A guy I shoot with GAVE me one of those a couple years ago. It is red and black and rather handsome in a craptastic American junk bike sort of way. I repacked all the bearings, adjusted everything up and my wife rides it on the Rails-to-Trails bike paths. Prior to that I had rescued another one from the target pile for the machinegun shoot I used to host. This one is an ugly blue that was factory matched with yellow cable housing. It's pretty ugly despite seeing almost no use other than taking up space in an American garage until the owner grew so obese as to need the floor space for a mobility scooter.
Both are stickered with the proudly made in the U.S.A. union label. Which is why they are now proudly made by Chinese communists that can't spell 'Socialist Trade Union'.
IIRC, they have 26" wheels, so fitting a 700C in the rear is impossible due to the tire hitting the stamped steel brake bridge plate. The one I was given actually had been fitted with a decent pair of new 700C wheels and tires by the previous owner. The rear would NOT seat into the stamped steel dropouts fully and was unsafe if for no other reason than the el cheapo stamped steel brake calipers barely hit the brake tracks of the larger wheels. I installed a set of OEM wheels on it from one that was being tossed into the trash.
My memory is not fresh, but I know I put new tires and tubes on the one the wife rides and I 'think' they were of the Schwinn 26" size that ain't really a true 26" size. If you install new tires, take your rims to the shop and match the rubber to them. Schwinn...always ****ing **** because they could. Sheldon Brown's website has more info on the Schwinn 26" stuff.
If you are RESTORING this $59 MSRP bike, have at it. You'll put out a few bucks buying more Windsprints for parts, but not be out much. If you're trying to modify and "upgrade" it for...whatever purpose...good luck!
Both stamped steel derailleurs are serviceable. The friction shifters are crappy, but function OK if a bit slowly and they lack any feel.
The stamped steel one-piece Ashtabula crankset has arms as soft as butter. The pedal threaded holes are easily stripped and NOT the current thread standard. While Ashtabula BB adapters are out there, they are a bit tough to find and for practical purposes you are locked into using an Ashtabula design.
The chainrings, themselves, are crude stamped steel items and are likely riveted to the spider. Bolts cost real money, I guess.
The pedals are bearingless Nylon flats block pedals. Again, IIRC they are of the department store 1/2" thread size.
The stamped steel brakes are difficult to center and are easily knocked off center during wheel changes.
The headset is a decent unit for a cheap one. Yeah, it's all steel.
The steel stem and steel handlebars are...sturdy. And heavy. Did I mention they were sturdy?
The foam rubber bar pads are kind of eighties cool and mine are in great shape for being 30 years old or so.
The seat is trash, but you know that. Keep it for resto purposes. Ride a seat worth sitting on.
The wheels...where to start. They're steel. Did I mention how much fun Kroil oil and 30-year old spokes/nipples are to true? Did I mention the soft wire spokes? Did you know the hubs are made from pressed steel shells?
The fork is flimsy and yet it always surprises me that so many held up to kids riding them off the roofs of buildings. Pressed and welded steel blades with smooshed dropouts. And a steel steerer. Steering is slow and stabile because the fork is raked somewhere South of 8-mile.
The cable routing...zip ties. Yes. Zip ties...and cable housing still flopping all over the place. This is one reason shifting is slow and so inaccurate that friction shifters are all the could work on such a beast. Both the cable housing and inner wires have a mile of 'give' in them.
The frame. Uh huh...it's steel. Welded by the blind. Tube fit up is not classic era Schwinn stuff, for sure. Paint quality? That rivals 1972 Raleigh's for uneven application, runs, splatter, orange peel and light spots with primer showing.
Beware of the fasteners and the torque used to tighten them. Some of the fasteners are pretty soft. But at least they are all...steel.
The kickstand. Unlike Schwinn trash with their welded-on kickstand mounts, Huffy kickstands...made from 100% pure, you guessed it, steel...are easily removed. Where you may or may not find partially crushed chain stays.
The dork disc. It's actually 100% plastic (no metal hub) and also usually so brittle a few tugs with some pliers will remove it a few minutes.
That leaves us with the no-name Cateye clone reflectors. LOTS of reflectors because CPSC said so. That's why.
There you have it. If you have a wife unit, she (or 'he', not that there's anything wrong with that) may enjoy the old Huffy. They certainly do not deserve the fate of ending life as a target for machineguns to shred. The best source for parts is your local Craigslist and those parts come in the form of (mostly) complete bikes in varying conditions. Do not pay more than $25 for one in decent condition. Ever. These are, "Hey, you wanna free bike?", toys at best.
I trust today's lesson has been of some value, because there is NONE in that Huffy.