Kdogbikes

Nice work on the strip-down. I like seeing the frames at the bare metal state.

Velo Mule

Thanks. It is interesting on the ElectrForged frames that there was a lot of pits, file marks and low areas. These can be seen with paint or primer still in there. The fresh marks are from me.

With steel as thick as a on these frames, a little surface blemish wasn't an issue at the factory. It got covered in primer and painted. And the paint looked darned good too.

AlmostTrick

A Schwinn Continental that was found in the trash. I converted it to single speed with a 700c wheelset and wonderful Avocet FasGrip tires that I found on Craigslist. It rode great and the original paint & decals were mint. Now I wish I never sold it.

The fork on this bike had a slip on chrome "cap" that covers the crown.

Velo Mule

Thanks for posting this AlmostTrick . That looks great. Your build is a tempting direction for me.

It looks like campus green. This is the color that I would like to paint it. But I'm trying to come up with a less expensive source than Koolest Kolors paint. I've had good luck with DupiColor paints. One of my concerns with Koolest Kolors is that I believe that it may be a lacquer and/or not compatible with the paints that will be underneath.

With DupliColor, I have had success with spraying over Rustoleum Aluminum colored paint, which in turn was over the Rustoleum rusty metal primer. So, I would like to go with a system that has worked in the past for me. I also would not have a problem with going to my local automotive paint store. They can mix something up a two component paint for me if I had a sample of the right color. Unfortunately,I don't.

If I can't find a match to campus green, I'll use Schwinn Sky Blue in DupliColor. I did that for a cruiser and it came out great. It is also a great color for this era of Schwinns.

Velo Mule

If the frame with no paint is "naked" then is a frame with primer in it's underwear? If so here is the frame in it's underwear.


Rustoleum Rusty metal primer, two coats

Fork crown masked off to protect the chrome crown.

Next step, Rustoleum Silver Metallic.




This will serve as the base coat for the color coat. I'm looking to find a match to Campus Green. Or if I can find a Schwinn bike in Campus Green I can get it matched.

roadsnakes

I had a early 70`s SCHWINN Continental
Powder Blue.
I rode it daily until 1988.
My son still rides it.
It was the first bike I dismantled piece by piece , replaced the ball bearings, and lubed with AMSOIL Synthetic Grease.
When I was done, I`d spin those wheels, and they`d turn forever!

The pics below are stock pics. I wish I`d taken pics of mine.

Velo Mule

It seems there are lots of Schwinn Continental and Varsity stories out there.

branko_76 

I've used Rustoleum for various projects and found that it takes at least a week before the paint fully cures. I give it the thumbnail test in an inconspicuous spot before installing components.

Velo Mule

Thanks branko_76 . I am going to give it a week or more between the silver metallic and the Dupli-Color. Then it will get it's decals. My plan is to clear coat it with a 2k automotive paint. That stuff gets hard pretty fast, but I'm in no rush. This is my hobby so other things come first. That is why it is taking so long.

downtube42

A Schwinn Continental is a piece of Americana. The Super Sport, with its hand fillet-brazed chrome-moly frame is just a bit too exotic for that moniker IMO.

Upgrading the wheels is smart, and doesn't detract from the Schwinn-ness. Wet braking on the stock chrome rims is downright frightening, and chances are the spoke nipples are frozen with corrosion anyway.

The Ashtabula crank is a boat anchor, but it's bombproof and that massive BB shell looks silly with a conversion kit and 3-piece. The cranks were forged for Schwinn by the Ashtabula Bow Socket Company, located in Ashtabula, OH. ABS began by making horse-drawn carriage parts, finally closing its doors in 1982 after over 100 years in business. You should see ABS stamped on the crank. The name Ashtabula itself is derived from an Algonquin Indian name for the river than runs through the town. Talk about Americana. I vote keep.

Personally I love the rando bars, with the slight rise to fit the palm of your hand if you ride with your palms facing inword behind the hoods. Flared drops have become all the rage recently, in the (actual) rando and gravel worlds. These are also classic Schwinn-ness. Bars are pretty personal though, so if this is going to be a rider then you have to choose what's comfortable. Actually now that I look at your pic a little closer, I'm not sure those are rando bars - I don't see the hump behind the brakes. Hard to tell.

