Western Flyer X-53 resurrection

[ParkRNDL]

I don't know that this is a build so much as me picking away at what was once a beautiful bike in an effort to make it less tragic.

I posted this in Fresh Finds not long ago:

After a couple of hours removing half of Wal-Mart's bike accessories aisle and wiping down with a dry rag, it looked a little less ridiculous:

Partly because I learned that the X-53 is a sought-after collectible, but mostly because it's just so darn cool, I wanted to try to remove the horrible pool-liner-blue paint and uncover whatever was left of the original paint, which should have been black and red for 1953. But after several fruitless sessions with Goof-Off and oven cleaner, it became clear that I would need a Plan B. It was then that I stumbled upon a picture of a 1953 Western Flyer X-53 GIRLS model:

(not mine, borrowed without permission from the CABE)

I decided that maybe the colors weren't bad after all, just the previous owner's Earl Scheib approach to painting. Maybe I could get this thing to look ok (weathered, but ok) without subjecting this thing to any further spray bomb paint crimes. So I set to work:

I kinda like where this is going. And the horn even works!

After enlisting the help of a friend who has grinding tools and chemical strippers and other implements of destruction, this is where I'm at:

It may be time for some of my special homebrew decal templates.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

X53 is such a killer frame, it's hard to go wrong. I absolutely love the rack integrated into the frame with those additional tubes. It looks awesome already with just the cleanup, blue paint job looks a lot better with the original graphics showing on the tank

 

[ParkRNDL]

Daylight:

Not only did the tires hold air all night, but after taking off the noisy hub shiners, this thing was dead silent on a trip around the block. (Well, except for the squeaky old seat.) And the speedometer works.

Now, I have been told that the Monark train headlight and deep fender are desirable, and maybe they look right on the correct bike, but I'm not a fan of it all on this one. If I could find a front fender that more closely matched the rear, I'd spray bomb it close-enough blue and call it a day, maybe put a rusty old headlight from my stash on it.

The guard is off the Murray-ish girls middleweight I got as part of this deal, and I think it manages to look better than that horrible chrome faux Schwinn piece. Pretty sure the correct guard, like the springer fork and headlight, are collector/restoration only items at this point. (Well, there's an original springer on eBay right now, but it's over 10 times what I paid for this bike and I don't want it that bad.)

While I don't have any hopes of finding an original springer for this, I am hoping to stumble on a newer middleweight springer like they'd have put on a Spaceliner, which I think would work great.

 

[ParkRNDL]

WHOA. Now that went surprisingly well...

I have been researching what parts are missing off this bike. Along with the whole front end and guard, there was this cool looking rear fender spear and reflector that are MIA:

Now, I have been tinkering with some very basic 3D design software that I use with my middle school students. I managed to come up with this:

Compared to one selling on Fleabay, it didn't look too terrible except for one small problem:

Now, I do NOT have the know-how to calculate that curve and design it in on this software, which is essentially the CAD equivalent of MS Paint. So I printed off a couple the way they were and figured that was that. Until I stumbled upon something online about using a heat gun to reshape 3D printed objects...

Out came the trusty Harbor Freight hair dryer.

I attached one of the spears to an old fender with one screw in the center.

A little judicious heat application, some gentle prodding, et voila. I did manage to twist the top a little, but I think it came out good for a first attempt.

Before and after reshaping:

 

[ParkRNDL]

Little stuff: Swapped out the grips for some white Western Flyer grips and cleaned the whitewalls a little.

Bigger news: I have acquired a working rat trap springer.

Head tubes measure the same (thanks for the info @rickpaulos ) so I am assuming it will be a straightforward swap.

I'm kind of stoked that the donor bike turned out to have some other parts I may be able to use, specifically the pedals and guard for starters, and maybe the chainwheel and cap. The drop center wheels would also look more correct on a 50s bike than what I have on there now, if I'm not mistaken. When did Bendix start making the model 70 coaster hub?

I also found this fender on the CABE. It looks to be much closer in design to the rear fender on the bike than the Monark front fender that's on it now.

Seller said he believes it's a ColorFlow fender, and from what I could see from researching pictures of ColorFlow bikes online, I have no reason to believe it's not. And from the ColorFlow pics I have seen, the springer rockers are very similar to the rat trap rockers, so I am hopeful that I can get this fender to work with the rat trap with some tweaking.

I do have a question for anyone who may have experience with this type of fender, since this one isn't in my hands yet: Is the lower brace attached to the back of the fender on some kind of pivot? The upper brace attaches to the rigid part of the fork, which I understand. But the lower one attaches to the end of the rocker that moves up and down with the spring/suspension travel. I assume there's some mechanism to allow it to articulate so it doesn't fatigue the metal around the attachment point on the fender, correct?

 

[ParkRNDL]

Aaaaand we have a springer.

Now hopefully there's enough room to get a fender up in there...

 

[ParkRNDL]

So since I picked up this bike and started tinkering with it, the garage has been deteriorating. This one came with a girls' Murray-built something-or-other middleweight that was painted the same shade of pool-liner blue and accessorized in a similarly horrific fashion. The guy wanted them both gone and I felt bad saying "well I'll help you with the one, but you're stuck with the other one."

So it came home, I have been cannibalizing it for parts, and it's adding to the chaos in the garage.

Then, in my search for a rat trap springer, I discovered this girls' Spaceliner on Marketplace and added it to the mess.

My wife has been giving me the side-eye about eventually getting her car back inside before it snows, so today I decided to thrash away on the bike stuff to create some kind of order. The plan was to dismantle the two girls bikes and end up with one girls bike to sell on Marketplace, one box of parts harvested for future tinkering, and one pile of scrap to give my son-in-law to practice with his new welder.

In taking the crank and pedals off the Spaceliner, I noticed this little spot on the edge of the pedal. What is this? Could it be... a reflector?

Well would ya look at that. I've never seen pedals like these. You can bet these are going on the X-53.

I had also hoped the Spaceliner guard would work on the X-53. The correct guard has a silver "spear" that extends from the rack support forward to a jet/rocket graphic, and I was thinking the Spaceliner guard could have a similar extension effect.

Alas, it doesn't seem destined to be. Though the rear mount works out fairly well, it makes the front of the guard too short. Also, the rear of the guard is lower than the chain, which will only get worse when I swap out the 18t rear cog for a 20t, which I ordered from Amazon a couple days ago.

Now, I am planning to change out the 46t sprocket for a 44t, so the guard won't have to be quite as far forward, but I don't think that'll make up the length I'd need. I haven't given up yet, but I'm thinking I'll probably end up using the blue Murray "tailfin" guard that was on there earlier.

So with both girls bikes blown apart, I pieced one back together on the Spaceliner frame. I added a set of bars and a Schwinn crank/sprocket from the basement stash, and the pedals and guard that were on the X-53 when I got it, et voila. We have a complete working girls bike. It even looks kinda cool.

While I was out there, I compared the cheap spray bomb I bought at Ollie's yesterday with the rear fender. I know the cap isn't going to be a perfect representation of the color, but hey, if it's even in this ballpark, it's good enough for me. The cap is a dead match. (I just KNEW that the cheapest Dark Blue paint I could find at a discount store was going to be the color the previous owner used.) The ColorFlow fender which will be getting this paint is on its way to me, according to UPS.

Finally, here are pics of that springer on the X-53 in daylight:

I am hoping that the ColorFlow fender will somehow fit in there without major surgery. I rode it up and down the block and it seems to work well, though it bottoms out pretty easily. Considering this bike was designed for kids who were maybe 125-150 lbs and I'm over 200, this should not be a surprise to me. Still looks cool and I like the novelty.