J.C. Higgins Problem

[ironmountain]

I'm very ignorant about this style of bike, so bear with me.
Father in law gave me this bike from the woodshed at the family farm.
Cleaned the grime off.
I'd greatly appreciate any info/assistance I could get.
I'll list the numbers on the lower bracket and the Elgin metal tab on the back wheel.

This is on the bottom bracket. 1st/2nd/3rd line.
MO3 (s?)-P
0302 27 (looks like might be a 6 or 8 1/4" or so to the right of the 27..also looks like a big glob of metal)
54973

Has Allstate Balloon #173275 tires

New Departure Made In USA on the front hub.

the back hub looks like a skip tooth? has the 3 or 4 fins on it and the little adjustment nob/nub in the center of it.

the little metal tab that comes from the hub and is secured to the frame is where I get confused....

It says ELGIN 531-10
pat 1.911.461
pat 101999.

The badge on the front is the J.C. Higgins badge with a V and says J.C. Higgins across the center of it and made in usa for sears roebuck...

it's in rough shape, but solid. mostly surface rust...mostly...

wrong saddle. Bike has a Schwinn saddle.

looks like wrong kickstand too..looks like the same style you can buy now...

few pics..just basic pics of the bike and the elgin tab...

 

[driver bob]

I had similar questions when I got a Higgins...


Member Rustinkerer really helped me out so I'm paying forward his knowledge here:

My Higgins was MOS-M, which is Murray-Ohio-Supply and 1948 for M (I believe). Following that it's a letter per year yours would be a -P (1951)

If the next numbers are 502 and not 302 that would be a Sears store code, which makes sense as it is branded J.C. Higgins.

54973 is the model number, can't help you with that I'm afraid.

I got all this info on my bike from Rustinkerer, he has the reprints of the 1959 Western Auto Parts manuals that have these codes.

It's a nice looking bike you've got there

 

[ironmountain]

thanks so much for the info! You saved me a ton of confusion! Tried to research it for a few hrs. (metal detecting/bottle digging/insulator collecting causes one to be a decent researcher) but couldn't find info about a mix with the murray/usa front badge and the Elgin tab.
so this might be a very stripped down Colorflow? If so, I should check the woodshed when we go up next and see if the parts are there.

thanks again for the info! I'll have to post pics as I get it cleaned up.

 

[driver bob]

My Higgins had a mix of CWC and Schwinn parts on it. Bet that front wheel was added sometime in the 50s after the original got bent out if shape