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Late to bed and late to rise, Is not a decision I would advise. -Me, at 11:41pm CST Once again, I didn't get nearly as much done as I would've liked today due to my poor sleep schedule. Thankfully, I did make a bit of progress today, and I got a feeling tomorrow's going to be...

Thanks Pondo!

Made some more progress on this Western Flyer last night. I spent some time going over the fork, tank, seat and chain guard with rubbing compound and SC Johnson Paste Wax to help shine everything up before I put it all back together. I also cleaned up the insides as well as the threads on the...

Made a little more progress on The Old West yesterday. I spent some time shining up the chrome on the handlebars, handlebar stem, crank and chainring. I don't have a ton of photos to share this time, partly because I was more focused on making some progress than documenting said progress, but...

If you were close to me, I'd consider it! Yeah, the only way I can avoid spending money on a bike is if I can build it up using only the parts I already have on hand, or if I can nab a free parts bike off Craigslist/Marketplace. Fortunately, I have a decent amount of parts handy that allow me...

Oh to be a fly on the wall of the Murray factory when they were designing and building these kinds of bikes! Honestly, I think that's what makes this bike so interesting to me: there's a bit of a mystery about its curious design. I thought the reason for it might have been because Murray hadn't...

I know, right? I haven't seen too many cantilevers with a setup like this! What's weird is that at the same time this frame was made, Murray was already building regular cantilever bikes with bars that traveled all the way to the dropouts. Makes me wonder what the reason was behind this design.

The first part of that meme is exactly what I was referencing, but the rest of that is GOLD! 🤣

Yeah, it's annoying when I can't get an actual value or estimate when I ask for one. I think your "ramblings" help add some much needed perspective, honestly. It might be tough to sell this bike for $100 if it's going to take about that much just for someone else to fix it up. Admittedly, I...

Well that's why I'd like to find out what it's worth, disappointment or not. If I can sell it for a price I'm happy with, then I'll sell it, but if not, then I'll look through my inventory for something else I can sell instead. I will say that after learning more about this bike today, and just...

Okay, I think I have the bike identified thanks to the folks on The Cabe. Looks like it's a Semi-Equipped Sport Middleweight JC Higgins from 1959. Mine's missing the original seat, pedals and headlight based on the Sears catalog photo, but is otherwise factory correct. Now I just have to find...

I was genuinely surprised by just how intact this JC Higgins was, especially considering how I found it! The only way I thought about modifying it was to bolt on a chrome rear rack to balance out the rack up front, and throw some fresh whitewall tires on it. Other than that, keep it clean and...

I'm trying to figure out what year this Murray-built JC Higgins bike was made, but so far I've had no luck decoding the serial number or finding photos of this bike in any catalogs. I want to say it's a mid-50s model, but I don't know. It has chain/seat stays wide enough for balloon tires, but...

I'll have to ask Dad what he got such a big wrench for sometime. I call it the "I WASN'T ASKING!" wrench. I use it for those really stubborn nuts and bolts, and for freeing bottom bracket races from cranks.

A few small steps meant big progress for the project yesterday! First (not pictured,) I dug through my stash of headset bearing cups to see if I had a pair of AMF cups that would work for Old West. Fortunately, I found 3 in perfectly usable condition, and one other in "good enough" condition. I...

I actually used @Kevin B's suggestion and used the biggest adjustable wrench I had handy to knock out the bearing cups. Worked like a charm! A few good whacks with the hammer, and they were both out! Thank you everyone for your advice! I now know what to do with hard-to-remove cups from now on.

I tried @Pondo's wood-stacking technique on my test frame yesterday, and I finally managed to open up the rear triangle a bit. And by a bit, I mean I opened it up by almost exactly 2.5cm... in one move. I spaced the dropouts wide enough to just squeeze this 6-speed wheel inside, but I also...

I'd say so. Love the colors on it!

Well I looked at all the places you mentioned, but I didn't see anything. Maybe I missed something, I don't know. I'm not too concerned either way. This was just a parts donor for me. I remember GIGI. I'll have to look at the frame again and see. I'm not too worried about it though. If I see a...

Awesome, thanks!