John lives in New Port Richey. He wanted to have his wife’s 1953 Schwinn Panther bicycle fully restored for her. She got it for her birthday from her Dad when she turned 10 years old. Her Dad always bought the best high-end quality items available for his daughter and it meant so much to her. Since John is visually challenged, he asked his daughter Kathy to search for restoration shops. She found us online and contacted us about the restoration. The bike had been restored previously but it was missing some of the parts that would have come on the bicycle. This time, John wanted the bicycle to look and function as it came straight out of the Schwinn catalog. Therefore, we sourced NOS replacement parts for S2 Schwinn rims, period-correct hubs, Schwinn crank with bearings, NOS Schwinn fenders, NOS delta horn assembly, NOS Delta Rocket Ray light, NOS Schwinn red grips, and a correct chain guard and tank. We also ordered Schwinn Panther dry transfer decals for the frame and chain guard. New parts were also purchased, such as tires, tubes, rim strips, chains, and pedals. After the bicycle was disassembled all of the small rusty parts were sent out to be re-chromed. Afterward, Noel stripped, sandblasted, primed, and masked off the bicycle for a Schwinn Panther paint scheme. Once the paint was complete, Noel painted the seat pan and recovered the saddle with tan leather. When the parts came back from chrome, Noel rebuilt the wheels with stainless steel spokes and reassembled the bicycle. Kathy brought John in to pick up the bicycle on the day before his wife’s birthday. Although he couldn’t see it, he could hear the passion in Noel’s voice as he described the attention to detail that was taken to restore the bicycle. John felt every detail with his hands as Noel described how he restored it. It was at that moment that we told John and Kathy that the bicycle had been revealed worldwide during the previous week on Fox 13’s Good Day Tampa Bay when our business was featured on Charley’s World. It was very exciting! John’s wife is in her 70s now and we are confident that she will enjoy the heartfelt gift that John chose to give her for her birthday!