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Terry66

Terry66

Joined
Dec 22, 2011
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Dayton, Ohio
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I have a nice original middleweight that I really like and I have a ’66 Schwinn that I am about done collecting parts for. Plan to build it somewhere between stock and rat.

I really want a nice restored ballooner. I plan to use colors that may not be “original”, but I plan to tastefully build a classic looking ballooner. So, I have this late 40s Higgins that I picked up a little while ago for $75.

higgins1.jpg


The parts are in decent shape, but the paint is terrible. I think it has been painted a couple of times. I started sanding on the frame and it’s going to be a breeze to strip it down. I have rebuilt the hub, the rims are straight and decent….It is really the perfect bike for what I want to do. The problem is that I am now thinking if I am going to invest money and time into this project to keep, I think I would really like a Huffman. I live in Dayton and grew up with Huffy in my backyard.

So what would you guys do? I mean I have all the parts to build a nice ballooner in the Higgins. It wouldn't take much. I could also part out the rack, fenders, etc and built a really nice rat out of the frame….or I could part out the whole bike, (maybe keep the trusses for my Schwinn?) and pretend the Higgins never happened and look for the Huffman.
 
I'm with KJV, the Higgins is pretty awesome, but if it's not your cup of tea, fix it up, sell it & build the one you really want! 8)
 
Yeah, do it up and when the opportunity arises 'trade up' (that is how I ended up with a garage full of neat bikes,"honest honey, Im going to sell one to pay for this one........").
 
Well.....I guess i just made up my mind...I found a really nice original '47 Schwinn DX. It is a basic model, but it is nice.....paint is a little faded. So much for the Huffman for now. Anyway, so now I am going to rat out my Higgins. Probably going to sell the fenders and rear rack, keep it stripped down. Probably going with a flat rust color....black rims, whitewalls...some kind of springer fork
 
Terry66 said:
Well.....I guess i just made up my mind...I found a really nice original '47 Schwinn DX. It is a basic model, but it is nice.....paint is a little faded. So much for the Huffman for now. Anyway, so now I am going to rat out my Higgins. Probably going to sell the fenders and rear rack, keep it stripped down. Probably going with a flat rust color....black rims, whitewalls...some kind of springer fork
Click to expand...

Just a quick thought - you might consider just clear coating the rims instead of black, as it deepens the orange color of the rusted paint, and would go nicely with your planned rust color. Here is an example:
M1610007.JPG


Or you could send those rusty rims this way, and use something else, perhaps lighter, that would look just as good in black... :)
You can PM me if you decide to lean that way - I have another like this that has a bad brake cylinder, but the wheels are good - we might could work a trade? Shipping with rear hub taken out of shell would cut shipping weight too.
 

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