JCGarrison

I am interested in cleaning up and fixing this bike. I'll post a picture when I can. It already has un-original wheels in rough shape, so I am not worried about original parts. But I would like to keep the Deluxe Hornet vibe. What would be a good 26" coaster brake set of wheels? Thanks...

thinktubes 

You could probably pick up a beach crusier for cheap and grab the wheels from that. Much easier, cheaper, and more options than usi g the Schwinn proprietary-sized wheels.

1950s Hornets are cool - I had a black/orange one with a spring fork.

canopus 

I would say move this over to Beach Cruisers and maybe check out The Cabe. If you don't want to build any wheels the best ones are the ones you find which most of them are 559. I like the older Araya 26x1.5 (like a 7B rim) rims myself for older 26" wheels.

Velo Mule

What do you have for wheels now? When you say the wheels are in rough shape are they rusty, taco'd, missing spokes all of these things. While my next suggestion would not be my first or second choice, if you look for a Huffy, Next or some other department store coaster brake bike, especially a step through frame (Woman's) bike, you can use the wheels fenders, stem, crank handlebars and other parts. Then this will allow you time to ride the bike, determine how much you like it and make plans to buy some better wheels and parts. The Huffy or other department store coaster brake bike will get you going. And that is the important thing to start off.

If you have a Bendix, Morrow or Shimano coaster brake, save the wheel. You may want to use the hub to build you next wheel. The same goes for the front, if the hub is good, save it. If not front hubs are easier to come by. I'm with canopus on the rims for later on. Araya made good rims, and so did Ukai and others. If you love the bike, but the department store wheels are holding you back, building or having a pair of wheels built with alloy rims and stainless steel spokes is a good way to go. There are even some polished alloy rims available that almost look like chrome. And there are chrome rims out there that look good now, but are not the quality chrome and steel as the old Schwinn's.

Post pictures to your personal gallery JCGarrison . Someone may be able to post them here for you.

Save all the original parts, even if you don't use them. Put them in a box. There are plenty in the hobby that don't mind some rust or crud on the original Schwinn parts. Save them for later if you ever sell the bike.