# Prewar Hiawatha



## Just Jeff

I bought this bike about 15 years ago for the lofty sum of 5 bucks! Threw some cheapo chrome fenders on it and rode it for a few years. Then it got put into storage. Fast forward to about 5 years ago when I pulled it out of storage and loaned it to a friend who wanted a bike to ride. Unfortunately, said friend left it outside. Didn’t tell me this, I found out when I went over to visit one day. Bikes paint was shot. Chrome was gone. Sad day for me. 

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago when I drug it out to start working on it. This is where I shall start the build. Frame is stripped to bare metal now. Need to fix a few dents before it gets some paint. Front forks are stripped and painted, ready to go. Chain guard is ready to be stripped. And I believe I found a correct rear rack for it. 

What I know about it. Prewar Gambles Hiawatha. Shelby built. Original Shock ease springer fork. Original chain guard. Everything else I’ll be searching for...


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## Just Jeff

Won’t be restored, I’m just building a new daily rider for myself. And I’ll be searching for any info I can get on it. Would love to track down a year on it too.


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## Freqman1

What is the serial number? V/r Shawn


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## spoker

i have the same bike with tank,mine is a 41,look at the rear hub date


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## Just Jeff

Here is the serial number


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## Just Jeff

Original wheels were gone when I got the bike. It has Schwinn s2 from the ‘70’s on it


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## Just Jeff

Not a whole lot of progress today, but I did get my rear peaked fender fitted to the frame. Looks pretty good with the rack and chain guard fitted too. Now I just need to find my curved fender braces...


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## Just Jeff

Not a whole lot of progress today. But I did get my front fender dimpled to clear the fork legs, and got the new attachment point drilled. Still need to find my curved fender braces, but I think all the parts are now ready for minor bodywork and paint. 
  Getting busy at work so my progress may slow down, but I’ll post pics when I get more done


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## Hammerhead

Coming along nicely.
Hammerhead


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## Just Jeff

Took a break from the Hiawatha today. Still need to get some brazing material together to fill the dents in the frame. Should be back to working on it next week though.

  Did a little work on a JC Higgins that was given to me over the weekend. First pic is how I got it. Second pic is how it looks today.


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## Just Jeff

Got some supplies, so maybe I’ll have some time to get work done on the Hiawatha this weekend. Also need to get to the small bicycle swap on Saturday in Whittier. See if I can find a few things I need


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## Just Jeff

Not much new to report yet. Got my hubs cleaned and serviced. They are ready to go into a set of cream powder coated drop centers. A sneak peak of the wheels...


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## Just Jeff

One last and final change for my Higgins today also. Has a hot rod vibe to it now, so I think it shall be my Highboy Higgins. Now I just need some pinstriping and it will be done!


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## Just Jeff

Not much new to report today. My wheels are laced up and ready to be trued. But I didn’t have time to grab photos. So, until I can, think black war time hubs with shiny stainless spokes in cream powder coated drop centers.
  Still have some more filling to do on the frame dents, and some minor work to be done on my fenders. Then it’s paint time! 
I’m looking forward to seeing some paint on this bike!


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## Just Jeff

Got a little cleaning done on the cranks and sprocket that were on the bike when I got it. And have a couple questions about them. Cranks look original, but is the sprocket correct for the bike? And if not, what chain ring would be correct?


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## Scribble

Love the Prewar Gambles head badge !
Here's one on my 41 Murray. Can't wait to see more of your Hiawatha !


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## Adamtinkerer

Just Jeff said:


> Got a little cleaning done on the cranks and sprocket that were on the bike when I got it. And have a couple questions about them. Cranks look original, but is the sprocket correct for the bike? And if not, what chain ring would be correct?
> View attachment 1050852
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> View attachment 1050853
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> View attachment 1050854



Shelby outsourced chain rings at times, I believe yours is original. They were made by Murray, but are slightly different, note the first row of cutouts on Scribble's all Murray built bike above, they're bigger and more oval shaped. Shelby more commonly used Wald 'swirl' rings on it's middle and lower end models.


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## Just Jeff

Thank you for the info. I shall keep it on the bike. It cleaned up nice enough to leave it anyhow  after I swapped sides anyhow


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## Just Jeff

After building the cream wheels with the black war hubs I ran across a set of chrome drop centers with New Departure hubs. 

