Handling Imperfections, New and Old

The 1940 New World project continues. Every project has its challenges, sometimes through years or use, shipping damage, or even manufacturing defects.

Let's take a look at a manufacturing defect inherent on these pre-1945 New World bikes. These bikes have wire fender braces, which was typical for that time. Less typically, the braces are mounting by drilling and screwing through them rather than holding them in brackets. This represents a mixture of English style (wire braces) and American style (drilling and riveting the braces) construction.

At the factory, it appears that the process was very simple - shape the wire brace, then stamp it where it needed to be flat. No extra material seems to have been added to the spine where it would be drilled for the rivet. The result is a weak spot where the rivet hole was placed.

 

An old break... Which Still Should be Fixed

Above you can see what happens to these braces. When this particular brace was drilled, the hole was a little off-center, leaving very little metal on one side. When the rivet was stamped into place, it cracked the thin side of the hole. This particular brace was carefully removed from the fender without any harm, so this break seems to have existed since 1940, when the bike was assembled. 

The basic solution here will be to either weld or braze the crack back together. A more permanent solution would be to weld or braze additional metal around this area to strengthen the brace. The solution will probably require a fair amount of grinding and shaping the joint, then some re-drilling of the hole (hopefully more on-center this time). These braces are notorious for cracking or totally breaking right around this rivet hole. 

Schwinn ultimately (and wisely) replaced this style of brace with their heavy-duty type fender braces shortly after WWII ended. The later braces are much, much stronger than the pre-1945 types. Although the wire braces is simple, and in some ways elegant, the later braces are much more practical.  The higher-end Continental of the late 1940s used wire braces that were held in place by brackets (no drilling of the wire), which worked much better.

Wire bracket-wire braces on a 1947 Continental

 

The decision whether to fix an old imperfection is a judgment call. Sometimes these imperfections are just cosmetic, so nothing need be done (or should be done, for sake of originality). 

The decision is usually a bit clearer with new injuries to the bike. 

Cracks - not terrible, but should be fixed just the same...

The above photo shows cracks from stress and shipping damage. These pre-1945 New World fenders use slotted-and riveted brackets. A slot is cut in the fender, the bracket is inserted and then riveted into place. Later New Worlds used external brackets riveted to the surface, without cutting the fender. Again, the later solution is the more robust even if not quite as elegant and low-profile. 

In this case, we can see the origins... the bottom of the bike box broke open and the bike was delivered upside down, with all the weight resting on the top of the fender. The box was open as you see below. The mechanized delivery systems can be rough on these old bikes... I'm just lucky the entire bike arrived without anything major missing from it.

A Worrying Sight on Arrival...

 

In this case, the cracks can be brazed or welded and smoothed. If these cracks were not near the bracket or in a weight-bearing area, they could be mended using sheet metal perpendicular to the crack, and JB Weld epoxy.

My approach to these newer imperfections is to fix them, even if cosmetic. I don't mind "honest wear" or something that came with the bike when it was made, but I have a dislike for shipping damage, abuse, or neglect injuries to the bike. All of this kind of work goes into refurbishing an old bike, particularly an 85+ year old machine such as this one.