1930 Hartford by Westfield - Finally on the Road!!!!!!!!

[Gary Mc]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

Here's one more Troxel saddle/seat pic with the polished front fender to show how well the new saddle matches the red color of the bike as an enticer to what the finished Hartford will look like.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

WOW! That is beautiful! I restored the bottom of a 30's era Troxel saddle recently too, going an entirely different direction though. I truly appreciate your attention to details.

I'm enjoying the journey of both of your builds.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[Mole]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

Here's one more Troxel saddle/seat pic with the polished front fender to show how well the new saddle matches the red color of the bike as an enticer to what the finished Hartford will look like.

Color turned out really nice comparing it to the bike.

 

[ruddigger]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

Oh man, that seat is beautiful.

 

[Gary Mc]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

WOW! That is beautiful! I restored the bottom of a 30's era Troxel saddle recently too, going an entirely different direction though. I truly appreciate your attention to details.

I'm enjoying the journey of both of your builds.

Cheers,
Rob

Thanks Rob, As slow as I am they definitely qualify for "journey" status.

 

[Gary Mc]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

Here's one more Troxel saddle/seat pic with the polished front fender to show how well the new saddle matches the red color of the bike as an enticer to what the finished Hartford will look like.

Color turned out really nice comparing it to the bike.

Thanks Mole, Needless to say I was pleased they were that close in color.

 

[Gary Mc]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

Oh man, that seat is beautiful.

Thanks ruddigger, It took 13 months of searching to find a correct red saddle in really good condition. Just glad I passed on three or four others that were no where near this nice and that took some patience!!!!!!

 

[Gary Mc]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

Made a little bit of progress this past week & weekend. Finished the fenders & fork with several coats of carnauba wax, they look great & are ready to go on the bike. Finally got the frame fully degreased & hand rubbed out. It is almost ready for a couple of coats of wax and reassembly. This bike had some kind of black crap (looked like a mixture of oil & coal) all over the fenders and top of the frame & took a lot more rubbing out than I had hoped it would take being careful not to go thru the original paint which was thin in spots. There was no choice if I wanted to bring back some of the brilliance of the original color and this decision cost me the original pinstripes or what little was left of them. I knew it would going in. I did have good pics of them and measured the distance they went out past the white darts. Since I started the fenders last year I had a year to make a difficult decision on the pinstripes, to leave it without them or reapply. I know purists hate any repainting but my choice was to reapply them, I look at them the same as many look at new decals. They were original to the bike & needed to be re-applied. They are handpainted & coming out great and I used a very light coat of black "1 Shot" sign painter's paint. They will be exactly as they were originally. I thought about distressing them to match the bike but hate fake stuff so they will be left alone. To the purists, please reserve judgement until you see the finished product as this bike is all original paint except those pinstripes.

The rear ducktail portion of the front fender was completely mangled with the left side being completely bent under. I got the section straightened losing a little paint in the progress but it looks pretty good using an auto body work hammer, my trusty section of railroad, some specialized vice grips, and some wood blocks some of which were shaped to mimic the fender form. I made a decision here when I got it fairly straight to leave it alone rather than lose more paint. I think it came out pretty good. Definitely a lot better than it was.

I started final polishing 3 metal parts this week. Got the 2 crank bearing cups out and polished today when I was working on the frame. I started on the Persons rear reflector last week & I'll detail that little project with some pics as I restore it. The glass was broken in the housing & needed to be addressed so I disassembled it & will completely restore it (or attempt to). All the glass is there, all the little balls that come through the housing are good except one, but the glass is broken into about a dozen different pieces. They will be puzzled & carefully glued back together & then polished. The housing is polishing up nicely.

The rain came this evening before I could get any pics so I'll try to take some of the progress this week.

 

[ruddigger]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

I'm looking forward to the pictures, it sounds like you're doing it up right.

 

[Gary Mc]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

Here are pics of the progress last weekend & today. Today I finished the pinstripes on the frame & got some photos of progress just in time as we are now receiving more afternoon rain showers. I think the pinstripes came out great and am very happy I added them back. I know it's a personal decision purists would never agree on but to me this bike would have never been "complete" without them. Anyway all the painted parts are finished except waxing the frame which I'll wait till next weekend so the pinstripe paint dries good. Then I'll final polish all the chrome/metal parts as I go during reassembly which hopefully will start next weekend as well.

New pinstripes are visible in all these pics. I laid down a "really" light coat of black paint so they look almost original.

Below left you can see the scratch outlines where the original rear reflector on the rear fender and how it appeared to have been flush mount to the fender thus the choice on the Persons reflector that will be going on the bike. On the right you can see the straightened rear ducktail of the front fender and all the paint lost just getting it this straight and clean as it was in really bad shape. The left side was completely mangled and bent back on itself underside which also deformed the whole rear of the fender. I am happy with it as is although there was a lot of paint loss in this area.

