vonfilm 

Last night I stripped most of the equipment off my Super Sport in preparation for painting and Resto-Mod. Here is the before picture:

pastorbobnlnh 

What do you plan to modify and restore. SS are great project bikes and provide endless opportunities for modifications that Schwinn never imagined.

May I introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Sporty? Welcome to C&V.

cb400bill

I love it when PastorBob brings out Sporty.

vonfilm 

Pastorbob,
Your Sporty and Scooper's Sporty Due are my inspiration for a Resto-Mod on my Super Sport. I bought it new in 1975 and it was my only transportation for many years. I rode it through high school and college and then lent it to my brother who rode it through college and then returned it. After that it didn't get ridden much. I have stored it out of the weather all this time and it is in good shape structurally. I don't know if you can tell from the pictures but the paint has lots of scratches and nicks. I always loved its Cadillac ride and stability. Now I want to lighten it and install some modern components.

I have had lots of thoughts swirling around in my my mind as to just what to do. My problem is compounded by knowing just enough about bicycle mechanics to be dangerous. I didn't have much trouble taking it apart but I remember someone on the forum writing that it is much more difficult to put it back together.

Currently my thinking is this. Replace the Ashtabula crank with a Truvativ adapter and a Campagnolo Race Triple 52-42-30 alloy crankset that I acquired on Ebay and Campy bottom bracket. Cold set the rear drops to 130mm and get a 10 speed freehub with a 32 or 34 tooth big cog. Get a long cage rear and triple front derailleurs. Replace the original aluminum 27 inch wheels with modern 700C wheels. Install an alloy 26.8mm seat post and Brooks Champion Flyer leather saddle. Replace the centerpulls with modern sidepulls and new levers. I think I will go with friction shifting and bar end shifters. I am unsure about handlebars. I am considering everything from drops, Porteur, Albatross, Mustache, etc. I would kind of like to get a more upright riding position.

I work at a car dealership and our body shop manager will make me a great deal on painting the frame. If I chose a color that he already has mixed he wont charge anything for the paint and very little for labor. They are a high end body shop and do great paintwork. He said he would shoot a primer coat over the Sky Blue and then the color of my choice and then a clear coat after the JR Super Sport decals are installed. Right now I am thinking Gloss Black. I would love to hear some tips about preparing the frame before taking it to them. Wet sand?. Remove the chrome fork crown?

Any tips or suggestions are appreciated. I t will probably take me quite a while to complete this build. I will update this thread as the work is done.

Mr IGH

I would remove all the old paint before repainting, I use zip-strip. To remove the chrome fork crown,
first remove the fork's bearing race, the chrome crown will slide off.

vonfilm 

How does one remove the kickstand?

Mr IGH

Here's how I do it:

Using other end of adjustable wrench to compress spring and pull the pin with a pliers.

vonfilm 

Here are my frame and forks stripped. I don't know how accurate this scale is but it says 9 lbs. 4 oz. Next step is to take the paint off with paint stripper.

Amani576

Almost 10 pounds? Wow... how much does a Varsintenaban usually weigh?
-Gene-

pastorbobnlnh 

Unfortunately, a Super Sport frame is not light. Durable, fun to ride, cool smoothy lugless joints, great to customize, yes!

Grand Bois

I think it weighs even more than my Kabuki Submariner. I'll let you know when it arrives. I have a very accurate bike scale.

Don't wet sand. You wan't to leave enough "tooth" for the primer to grab, but be able to fill. If you get it too smooth, you won't get good adhesion. I use 320 grit. Feather all of the chips or remove the old paint completely.

Bikedued

With a three piece conversion kit, and mostly everything else original, mine weighed in around 28 pounds complete, with no kickstand. A pound or two less than a budget 80's CrMo road bike. Bead blast the frame to bare metal, do a rust preventative treatment, then a hardened primer. It deserves no less, if you're going to repaint do it up right. I sold mine, and I still can't believe I did. Oh well, I can find another someday.,,,,BD

Oh, if you want to lose the kickstand and have it be not so ugly? A chrome handlebar end plug(chromed steel) fills the hole perfectly.

nlerner

And here's my 1970 SS, powdercoated candy blue and set up as a 5-speed w/ upright bars and stem shifter. The ride is remarkably smooth.





Neal

vonfilm 

Another thought keeps coming to mind. Stick with 120mm rear spacing. Get some good looking old Campagnolo hubs and lace them to modern 700c wheels. Use a NOS Suntour 14-34 6 speed freewheel with something like Suntour Cyclone GT or Vx GT derailleur and bar end shifters. Use the Campagnolo Race Triple up front.

What do you say guys, retro or modern drivetrain?

Bikedued

I have a set of never used 9 speed Deore LX hubs?,,,,BD

Grand Bois

Bead blasting isn't necessary, it's just faster. It can also cause problems like an overly rough surface and thin spots.

Amani576

I've heard media blasting with things like pecan shells is actually about the perfect material. It's hard, removes the paint or whatever you're removing, and doesn't damage the metal.
I can't imagine it's easy to find someone who will do it with that, though.
-Gene-

EjustE

Make sure that you get a Suntour Ultra 6 sp, otherwise it will not fit. Not sure that the Ultras came with a 34 cog. I've seen them as high as 30 (but they are not very common at sizes bigger than 26 -which was the limit for most Suntour non-GT RDs). Not even sure that a Cyclone GT or Vx-GT will handle that 34, as well. On the Suntour side of things you might want to look for a MountainTech or the elusive LePree

vonfilm 

Disraili Gears website said those derailleurs would take a 34 rear cog.

Roll-Monroe-Co

Plus you have to eat all those pecans. Sure, the first fifty or so are delicious, but by the time you've eaten enough to blast your bike, you'll never want to look at another pecan.

Roll-Monroe-Co

ZOMG. That looks good enough to eat. Maybe garnished with pecans.

vonfilm 

On Saturday night I picked up my frame from my LBS. They had cold set the rear drops to 130mm,the front to 100mm, and made sure the drops were parallel and fixed a bend in the rear stays that I didn't know that I had. When I got home and put the frame in the storage room i discovered a new Brooks Champion Flyer in black that my wife and son had gotten me for Father's day for this build at the same LBS while I was at work. You gotta love that! Also my decals from JR arrived.

Sunday morning I worked with paint stripper to remove the old Sky Blue paint. I was able to get 98% of it off. I need to get some sort of brass or plastic abrasive brush for my portable electric drill to get the rest off. Any recommendations?

Mr IGH

I used synthetic steel wool and paint stripper, I didn't want to sand or brush the factory finishing, I'm clear coating it raw to show off the Paramount room workmanship:

vonfilm 

Mr. IGH,
That is an interesting idea! Is that a Paramount frame? I thought Paramounts had lugged frames.

I picked up some small hand held brass brushes at lunch time. Hopefully that will do the trick without scratching the frame.

Mr IGH

Nope, it's a Super Sport frame, all of them were made in the Paramount room, a caged off section of the Schwinn factory (as were the Sports Tourers). I went on a tour of the factory back in the early 70's and at the end, when we didn't get to see the Paramount room we asked if we could see it and they took us up there. 40 years later I reconnect with one of my fellow field trippers and one of the first points of conversation was our tour of the Schwinn factory and seeing the Paramount room.

I can never resist a $50 Super Sport or Sports Tourer frame, here's my stash (I have 4 on the road too):