Newbie to bycicle restoration

[pinkfloyddan]

Hello everyone,

I live in Virginia and I just picked for $50 an old Huffy Eldorado. I don't see an option to attach photos here but it's pretty old and definitely rusty.. The chain was hard as a rock and broke in half.

Can someone recommend a place to find "how-to" information on restoring old bikes and a place to find old Huffy Eldorado bike parts? It's not missing a whole lot, but I know it needs the light.

I have never done anything like this before and I've never worked on a bike before. I don't even have tools! But I plan to either borrow some or buy what I need to see if I can do this and make a hobby out of it. Any help would be really appreciated. My private email is [email protected]

thank you,
Dan

 

[pinkfloyddan]

Here is my bike

 

[A.S.BOLTNUT]

WELCOME ! ,check out our" how to" tread should help you out,looks like you have a good project there !

 

[pinkfloyddan]

Do you know a place where I can find parts? I need to find the light fixture to this bike and how to install it. The wiring appear to be still there.

Thank you. I am excited and getting ready to go to Lowes to get some steel wool and some primer. I'd love to know what year this bike is.

 

[Fireproof]

Hi Dan and welcome from California! RatRodBikes is the right place for info and help, you will like it here!

Just a guess on the age of your bike . . . mid 1960s. you might want to buy a can of "P.B. Blaster" or WD-40 and give all the nuts and bolts a shot, let it set over night, and then start the disassembly. "Gunk Engine Brite" works well for cleaning bearings and parts . . . spray them and let them set, then rinse with water. Works better and safer than gasoline.

Cool bike . . . all the best on your project. Please take lots of pictures as you go and share them with us, okay?

 

[Fireproof]

Oh, I also thought you might want to know that one of your pedals and one side of your crank are LEFT-HAND threads . . .

 

[dogdart]

Huffy's are pretty easy to date , locate the serial # near where the rear wheel bolts on , the first number , probably after the letter "H" but sometimes before , that will be for the year . Your bike was made in the 60's from it's features , and the serial digit will tell you what year .

 

[pinkfloyddan]

Where is a place I can get parts for this, I am wondering? I also wonder how can I know for sure everything it is lacking?

I just greased everything down with Liquid Wrench for the night and spent about 70 bucks on supplies, such as gray primer, the gloss paint (going with merlot wine) sos pads, some brushes, chrome shiner.

I actually need to get some darn tools! I am not even sure I can disassemble it tomorrow until I get the tools I need.

Anyone want to take a guess how many cans of gloss and primer I will need? I bought three cans of each.

Thanks,

 

[dogdart]

1 can of each should be fine , now you can get 2 more bikes :wink:

 

[pinkfloyddan]

Ha! I think I will just return them because I didn't really want to use this color but decided to go with what I can see on the bike still. Plus, I need extra money to buy parts that are missing.

Anyone know where vintage Huffy Eldorado Parts are sold?

 

[Fireproof]

Your bike looks fairly complete except for the headlight parts. I did a Google image search for “Huffy Eldorado” and found a photo that looks like your bike. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 29,r:0,s:0

You can save a search on eBay for your tank . . . here’s one that looks to be from a ladies bike . . . http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-CAST-ALUMIN ... 483f2e17df
I think you would be disapointed if you bought it, because I doubt that will fit a men’s frame. You should save the pictures, though for future refrence. You will probably need to be patient to find your light parts. Otherwise, you could go without the tank for now, but paint the tank parts now in case you find the light housing later.
Hope this helps.

 

[pinkfloyddan]

I will probably still keep the tank on there until I find the entire light system. I found this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... NA:US:1123

But I also think this came from a girl's bike.

 

[Fireproof]

I will probably still keep the tank on there until I find the entire light system. . .

I saw that one also.
Hang in there and keep looking.
Oh, and I see you posted a wanted ad here . . . good idea! :wink: