'48 Montgomery Ward: The Claymore

[quicksilver]

Wow! Where to begin?! Well I think I finally figured out how to use my camera, a computer and the internet all at one time! I had no idea how high-tech this project was going to become...

Anyway, this is a Montgomery Ward's Hawthorne I bought about six months ago. A bit of research has led meto believe it is a '48 Special. When I bought it, the frame and fenders had been primed, the truss rods, handle bars, light, cranks, sprocket and rims were untouched and in various stages of oxidation.

As far as the frame goes, here is what we have after a complete disassembly and brass wire wheel strip job:

 

[quicksilver]

I know I have some more cleaning to do, but when I laid it out with my red tycoon dream tires I loved the stripped look of the bare steel. My intention is to use Permalac EF to clearcoat.... anyone have experience using a lacquer and Penetrol on steel? I still have a few pits here and there, but I am running out of patience and want to advance. I thought a coat of Penatrol might help get the finish a touch deeper.

So here is the fork, rebuilt with half of a #6 stopper as the dampener:

As you can see, despite my best efforts it is still bent (but a heck of a lot better!!)

OK so here is an idea of where we are going; my first mock-up:

But, let's not get too carried away, there is a lot to be done! Like: get those sorry looking 'taters off the basement floor and in the ground for crying out loud! OK, OK. I'll be off to the garden for a bit. See y'all soon.

 

[ratina]

Cool frame! Love the tank and springer. Looks really good with the bare steel, red tank and red tires

 

[karfer67]

gotta love naked steel you all know i do :mrgreen:

 

[quicksilver]

Thanks--but wait till I show you how ratty the tank is!! I hope to be able to fill the holes eaten by battery acid and keep the horn (supply new button) and battery housing for the light... optimists have more work than they comprehend. HA! Yeah the steel is awesome I have seen a few in here that are much nicer than what I got but it seems to go well with the red.

 

[texasbigjon]

love that fork you got going! always like to see more bare metal builds. i`m not an expert,but it looks like you have a Snyder built hawthorne! 8) the rear drop-outs and chain stays,look identical to my rollfast! :shock: looking good!

 

[user 135]

Those tires really work on the bare steel.

 

[quicksilver]

Ok. got my stuff together to make another lurch forward.

clear coated the seat:

I wanted to clear coat the rims but they were just too mottled. So I primed them and then gave them two coats of Rustoleum black hammered finish. The color is definately not black. More like graffite. It looks like there are metalic flecks in the paint whic is somewhat dissapoining, but it is not as sparkly as depicted in the photo. The texture is good though. It has a pitted look to it. Maybe I should have left all that scale on there.....

The frame drying with Permalac:

The bottom bracket:

Seat tube:

Head tube:

More to come later.... I need to choose a hub!

 

[quicksilver]

Well, it has been a while. The paint :x job turned out well on those rims but they (one especially) were out of round. Ok. So get a new set of rims and move on right?! Looking at my fork on the table photo you might see that the front axle is unusually narrow in diameter. This is because of the bearing that rounds the axle fits into both portions of the fork and has to slide up and down in one. I considered skipping the bearing and going for a 3/8" axle. No doubt the threads would eventually get buggered. On the back, the hub is so narrow I feared breaking the brazing work at the stay bridge. Also, after taking the Bendix apart I gained an appreciation for it's engineering and patina. With a new set of balls these hubs are every bit as good as some new ones. So... I am building the old hubs on new rims. Past this- to make it roll I will need a chain. To make it sweet I will need to get a light bulb from 1948, lacquer my fender(s?), do some electrical work, and detailing. Yikes! I had better clear my calendar.

 

[karfer67]

gotta love issues that you never thought of that can creep up on you down the road. this is why i try to mock everything up before bothering much with paint just because the mechanical side of these bikes normally is a larger hurdle to clear. when i do a bike the first thing i knock out is the wheels especially if you are using old parts because as you found out the hard way just because something looks round or like it will work does not mean it will. heck i personally build my bikes with the thought that everything wont fit and think up ways a head of time to get around the issue sorta like plan A then B then if everything really goes to heck i try and come up with c. nice build love the naked steel (u know i am a sucker for it as i said before) and keep it up you got time!!

 

[quicksilver]

thanks man! I figured stuff would crop up but I also thought the possabilities were limitless. That was dumb! My LBS did not even have access to unbuilt black steel rims. I could have bought built ones, but then I would have had to "unbuild" them, buy the spokes and rebuild. I have opted for aluminum The thought of it is starting to make my skin crawl.... The only unbuilt steel rims were chrome, which under most circumstances I would be happy with. I love chrome, but I didn't want my rims to out shine my frame. That may be an ill concieved notion on my part... Karfer-- what is your opinion? anyone else? Do chrome rims work on naked frames?

One more question: Should I experiment with different battery set-ups for my lamp and horn, or is it pretty much 2 d size cells? The inner guts of the tank are largely shot but I was able to get sound out of the horn using 3AAA cells. The lamp doesn't work but reads 4.5 volts. I might be lucky enough to replace the bulb with NOS (I found a source online). Does adding or subtracting, changing D to C or AAA make much difference in the over all functioning of these old horns and lights? Obviously the bulb could be overwhelmed and blow...