   So now I’m wondering if they would be correct for the Hiawatha or not? If so, I may just use them and save the powder coated wheels for a different project


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## Just Jeff

Painted wheels are back from being trued. Frame is ready for paint too. Now I just need to find time to paint


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## Just Jeff




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## Just Jeff

Well, I finally found my front fender with the curved brace. Looks Colson to me, but if it fits it stays! And the fender is decent enough to use as well. But now I’ll need to find a rear fender to match


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## Just Jeff

Decided to use the peaked fenders instead of the Colson, so build is back on track. Not much new to report though. Work got busy and I’ve had no free time to paint the frame and fenders yet. Hoping to have some free time to get back on it soon


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## Just Jeff

Frame is in primer now. Found a couple more spots that need a little more work. But it’s close to being ready for paint.


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## Just Jeff

Small amount of progress today. Rack and chain guard have last coat of primer on. When it’s dry the it will be time to light sand and finally get some color on the bike!


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## Just Jeff

Rack and chain guard have some color now... gotta love candy metallics. And yes, they are the same color


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## Just Jeff

But now I’m rethinking my color choice for the frame and fork. Decisions decisions


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## Just Jeff

Got the second color on the chainguard. Real happy with the way it turned out. 

More work to be done on the fenders though. Bought some nice curved chrome fender braces, and curved rear rack legs for the bike this past weekend. Now I need to fit them properly and re-prime the fenders and get so paint on them. All in all, I’m very happy with how it’s coming out. Not restored, but it will be a nice rider for me. It will replace my regular rider when it’s done


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## Just Jeff

Forks have their darts now too. Still working on the fenders and frame though. Rack has also been modded for the shiny chrome curved braces I bought over the weekend. Baby steps...


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## Just Jeff

Not Hiawatha related, but I found a replacement fork for my ‘36 Shelby. Tweaked all to heck, but the steering stem was in great shape. And the threaded section was perfect. So I’ll show some before and after straightening shots. Then it’s ready for paint to better match the Shelby. 

Before pics...


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## Just Jeff

Notice the crazy “S” curve going on.

And afterwards... Quite happy with how they came out. Forgot how much I like playing with the torch


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## Just Jeff

Sorry, no idea why the pictures posted twice. Double the fun I suppose


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## Just Jeff

Still waiting on paint for the frame and fenders. But I did make some time to fix my damaged Shelby fork. 
My 1936 Shelby came to me with a damaged steering stem on the fork. Really like the paint on it and didn’t want to replace it, but I temporarily did. With the fork in the pictures above. That gave me time to fix the one that matches my Shelby...


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## Just Jeff




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## Just Jeff




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## Just Jeff

After that some minor straightening was in order. Came out pretty good. And now my 36 Shelby will have its original forks back. No paint damage


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## Just Jeff

Now I just need to make some time to paint my darn Hiawatha


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## skiptooth

Jeff, nice work so far keep us posted.....


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## Just Jeff

After looking at the parts I’ve already painted, I decided to do a better job repairing the frame. It had a lot of small dents in it. So, primer was stripped back off and more metal work was to be done. In the first pic you might be able to see some of the dents. I had filled them with putty, but I decided this was coming out nicer than I had intended it, so I went back and did some metal finishing instead. Second set of pics  is after the metal finishing. And the last pic is frame with the first coat of heavy fill primer applied. Then it’s back to watching paint dry and repeating until it’s smooth and ready for its color. 

So the project is back on track again!


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## Just Jeff

Primer is dry and smoothed out on the frame. It’s ready for the first coat of color finally! 
Also received this in the mail today. Gotta love nos nickel plating.


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## Just Jeff

First color is finally on the frame! And the fenders are as straight as I want to get them so they are ready for primer. I’ll leave 1 picture of the frame color here. And then more to come when the 2nd color is on the frame


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## Just Jeff

Came out ok. Could have done a better job but all I had was 3/4 masking tape. So I’m calling it a success. Some pinstriping will hide my flaws and it will be ready to assemble once the fenders are done. Doesn’t need to be perfect as it’s not restored. It’s just gonna be a rider


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## Just Jeff

Too busy at work to get much painting done, but I did get a little color on a fender ornament that I picked up a couple weeks ago


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## Just Jeff

And now I’ve got more work to do


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## Just Jeff

Rear fender finally has some color!


