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I’ve been so hyped for this to start but had a busy may first. Anyway the plan here is a bike that I can ride anytime in any season.
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Can’t remember the brand but this is what I purchased last summer. I have always wanted a tank bike with the tank! Sold the wheels and stripped it down to the frame for storage.

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this is as far as I made it today. Need to mock up some things before I clean and decide between new paint or clear coat for the frame
 
Great tanker. It has a Rollfast/snyder feel to it. Probably early to mid 50s is my guess.
 
I’ve been so hyped for this to start but had a busy may first. Anyway the plan here is a bike that I can ride anytime in any season.
View attachment 191673Can’t remember the brand but this is what I purchased last summer. I have always wanted a tank bike with the tank! Sold the wheels and stripped it down to the frame for storage.

View attachment 191674this is as far as I made it today. Need to mock up some things before I clean and decide between new paint or clear coat for the frame
Those black rims with the red tires in the background would look cool on it!
 
That looks like a good frame. I believe that's a Hawthorne, same as a Rollfast, made by Snyder, as Kingfish stated. The paint scheme looks like Hawthorne, sold by Montgomery Wards.
The slots where the rear fender bolts up are unique to those frames from the early 50's into the late 60s.
They did a reverse number serial number on their bikes from 40-58 or so. Numbers are on the bottom bracket on the earlier bikes. 35 EH would be a 1953 bike. In 58 or 59, the number went to the left dropout and began with a letter, followed by digits. A is 59, B is 60, etc.
 
This is one of the things I love about this forum. Taking an unfamiliar bike to some, posting it up with a cool 'build start' photo and intro; and then the community jumps in with cool and educational info, i.e. Kingfish and Wildcat.

Good to see you back in the BO, @dropstep ! As soon as I see a photo of your workspace, with that wall hanging in the back ground, I know I'm in the right place. RaT oN~!
 
This is one of the things I love about this forum. Taking an unfamiliar bike to some, posting it up with a cool 'build start' photo and intro; and then the community jumps in with cool and educational info, i.e. Kingfish and Wildcat.
All of that and no cork-sniffing!

Another attendee at the Pedal Peddle this past Saturday (Richard from CO Springs) made a highly positive comment to this very same effect. The knowledge here and ability to share it unconditionally is an excellent attribute.
 
I always get a little excited and nostalgic whenever I see any Snyder-built bikes being built, as that was the first bike I built, not just for my first Build Off 2 years ago, but the first bike I built ever!
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I'm looking forward to seeing how you build yours! Looks like it's in great condition, which is something I can't say that about the one I started with! Good luck on your bike!
 
Those black rims with the red tires in the background would look cool on it!
That wasn’t the original plan, but it is one of the things I’ll be checking out. That bike was parted out recently! I’ve always wanted 700c on a bike but not sure I want to add brake mounts to this frame
 
Since they were pointed out in the background and under ten pounds (yay restrictions) i decided to make the first mock up the 700c Wheels and the springer. After some grinding the springer is likely staying on this build
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The biggest con is no fenders with these wheels. I love the look and think they would fit my desire for the bike well.. going to check step over height when I can wrangle a kid into taking it off the stand.

havnt even cleaned the frame yet, I figure test fitting first might help me try more then just one set up. Tomorrow is back to youth athletics so maybe progress Thursday!
 
Those Snyder frames are one of my favorites. When I was a busboy at Denny's back in the 70's, I rode one, salvaged from a burn pit. I had 26 x 2.125 knobbies on it, something new back then. I kept the truss rods on, fenders and chain guard were rusted away. I never heard of klunkers or any offroad styles. I just liked the look.
 
Tried out the other wheel option
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They would both be chrome. Pro is I could run fenders. I’m going to admire some photos side by side.
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Torn back apart and soap and water scrubbed. I’m either going to have to dull the fork or see how much shine I can bring back! Then I had to run some errands before the wife got home
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Fantastic weather for using a bike. This is my normal go to. The goal is to replace this bike so I can finally tear it down and give it the refresh it deserves.
 
I like the look of the beehive stretched out forward. You just reverse the flanges, but there's no stop for the action. On a good bump, the tire will contact the fork and act as a brake. I almost went over the bars to learn that.

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First day without an after school sport so did some handlebar test fits
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First up was some bars I used on a klunker build. I like to bmx all the things.
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Some weird little ape hangers I ended up with somehow
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Some fantastic 80s-90s style bmx bars that are my current favorite. They wouldn’t be gold!
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some conventional cruiser bars just to rule them out. The seat was just handy so I used it but I might like it on there.
 

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