SharpByCoop 

Hi friends,

I posted a 'Schwinn Paramount Questions' thread a couple of months ago when I acquired this bike off eBay. Trusted seller, gave a great deal, yet the bike had 'mysteries' and untrue components.

They were answered knowledgeably by the members here. Thank YOU!

I took it upon myself to bring this up to acceptable standards. What a great two months worth of hunting down compatible items, fitting them, and most impressively (for me) was PAINTING the frame. This WAS difficult.

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a 'Concours' restoration. You can pick it apart easily.

Lots of incorrect pieces and decorations, yet at age 70, and for my satisfaction this is quite good enough. I PLAN on riding it when it's capable in the Northeast USA.








You can link to more images I captured on my Photography Website Album: 1972 Schwinn Paramount (I am a professional product photographer by trade. I can't help but TRY to do them justice).

How Janky was this? Very. Here's the original bike as rec'd.

Note the cheapo Italian brakes, wrong levers and stem, incorrect year decals, and ugly paint.






I know you will appreciate the work. Happy to answer questions. (It still needs a ft derailleur spring to be installed before riding. Another casualty I found. One is on the way.)

Thanks for viewing!

Coop

Classtime 

Beautiful!
Question 1: How did you paint it?

SharpByCoop 

Paint? Outdoors hanging from a chain under a tree without wind. Too much work to make a booth in my crowded garage, and my basement would have stunk up the entire house.

• Stripped it down to bare with caustic paint stripper and lots of hard scraping.
• Polished the lugs. No chrome lower lugs or rear chain area on this model. Hmmm....
• Did a search. Others said use a 'liquid mask'. I bought a small bottle from a hobby store, and hand painted the lugs. VERY time consuming.
• Then.... sand tubes and grey ENAMEL primer. All painting with spray cans.
• First try: Automotive gloss orange sparkle 'engine' paint. Fail. Sand it smooth. Clogged nozzle with sparkle bits. Yuck.
• Second try: Krylon bright orange enamel. More like bright rust tan. Unacceptable color. Dull.
• Third try: Rustoleum Orange gloss (I went into Lowes and sprayed a sample on a white piece of paper this time. The Rustoleum was GREAT!)
• Actually dried glossy. I have learned to NOT recoat for days with enamel. (Learned the hard way)
• Spent time with Exacto knife and trimmed and peeled away the paint from the lugs and liquid mask. This took hours.
• Ordered and applied period decals (eBay seller bicyclebones) THIS was tough. They broke apart numerous times, yet I wrangled them together with enough warm soapy water and patience.
• Added the rainbow flourishes on the tubes only because I had them. Why not!
• Took it outdoors on last time and sprayed the entire bike with enamel clear, including over the polished lugs. Everything is sealed up.
• NOW I understand why a good painter would charge $1000. I learned and saved the money, yet I'm not thrilled to try this again.

Coop

Bad Lag

You did a great job!

SwimmerMike 

Great job on bringing this back. I also loved the way you photographed it.

congratulations on a great build

IdahoBrett 

Wow!!!

Spoonrobot 

I've been admiring your work over at Bladeforums for probably two decades now so it's cool to see you here as well. You picked a heck of a bike to start with (masking those lugs!), came out very nice. Excited to see what else you get into.

Mad Honk 

Great job! And nice enough to show off a bit. thanks for sharing. Smiles, MH

USAZorro

Very impressed with the result.

I have one observation to pass along. The raised triangle on the downtube that is just above your shift levers is a feature that is intended to help prevent the levers from sliding down the tube as cable pressure is exerted on the mechanism. If you have the bolt on the shifter clamp really cranked down, and have the shift cables optimally adjusted you may not have slippage. However, if it should occur, it would require adjustment (quite possibly interrupting an enjoyable ride) and could mar that lovely orange finish. This would be an almost impossible scenario if you were to re-mount the clamp so that is is just above (and touching) that small, raised triangle.

Sedgemop 

That's very high level bike photography. Great job on the restore too. You have a great deal more patience than I do. Thanks for sharing your process.

repechage

The exposing of the chrome fork crown is commendable and a bit amazed it was not molested under the blue.
‘I would look for some Weinmann compatible gum brake lever hoods.

‘’the paint looks good, I would not have done the stay bands but it is not my bike.
previous owner placed the waterbottle bosses no doubt, on the as delivered bikes, I was perplexed that Schwinn essentially ignored that cage clamp or clamps would go over the graphics.

AdventureManCO 

Can you do mine?


















j/k GREAT work!!

Hobbiano 

Nice job! Paint looks great!

ACHiPo 

Very nicely done!

John E

What rims are you using with the Gatorskins? I am having a bear of a time installing new tires on older rims.

Kilroy1988 

Hello,

Lovely restoration, thanks for sharing! There's another greenish Paramount with Nervex lugs on eBay right now that's about the same size and in need of similar TLC. Maybe go in for round #2? Ha, ha!

