1972 Schwinn Sport Tandem (cont)
I started to disassemble the bike, and so far, it's in pretty bad shape. The chrome is peeling on the rims, the cables were rusted solid in the housings, it's apparent this bike sat outside for a good number of years. I've decided to strip it down, and find a couple of donor bikes (most likely Continentals), clean it up, and see how it rides before I decide what to do with it. I'm trying to see if I can find any other date codes on the bike that will assist in documenting it's possible time of origin and see if it lines up with a timeline that makes sense to it being a factory prototype of what would become the Schwinn Twinn Sport which debuted in 1978. I'm finding a lot of info that seems to suggest that dating a Schiwnn by its serial number is not always accurate, especially with tandems, so it's theoretically possible this bike was actually built some time after 1971, perhaps closer to 1974-ish.
I stripped the bike down to the frame, hoping to find some date codes on the components, but so far no luck. The front hub is corroded where I can't read the shell, and will need to cut the spokes out and polish the hub before I can see if there is a date code present. Same thing with the fork, unfortunately though, the stem is stuck solid in the fork, and I have it soaking in PB Blaster (same goes for both seat posts). I need to pop the freewheel off the rear hub so I can check that for date codes. So far the only markings I have found are on the cranks. Both are marked as "SA 9 7". Unfortunately I don't know if this corresponds to a date or not. Pics to follow.
More pics here.