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## Just Jeff

Not quite symmetrical, but I think I like it enough to keep it as is


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## Just Jeff

Rear fender is done finally. Front fender is back in primer. Hoping to have time at work on Monday to get some color on it. Almost ready to assemble it finally! Decided to wait on pinstriping. Can’t decide on a color, and my striper has gone MIA recently.


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## Just Jeff

Made some time to get back to working on this one. Stripped the paint off the damaged side of the tank and formed a new patch panel to fill the void. Now I just need to remove a few minor dents and it can get some paint finally. Just doing one side at a time so I can copy the paint design of the original.


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## Just Jeff

I finally made some time to get back to this one. Front fender now has is first coat of color. And my tank is ready for primer. No pics of the tank today as it’s not here with me.


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## ian

Just Jeff said:


> I finally made some time to get back to this one. Front fender now has is first coat of color. And my tank is ready for primer. No pics of the tank today as it’s not here with me.
> View attachment 1272851
> 
> View attachment 1272852



Man......I like the fender holder! Wish I woulda thought about that when I painted my ride.


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## Just Jeff

I can‘t remember who I got the idea from, but I do know I saw it here on the CABE. So thank you! To whoever thought it up first


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## Just Jeff

Second color is finally on the front fender! Getting close now!


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## Just Jeff

After looking at this thing in pieces for a few months, I decided that the cream wheels I was planning on using weren’t right for this build. And, as luck would have it, the perfect set became available here on the CABE. Some light cleaning and new bearings for the hubs and they are ready to go now.


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## Just Jeff

The blue wheels were definitely the right choice over the cream ones I had intended to use. So nice that I had to give myself a sneak peek at what’s to come


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## Just Jeff

Other than finishing the tank and installing the chain, this project is going to be finished finally!


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## Just Jeff

Found a nice chain for the Hiawatha last week. Thanks Scott! Maiden voyage today told me I need to rebuild the hubs again. And then I need to make time to paint the tank and this project will officially be done and ready to log some miles!


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## Just Jeff

Front wheels has been rebuilt and a mild cleaning. Didn’t take photos of that.

working on the rear wheel now. Hub rebuilt, spokes cleaned, wheel relaced, and it’s ready to tension the spokes when I get home from work tonight.

And I still need to make time to paint the tank. But work is picking up again, so it will probably be a while before that happens. But it will be a rider again tomorrow!


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## Just Jeff

Had time to get the freshly rebuilt and trued rear wheel installed today. Also swapped saddles as well. I almost forgot I had bought a saddle specifically for this bike!

Now I really need to get the tank done.


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## Just Jeff

No updates on the tank yet. Still working on making it straight and pit free.
So in the meantime, I found a picture of the Hiawatha from about a week after I got it. Pay no attention to the horrible attempt at making a seat cover that I attempted.


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## ian

Just Jeff said:


> No updates on the tank yet. Still working on making it straight and pit free.
> So in the meantime, I found a picture of the Hiawatha from about a week after I got it. Pay no attention to the horrible attempt at making a seat cover that I attempted.
> View attachment 1378612



Gonna do that Pontiac next?


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## Just Jeff

Sadly I don’t own the Pontiac any longer. I traded it off for something I always wanted...


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## Just Jeff

Gotta love a chopped Fleetline


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## Pondo

Great looking project!  Fleetline looks great too!


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## Just Jeff

Making progress on the Hiawatha again!
First color is on the first tank half


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## Superman1984

Just Jeff Just Get At It❗😉
Always loved those 2 tone blues & surprising I kinda like it over white; Not Something I could do or own 'cause I manage to get white Filthy Dirty No Matter what I try to do to prevent it❗

Also LOVE🤤 that chopped curvy  fat assed fleetline😉


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## Just Jeff

Decided I didn’t like the blue as the base coat for the tank. And I finally had some time to do something about it. First coat done and ready to wet sand before the second coat


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