 

[Endlesschain]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

so cool that you are researching this bike and to find out the history of the associated names with this bike,you have made it very personal,if one of the two gentleman was the owner and you talked to him imagine putting stories to the bike,looking forward to the finish line,one can never put a finishing time on these type of projects,slow and steady wins the race

 

[Gary Mc]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

so cool that you are researching this bike and to find out the history of the associated names with this bike,you have made it very personal,if one of the two gentleman was the owner and you talked to him imagine putting stories to the bike,looking forward to the finish line,one can never put a finishing time on these type of projects,slow and steady wins the race

Thanks Endlesschain, I am truly enjoying this project & the history of the bike!!!!! - Gary

 

[3 wheeled wolfy]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

Any update to who gennard is? I think your stressing what purists think to much it's your bike not theres

 

[Gary Mc]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

Any update to who gennard is? I think your stressing what purists think to much it's your bike not theres

3 wheeled wolfy,

Nothing on Gennard yet but the plan is to get the bike back together as close as it was originally as possible and then mail out pics with a letter to the two Gennard's in the US oldest enough to have been the original owner & go from there. That's a very long shot but I'm going to give it a try. Crossing my fingers I don't get a letter back saying yes & it was stolen from me LOL (my 25 YO son put that thought in my head).

On the purists I know but I am also posting this build on the CABE where many purists live and I have many friends on both sites and a lot of us overlap. Over there, I may get beat up a little on the pinstripes but don't care too much cause as you said, it's my bike to restore as I see fit.

I will post when I send the letters out & if I get anything back. The letters will probably go out in a month or two dependent on finishing the bike. I still have to order rims and not sure how long it will take to get them. That will be very interesting to see if I can find him or a family member.

Thanks.

Gary

 

[3 wheeled wolfy]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

Sure,we be waiting :wink:

 

[Gary Mc]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

Not a lot of progress this week as I have been attending the PGA's Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, GA this week. I have 3 passions: Bikes, Golf, & UGA (college) football so I play golf when I can & attend PGA events quite often when they are close by. This year I got to attend the Masters, PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, & the Tour Championship so consider myself very lucky on the golf front.

I have been final polishing all the chrome & cadmium parts getting the bike ready to go back together. Almost there. Had a few questions for Wheelfanatyk on the wood rims before ordering so waiting to hear back from them. I did make a decision to go with one repop item for the time being, the Delta battery canister. Original single battery ones seem to be going for $300-$600 on ebay. I am just not willing to do that so I ordered a 2-battery Delta repop unit that will be mounted on the frame. Now all I need is the correct Delta light unit and all the correct original accessories will be on this bike again when I get it on the road.

I did get two additional neat items for the bike:
First up is a 1930 Ocean Beach Vehicle License #84. Not sure if this Ocean Beach NY or CA but I love the ocean & the beach so it is appropriate for me. It is bicycle sized & the seller thought it was off of a bike or pedi-cab. This is after cleaning with Brasso.

The second item I got was an original "Persons Patents Pending" speedometer exactly like was an original accessory before this bike got parted out. I still have to find a cable & fork/wheel drive unit but I'm at least part way there getting this accessory back on this bike. I am really exited to finally get this original accessory.

I did buy (received this week) another cool project bike I'll do another post on. I am really excited about it too, it is a cool bike and all I'll say for now as a teaser is it dates from 1927 & an iconic auto name is involved in this project!!!!!!!!!! All for now, next step - RE-ASSEMBLY!!!!!

 

[Gary Mc]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

Wheel Fanatyk Ghisallo wood rim questions:

I had three questions for Wheelfanatyk as I am new to the concept wood wheels (700c) and just got answers from Ric at WF:

1) Are carbon lined "balloon" profile 700c rims going to be available like the new wood Ghisallo "Sport Carbon Clincher" that is carbon fiber lined? His answer was will check but is thinking all clinchers styles will at some time be available carbon fiber lined.

2) Color Choice - Ric stocks only color choice "B" but can order any of them, takes about 4 weeks. Bricycle liked the "B" color in an earlier post where I asked what would be your choice & after more consideration I agree "B" will look best so that is great since he stocks only "B".

3) I was concerned with a weight limit at my current healthy 250 lbs. Ric says this is not an issue or concern.

Thought I would pass all this along in case others have similar questions on Ghisallo's wood rims. If the carbon fiber lined are going to be available in the next couple of months I am going to wait. If not, I'll go ahead & order a set of rims. I'll keep everyone updated when Ric hears from Ghisallo. - Gary

Wheel Fanatyk is the exclusive USA dealer for Ghisallo wood rims. :

http://www.wheelfanatyk.bigcartel.com/c ... -wood-rims

 

[3 wheeled wolfy]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

Those rims are classy! It's interesting that they have mtb rims and bars!

 

[spectratone]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

I'll be really interested to hear how the wooden rims work out
for you, if they feel different etc..

I have a very similar frame; which I think might be a Columbia,
and I'm considering wooden rims for it (after I get my other projects finished)
I'm going to turn it into a bicycle version of a Mercer Raceabout :shock:

 

[Gary Mc]

Re: 1930 Hartford by Westfield Mfg/Pope

I'll be really interested to hear how the wooden rims work out
for you, if they feel different etc..

I have a very similar frame; which I think might be a Columbia,
and I'm considering wooden rims for it (after I get my other projects finished)
I'm going to turn it into a bicycle version of a Mercer Raceabout :shock:

I can't wait myself on seeing how they ride. A buddy who has them says they ride "magical". We'll see.