Zaphod Beeblebrox 

I finally got an orange schwinn

There's not a lot of orange in great shape but I'm gonna salvage what i can.



The head lugs are a delightful mixture of surface rust and chrome.


The whole frame is chrome underneath the paint. The surface rust I've looked at so far has been on top of the chrome...so remedying the rust is leaving me with chrome spots. It doesn't actually look so bad. here's a before of one of the nastier spots.


I hit it with 2000 grit, then 1000, then 600 which finally got the rust off and then went back up again in grit and now I've just got a big chrome patch where all the rust and crazed paint was. I'll put up some pics of that later when my camera charges back up...its dark in my house and the flash eats the batteries.

I tried 600 grit on the lugs but they haven't improved yet so I'm gonna try something attached to a dremel next I think.

Should be fun, it might even look OK when im done killing the rust. No idea how I'm gonna build it yet.

One quick question..I've got a couple of neat Schwinn stems with the big "S" on em...they're the odd schwinn size though and don't fit. Can I shim a .833" stem to work in a 22.2mm steerer safely?

fender1

ummmm....you mean World Voyageur right?

sailorbenjamin

I've got a Sports Tourer that I'd trade you for that "Sports Tourer".

sailorbenjamin

Darn it. Someone beat me to it.
Seriously, though, I've always wanted one of those. Sunset Orange is my favorite color for frames and chrome is my favorite color for lugs.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

Funny thing is if i'd not screwed that up nobody would have replied.

Obviously I do mean world voyageur...but I'm gonna not edit my post. How many people do you suppose will post to this thread solely to point out my mistake? I'll bet there's half a dozen before it hits page 2

Not the best pic, but here's what's under the rust spot pictured above.



There's a lot more sanding to go.

ColonelJLloyd 

Schwinn. Orange. Panasonic. Chrome. Patina.

If the same frameset was made today, I'd probably buy one. Looking forward to seeing the build.

I thought the '73 World Voyageurs had .833 stems.

For arguments sake, with what would you shim a stem?

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

something like this but for a stem? https://www.amazon.com/Wald-Seatpost-...ef=pd_sim_sg_2

I'm not sure if shimming a stem is even a very smart idea. or possible...

found this interesting review of the '73 World Voyageur
https://velo-pages.com/main.php?g2_itemId=27936

Oregon Southpaw

International Danger Orange

Wish I had that as my username

Mr IGH

Nice rare frame, no 25" or I'd try to find one. Those shims are fine to use, we used 'em at the LBS I worked at, when you replaced a Schwinn fork with a 22.2 steerer fork they were standard. Put the lip under the headset locknut, looks much cleaner. Make sure the stem isn't in too far so that the expanded bolt doesn't drop below the shim (obvious but you'd be surprised....).

Could you please give me some frame dimensions?

Top tube, c to c
seat post, center to top
head tube length
chainstay length, center of dropouts to center of bb
fork axle center to crown
rear axle to brake bridge
bb drop

pastorbobnlnh 

Great find and I imagine in that condition you were able to get if for a nice price.

FWIIW, my observation of these World Voyageur frames, is that most of them suffer from significant oxidation problems. Even the ones that were obviously taken care of and stored indoors have rusty lugs and usually some degree of "paint pop" because of rust developing underneath. I wonder what was going on over at Panasonic at the time? Was it a manufacturing issue? Were they shipped in faulty containers which were infiltrated with sea water? I guess we will never know.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

Yeah I don't feel like I paid too much considering the frequency with which these seem to come up. Plus I feel like its a model that's the best of two worlds...the Schwinn aesthetic and Japanese Metalwork.

I have a funny feeling these frames left Panasonic Chromed and were painted in Chicago....the overspray on the lugs and the underside of the fork crown just smacks of a Bike Boom Schwinn. The chroming has held up well enough that the rust I'm removing is killing the paint but leaving the chrome intact. Nice thing is the paint around the model name and stuff is free from mess so It wont get lost. I've found some pics of the headbadge in pristine shape that i can't seem to locate right now, so I may attempt to rehab it...Or I might just polish the heck out of it and just leave it as a shiny thing on the front. I think its fitting that Just like all of Schwinn's original "world" bikes the headbadge is faded in a similar way.

Bob, I'm gonna warn you in advance that I've got a Schwinn Stem and I really want to do to it what you did to the stem in your Signature. That is really very cool.

Mr. IGH, I think 23" (they call it 23"...as you'll see, its not really) is the biggest size they made. Thanks for the tip on the stem shim, My LBS deals with that sort of thing so they may stock it.

Here's the numbers you're looking for:
Top tube, c to c - 22.5"
seat post, center to top - 23" (22.5" c--to-c)
head tube length - 6"
chainstay length, center of dropouts to center of bb - 17.5"
fork axle center to crown - 15" to the top, 14 3/8" to the underside of the fork crown
rear axle to brake bridge - 14 3/8"
bb drop - not as easy to measure but it looks like around 3"...so low-ish

pastorbobnlnh 

Zaphod, I'm flattered!

I've shinned a few headbadges down to bare metal and the look is a nice change. Not original but pleasing to look at.

Mr IGH

Thanks, it's a 24" Super Sport with lugs and lightweight tubing.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

hunh? Whats a 24" Super Sport?

This bike is cleaning up really well and I gotta say its quite satisfying to remove ugly rust and have shiny chrome as the result

I'm leaning towards building it up with a heavy nod to the original components I grabbed a 1st gen Dura-Ace centerpull for a buck yesterday, and from what I'm seeing on ebay the 1st gen Dura Ace cranksets don't seem to fetch much money. I also found some 1st gen Dura Ace brake levers and they have Turkey levers that are some kind of strange mechanism that is different from any that I've seen and actually looks like it might function well.

I'm on the fence about hunting down a Crane RD and a Titlist FD when I've got a set of Suntour Cyclones sitting right here.

RobE30

Now I know what you were mumbling about on the phone yesterday.... Dura Ace centerpull.... Cool. I'm heading to the Co-Op on Tuesday, I'll keep my eyes open for 1st gen DA bits for you. Looks like a fun project man!

ColonelJLloyd 

Can't argue with the Suntours, but the Crane/Titlist/Le Tour derailleurs work very well from what I'm told.

I measured the stem on the World Voyageur at my LBS yesterday and it was 22.2mm. I was wrong.

I really think a first generation Dura Ace crank is the way to go as well as Barcons and fenders.

Your frame looks a bit smaller than the one at my LBS, but didn't measure that one. If they had made this bike in a 25" I'd own one.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

ya know looking a little more at these Dura Ace cranks I gotta wonder...whats the smallest chainring you can get on there and are they available?

ColonelJLloyd 

It looks like a 130 BCD, so a 38 tooth ring is the minimum. 39t rings are widely available. If you wanted a smaller chainring (or a triple) the older Sugino stuff is nice, appropriately styled for this bike and relatively inexpensive. Looks for a Super Maxy for a double or a Mighty Tour for a triple.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

I've got both of those on hand as well as a TA I can try out. The Mighty Tour looks a little more like the Dura-Ace as well.

ColonelJLloyd 

It's a good looking crankset. The Puch I restored for a friend this summer was equipped with one.