Twice-Told

[TheKornerPedaler]

Hi everyone, welcome to my first ever RRBBO thread! The bones of this build are the frame and fork of a 1964 Hawthorne, which I bought for $10 at the Get-a-Grip swap in March. I was drawn to this frame because of the patina, and the unique twin upper bars/single lower cantilever design.

Here is the pile of parts I had collected as of this morning:

I began by mounting the tires on wheels, with help from my 2-year-old! The tires were part of a scratch & dent sale on eBay, and the wheels were borrowed from a Murray Monterey.

 

[TheKornerPedaler]

The next step, naturally, was to mate the wheels and the frame. Much to my dismay, a problem revealed itself immediately: the frame is a 24 incher, rather than a 26" as I thought and planned for. I consulted the boss (my 2yo,) and he said I better figure out a way to use those 26" rollers, or else all his effort this morning was for nought! I guess this project just became a little more involved!

Even with the tires crammed in where they don't fit, I couldn't resist throwing the nanner seat and apes on to get an idea how it will all look.

 

[TheKornerPedaler]

Raiding the scrap pile came up with a Next Wipeout which I was planning to cut up anyway. A few minutes with a Sawzall and I had the dropouts off, albeit in desperate need of a grinder. For experimentation purposes, I found some hardware the correct size and bolted them on, trying several different positions until I found one I liked. The tire now has all the clearance it needs!
They still need to be hit with the grinder and I need to reinforce them somehow for safety. I'm considering even fabricating some sort of spring mechanism, but I'm not sold on that idea yet.

 

[TheKornerPedaler]

This is where I stopped for the day. Tomorrow I plan to finish the front dropout extensions and make some for the rear.

 

[OddJob]

That's going to have a great look with those big hoops jammed in that 24er frame!
RaT oN~!

 

[TheKornerPedaler]

Didn't get a whole lot done today, despite putting in a solid couple hours of work. I decided to borrow the truss bars from my '65 Western Flyer Strato Flyer, as I'm in search of an original rat trap springer for it anyway. The bearings were extremely dry and crusty, but some PB Blaster and gentle pursuasion got it apart.

Transferred to the Hawthorne:

I had to do some filing and tweaking to make the mount fit the steerer tube, but it was so satisfying when it all fell into place. I'm not sure just how much support they really provide, but I feel better with them on there!

 

[MazdaFlyer]

Liking the fork.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Great pile of parts to start from!

 

[Modelcarjedi]

Didn't get a whole lot done today, despite putting in a solid couple hours of work. I decided to borrow the truss bars from my '65 Western Flyer Strato Flyer, as I'm in search of an original rat trap springer for it anyway. The bearings were extremely dry and crusty, but some PB Blaster and gentle pursuasion got it apart.
View attachment 94036 View attachment 94037

Transferred to the Hawthorne:
View attachment 94038

I had to do some filing and tweaking to make the mount fit the steerer tube, but it was so satisfying when it all fell into place. I'm not sure just how much support they really provide, but I feel better with them on there!

View attachment 94039

I have the same front rack for my build. Cool bike


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TheKornerPedaler]

This morning's mission was to get the rear wheel sorted.
I started with hacking the rear dropouts off the Next, and then I bolted them onto the Hawthorne in some different configurations to see which worked the best. I didn't take a lot of pictures of the process, but here are what I have.

My lil helper tightened down the bolts for me.

Showing off his handiwork!

Almost done!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looks like your little helper is a big help!

 

[TheKornerPedaler]

Looks like your little helper is a big help!

He sure is! He'll be the neighborhood bike mechanic before he starts kindergarten at this rate!

 

[TheKornerPedaler]

Back at it today!
The pedals went on last week but I forgot to highlight them. They came off an exercise bike that I discovered under our sunporch! (That bike also lent its handlebars to my daily rider Raleigh Sprite, and I think will give its saddle to my Class 2 entry.)

My first order or business today was to install the grips. These were donated by my friend Justin.

 

[TheKornerPedaler]

Next step was to put a chain on! I took one from the same Murray Monterey from which I took the wheels. I ended up having to extend it, which was very tedious because I don't have a tool, so I had to use the ol' punch n' hammer method! Needless to say, I didn't bother to take pictures along the way.

At long last, it was time for some "finished" pictures and a first test ride! I have to make some refinements before I can call this project done, but we're so close I can taste it!

(I was going to post a video of my test ride, but it's too big. I'll try and remedy that for my "completed build" thread.)

 

[SpikeFC]

Now that looks very nice

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looking good!

(I was going to post a video of my test ride, but it's too big. I'll try and remedy that for my "completed build" thread.)

Just post whatever to YouTube and link it here, the link will play right in the post with no issues!

 

[OddJob]

Any progress on that video production,TKP? Like Luke said, you can upload the video to Youtube and then copy and paste the URL in a post on your thread.

Good job on the early finish. I hope to be crossing that line in the next week as well.

 

[thebigorangecat]

Nice build, would never think it was a 24!

 

[kingfish254]

Cool big squeeze build. Love seeing the little man helping out!

 

[TheKornerPedaler]

Took my first fully successful test ride on this bike today! Calling this one officially done!