"...and I make Westerns" buildoff 8 '37WFlyer

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kentercanyon

kentercanyon

Joined
Mar 25, 2013
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So I/m ready to join in my first build off, but this ain't my first rodeo as far as fixing up an old bicycle goes.

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=71280

I started a thread about this frame when I found it a few weeks ago, and decided to wait until the build-off to begin. The earlier thread has some "back in the day" stories about how I got into these kinda bikes if anyone cares about that.



The shorter version of the story of this bike/build is this appears to be a circa 1937 Western Flyer, made by Cleveland Welding Company. I've started gathering parts to build it up as a skip-tooth, Morrow coaster brake and Sturmey=Archer front drum pseudo-klunker, from the "Morrow Dirt Club" era I suppose.

This will be pretty much the first wheels I've built myself but probably the 6th or so rattle can paint job I've done. Lots of decisions to make still, but there are many things I do know already:

I love this frame.

The seat will be low.

The Morrow hub is super-bad axx. It weighs a ton and if you dropped it on your toe you might die. It's built like a german tank.

I need a cooler front sprocket.

I need a cool gooseneck.

Dunno yet about tires. Maybe white, for sure ballooners.

I'm getting some alloy double wall wheels, even tho that's not period-correct for this pre-war inspired build.

I've gotta tear down the drum hub and figure out some cable tensioning hardware.

It's gonna be black.

I've got a lot of rust to remove.
 
there ain't enough room in this town for two Western Flyers. That's all I'm gonna say (he drops his glove)
 
Welcome to RRB and BO8.
Good luck
 
ifitsfreeitsforme said:
there ain't enough room in this town for two Western Flyers. That's all I'm gonna say (he drops his glove)
Click to expand...

Okay ride yours to the halfway point.... maybe memphis? We can meet on Beale street and have it out like Frankie and "Johnnie"

Frankie and Albert were real people from St Louise in the 1880s I think, who were in a lover's duel and one killed the other... As I heard the tale, they were both lesbians, so the legend and the song got changed somehow to Frankie and Johnny.

Western Flyers are pretty common, as far as 70 something year old bikes go. I've got one from the 1950s and another prewar already in the stable. They made a his/hers tandem frame that is pretty cool. I've been partial to the brand since around 1969 when my best friend's daddy owned a Western Auto franchise near Texarkana, and we were in grade school together. He had a mini-bike, too, the first motorized two wheeler I ever got to pilot myself. We had a trail that went around his cowpond and ended up in the backyard near a sandpile under a pine tree. The routine was to haul-az around the trail and then jump off into the sand pile when the ride was done, preferably at top speed.. The next kid recovered the minibike from wherever it crashed and off again...
 
here's the head badge



This frame is similar to a shelby airflow but lacks the distinctive top-tube V before the seat post. Both were made by Cleveland Welding Company in Ohio at around the same time.

The straight bottom bar is the giveaway to the vintage, I think, as well as the dropouts. They flare out to form a stop for the drop-stand.
 
The mighty Morrow coaster brake is opened for the first time since before the "big one," WW2...



And found in good condition.... still packed in some (dirty) grease - enough to protect it from the elements for seventy plus years.



You gotta find some faith in that! These things were built to last.
 
Here is the serial number. I can't find anything online to date by serial, but looking at old newspaper ads makes me think this is 1937-39 era. The attention to detail is evident here - look at the pretty script numbers.... (why does everything new seem so shabby in comparison with how things used to be made?)

 
This top left one seems like the bike I have. I've also seen ads from 1937 that show the same thing. I checked an online inflation calendar, and twenty bucks in 1939 money translates to about $335 of today's dollars.

 



stripped, naval jelly rust killer. Progress!

I like this stage of the build. It's all downhill from here as they say. And every possibility lies ahead.

My father was one year old the last time this frame was bare, and his dad was 33 and rode a horse most places he had to go. Whoever bought this bike was probably paying it off at a dollar a month.
 



Primer. Now I have to start thinking about what color to paint this... and whether I have the courage to try some masking. Looking for tips on how to mask a two color paint scheme. Is there a sticky or something?
 
dang a western flyer build off at high noon love the look of the bike and fenders thought the rust killer looked awsome as a finish :lol: good luck with the build!

Troy
 
Yesterday I tore apart and cleaned the sturmey-archer drum brake. Posting pics soon. Still looking for a good tip/ tutorial on two tone paint techniques, if anyone has suggestions or links please share!

The drum brake has a hammered paint grey finish that needs to be redone. What's the verdict on rattle can "hammered" paint finish look? For that matter what is hammered paint look anyway? Did they use a real hammer? Why?
 
I like the way Rustoleum hammered finishes come out. I did the cranks and chainguard on my Monark with it. I've also used it for all the original light fixtures in my old house.
 
Cranks.... That's a good idea for the hammered rustoleum. The ones I have that came with this weatherbeaten Western Flyer are scratched and rusty. They also have a cool dog-leg design however and I want to use them if I can. Maybe ill give it a try. Thanks
 
Re: "...and I make Westerns" buildoff 8 '37WFlyer

Yup that's exactly what mine were like. I'll post a picture tomorrow.
 
Re: "...and I make Westerns" buildoff 8 '37WFlyer

I did an old 30s Westfield dogleg crank, and I did this '46 Monark that was pretty rusty:

tuny5ygy.jpg
 


Here is the front hub I want to use. Scavenged off a very old recumbent bike front wheel that I found at the community bike shop, it's flaking on the paint job but otherwise seems in good shape. It's going to need some cable tension device, but I'll figure that out.
 


Disassembled... cleaned, painted the outer casing with Rustoleum hammered black. Not sure I like the black or not, but it looks better than the rust.
 

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