Rat Rod
Owner & Founder
A couple of weeks ago I scored this JC Higgins Colorflow at a local estate sale. It had been in the original owner's attic for a long time and he recently passed away. He delivered papers back in the late 40s to earn the money for the bike and then continued his route with the new bike. He also apparently had a thing for accessories. 
When I got the bike home I realized that the fork was bent. At first I thought I might just leave the whole thing as is and not even wash it. I got bored today and decided I'd go ahead and detail it out.
Pulled the fork and it turned out to be really messed up. I also made the mistake of trying to straighten it myself and wound up squaring off the steer tube. Fortunately Clyde James of Clyde James Custom Bikes in Haltom City is going to remove the bent section and weld on a new straight tube from a donor fork.
Initially I was just wanting to give the bike a quick bath and maybe a light polish while the bike was fully assembled, but as I went along I started pulling parts off and decided I was going to go all the way. I took this shot after the quick bath and polish. I also used some Bleach White on these rock hard All State tires. They inflated okay, but there's no way they could be ridden on. Unfortunately the rear tube has a leak. Not sure how I'm going to get that tire off without messing it up.
Stripped all of the accessories off of the bike...
The seat really cleaned up nice with just a quick scrub...
Thankfully there were no old corroded batteries in here to mess up the horn.
The paint on the tank looks nice after some rubbing compound...
So the further along I got, the more I realized that I need to do a proper tear down and deep detailing on this fine creation. I'm going to throw as much magic Texas water as I can at the bike and try to document it all here. Getting that steer tube fixed will be the biggest hurdle and I won't be able to feel relaxed about this bike until that is resolved.
Stay tuned for more bejeweled adventures.
When I got the bike home I realized that the fork was bent. At first I thought I might just leave the whole thing as is and not even wash it. I got bored today and decided I'd go ahead and detail it out.
Pulled the fork and it turned out to be really messed up. I also made the mistake of trying to straighten it myself and wound up squaring off the steer tube.
Fortunately Clyde James of Clyde James Custom Bikes in Haltom City is going to remove the bent section and weld on a new straight tube from a donor fork.
Initially I was just wanting to give the bike a quick bath and maybe a light polish while the bike was fully assembled, but as I went along I started pulling parts off and decided I was going to go all the way. I took this shot after the quick bath and polish. I also used some Bleach White on these rock hard All State tires. They inflated okay, but there's no way they could be ridden on. Unfortunately the rear tube has a leak. Not sure how I'm going to get that tire off without messing it up.
Stripped all of the accessories off of the bike...
The seat really cleaned up nice with just a quick scrub...
Thankfully there were no old corroded batteries in here to mess up the horn.
The paint on the tank looks nice after some rubbing compound...
So the further along I got, the more I realized that I need to do a proper tear down and deep detailing on this fine creation. I'm going to throw as much magic Texas water as I can at the bike and try to document it all here. Getting that steer tube fixed will be the biggest hurdle and I won't be able to feel relaxed about this bike until that is resolved.
Stay tuned for more bejeweled adventures.
