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Oh no, not another Spaceliner!

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Uniblab

Wore out three sets of tires already!
Here's the heap I picked up on Sunday at the Seattle bike show. Some may be critical of the rust but that's the only thing holding it together! And yes, the rear fender IS that dark (with rust).

Can anyone tell me what style tailight this originally had? I've seen some with 2 reflector jewels and others have a snazzy illuminated lens...while others yet have a round flat flashing light on top near the tail. Color me confused!

Tried looking for the serial number but couldn't find it. Thought it was on the underside near the kickstand but nothing there (unless I need to remove the kickstand?) Anyone know where exactly to look?

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To answer a few of your questions, your bike most certainly had a delta light box on the back of the rack. There are two holes which it would have mounted to in the carrier. Your rear fender is so sad because batteries left in the light leaked down all over the fender. I have a bike that looked just like that and it cleaned up shockingly well with an oxalic acid bath.

Serial can be found on one of the dropouts, at the rear axle. You'll probably see an MO(number). That number should be the second digit of your year. MO5 = '65 MO6 etc. That's my understanding at least.

I say pick up some ultra fine (#0000) steel wool, WD-40 and/or chrome polish and start scrubbing! Or pick up some oxalic powder and make a concoction in some sort of bin. Good luck! They're fun bikes, I've had 3 of them.
 
Thanks for the info on the serial number and your CSI evaluation of what happened to the rear fender...I was wondering why it was so much worse than any other area.

Took a gander at the droputs and found the following numbers on the left side (nothing on the right)

502 469010 768429

No letters unless a zero might be a "O" The 502 denotes Sears from what I could find on this site (and others) but I can't figure out what model or submodel this may be. Will double check the numbers in the daylight but I'm pretty sure I saw what I saw.
 
MO? Will probably be covered by the nut and washer that secured the rear wheel to the bike frame on the left side. Its there. Take the nut off and you'll find it.
Nice front rat trap on the front fender. The rear fender should clean up as JP mentioned. Unless the chrome is peeling. The fenders can be found. The front fork tips still are red so matching the tank in that color is what you need to find. I'll keep an eye out for one.

Here is an idea of what the rear tailight style is supposed be look like. Keep in mind this is a Western Flyer not a Spaceliner style bike. But the battery can or tray is basically the same and mounts the same way. The rear lens would be different but similar.

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Thanks for sharing the pics. And your bike is a far cry from being a "heap"...just saying
 
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Oh, I just remembered, I have a spare rear fender with some chrome loss but what's there is clean. If yours is toast, let me know; I'd sell it for a few dollars plus the cost of shipping.
 
The biggest problem is that the tank is missing.It probably be very costly and cost almost as much as the bike is worth .You also might want to replace the seat if you are going to make it original.Pedals dont run too much..I would probably try to sell the front springer and look for a complete bike with correct parts or save the springer in case you find a nice original.Start looking on ebay .The grips should be easy to find. .These are nice looking bikes when they are complete.Good Luck.
 
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More pix

Thanks for the further tips and suggestions. I realize that the cost of restoration will exceed the value, that can probably be said for the majority of bikes! Am going to just replace bits as they become available with a full resto down the road (unless I find a minty bike in the meantime). Jpromo, I think I'll take you up on your kind offer of the rear fender, do you have any pix?

This evening I repacked all the wheel bearings. What little grease that remained was more coagulated than my arteries. Also serviced the steering stem bearings and freed up the handlebar stem so now was able to fine tune the height adjustment. When I had the front wheel out I took apart the fork rockers to check the pivots on the shouldered bolts. As Dean Wormer might say about the amount of grease "Zero point zero" Yegads!

Was able to knock off some of the rust but this is a job that I don't have the patience for.

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PS to VinceV, I'll have you know that I reside in Sane. When I went to get the plane ticket they told me that only they offer one way tickets.
 
That "heap" is no longer

Anthony she is looking good. Amazing what elbow grease wd40 and 0000 steel wool can do.
How does the frames clearcoat look?
I spent days scraping mine off. But she shines now.
Find a tank for yours and tailight looks to be all that needs to be done.
Correct pedals and grips are easy to find.
The red and white crashbar seat is obtainable as well.
Good luck on the resto.
Jd
 
JD, thanks for the kind words. It does look better but no where near as nice as the pix LOL Being a mechanic by trade (and nature) I concentrated on that aspect. Ever since starting in the field some 30 something years ago I've always had a psychosis regarding wheel bearings. It was raining last night so I could only ride it around the shop, may be able to take it out today to see what a difference there is. Do you think that inflating the tires to 40psi instead of the 10 that was in them might help any? LOL

PS Lest anyone chastise me for putting that much air in them consider this:
1) Air is free
2) The sidewalls say "Inflate to 40psi" NOT "Max 40psi"
 
The grease always seems to take a while to get that smooth ride at least that is what I'm experienceing with the park grease.

And I put enough air to the point where it is a hard bump bone shattering feel and then back it off till I feel no more bumpy ride.
The middleweights seem to be more of a rigid ride to me than the ballooners bu,t the padding I have on my backend isn't what it used to be....just saying....I know TMI
 
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