The original owner of this Sports Tourer called to ask "You're not coming are you?" It was after dark and the lake effect snow off Lake Ontario had kicked up, but I was almost there and still had a 75 minute drive home, so of course I was still going to meet him. It was crusty, rusty and dirty but you don't see many 26" fillet brazed Schwinns come up for sale so I paid the man. He said that he had some mishap that required new parts on the back end, the derailleur perhaps, but the stays didn't appear to be bent. It still had that Nervar crankset that looks like it has 5 chainrings and the Brooks B-15 saddle so I figured I could work with the rest. I'm thinking this will have the ride of an old Mercury Marquis.
The rear hub is a small flange Mailliard dated 1988 and the rims don't match, so it appears the wheel was replaced. I can't see a Gran Tourismo being installed as a replacement in 1988 so that is likely the original RD.
Chrome bits have freckles... Brake levers were cracked.
Distressed paint, maybe from bare chain wrapped around the seatpost.
Everything came apart without much effort. no date code on the fork but the original paint shows how much the rest of the paint has oxidized.
Huret dropouts
I still need to remove the kickstand - not sure how to do that but Google should find something on it.
The chrome bits will get a bath in Evaporust, but not the frame. ER warns not to use it on red paint, so I'll try an OA bath.
My plan is to degrease the frame, OA bath, rubbing compound on the paint and then lots of touch-up. If it looks really bad, there is always the powder coat option, but I want to get it ridable first.
Thoughts on the plan would be appreciated.