Another surprise find

jd56 · Oct 6, 2016

As I'm sure many of you have a favorite bike shop you frequent in your area. The one I hit quite often happened to have a well patina'd wheelset in the service area (yes, I always sneak behind the counter to see what's in there). In fact it was laced to a pair of black out hubs. One was a Morrow dated 1945.
"What bike did these come off of?"
The shop owner didn't know as the customer just dropped them off for servicing and new tires.
I asked that he tell the customer that I'd like to see the bike.

Well here it is before I bought it.
Fork is stamped 11 4 (Nov 1944).
That's right, it is a Western Flyer badged 1945 Dayton/Huffman.
Sure would like to see a catalog ad for this bike...anyone got one?...Scott?

And I wanted it because I have that correct long tank for it. Even the right color.

I had installed the tank on my 1946 Dayton/Huffman. But, it looks better on this survivor.

You never know when a bike will fall in your lap, when you're not looking for one.

It had the wrong size tires so these Duros were added.

Did a little WD40 rub down and as I hoped there is still salvageable OG paint and pins.

This will look good once the magic is performed. So the revival is started, but here is a few pics as it sits now.

Now what to do with this 46?
Now that it dont have a tank anymore[emoji30]

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Flying Zombie · Oct 11, 2016

I got a few Ideas, but very little room

Excellent find, enjoyed the read too.

As always 100%Gold Good Buddy!~

jd56 · Oct 11, 2016

Just about done with the paint revival. Still effects of what the decades old patina has done. Some paint loss and still the horizontal areas show patina.
But, all in all for an ugly or in some eyes a well tarnished paint, it came out better than I hoped.

Again the steps taken.

1) WD40 rub down with very fine 0000 steelwool to remove the rust and some caked on dirt and dust.
2) 3M medium rubbing compound...this helps with the caked on patina. But, extreme care needs to be expressed on the factory pin stripes.
3) Final step is 3M polishing compound...this will pull out the remaining luster if the colors. Again care near the pins.
4) lots of hand buffing!

These pictures were taken in low light conditions. As soon as the sun returns I'll take better pictures.

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The Renaissance Man · Oct 11, 2016

Nice transformation! Cool back story also. I'm surprised that the owner agreed to sell it. He was obviously planning to keep it since he was having the wheels serviced.

jd56 · Oct 11, 2016

Jim, he was planning on keeping it and riding it on camping trips. But, when I found out he planed on clearcoating the bike, I asked to let me have a crack at reviving the paint.
I guess my enthusiastic passion was exuberant and he offered it to me.
His asking price was a bunch more than I was willing to pay but, when I realized I had the tank and it's color was going to match, I didn't try haggling anymore. So I paid up on this but, sometimes we have to, for a real classic.

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