Thanks for ya'lls input. I found out the wheels are dished for a 6speed freewheel so that answers that question. I figured I could pick up a 600 or 105 derailleur and swap it in pretty cheap if needs be. Right now I'm mad that my brand new RD cable apparently got hung up in the jockey wheel and is now very much unraveled and covered in oil down to about 1/2 inch of the RD scew. Guess I didn't bend it out of the way well enough. I'll have to cut it down tomorrow and put a new end on it (glad now that I bought a few spares).

I'm planning on taking the schwinn on some group grides with the local bike shop's weekend rides soon. And in September may just set my sights on a metric century ride in East Texas. I've got a bit of work left on this project I guess...