50's Huffy Convertible

[Green P1]

Dug this out of my grandmothers barn in East Texas this Thanksgiving. This was the first bike I ever rode without training wheels. I can still vividly remember my grandfather giving me that forceful shove and the realization that there was no one holding me up! Of course I could barley control the bumpy thing with the hard rubber front tire missing huge chunks and I quickly rammed myself into the barn... but I was hooked.

The plan is for some tall apes and seat post so I can ride it around until a little kid comes around to claim it. I'll have to find a new set of wheels as I don't think these were meant to accommodation anything other than the hard rubber tires. The lack of a seatpost clamp has me a bit befuddled...

 

[Gdcast]

I say restore it.
Seems to me it´s quite an unique little bike, that your kids will love some day.
Boy that tank is great! :wink:

 

[jackdaw]

That is a neat bike. Does it run right now? How cool is it to have the first bike you really rode? You're wicked lucky!

 

[MiniMe]

I say restore it.
Seems to me it´s quite an unique little bike, that your kids will love some day.
Boy that tank is great! :wink:

x2. i would restore it to complete originality, paint, rims, seat, everything because thats an awesome find!

 

[Green P1]

If I had the rear fender or the big training wheels that came with her I would be more concerned with a by the book restoration, but I don't see myself lucking into those anytime soon. That being said I won't be doing anything to it that cannot be easily undone once/if a little kid comes around needing a bike.

I'm having quite a but of trouble finding information or more surviving examples of a "girls" convertible. From what I can tell these were the first bikes actually sold as "Huffys."

If anyone has a photo laying around of one of these I'd be really interested.

 

[Green P1]

Got the bike mostly disassembled yesterday and started with the rust removal. The pitting is worse than it looks in the picture but I think a good filler primer ought to handle it. Gonna go with black and red for the color scheme. From stripping it, it appears that the bike was originally light blue but my grandfather made it red when he picked it up from the scrap yard.

I'm thinking about moving the fender to the rear where it would look better but I'd have to notch it around the chainguard...

Funny story, I called my mom to wish her a happy birthday and got to talking about the little bike. She said that when my grandfather first brought it home, the ever so rare training wheels were with the bike. Apparently the first thing my grandpa did was remove them, remove the wheels from them for some other project, and tossed them in the scrap pile. No kid of his was going to rely on training wheels, that's what tricycles were for.

 

[mmcdaniel69]

That's an awesome little bike and I love the story. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

 

[mmcdaniel69]

I wondered what this chainguard may have come off of. I found it along with some other bike and tricycle parts, in a ghost town dumpsite out in the desert.

Looks a little bigger than yours, probably off a 24" or 26" bike.

 

[Green P1]

Bought a thrift store Schwin to donate wheels and chain. Here it is mocked up with the front fender moved to the rear. I kind like it.

 

[OUTLAW]

that is so kool. what a great story and now owning it.

Outlaw

 

[mmcdaniel69]

The fender looks good.

 

[Green P1]

The fender looks good.

Its going to require a tiny notch to accommodation the chain... which has me torn. I don't anticipate finding the proper rear fender in the future, and also don't wanna add some cheesy universal one, but at the same time I'm hesitant to hack away at the fender original equipment. I just think the fender looks silly on the front with a bare rear wheel.

 

[mmcdaniel69]

The fender looks good.

Its going to require a tiny notch to accommodation the chain... which has me torn. I don't anticipate finding the proper rear fender in the future, and also don't wanna add some cheesy universal one, but at the same time I'm hesitant to hack away at the fender original equipment. I just think the fender looks silly on the front with a bare rear wheel.

You might try to post to the wanted section here, someone may have a fender that would work, or could be made to work. I'd have a hard time cutting that fender, with the history of the bike I wouldn't do anything I couldn't reverse. You may also find that a newer bike fender could be modified. Is that a 16" bike?

 

[Green P1]

Not a blistering pace on this one.... but I've got the pedals kinda done!!

.

I'm terrible at before and after shots but you can tell from the other pics of the bike that they were really crusty. The bearings were rusted solid...
Anyone have a good tip for restoring the blocks? They soaked in simple green for a week before I scrubbed them but they're not quite as clean as I'd like them.

 

[Green P1]

She's a roller again!

The frame was really pitted but with plenty of primer, filler, and a more than a little sanding... I think i've gotten it smoothed out.
Trying to find a little springer seat like the one that came on it has been tough and I've still got to figure out what direction I want to go with the fender and tank, but Its nice just to have it back up on 2 wheels again.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

I've got an black NOS Troxel springer seat that looks like it might work on it.
It's a little smaller than a typical seat, it may be a juvenile one.

PM me for pics/price if you're interested.

Cheers,
Dr. T

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Great transformation so far! :mrgreen:

 

[Green P1]

Got the chainguard finished and installed tonight. Also got the headbadge polished up but still searching for suitable screws to install it with.

Couple things I'm still wondering about:
1. Whether or not to move the front fender to the back.(I've decided that I don't want to add any parts that weren't present upon my first ride outside of grips wheels and tires, so the fender on front and a replacement rear are out of the question.)
2. To paint said fender black or red.
3. To paint the tank red or black.
Any opinions?

I've kinda got a 2-tone paint scheme in mind for both the tank and fender but I've yet to be able to execute anything near it without the dreaded paint lifting upon tape removal....

 

[pick]

have you tried the green painters tape? I think it is "frog" brand, the adhesive is not real agressive & it seals good, so you end up with a fine masking line. I've used it many times with success.

 

[axsepul]

Nice. I would paint the tank red. I think I saw one of these on ebay about 3 months ago and it didn't sell. I do remember that it had kind of a horse head decal on the tank. I would fix the fender and maybe shoot some primer and put it away until you can find the rear. I'll check tomorrow on my computer if I saved the pictures from the one selling on ebay.