# What is this...and parts needed!!



## Keyt427 (Oct 6, 2011)

Well, I'm new here and I'm hoping someone can help me!

This summer my boyfriend and I were taking down some barn wood at my best friend's house. My friend bought a very large farmhouse with a large collapsing barn and 4 outbuildings. Since she bought the place, the barn has pretty much collapsed, so since my boyfriend and I build things with old wood, we were there to take some before it was beyond use. That was when I noticed 2 trikes. One was beyond saving, then there was another one that was pretty much solid, just very rusty.

The only identifying marks on it was a G on the front of the fork, nothing else. Anyone know what it is or about how old it is?

Also, if you look at the pics, between the handlebars is a round thing that I have no idea what it was for. Any ideas? 

I took on this project to restore it for my friend for her birthday in December. This is my first time restoring anything like this (I work with glass or wood, not metal! lol). So, I am looking for a few things/ideas:

1. I have burnt through many sandpaper rolls on my dremel on all that rust. Is there anything else I can use that would be faster to take it all off?

2. To get the tires off, I had to remove the red bolt covers (hubs?) and they were already cracked. I can't find them anywhere..not ebay, nothing. Any ideas?

3. I have thought for days on what to do with that hole between the handlebars. Please help with any ideas!!!

I am SO glad I found this site and I hope someone can help!!!


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## ridingtoy (Oct 6, 2011)

The only company I could think of with a "G" is Garton. I'm guessing it's no more than 40 years old and quite possibly younger than that with the plastic pedals and handlebar design. I've never seen a Garton trike like this, but it still could have been made by that company during their last years in business. More to come shortly...just going back for another look at the photos...

OK, here's my guess on this tricycle after checking the photos more carefully. I think this is two trikes put together by someone who did like to do metal work. The rear wheels, frame, head tube with the G on it are all part of a later model Garton tricycle. That round piece sticking up between the handles is where the original handlebar connected. I believe I see the hole still in it where the collar bolt was attached. Looks like a length of the original front wheel shaft was retained and attached to the two flat metal pieces at top and bottom of the head tube to hold the replacement handles to the original frame. The handlebars are from some other newer style trike. The front wheel and pedal assembly may or may not be original to it - possibly from whatever trike the handles came from. Those red plastic caps are actually pushnuts to hold the wheels on the axle. I can see them on the pedal cranks too, to hold the pedals in place. You can get them in most hardware stores, in the fasteners section. The seat also may or may not be original to the trike since the level of rust is much less than the trike frame, unless you've already worked on cleaning the seat to make it less rusty. That's my take on what you have. There's another tricycle site - www.tricyclefetish.com - where you could submit your photo to their blog for another opinion on what you have. The site owner is pretty good at ID-ing trikes. Hope this helps a little. 

Dave


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## Keyt427 (Oct 7, 2011)

*Thank you!*

Thank you! That is far more information than I had when I found this site last night. I never thought of it possibly being a combination of trikes! I will look for the plastic caps at some hardware stores. Thank you so much! Wish me luck as I try to get all of the rust off. The pics I posted were taken before I even touched it, as it was found in the barn. I will definitely keep this site for future reference and ideas!!!


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## ridingtoy (Oct 7, 2011)

No problem! You can also do a search of the site for rust removal topics. I know different methods have been discussed just in the last year. I wish you success in your restoration project. I've got a couple rusty trikes to tackle myself when time permits. My wife swears I'll never get to them, so you know I have to prove her wrong on that count! 

Let me know if you have trouble finding those push nuts...I might have another source to check here at work.

Dave


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## Keyt427 (Oct 7, 2011)

*I know what you mean!*

You have to prove your wife wrong...and I have to prove my boyfriend wrong! lol. He's the metal worker around here and when I said I wanted to fix that trike for my friend, I got the stink eye because I'm good at volunteering him to do big projects. So this time I opened my mouth by saying "I can do this one!". Now I really have to haha


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## ridingtoy (Nov 23, 2011)

ridingtoy said:


> OK, here's my guess on this tricycle after checking the photos more carefully. I think this is two trikes put together by someone who did like to do metal work.




I hereby make a retraction on that comment. Here's another trike photo I just came across on Flickr which has a similar designed head tube and combo handlebar/fork made out of tubular steel: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimmyscrumbs/3911325949/

Maybe from the same maker?

Dave


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## bobsbikes (Nov 23, 2011)

*tricycle parts*



Keyt427 said:


> Well, I'm new here and I'm hoping someone can help me!
> 
> This summer my boyfriend and I were taking down some barn wood at my best friend's house. My friend bought a very large farmhouse with a large collapsing barn and 4 outbuildings. Since she bought the place, the barn has pretty much collapsed, so since my boyfriend and I build things with old wood, we were there to take some before it was beyond use. That was when I noticed 2 trikes. One was beyond saving, then there was another one that was pretty much solid, just very rusty.
> 
> ...



ebay item no 290343349037 trike parts kit


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