I'm with John... I just put some Gatorskins on a set of unmarked rims that look like older Mavics and they are a beast. But at least once they're on they usually don't need to come off for a long time!

-Gregory

merziac

Job well done, another Christmas miracle.

Always a great day when a Paramount is returned to its former glory.

SharpByCoop 

Yes. All the other bikes in my online gallery were taken outdoors in my driveway with the black backdrop and a PVC frame. Yesterday the RAIN was unrelenting so I set it up down in my basement with reflectors. Methinks I'm on to something.

Buried treasure! Hoods: I have been looking. When I look at other early seventies, it seems to be 50/50 having them or not. I'll reconsider.

Yeah the bands will glare at a purist and please a non-purist. I get it! I haven't figured out what cage to place there, yet it WON'T be that horrible plastic one it came with!

Ha! Thank you. Get in line....

The non-original 'Suntour M13 II" which it came with. I own a pair of vintage Campagnolo sew up rims, but I'm not going there. This is shiny and fine. I polished the hell out of the rims and spokes.

They are (asking) a pretty penny for Paramounts on eBay. (Not what they are selling for). Some people are simply crazy in their valuations.

Thank you all.

Note: Look closely at the replaced headbadge emblem. It was a Paramount refrigerator magnet which I reshaped to fit. Embossed screws and all. SO SUE me! (They did not match the existing holes at all, so I had no recourse. Again, NOT a Concours.) I'm not ashamed.

Just got that broken spring and it stopped raining. I think I need to give it some love...

chain_whipped

Looks great and nice presentation with the photography.
(I wouldn't consider the original as acquired being a clunker, but at least you've changed your mind after the good work.)
Now that you tackled this one, DIY hands on learned, don't be discouraged from saving another!

For a shop setup, HVLP and a compressor with volume, water trap is ideal. Spray paint tents are pretty cheap but it still adds up. The big expense will be in paint and materials. Fortunately the budget minded can do really well without.

Budget refinishing:

Can't estimate in monetary the value in ones time, but the following in materials is approx. $100.

Concur on the Rust-Oleum. Especially the orange. The 2X is excellent. Has good pigment and ideal for rattlecan jobs on bikes that have a decent substrate. Sand the bike without a full strip. Mask off chrome. No primer needed and apply directly the Rust-O 2X.

For a more robust finish on full stripped frames, I'm liking their Self Etching primer. Go easy on it. Two light coats. I don't sand or finger midge the frame prior the color coat. Avoid handling. Then choose your color coat. Two part urethane is ideal, lays on well and quickly cures. Though it gets pricey and can be too thick for my liking on a classic lugged bike. Lacquer lays smooth and flashing will go away during early curing. (You can still get it in CA... boo hoo). Give it a week to cure. Depending the results of the color coat(s), this is the time to lightly wet sand out blems and flaws.

Next come decal / transfers / striping. Prefer the elegant and thin water applique transfers. Yes, patience is required but one key is extra soaking in luke warm water and pre wetting the frame.

Finish with Eastwood 2K two part urethane clear. Go easy and two light coats should do it. I dont like the large spray pattern but it atomizes pretty good. 10 minutes between coats. No advantage to over coat and having a thick clear. Let it cure a few days, room temp, avoid humidity. Wet sand 1200 to 2000 grit any flawed areas or the entire frame if you wish. Usually let it set another week and then work it with a rubbing compound.

(Edited to correct auto-spell. poo)

SharpByCoop 

Got it. I was unsure about that. However when I placed the clamp above this boss, it seemed too high compared to others, and the levers were very close to the lugs.

I like how the points align even if wrong. It's tight. I will leave it. Good eye, though! Thank you. Next one I'll do this!

SharpByCoop 

chain_whipped WOW! Great info. Noted and saved here. You have done this more than once. This is my second.

I was a house painter for 12 years out of high school. Preparation, as you know, is key.

Rustoleum 2x FTMFW!

Thank you.

Coop

chain_whipped

Forgot to mention and about prep during the process. Obviously the need to remove all grease or contaminates.

For fully stripped frame, wipe with acetone. But don't use acetone on frames that have its original paint and sanded. In this case, rather use a thinner. Make sure all is dry, then spray.

Senior Ryder 00 

SharpByCoop Way to go! It great to see another classy vintage bike saved.
Cheers,
Van

repechage

I would reference


speedbicycles.ch


for what might be the Standard for bicycle photography currently, and for quite a while now.

the Paramounts without hoods probably started out as one of the touring variations with the “dual position” levers.

SharpByCoop 

Whew on the new-to-me site. SO classy!

I just purchased those N.O.S Weinmann levers and brakes. OLD boxes from the sixties or seventies. I will keep it as such to show that cool red anodized button. For now.

Thank you.