IMO the turkey levers, although billed as a safety feature, are actually unsafe. They bottom out sooner than the brake levers, so you have less stopping power. I'd lose those.

The stem shifters with the big S are pure Schwinn. Obviously you could go with bar-ends or clamp-on dt shifters. I can't imagine you're going to redo the whole driveline and braking system to go with integrated brake/shifters. I think they belong and are quite functional.

I rode one for many years, including on some knarly gravel roads back when we thought gravel sucked. With a good saddle, the Continental provides a nice ride, and can be ridden long distances comfortably. I think my longest day was 90 miles, and that was carrying overnight camping gear. The electro-forged Schwinns are generally considered trash bikes by us bike snobs, but I'd almost call the Continental's riding characteristics "sweet". Heavy, obviously, but it has the feel. The Schwinn company, IMO, actually knew a thing or two about bikes.

Cheers

c0rbin9

^ I agree, electro-forged Schwinns are historically significant and are built more robust than any bike I have seen. That's worth something. Schwinn also did most of their manufacturing in-house, even drawing their own tubes from raw steel.

Velo Mule

Thanks downtube42 . I knew a bit about Ashtabula cranks and forks that are used on Schwinns, but I didn't know the company went back so far. Although, it is not surpising. My plan, at least to start off with is going to be paint it and put it back together with new wheel or the same hubs as it came with and new spokes and rims. 700C is a possibility, but I also have a nice pair of wheels from a LeTour. We'll see.

I wanted a Super Sport, but I'm settling for a Continental. I rode it for a bit before taking it apart and it rides nice.

They are rando bars. They have a small up-sweep as they move from the stem outward. It is only about a half inch rise. I was thinking of using standard drop bars but maybe I'll ride it without tape and try both.

I have tried to work with the turkey levers and since I spend so much time on the hoods, they are not for me. One bike forum member had an idea that I tried out and that is to cut the lever after the curve so that you can still activate the brakes while you are on the top corner of the handlebars. But this still interfered with my hands when on the hoods, so like all my other low end bikes, it will be refitted with vintage brakes w/o extension levers.

rpa90

Some very nice results here 👏🏼

Velo Mule

It took a while, now we are one step closer to a finished frame. It went from the rusty metal primer to metallic silver. I had some problems on the fork with paint bubbling and had to sand it smooth again a few times and a call to Rustoleum since at this point I am using only Rustoleum products and this bubbling should not be happening. Their answer is that since I sanded just before applying the silver metallic paint, this released more volitiles which reacted with the silver metallic.

Anyway, here is the frame in "Grey Ghost" color. For this frame this is just the silver that will be under the candy apple paint that Schwinn often applied.



My next step is whether to go with Campus Green or Sky Blue. My strong preference is Campus Green, however, getting paint inexpensively is a challenge. I keep looking at cars in parking lots to see if I see something close and then try to track down a DupliColor paint. I saw a 2010 Toyota Camry that is close, but dark. There is also a Mini Cooper Jungle Green that DupliColor doesn't make.

After a few months of looking, I am about to give up on that.

I have done Sky Blue before with DupliColor, so I may have to settle for that.

For now, I will let the paint harden and think about my next move. And order some graphics.

branko_76 

Great job so far Velo Mule It's good you're not rushing through it.

Velo Mule

Thanks branko_76 . Here are some picture of the fork.




I am painting the fork tubes while keeping the fork ends and the fork crown chrome. Lots of fussy cutting with he hobby knife. Now I learned that there is a brush on mask available. I don't remember who on this forum mentioned this, perhaps it was Doug Fattic .

lamehoven

Looking good so far! Excited to see it finished!

Fissile

Everyone should own at least one Schwinn gas pipe model. I built a Varsity up about 15 years ago. Three piece crank conversion, alloy rims, Suntour rear derailleur, bar-ends. I also scrapped the old steel drops and stem for a Continental rando and alloy stem. The Continental rando bar is actually quite good. I believe most were sourced in the UK. I've used that Varsity so much it needs another repaint at this point.....I did not paint it an original color but may go back to the original green. The gas pipe frames are literally indestructible.

