roadmaster frame year?

[schwinnless]

Got this frame for 20 bux @ local bike swapmeet last sunday.
One of the rear seat stays was pulling away from dropout, thats why was 20 bux.
anyway had my neighbor weld all 4 stays and shes good to go!!
Does anybody know what year and model it might be?.....


number is..J48017









Pics are a little blurry as i took pics of my buddies i phone. :lol:

Thanx for any info!!

 

[Jpromo]

AMF swallowed CWC and their Roadmaster namesake around 1955. I think CWC still produced frames through '56-57 and this isn't a CWC built frame. I'd guess it's around 1958-59.

Could have originally looked like this oddity:

 

[schwinnless]

I read that it was 53 when amf bought and moved roadmaster to arkansas then. I do think its a middleweight cuz my jerald slick barely fits @ the fender brace. The graphics of bike in ur pic look like ones on my seat tube.
Thanx Jay!!

 

[rms37]

Important dates to tattoo on your forearm:

AMF purchased Cleveland Welding in 1951

AMF purchased Shelby in late 1953/early 1954 and moved Shelby production to Cleveland.

AMF built a new bicycle factory in Littlerock Arkansas in 1956 and moved all bicycle production from Cleveland to the new plant in 1956/1957.

And…the dropouts on this frame indicate it is 1954 or newer. The undersized lower top tube shows it is a bit later than that (as does the headbadge.) There should be more characters in the serial beyond what you have shown. Those suffix characters are necessary to date the frame to a particular year’s production.

 

[schwinnless]

Scraped a little more paint off and looks like @ 1 time there were a couple more #'s there. They were rubbed off, who knows someone prolly stole the bike and sanded them off. Will be a mystery i spose.
Thanx a bunch anyhoo guys!!!