Middle Child -- Done!

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Joined
Jul 10, 2009
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Location
Tampa Bay Area
This'll be build #4 for me. I picked up this Huffy Sea Trails for $20 on Craigslist from a guy about a mile from my house. This'll be my oldest daughter's bike, as she's outgrown the Stingray L'il Chik I restor-- um, cleaned up for her a few years ago.


Huffy Sea Trails Left Side
by sunliner500, on Flickr

I know these were the K-Mart Huffy from the late 1970's, so it's not historically significant or anything. The way I look at it, it won't be a crime to do pretty much anything we want to it. She wants it black with light-blue darts and accents, and sparkly. I'm thinking of hitting the Advance Auto Parts for auto touchup spray cans. Anyone tried that, and could speak to cost and durability of those paints?


Huffy Sea Trails Right Side
by sunliner500, on Flickr

This bike needs the most mechanical work of any bike I've tried so far. Up to now the bikes I've found have been complete and pretty rideable when I got them. I was able to tighten the chain, and the tires hold air for about 5 minutes -- long enough for my daughter and I each to ride it around a little bit. So it IS rideable, but barely. This one is missing the back brake completely -- only the lever is there, and it needs the shifter for the 3-speed hooked up -- and needs the 3-speed hub gone through. I can push the plunger on it and it moves freely, but it's got a good squeak when we ride it. Also the rear rim is pretty badly bent, and I'll need to replace it.

Exciting for me though, I've never rebuilt a hub or laced a wheel before, so I'm looking forward to doing both.


Sue Hunziker
by sunliner500, on Flickr

And, my daughter spotted something scratched on the frame...this bike used to belong to "Sue Hunziker." No idea who that is, but there it is.
 
This'll be build #4 for me. I picked up this Huffy Sea Trails for $20 on Craigslist from a guy about a mile from my house. This'll be my oldest daughter's bike, as she's outgrown the Stingray L'il Chik I restor-- um, cleaned up for her a few years ago.


Huffy Sea Trails Left Side
by sunliner500, on Flickr

I know these were the K-Mart Huffy from the late 1970's, so it's not historically significant or anything. The way I look at it, it won't be a crime to do pretty much anything we want to it. She wants it black with light-blue darts and accents, and sparkly. I'm thinking of hitting the Advance Auto Parts for auto touchup spray cans. Anyone tried that, and could speak to cost and durability of those paints?


Huffy Sea Trails Right Side
by sunliner500, on Flickr

This bike needs the most mechanical work of any bike I've tried so far. Up to now the bikes I've found have been complete and pretty rideable when I got them. I was able to tighten the chain, and the tires hold air for about 5 minutes -- long enough for my daughter and I each to ride it around a little bit. So it IS rideable, but barely. This one is missing the back brake completely -- only the lever is there, and it needs the shifter for the 3-speed hooked up -- and needs the 3-speed hub gone through. I can push the plunger on it and it moves freely, but it's got a good squeak when we ride it. Also the rear rim is pretty badly bent, and I'll need to replace it.

Exciting for me though, I've never rebuilt a hub or laced a wheel before, so I'm looking forward to doing both.


Sue Hunziker
by sunliner500, on Flickr

And, my daughter spotted something scratched on the frame...this bike used to belong to "Sue Hunziker." No idea who that is, but there it is.
If you want sparkle you should check out menards or Lowe's spray can section. They have rattle can glitter. I actually used the green for a project,had to clear coat the crap out of it but it makes a great metal flake.
 
If you want sparkle you should check out menards or Lowe's spray can section. They have rattle can glitter. I actually used the green for a project,had to clear coat the crap out of it but it makes a great metal flake.
I have some ideas for sparkly paint. And most importantly...my wife gave me the $go$ahead$ for them. :thumbsup:
 
I always like watching the father / daughter builds
 
I always like watching the father / daughter builds
Funny thing, that. I asked her if she wanted to get her hands dirty and help, and she immediately piped in "SURE!" I asked her what she wanted to do, and she immediately chirped "Spray painting!" :rolleyes:

Geez, kids want to take the hardest part to do well, because it's sparkly.
 
Like the father daughter build concept,reminds me of when mine was a little girl and hanging out with dad wasn't embarrassing or scheduled. Enjoy these days.
 
So I was looking for all the parts I'll need for this bike -- rear brake...new cables...new rear rim...shifter's iffy...

And I found this on Craigslist near my house:

IMG_20150506_182721061
by sunliner500, on Flickr

It's a 3-speed that works. It's got the same 26x1-3/8 rims/tires. It's got good side-pull brakes with nice pads. It's...


IMG_20150506_182744615_HDR
by sunliner500, on Flickr

It's a "Bike Brokers?" What in the fudge is that? It's also got a purty lugged frame, and a 3-piece cottered crank.


IMG_20150506_182800215
by sunliner500, on Flickr

IMG_20150506_182752743 by sunliner500, on Flickr

So...all I can really find is that Bike Brokers was a distributor in Ft. Myers, FL, from '74 until?? There's stuff on the BMX forums about them, and I saw one post here on RRB. The frame looks ree-eeally nice, actually, and the paint is still shiny. I feel kinda bad stripping parts from it, but the parts don't look high-end. The hub looks like a Huffy 3-speed hub (haven't really peered at it yet) and so on. The folks said their dad had bought it new, and maybe rode it 5 times.

I think it's worth more than the $20 I spent on it...and now I have pretty much all the parts I need, except for tires/tubes and paint supplies.
 

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