RE: [CR]Schwinn Continental and paint question

For paint, the stingray restorers have most of the colors available. I think it's a bit expensive, like $30 a can or something, but it is the right color.

There's really no need to remove the cups for a one piece crank if you're doing a spray can repaint, Just mask them off by spreading a coat of grease over the part you don't want painted. After the paint dries, wipe the grease and paint off with a rag. If you use a small artists type paintbrush you can even mask off stuff like decals or the edges of the pressed in cups

Steve Birmingham Lowell, Ma USA

Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2007 11:35:36 -0500 From: "Scott Loveless" <sdloveless@gmail.com> To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Schwinn Continental and paint question

Howdy.

Over the weekend two Schwinn Continentals found their way to my house. One is a 1974 ~58cm frame in "Kool Lemon". The other is a late 70s 66cm frame in black. I'll probably spruce up the black one and pass it along to someone who needs "just a bike", as it's too big for me. The yellow one is quickly becoming a project. I spent a few hours disassembling it and cleaning up some of the shiny bits. There are a couple photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sdloveless/Continental I took these while checking the frame. If it's off, it's by less than 1/16", and that's good enough for my purposes. I haven't yet decided whether I'll return it to it's original specification or convert it to a fixed-gear bike. It's certainly not worth restoring and my intention is to make it nicely functional.

A couple questions:

The paint is not in good shape. It has quite a few scratches and some surface rust, like it's been left outside and tossed around when it was in the way. I should probably repaint it. If I do this I'd like to get the color as close to original as possible. Any suggestions on matching the color? I thought about taking the fork to a paint store, but I'm ignorant when it comes to this sort of thing. Also, have you had any luck with chemical paint strippers?

If I do repaint it, I'll need to remove the bottom bracket cups. It has a one piece crank. The bottom bracket shell is not threaded and the cups are pressed in. I went to work on them with a hardwood froe handle and a rubber mallet, but couldn't get them to budge. Replacements are cheap enough, but I'd rather not damage them if I don't have to. Any thoughts on getting these out intact?

Thanks a bunch. Much appreciated.

--
Scott Loveless
New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, USA
http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/