1936 Monark Silver King

[1fastgramp]

Picked this up last week in Hershey. I knew it was cool but was a bit out of my comfort zone on price. I felt better when I saw another in much worse shape and the asking price was far greater than what I paid for mine plus I had 3 people ask to buy it from me. I was told rack and seat are not original. What is best for polishing the aluminum on it? I tried Mothers and that works well but it is pretty oxidized in some spots. Not sure if the siren works as I am afraid to ride it. The greyhound on the fender looks like it belongs but is covering a hole in the fender.

 

[Chips_Mahoy]

You a lucky one! Many bike guys have this one of their dream list.!

 

[late for dinner]

That is a very nice complete SilverKing you've found there. Congratulations.
I'll be the official fourth person to express serious interest in your 'bucket list' 'bike.
If you'd like a ride away right away bike and want to leave the polishing to me, I can send you a nice bike or two !
Great Find and I'm not kidding about my offer. Enjoy your new bike, that'll clean up nicely to be sure.

 

[deven_science]

These are beautiful bikes. I just like looking at my '48 Hex-Tube.

 

[Euphman06]

Darn.. how did you find that one? I'm close to Hershey and look religiously but didn't see that one at all...

 

[ilikebikes]

Dibs on the grey hound, pretty sure its not orig to the bike. (I just like Grey Hounds)

 

[Chips_Mahoy]

That is a very nice complete SilverKing you've found there. Congratulations.
I'll be the official fourth person to express serious interest in your 'bucket list' 'bike.
If you'd like a ride away right away bike and want to leave the polishing to me, I can send you a nice bike or two !
Great Find and I'm not kidding about my offer. Enjoy your new bike, that'll clean up nicely to be sure.

Since you brought up polishing, what's the best way to do that on a bike like this? I'd like to do mine.

 

[Walker]

I've been using a scotchbright pad on mine to get rid of the heavy oxidation, once that's cleaned up I'll move to compound.

 

[Jpromo]

I've been using a scotchbright pad on mine to get rid of the heavy oxidation, once that's cleaned up I'll move to compound.

That's about what I did to mine. Polishing compound and then down to wadding polish to get the previous residues off and leave a luster.

 

[Chips_Mahoy]

I've been using a scotchbright pad on mine to get rid of the heavy oxidation, once that's cleaned up I'll move to compound.

Okay......What's the process for any nicks in the frame? I don't have access to an aluminum welder and would be leery of using one for fear of causing discoloration of the metal.

 

[Walker]

kind of hard to put metal back where it once was. you could try to sand them out if they aren't too deep, or you could have someone touch it up with a tig welder if they are serious..or just live with some character...

 

[Chips_Mahoy]

kind of hard to put metal back where it once was. you could try to sand them out if they aren't too deep, or you could have someone touch it up with a tig welder if they are serious..or just live with some character...

I'll have to look at it again. It's been packed away for awhile while I was getting the new house and during the move. Regardless, I'm bound and determined to get it back on the road!

 

[Walker]

mine looks like someone took a rock hammer to the steel pins at the lugs, I'll be sanding it down best I can and going from there.

keep us posted with your progress.

 

[Chips_Mahoy]

keep us posted with your progress.

I will, but it'll be awhile before I get to it. I want to plan this one right.

 

[1fastgramp]

I'm not looking to sell it at this point. I just want to clean it up and see if I can sneak it in the house once it's polished up. :wink:

 

[1918 Ranger]

Picked this up last week in Hershey. I knew it was cool but was a bit out of my comfort zone on price. I felt better when I saw another in much worse shape and the asking price was far greater than what I paid for mine plus I had 3 people ask to buy it from me. I was told rack and seat are not original. What is best for polishing the aluminum on it? I tried Mothers and that works well but it is pretty oxidized in some spots. Not sure if the siren works as I am afraid to ride it. The greyhound on the fender looks like it belongs but is covering a hole in the fender.

My Hawthorne Duralium was in very bad shape when I received it. I wanted to bring it back to as close to original finish despite taking the patina current original look away.

I had lots of scratches deep into the aluminum and as was mentioned in the thread I took a DA sander with 100 grit paper first to the scratches and followed with finer grit papers.

I actually started with muriatic acid on the aluminum but really didn't see much gain for the effort. It's dangerous to use, it's hard to get ( I had to get a chemical company who I had a friend work there get me some. They wouldn't sale it to me for all the liability and paper work involved. But he did give me some under the table ). Like I said I didn't do what I hoped. The sanding did the trick.

Lastly I used a car buffing wheel and polish to bring out the shine.

I'll add a pic of final product soon.

 

[1918 Ranger]

My Hawthorne Duralium was in very bad shape when I received it. I wanted to bring it back to as close to original finish despite taking the patina current original look away.

I had lots of scratches deep into the aluminum and as was mentioned in the thread I took a DA sander with 100 grit paper first to the scratches and followed with finer grit papers.

I actually started with muriatic acid on the aluminum but really didn't see much gain for the effort. It's dangerous to use, it's hard to get ( I had to get a chemical company who I had a friend work there get me some. They wouldn't sale it to me for all the liability and paper work involved. But he did give me some under the table ). Like I said I didn't do what I hoped. The sanding did the trick.

Lastly I used a car buffing wheel and polish to bring out the shine.

I'll add a pic of final product soon.

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Nice! I'm going to have one of those someday!

 

[juanitasmith13]

Great find... use rouge stick for aluminum and a cloth polish wheel to shine...

About the fender whole under the lamp... where your cable from the battery was run to the lamp... should find marks, clamp marks on the frame where battery was attached. This is mid '30s model bicycle.