wltr w8 

Need some input from you wise Schwinn experts. Just purchased a Schwinn Stingray from a yard sale. Trying to determine the year made has proven difficult from exhaustive internet searching. I know it is not from the original release in 1963 and it is not the relative current retro models. The flat fork with chrome crown, crank set design and screwed on head tube badge are reminiscent of the early models but frame welds at head tube and drop outs are more recent. The serial number, TCA04D01134, is not recognized through the Schwinn searches so I am sure it was not USA built. Any help would be appreciated.

Iride01 

All my friends in the 70's had one of those. Looks in very good shape. No idea of it's age or place of manufacture. Does it also have a code stamped on the head badge?

Might be someone in the Classic & Vintage sub-forum that knows. Not all of them come to the General Section much. There use to be some that actually worked for the original Schwinn company back prior to the name being sold in the nineties. But I haven't seen them around in quite a while.

Maybe you can get a moderator to move this thread there for you.

Fahrenheit531 

The small numbers stamped on the headbadge will tell you. Find the number then google "schwinn headbadge decoder" for your answer.

wltr w8 

There are no numbers on the headtube or headbadge. Only on the underside of the bottom bracket.

wltr w8 

Thank you.

smd4

The lack of any appreciable rust except on the bars is interesting.

And the wheel reflector is upside down.

wltr w8 

Thanks for noticing. I actually removed the reflector, haha. Also, the rear wheel rim has more rust on it than I like to see. But overall, especially on the frame, rust is at a minimum.

Erzulis Boat 

99% sure it's a mix. It's a modern Stingray frame, has swapped modern Krate crankset, period bars (as in old, but not sure manufacture), modern stem etc.

I think it's someone's attempt to either "fabricate" a real Stingray to fool somebody, or just to slap some old parts on for fun. Drilling two holes and adding screws to a headbadge is an old trick, but the welds make it obvious it isn't "real" to anybody that knows about vintage Schwinns.

skidder

Can you post a picture of the headbadge, the numbers stamped on them were quite small, and the numbers were sometimes stamped just below the headbadge and above the headset's lower crown race. That frame looks like it was from the 1980s or later as the earlier stingray frames (IIRC) had a simple 4-digit number stamped on the bottom of the bottom bracket; about 1980 they went with a long alpha-numeric code on the BB. The wheels look newer as does the banana-seat saddle. Still a nice-looking example of a Stingray.

Erzulis Boat 

Even in late 70's the frame unions didn't look like OP's bike. It's a "brand new" frame, old/older forks. It's from like 2000ish.

ETA- Did a little digging, I was right, going off warning label on top tube, looks like a batch from 2000 or so. There was a 1998 run with same sticker, but welds looked more "correct". To be safe, date bike to 20 something years old.

wltr w8 

wltr w8 

Thanks all for the comments. I don't disagree and don't mind as I bought it for a fun purchase. I actually was given this same style and color bike when I was 10 in 1968. Bought it for my grand daughters to ride. It's hard to believe that someone would go through the trouble of frankensteining parts but there are a lot of dishonest people out there.

Erzulis Boat 

Flat head phillips? There you have it.

Erzulis Boat 

May not have been dishonest. Sometimes people just want things to look more "period correct", like a re-enactor putting mustard or apple juice on his knife blade to darken/age it.

If it really was an intent to deceive, removing the warning label would have been the first order of business I would think.

ETA- Let me clarify, its a real Schwinn, just not a real Chicago Schwinn (vintage).

wltr w8 

For my learning, can you explain your observation of the flat head phillips? Does the authentic Schwinn have a rounded head phillips?

wltr w8 

BTW, I appreciate your interest and comments.

Erzulis Boat 

Original screws were a very pronounced (domed) slot fasteners. The threads had a very "relaxed" helix compared to the shank, the opposite of a fine thread if you will. An early version of a self tapping screw in appearance.

VegasTriker

Lots of confusion on how to date older Schwinn bikes. Are you sure you identified the first letter in the sequence? From the picture, it looks as though there is a mark before the letter "T". If you did not correctly identify the first letter in the sequence it would make dating it from the list of Schwinn dates impossible.

wltr w8 

Actually, the first 2 letters on the sequence is SN. I assumed they stood for: Serial Number. When searching I did initially include all the letters and then did repetitive searching without the SN and then started discounting subsequent letters. Nothing went thru as valid numbers.

dedhed

Likely made in China for Pacific Aug. 2004

rollagain

Those are called 'drive screws'. Many didn't have any slots, they were hammered in.

VegasTriker

That pretty much identifies it as a Chinese made bike imported by Pacific Cycle. Pacific uses identification starting with SN. Unlike older Schwinns there do not seem to be any serial number lookups for Pacific Cycle Schwinn bikes.
I remember driving past the abandoned Schwinn factory in Chicago soon after it closed. Ditto for Ashtabula crank company in Ashtabula OH. The name was still on the factory but it was not in producing anything at that time.

wltr w8 

I figured it is a Schwinn commissioned bike in that the accessories such as the banana seat, rear reflector, seat post collar bolt, head badge, decals and hand grips all Schwinn identification on them. I ordered a set of Schwinn ape hangers off ebay and when I replace I'll check existing bar for identification.

skidder

The Schwinns from the 1960s-1970s also could have the headbadges attached with rivets. I've got a mid-1970ish LeTour that I had to drill the rivets out to get the headbadge off before I got it powdercoated. I found some small screws to put it back on when re-assembling, not authentic but I was just looking to get it re-hab'd and rideable. Mine isn't authentic by any stretch of the imagination, but its something I put together for nostalgic reasons and its a different 'feel' of a ride when I want something different than my usual 'daily drivers'.