new and of decent quality and fit perfectly even if they won't last three decades.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/opc.html

GT-100 rear derailleur by Shimano for Schwinn...New for the 1970 COLLEGIATE and the new 1970 Schwinn SUBURBAN 5 Speed
-----far superior to the Huret Allvit -----------------------------------
Schwinn GT100 derailleur

The Schwinn Approved GT-100 derailleur

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-derailer.html

https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/sc...olume-2.81579/
(see pages 541 -570, and 659 - 661, and 751 & 752, and see pages 826 and 827)

https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/sc...olume-1.81415/

The 340 page 8.5" x 11" softbound GLENN'S COMPLETE BICYCLE MANUAL book from 1973 is the best how to "shop manual" for bicycles produced between 1935 and 1978. You should be able to find an ex-library used copy of this on the bay from one of several mammoth used book sellers for about $5 or $6 total or less including free shipping. There is no shortage of these as most every library in the country had this book, as it sold in massive numbers during the 1970's, almost everyone who worked on old bikes, owned their own copy, because other than the library, there were no how to videos, because there were no VHS or BETA vcrs until the late seventies and they were super expensive....there were no personal computers, and this was a quarter-century before the internet......
YOUTUBE has some decent videos.
If you own any old bicycle made between 1935 and 1978, you need the GLENN'S COMPLETE BICYCLE MANUAL as there is not a better repair manual than the Glenn's for that particular era!

Geepig

The question is not what you could do with it, but what do you want to do with it

I have two old Romet Wigry folding bicycles, not worth a lot, so one I stripped down to the essentials (no hand brakes, only the coaster brake) for a bit of exercise in the morning before work. Figure out what you want, and the costs become less important.

sovende

Your next step will be to cut & paste replies #9 & #13 from Vintage Schwinn into a Word file then print them out! The hints & tips in those replies will be invaluable for your Varsity project!! They need to be in "hard copy" form for ready reference. While they are primarily Varsity specific, much of the info can be applied to other vintage Schwinn models as well as other vintage non-Schwinn bikes. To be sure, I'll be printing out my own "hard copy" in the near future .
Until this year, I would have completely agreed with cjenrick's thoughts on low theft potential. With the current "high demand / low supply" situation RE: bikes, that might not be the case. I liked the "leave it in high gear" suggestion and loved the "spider monkey" comment! LOL for several minutes! Bottom line tho, is if it fixes up as nice as Vintage Schwinn is suggesting, I'd get a lock .