My Schwinn Restoration- Before and After

Before and After: My Schwinn cruiser restoration

If you're already tuning in to my blog, you know that I do custom bicycle restorations. The "Transform your Klunker" segment of my blog has gotten me my first restoration project, this one of a kind vintage Schwinn cruiser.The serial number on the head tube leads to believe that this bicycle was made in the late 70's to early 80's. When I received this project, the wheels were rusted through, and many parts were covered completely over by brown surface rust.

Before and After: Surface rust removal.

 I disassembled the frame and put the parts in a chemical bath for a few days to remove the rust from the surface. After removing most of the rust I went over the parts with a steel wool brush to get any remaining bits of rust off. I had the frame sandblasted and powder coated. The powder coating finish was ready within a few days and I had decals also placed on the frame.

Frame after arriving back from powder coating.

I found these vintage decals to match the frame perfectly.

I got to work installing the bottom bracket and single piece crankset. I purchased new bearings and repacked the bottom bracket with new grease for the bearings to quietly roll along.

Repacking the bottom bracket.

Crankset after assembly.

I also had a better preserved Schwinn head-badge that I was able to replace the old, worn head badge with.

Era specific head badge

There were some parts, such as the wheels and fork of this frame, which were not salvageable. I found a replica fork and wheels at a local bike shop and was able to replace these quickly. The end result made for a great final product.

Finally, all finished

The end result of this restoration is a bicycle that the owner will get many more years out of. A restored cruiser like this costs about as much as buying a new custom cruiser. The difference is bikes like these were made of steel as opposed to today's bikes which are made of aluminum.  They were made to take the abuses of country roads and paper boy routes from a time were people depended on these bicycles to get them around different places.


If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area or can cover your own shipping/transportation costs, please feel free to ask me about the bicycle you would like restored. You can email me pictures of the bicycle from all angles and what you would like done on the bike. I will get back with you with either a quote or realistic response if your bicycle is not able to be salvaged. To learn more about my restorations please feel free to visit my "Transform your Klunker" page on my blog.

For a free quote, send me an email with pictures of your bike to the following email address.