(WBO) '36 Elgin Bluebird CRUSToration. (DONE!!!)

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Joined
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Location
Dallas, GA
First the Back Story...

I picked up this Bluebird through the craziest series of events. First off...it was found in a barn by my new friend Jay at Reclaimed American. They are one heck of a salvage lumber business! This is what came out of a barn that they were in the process of tearing down. Jay had a good enough eye to pull it out of the barn and buy it from the original owner. Fast forward to a few weeks ago. Reclaimed America found me on Instagram and was able to identify the bicycle they found by a picture of a nicely restored Bluebird I posted several months ago..he commented saying "That's like the one I found". When I saw this comment, I immediately got In touch with Jay and tried to offer him a reasonable amount for it. Jay said he would talk to his wife and get back with me. I'll never forget what he replied with later that night.

"We're wondering how this sounds.... we'll get it ups, send you their number and you pay and arrange shipping through them---as far as the cost of the bike, take whatever you would pay us and pay it forward to someone down your way who might need it more than us! We're pretty blessed already, really like your accent and think Abram Kulp (original owner) would approve! Let us know if that will work for you!"

Of course that worked for me and now this bike is going in my personal collection. I don't plan to do much more than find enough to make it ridable.

The picture of the Bluebird below is how the bike looked the snowy morning it came out of the original owners barn (Where it stayed since it was new)

The bike is only two days away according to the tracking. When the guy at UPS called me he said.."uhhhh someone dropped off an old rusty bicycle and gave me this number to call" I just laughed and said yeah that's mine.

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After receiving the bike I started the "getting it ridable" process prior to the build off. as long as it's okay with everyone and fits in the rules, i'd like to continue the crustoration in the WBO.

All that has been done is the fork striated and the rusted removed down to the paint then clear coated.

Here is my starting point.
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Build plans...

The will be no chance of any custom modifications to any of the original parts.

I hope to track down a few parts and pieces to make it more complete.

For starters, I found this crusty speedo that will fill the hole in the tank.

c7a97a806d993883cd9e6fe848a0a4f7.jpg



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:13: I'm sure we would all love to have a bluebird in our collection...I would never part with that...
Nice score,you have to love history n ole barns...:113:
 
That is a very unique frame. It's in a class of it's own nothing like other bikes. It's the first one I've seen.
 
Nice work on the bird so far!
That old bike trailer is an awesome accessory too!
 
Until you can find a fender, that hitch is perfect for the frame.
Ya know, a fender set could cost me up to $500. That's crazy. I don't know if I will ever have fenders on this!


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Honestly, I think a full rear fender would detract from the frame, but a bobbed fender may look cool. Fenderless really shows off the sweeping lines though.
 
Build plans...

The will be no chance of any custom modifications to any of the original parts.

I hope to track down a few parts and pieces to make it more complete.

For starters, I found this crusty speedo that will fill the hole in the tank.

c7a97a806d993883cd9e6fe848a0a4f7.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does the speedo come apart? If it does you could clean up the glass a little bit to see the face and you'll keep the crust and rust on the face. You'll just be able to see it easier. Do you plan to get it working? I love this project! Wish someone would come to me with a bluebird lol good luck my eyes are open for parts!
 
Does the speedo come apart? If it does you could clean up the glass a little bit to see the face and you'll keep the crust and rust on the face. You'll just be able to see it easier. Do you plan to get it working? I love this project! Wish someone would come to me with a bluebird lol good luck my eyes are open for parts!

I think it will come apart! We will see!


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