Please help...$20.00 Garage sale Schwinn... 1984? & what the heck is it?
 

Hope I'm putting this in the right section.
Don't intend on selling it, just want to find out what it is.
Steel frame, 27" wheels,Serial number CV540.
Looks like someone stuck Intense & Schwinn decals over the
worn away originals......
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...g/P7090136.jpg
[img]
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...g/P7090138.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...g/P7090135.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...g/P7090145.jpg
Thanks for any advice

Looks like a 1974 Varsity to me.

Yeah, it's a repainted 70's Schwinn. You can tell right off that the decals are not original because the one on the fork is backwards.

Thanks guys!:thumb:
From my understanding of the date codes CV540 would be 1984, if T=1982?
http://www.angelfire.com/rant/allday...innCodes4.html

Think it may be the original paint because the decals are coming off real easy with my finger nail & some Gu-Gone & bits of the original white lettering are underneath.
One thing disturbs me though...

The top tube,down tube head tube area is baby butt smooth like I've seen the E/F frames described.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...g/P7090162.jpg
But, where the top tube meets the seat tube looks like crap.
Just two tack welds top & bottom with gaps in between..
(hard to get a good photo)
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...g/P7090159.jpg
Is this normal for Varsities? or has this frame been "fixed"???
No big deal,got it for $20.00. Just don't want it falling apart on me.:p

CV540=a March, 1984 Varsity or Continental.

By 1984, Schwinn had closed the Chicago factory and had shipped the electroforged frame manufacturing tooling to Murray. Murray was building Varsities and Continentals under contract to Schwinn. Here's the 1984 catalog with the page featuring the Varsity and Continental.

EDIT - If that's the original paint, it's a Varsity; the Continental was Black, the Varsity was Cardinal Red or Sky Blue.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...eCatalog01.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...eCatalog02.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...eCatalog03.jpg

Yup, that's the color & everything.
Thanks.

Thought I'd post an update.
Know a lot of guys on this forum think I'm just polishing a turd,
but I'm having fun. So far I have....

Gave it a good cleaning & got the front derailluer working again.
stripped the crappy "new" decals & even what was left of the originals.
Greased the wheel bearings & spooned on a set of Kenda Krosscyclo tires

Could still use a better saddle, a wider set of bars/new bar tape &
& the stem mounted shifter is a pain.
Can I replace it with a clamp on down tube shifter? cheaply?

Think she's looking a lot better. Ride is pretty darn comfy.
So far I've got about $50.00 in it.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...g?t=1311476010
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...g?t=1311476508
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...g?t=1311476556
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/h...g?t=1311476592

Nice work! There's nothing like a Varsity to practice wrenching on, and those electroforged frames are virtually brombproof.

There's a good article on Sheldon Brown's website by Marc Muller, partner in Waterford Precision Cycles with Richard Schwinn, on the unique manufacturing process Schwinn used to build these frames; everything was made from 16 gauge AISI 1010 carbon steel strips.

Inside the Varsity

I notice that this bike has a tubular fork.

I always associated the Varsity with a flat blade fork.

Does anyone know when the change was made?

Nice job! I have a soft spot for those Varsitys with the color-matched headbadge. I recently sold a pristing blue 1984 model to a teenaged schoolgirl who was thrilled to get it.

Eric, I'm guessing the change was made when Murray started making the electro-forged models for Schwinn.

From "No Hands", page 165 ....

"Not all Schwinn production went to Giant. In September 1982, Schwinn contracted with mass-market competitor Murray Ohio to produce about a third of its bikes - mostly the unprofitable 16-inch and 20-inch kids' models, but also the venerable Varsity - at Murray's plant near Nashville, Tennessee.<snip>... <snip> Schwinn moved its welding equipment to Tennessee in order to make the bikes at a lower cost and improve profitability."

Shipping the equipment to Tennessee to make the forged fork probably didn't make economic sense and by then they knew they'd be closing down the Chicago plant. In fact, continuing to make Varsities and Continentals at all probably didn't make sense.

Thanks Stan,
That makes sense.