As for brakes, I used Tektro levers with Tektro interrupter levers. The interrupter levers are a great way to get brakes on the top of the bars and they work great. Here's a pic of a set-up that looks like mine that I found on the web, I'm too lazy to go out to the garage to take pictures.

Velo Mule

I was hoping to find a paint that came close to Schwinn's campus green paint. Thank you for the pictures of your campus green Continentals. I ended up getting House of Color paint that, was too far off for my taste. It was more like the color you would see occasionally on a Peugeot UO-8. That flamboyant green.

I had the painted frame sitting around awhile waiting for it to either change into campus green or to convince me that Schwinn would have made the Continental available in this color if they could have.

Neither of those things happened. It was hard to do, but I removed the paint and started over. I was careful enough that I didn't remove all the paint. Mostly the color coat.



While the color was a good flamboyant color and it came out well, it was not what I was looking for. So, off came the green.



Next up is a light coat of silver and then a decision on whether to go with campus green or sky blue. Since I have not found a campus green bike to color match, the only source of Campus Green paint is Koolest Kolors. They are pricey. This is only a Schwinn Continental. It is not worth spending so much on paint. I am not trying to sell it for a profit, it is for me. I don't have a bunch of money to spend on my hobby. Schwinn Sky Blue is a close match to a Chrysler color that is available from Dupli-color. I have done this color for a Schwinn American and it worked out excellent.

For now, I just need to get it to "Grey Ghost" color and then decide.

One more note, I think, the years that sky blue was available on the Continental was the early to mid 60's. So, it had a seat tube decal on it and the component set is different than my bike, particularly the chainring. If I went with sky blue I would probably get the seat tube decal.

If it weren't for cost, I'd just buy the campus green paint. I'll keep posting as things progress.

Jmpierce

I love where this build is going. The attraction for Schwinn frames and bikes is something I've caught as well. Something to do with not being able to afford them when I was a kid (we had Sears bikes while most of the neighbor kids had Schwinns). I've built up several cantilever frame bikes always too small for me, all Tyhpoons. I now have a 74 Speedster I'm working on but not to the extent you are going to.

Not sure fi you are interested or not but you can get cartridge bearing for Ashtabula cranks. If you aren't too concerned about the weight, you can keep the crankset with the chainrings and pie plate chain guard and add the cartridge bearings for a smoother feel.

dddd

Glad to see this project proceeding, with patience as a virtue here.

I'm not well versed in paint, but somehow I always believed that Campus Green was a clear green paint over a gold base. Am I off on this assumption?

Raleigh had a similar type of green, as shown on this Super Course and on the pictured Supersport:





On second thought, maybe only the Raleigh was under-coated with gold(???).

Anyway, I'm usually crazy about these greens, especially with plenty of chrome around!

Velo Mule

Thanks dddd . The paint that was on my Continental frame looked more like the Raleigh that you have the picture of. You are really close on your thoughts on how the Schwinn radiant paint colors are done. Schwinn used an Aluminum paint under all of their "Radiant" paint colors.

I can image one conversation at the Schwinn factory when they were building so many Pea Pickers, Apple Krates, Cotton Pickers, Orange Krates, etc. "You know that aluminum base looks pretty good. Why don't we just skip the color coat and call it a Grey Ghost".

Here is the link to the Schwinn paint process:

https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/sc...process.86284/

Velo Mule

It is now back looking the way it did back in post #39 .



Those are toothpicks in the headbadge holes. If I didn't put them in it would have built up quite a bit of paint by now.

Velo Mule

It took a few tries. First the wrong color then I dropped the frame and had to go back a step. Finally it has the Campus Green paint on it.



Sorry, this is from the non'drive side.

I'll post more pictures as this project moves forward. Next is graphics and clear coat.

Velo Mule

In the last post it is hard to see the color, because the frame is under a tent. It was also difficult for me as well to really see it clearly as I was painting. This is not the ideal paint conditions, but that is how we armatures sometimes have to work.

More pictures. I moved the frame and fork inside. This is, of course, artificial light. This is after graphics and clear coat.



The paint is Campus Green from Koolest Colors. Both the green and the clear coat were applied with a paint gun.