History and Culture by Bicycle Part 192; History of a Bicycle Part 2: Schwinn American: Update 1

I have cleaned the entire bike of dust, dirt and rust. Right now the 4 chromed pieces are hanging in my garage drying after I painted them with silver metallic color spray paint to protect from further rusting. It will not be an exact match to the original chrome, but will be very close and still look good, especially for what the bike is going to be used for. I am not going to repaint the frame, fenders or other painted pieces of the bike. It needs to look like it has been well used.

The reason the painted surfaces will not be repainted or the chromed pieces will not be re chromed is the bike is going to be donated to the new Sioux City Public Museum as part of a transportation exhibit. I have been in contact with the Curator and she will gladly accept the bike as a donation.

It will be some time before the museum is ready for the bike. So in the mean time I am working on what refurbishing I am doing and will have the bike shop rebuild it with new white wall tires, chain, etc. I might even take it for a spin just to see how it handles before I turn it over to the museum.

I also have to work on researching the history of this particular bike and the history of bicycle transportation in this area and across the nation, past and present.

Here are some more photo's: