1935 Elgin

[dorr]

I know it has been along time since I posted the build of tubcycle. In that build it was a long drawn out day by day build. This time I just built the bike and never thought much about day by day photo graphs. Anyway it started last fall when I went to the bike show in Mr. Airey N.C. I have been for the last two years and have had a blast each time. Even though it is a 6 hour drive it has always been a fun trip and have met some great people! While attending this year I purchased, what he called, a 1933 Elgin. through research of the serial number I later was told it is a 1935 as seen in the 1935 sears catalog. When purchased it appeared someone had dipped it in a 50 gallon drum of white paint and was painted from end to end. I first started peace by peace taking it apart and stripping off the white paint. The chain was the hardest part stripping off all the old paint and rust and then letting it soak for two weeks in motor oli. It was then I took the first pictures.

I then took the wheels off and de-spoked the wheels and had the rims powder coated blue. Once they were powder coated I had them respoked with stainless spokes. I then placed the felt brick tires with new tubes. I had the frame stripped and powder coated a milky gray. I had to heavily modify the front springer front end but it finally cleaned up and mounted on the frame. I cut down some beach bars I had and made the board track bars. I purchased some vintage grips on ebay in blue which finished out the bars. I know I am missing something like the headbadge I purchased off of ebay. It may not be correct but was close enough. I have made a tank out of a 2x4 and in the process of painting. I eventually want some old school pen striping. Well hear you go. Enjoy. Thanks to my friends in Mt. Airey N. C. By the way my bike show is the fourth Saturday in March in Cleveland TN.

 

[XC204]

Very clean build I like the parts choice. Very cool

 

[highship]

Nice build!
Whats up with the way the chain is on the chain ring?

 

[sleepy]

Superb work. 8)

Bike looks terrific....I love seeing a blend of the new with the old.

 

[scott brownsey]

looks great clean and simple

 

[karfer67]

Sweet build

 

[highwheelerboy25]

sweetness!!! good job dave-o!

 

[dorr]

This is my first build with a skip tooth chain. I do not know what is going on with the chain and the pedal sprocket. So far it does not want to lay down. It does great on the back but on the front it rides high? Good observation for those who saw that but have no answer. Anyone else want to guess? Thanks for the kind words from everyone. The board is now painted blue and will see what it looks like before it is attached. Thanks again.

 

[aceuh]

That's sweet! Does the grey/blue match your pickup?

 

[fordmike65]

Try loosening the rear hub to get some slack in the chain & move the chainring teeth over a 1/2 a link. The teeth need to be in the larger spaced link.

Here's a pic of my '37 Colson for reference:

 

[highship]

Try loosening the rear hub to get some slack in the chain & move the chainring teeth over a 1/2 a link...

That's what I was thinking too.

 

[dorr]

Just a finish up to the build. I ended up building another tank. This time I made it wider by gluing a 1x4 on both sides of the tank. once this was done I sanded it down smooth and laid on the blue paint. It may have been better to use only one 1X4 for it may be just a little wide but it was finished and didn't want to start over. Once it was done I placed some copper pipe clamps that I purchased at our local Hardware store, LOWES. I thing it looks original from say 10 feet away? Here are some pictures.

I appreciate the comments on the chain and sprocket. I tried to move the chain one sprocket and that didn't want to work at all. Here is a close up of the item in question. My only thought is, did they make a couple of different sizes in the skip tooth chain? Maybe my chain goes with the rear sprocket but not the front? Any comments are appreciated.

 

[tanksalot]

I think your chain is streched a bit causing it to misalign a bit that is why its acting that way on the bigger gear & not the rear cog. I bet if you try a different chain it would work. That is my guess anyway.
The paint looks nice ..

 

[Gdcast]

Beautiful! My kind of build, keep it up!

 

[highship]

Tank looks sweet!
Try taking the chain off the rear cog and see if you can find the sweet spot on the chain ring, if it falls right into place then you can be sure it's just an adjustment issue.
I have never seen different skip tooths so I would like to think that its not the chain.
It looks like the tooth on the chain ring is not centered in the chain link. Did you try loosing it up a hair to see if it would fall into place?
Either way the bike looks great!

 

[RivNut]

Dorr,

I know this is a really old thread but I found it doing some research for a '35 Elgin that I have. Did you ever get the chain problem fixed? If not, and you still have the bike and the problem, your problem is that you're running a regular pitch chain on a "skip tooth" sprockets. Hopefully you've figured this out by now. but.......

Left – 1/2 inch pitch chain with equal length links.

Right – 1 inch pitch “skip-tooth” chain with un-equal length links that are also wider.

Without the "skip" tooth the chain won't seat against the ring, it just rides high on the teeth.

 

[rev106]

nice!

 

[Phil Fink]

Nice bike. Frame looks to be Snyder-built; perhaps at the acquired Excelsior Michigan City Ind. plant, for a bike going local to Sears Chicago Ill.
For 1935, would it have an "E" serial number prefix?
Or, it could be a 1935-N Westfield-built.
Nice heavy-duty 1950's Murray O springer fork; was there ever a heavier fork.

Another badge, perhaps earlier with tighter v-holes; but I like the blue V-badge as-installed because it better fits the selected color scheme.

 

[toro1978]

Hi, this was my initial thought as well - that the chain might be stretched. I have this train-station-bike and it does terrible noises, so I thought the hub was done, but I noticed that the chain doesn't lay on the teeth as it is supposed to. It is pitch black with dirt. I wrapped a new one around the chainring and it aligned perfectly.
Now, I think that because the rear sprocket doesn't have as mucht teeth it is not noticeable there, but on the chainring with its larger diameter the play adds up, so it is not running ok.

By the way, this is a beautiful build. One of those bikes where I just can't say which part I like most - which should probably mean that ti is more than the sum of its parts.