1939 Hawthorne Twinbar Zep

[bairdco]

Finally getting around to restoring/rebuilding my Zep.

Posted it up here a few times, and thanks to you guys, pretty much confirmed it's CWC-built, making it the third one known to exist (please prove me right or wrong, I can't find any others besides a rusty one and the blue one on Dave's site.

Serial number: E08804 with a 9C

I hate red bikes, so I was happy to find original blue paint in the bottom bracket:

 

[bairdco]

Got this bike from a friend, who's dad found it in an abandoned warehouse in Santa Ana, CA. Rusty and missing parts.

Front fender has holes for a light, so it might be the "standard twinbar model," but it has the horseshoe truss rod bracket for the twin lights. Fenders fit right, so probably original.

 

[bairdco]

Wheels were Lobdell drop centers with a Musselman coaster and a finned eclipse up front, but my buddy relaced the wheels with some different, modern wheels.

I had some rusty, bent, crappy drop centers so I straightened them, sandblasted and painted them blue with black pinstripes, and relaced them, using the Musselman coaster and a new departure up front.

Down the road I may swap them out with a chrome pair with the correct ND coaster, but for now, I'm going with what I have.

 

[bairdco]

Sandblasted all the parts and painted them a deep blue. Need to make the pointy darts on the frame in white, and gonna do a thin black outline.

 

[bairdco]

Fenders are going to get the same treatment, white tips with black pinstripe.

I hate the chevron arrow on the forks like the restored one on Dave's site, so I'm gonna do a different Hawthorne dart for mine.

That's where I'm at so far. Rusty parts are going to the chromer's, and I'll be pinstriping and detailing while I wait.

Need a chainguard, rack, tank (wish me luck on that,) lights, seat, pedals... but it's a start...

 

[bairdco]

For reference, these are the only two I've seen, both on Dave's site (thanks Dave!) And the only ad I've seen.

 

[fordmike65]

Very nice start! Yes, these bikes are seldom seen....but there are more out there than you'd think. I personally know of at least 5 not including your find.

 

[bairdco]

Post 'em up if you have pics!

On a side note, for a company called "Cleveland Welding," they're really lousy at brazing:

I had to repair the missing chunks (that are now rattling around in the tubes.)

 

[39zep]

I know you don't like red, but here is the kingpin of all 39 Zep twinbars. You can PM or email if you need any further info/pics. Best of luck with your project. In my opinion, the most under appreciated deluxe bike of that era. [email protected]

 

[bairdco]

Awesome bike! Thanks for posting it.

Are your bars original? Mine has the flatter, streamlined torringtons like in the ad.