1950s Western Flyer Rat Rod

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acharles331

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Picked this up over the weekend, Wester Flyer head badged. I looked all over the frame for a serial but couldn't find one, maybe someone can help out. I took the rear and front hubs apart degreased and relubed the new departure model d hubs. The rear hub feels a bit stiff, not sure if that's normal for such an old bicycle. I usually ride a road bicycle so the hub feels smoother. I could be wrong. I noticed the front hub was a bit loose. Does anyone know if the front hub is missing lock nuts?(picture attached) Not sure if I want to leave the frame the way it is or maybe strip it down to bare metal and give it a ammonium chloride spray down. The bicycle has nice old wheels and original Wester Flyer tires, so I won't touch those.

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Re: 1950s Western Flyer?

Yes I took it apart there's an axel, two bearings, and two cups that they sit in. The end of the cup is what you see in the picture, it has what looks like a hex nut/lock nut but its part of the bearing cup. If I tighten those the wheel get stiff up front. When I loosen it up if feel right, so that's why I was wondering if maybe I'm missing a set of lock nuts to hold those cups in place. Or do I just use the actual hex nuts that hold the wheels to the forks as lock nuts?
 
Re: 1950s Western Flyer?

A bit of "progress" on the bicycle with the little time I had today. I grinder and sanded the nasty primer off the fenders, I think I'm going to rust/patina the fenders instead of fully restoring them to a shine. I also worked on the crank, cleaned it out and regreased it. Next weekend there's a bike swap meet near me so I think I'm going to see if I can snag a rear rack and maybe a chain guard.

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Re: 1950s Western Flyer?

Went to the bicycle swap meet in La Marque today and picked up a couple items for the bike. Two chain guards, a springer fork from an old flyer, a rear rack and a light I need to get in working order. I mounted up the springer after cleaning out an old stem nut that was stuck in the fork. I also removed the old busted up fender that was on the fork. I'll be mounting up the original fender that was on the bicycle.
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Does anyone know what the part is called that this fork is missing? It's a bracket that goes from the fork to the stem. If anyone can help me out or knows who has one for sale please let me know.
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Re: 1950s Western Flyer?

So I snapped the old rusty screw in my x53 springer fork today while taking it apart for cleaning/grinding down. I guess I'll be making a trip to the hardware store for a left handed drill bit to try and get the broken bolt out since I'm not sure if I can source new springs. Wish me luck.

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Re: 1950s Western Flyer?

Stripped the frame today and deciding what to do with it. Paint, leave bare, or do a rust patina. I want to get some brick red tires for it sometime down the line so I'm trying to figure out what color will look nice with red tires.

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A little photoshop rendition of what it looks like with the red tires, had a little extra times on my hands and was a bit bored lol.

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Re: 1950s Western Flyer?

I apologize for the bad phone pictures in advance. With that being said I mounted up the front fender, it's not an original x53 fender as you can tell by the spacing. The old x53 fender was super bent up and a bit too far for me to bother salvaging. So this will have to work for now. I shortened the fender rods to fit the fork and drilled screw holes to hold it to the fork.
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I also made some brackets from some 22 gauge sheet metal to hold the chain guard a little better to the bicycle without moving while riding. I used leather shims to get it just right and from moving around from vibration while I ride.

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Re: 1950s Western Flyer?

Alright today I chopped the rear fender a bit, not much but might take it up a bit more. I'm still waiting for the fork clip that attaches to the head tube, it should be coming in the mail soon. I don't think ill be doing much to it. I might look for a nice leather spring seat or hairpin seat and some terracota red tires.

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Re: 1950s Western Flyer?

acharles,
This looks great!
Those changes you mention sound good, but honestly, I just saved that last picture for inspiration.
The bare metal frame, red fenders and chainguard, along with the cream colored rims and blackwalls, perfect.

IMO anyways....

Good luck whatever you decide, she's a beaut!

Cheers,
Dr. T
 
Re: 1950s Western Flyer?

acharles331 said:
Thanks a lot Dr. T my first bike build and I'm glad I'm not the only one who's digging it. :D
Click to expand...
No acharles, you aren't the only one digging it! There's a whole mess of people who linger and lurk from the edge of this forum and don't publicly comment much, who I'm sure are really digging your build! Great looking bike. Thanks for sharing.
 
Re: 1950s Western Flyer?

I built a front light fender bracket last night and converted this old light into a 16 LED front light, pretty bright for night ridding.
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Re: 1950s Western Flyer?

Took the bike apart today to clear over the rust. Washed with warm soapy water and then sprayed some rustoleum clear over. Did darken up the color a bit but over all i think it looks alright.




 

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