Metacortex

Opaque Green was available only in '72 and only on the Super Sport, Sports Tourer and Paramount.

Bikedued

Well, I have to ream out the bottom bracket shell a little, so I might buy a cylinder hone, and some coarse stones, or maybe a stone for the air grinder, to clean it up a little. What I have going on, is a three piece conversion kit, that is a tiny bit deeper than the allowed cup room in the shell. Honestly it looks like they got a batch that was too small ID, and they reamed the shell just deep enough for the standard cups. I don't remember my other SS being like this, the cups went right in with the three bolts provided, and pressed in until they were flush. To add even more grief, one of the bolts was so stuck installed on the conversion kit donor frame, that it twisted my allen wrench, and eventually I ended up drilling the head off of it. When I got it apart, the bolt was finger loose. I guess the head was bound up somehow. I am planning a full mockup, but no cables. Then, tear down and paint or powder.,,,,BD

EDIT: Here's the one I used to have. It was done the same way, but a little deeper. I had no issues with the same kit on this frame.

Bikedued

Yeah, I think DT shifters will find their way onto this bike, instead of the barcons. I am going to tack weld a tab on the bottom to hold them. Easiest way, is a tab with a hole in the middle, then
fill in the middle with the weld. The cable stops on the down tube will need removing of course. I think it will give it a more exotic higher end look. The inspiration? This one picture, which should be familar with at least one of us.,,,,BD

https://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...wersFront1.jpg

pastorbobnlnh 

for those who are curious!



...and another BB for comparison. BTW, Sporty was originally Opaque Green.

The Golden Boy 

I love the look of a Fillet Brazed BB shell.

Bikedued

Well, I tried twice to install a tab, and no luck. The first time I forgot to turn the gas on, and the hole was filled with a non sticking porous mess of a weld. I made another tab, and got a nice hot looking clean weld. The edges were sticking up a little, so I got out a small punch to tap them down. You guessed it, it popped off on the first strike. I think I am just going to chance it, hehe. There were a bazillion bikes made without them.,,,,BD

Bikedued

I have a semi sloped chrown Centurion fork, that I believe might be a usable match for this bike. Schwinn forks, to Tange Chromoly. Should be a serious upgrade, and I can use a 22.2 quill on it. It worked wonders on a Schwinn Tourist type bike. I twisted the original forks getting the bars off, and it the Centurion fork made that feel like a different bike. I also have a chrome one, but that is slated for the Aerospace GP. A chrome one one painted all but the crown, would look nice too. Nothing like a completed custom bike project for Spring riding.,,,,BD

Bikedued

Been working on it the last week. The mockup is nearly complete. I got the BB adaptor in through chamfering the cups, and filing the ridge a little with a hand file. I decided on Suntour Cyclone M-II, because the location tabs on the Crane prevented me from installing it on the hanger. I was going to cut and weld the hanger on, but decided on the simpler route for that too. Drillium Sugino cranks add a nice "race" touch. Now for paint... I just found half a quart of black Acrylic enamel in the garage. Black wasn't my first choice, but I already have some mid temp reducer, and will just need some hardener, which will be cheaper by far. I could get some repop decals in gold, that would look pretty nice on the black. I will start cleaning and polishing components when I break it down for paint. Parts that are too rusted to be pretty, will be replaced at that time.,,,,BD

Anyone have any thoughts about the black?

Bikedued

The tires look like cheap gumwall Kendas, but are skinwall Bontragers. Infinitely lighter, and don't have that dead ride associated with the Kendas. These were the wheels I had on my custom orange SS back when. I sold the bike, and the guy said if he changed the wheels he would sell them back to me. And a few weeks later, I got the email, and got them back. My friend and I found them at a car swap meet on a Raleigh back in like 2008? Fresh polished Weinmann rims, Normandy large flange hubs, and double butted stainless spokes. The bike was ten bucks!! I kept the wheels, and my friend took everything else. Best $5 I ever spent.,,,,BD

pastorbobnlnh 

Black paint with gold decals will look--- well--- just SUPER! Go for it.

Bikedued

Somewhere I've got one of those chrome caps that goes over the fork, that is pristine, It's deep wherever it is, because I haven't seen it in a while. I never did find the Centurion fork?


Black it is then! It will make the fillet brazing look even better.,,,,BD

oldsmobum

Nice bike! I have my own Super Sport project going. If you need any bits let me know, though I didn't get a complete bike I'm not using a lot of what I have. I also have an extra "S" logo stem in 21.1 if you want... It's been sprayed black, but I intend to strip and polish it.

Narhay

Quite the project but I'm looking forward to seeing it come together. Always nice to give a bike a second life.

pastorbobnlnh 

@bikedude, I have a Centurion fork with an extra long steering tube. Shoot me an email if you are interested. IIRC the headset is all there as well.

Bikedued

I have a chrome Tange 2C fork, that I think I may use. Kind of a shame I guess, but I plan to probably paint all but the crown. I may leave some socks though, undecided.,,,,BD

Bikedued

Well, the headbadge I want is on ebay, but it's in Oregon. After two 15+ day shipping times from that region lately, I am thinking twice about it.,,,,BD

Henry III

I thought the ID of the headtube were a screwy size and you needed to use a Schwinn headset which then had they're own threading? Could be wrong since it's been awhile since I've played with Schwinn of this period. I had a 72 Sports Tourer that had a boatload of framework done and ended up sleeving the headtube to use a standard size headset.

Bikedued

Well, the outside of the fork steerer is the same as any other road bike, they just used thicker tubing which required a smaller stem quill. As far as the head tube inner diameter, that remains to be seen. I have enough old cups to experiment with. If it turns out to be larger or smaller, I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

Fork and stem swapped. Chrome Tange fork installed, and that of course made me change to a 22.2 quill stem. I found one a little shorter reach, which helped immensely on the fit. The weird thing is that this bike should be two inches too big for me, but I can stand over it flat footed, and the saddle to bar drop is about the same as most of my bikes. Maybe they have a lower bottom bracket height?,,,,BD

There was a noticeable drop in weight with the Tange fork. Of course I knew there would be.

Bikedued

Went ahead and did the cork on this one.,,,,BD

Metacortex

The headset cup/race OD is 32.7mm and the 1" steerer tube is threaded 24tpi. This was called the "BMX/OPC" standard according to Sheldon: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Headset Dimension Crib Sheet

Jeff Wills

True. I put a Chris King "BMX" headset on my original Superior years and years ago. For my restomod-in-progress I found a NOS Schwinn headset to replace the rusty unit that came on the bike.

Bikedued

porkchopbmx.com has a 32.5 alloy headseat with cartridge bearings. I am using a thick spacer, so I should have enough threads for the extra stack height at least. It looks like I will have to do some measuring and see how tight or loose the machining is. Actually though, the headset isn't that bad just old grease and gummy I think. The rust isn't that bad either. The crown race fit the Tange fork, which is what really surprised me. It always seems that whatever headset you buy, the crown race is ALWAYS the other size, .,,,,BD

oldsmobum

I was just about to order one of those headsets... The assembled headset on this superior frame I have measures damn close to 4.1 stack height... I think that's what they spec'd isn't it? However it also doesn't have a brake cable hanger mounted either, and I'm not sure if it ever did or if it had sidepull brakes instead. Thosr headsets are cheaper on their site than eBay by the way!

Bikedued

Had to have a Pro.,,,,BD