1972 Schwinn Sport Tandem (cont.)
After 4 hours of fighting, the seat posts and stem have been removed. The stem was removed by removing the stembolt and wedge, cutting the stem off flush with the top of the fork, and removing the form from the frame. Once removed I clamped the fork in a vise (padded with some rage, of course), and proceeded to drill out the stem as much as I could with a 3/8" drill and a 1/2" bit. Once that was done, I got to work with a hack saw blade, and carefully cut a notch into the piece of aluminum. The blade feels like it has more drag when you're cutting the aluminum, and starts moving faster when you're on the steel of the steerer. Although I didn't make it all the way through the aluminum in the middle of the stem, I made enough of a slit on the top and bottom that I was able to pound out what remained with a hammer and a steel punch. The seat posts were removed by putting the end of the seat post into my vise, and twisting the frame back and forth, tightening the vise as the end of the seatpost became distorted. Finally I heard the first break loose, and kept twisting it back and forth, until I was finally able to twist it out. The same happened for the second post. Looking at how rusty the seat posts were, I'm surprised I was able to get them out without a torch.
I was able to sand some paint off the steerer tube, and located a date code of "3J", which I've been told equates to October of '73. After reinspection, the cranks are actually stamped "SA 9 71", marking them as week / month 9 of 1971. So far, so good, it's still looking that the parts I inherited are indeed original, and that this was a one-off / prototype of the Twinn Sport released in 1978. Next to check are the front hub, which is still pretty corroded, and the freewheel, which was rusted so badly it didn't move.
The restoration has begun, and I have cleaned up the frame with rubbing compound, followed by some polishing compound, followed by a coat of wax. The headset has been cleaned up and put back together, but the locknut was stripped. Work on this project will likely slow down now as I continue to search for a mid 70's Continental I can scavenge for parts. Hopefully I can come across something that's missing wheels for cheap so I don't feel guilty about pulling something rideable off the streets just for a few parts.
More pics here.