# 1927 Stutz Motor-Bike built by Pope/Westfield Mfg



## Gary Mc

Starting a new project soon that will move ahead in line of my 1930 Columbia Arch Bar so starting a new project rides thread on it.  Bought these from CABE members & got them last week.  Did some assembly to take pics & then fully dismantled for a winter 2013 restoration this evening.  The 1927 Stutz was purchased from Rustyspoke66.  It is a Pope/Westfield built bike and a Pope Golden (50th) Anniversary edition motor-bike.  It was made for & sold by Hall Supply Company in Minneapolis, MN.  Threw on the motor-bike handlebars I got from Bricycle the same day, added a seat, grips, and pedals I had laying around & almost have a bicycle.  Hubs will be New Departure C & SM, rims will mostly likely be Ghisallo wood 700c, and Electra Amsterdam tires to make it a rider.  Plan is to restore OG paint as good as possible and new nickel plating for all the bright work.  Paint & decals aren't bad at all for an 85 year old bike.  Need to say a big thank you to Rustyspoke66 & Bricycle on two great items.  

Only real questions I have on this one is whether or not to go with brown saddle & red grips/pedals combo or go black with all three.  The bike is darker in color (more like Columbia Carmine) than the photos show due to the flash.  Any thoughts?????

I'm really excited about this one now that my 1930 Hartford build is nearing completion!!!!!!!!


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## tailhole

Super cool project. I hope you mean winter 2012-2013. Be fun to lean into the corners on it by spring thaw! Good luck & keep us posted. I vote brown saddle, black everything else.


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## Gary Mc

tailhole said:


> Super cool project. I hope you mean winter 2012-2013. Be fun to lean into the corners on it by spring thaw! Good luck & keep us posted. I vote brown saddle, black everything else.




Yes on winter 2012-2013!!!!! It will be on the road sometime in the spring of 2013.  Pretty sure it originally had a brown saddle.


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## Flat Tire

wow thats a nice one and super cool headbadge!  dont know about brown or black, I'd have to sit and stare at it a few days!


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## Gary Mc

Flat Tire said:


> wow thats a nice one and super cool headbadge!  dont know about brown or black, I'd have to sit and stare at it a few days!




Flat Tire, Thanks & you sound like me, I tend to sit & stare almost too long before making decisions!!!!!! Luckily on this one I have a while to do just that..... - Gary


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## rustyspoke66

Can't wait to see it done. It did have a brown seat on it.


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## rebirthbikes

*Sounds like...*

"A visiting prince came into Michelangelo's studio and found the master staring at a single eighteen foot block of marble. Then he knew the rumors were true that Michelangelo had come in every day for the past four months, stared at the marble and then gone home for his dinner. So the prince asked the obvious, "What are you doing?" Michelangelo turned and whispered, "I'm working!"  Three years later that block of marble was the statue of David!!!" 
 -fictitious character John Locke

I find this technique works very well with bicycles. I'm just happy it doesn't usually take three years. Gary... I'll be following this build of yours as I have followed the others. Keep up the fine work!!

Judd


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## dfa242

I love those decals and graphics on that original paint.  My preference would lean toward a brown seat but you'd probably have to ship the bike to me so I could study it for a while to be sure .


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## SirMike1983

Stutz you say...


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## rustyspoke66

I tried to find a link between the Stutz autos and the bicycles and couldn't find anything but it would be cool to have a picture of the auto and bike next to each other.


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## redline1968

nice moto.. those pinstripes are great.


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## Freqman1

Gary,
     That is one sweet bike and I darned near pulled the trigger as soon as I saw it but I just have too many projects as it is and I'm a ballooner guy. Glad to see it went to a good home and didn't get scattered to the four winds.  V/r Shawn


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## Gary Mc

*Parts & Accessories search*

Right now I'm starting to try to find the parts to get this bike back on the road.  I don't need a lot for this bike as I have most of the items I need.  I found a New Departure Model C rear hub & a New Departure Model SM front hub.  Both will get new nickel plating.  I fabricated a Delta 1-cell battery canister to go on it and documented that fabrication here on the CABE in a separate thread under "restoration tips".  I also bought an era appropriate light for this bike off ebay this week. I have seen this same light on several teens/twenties Indians so thought it was a nice fit for the Stutz. 

Here's the light, it has engraved on it *"VESTA ACCUMULATOR CO. PAT. PEND."*,  An online search shows them as a Chicago, IL company but so far my google search has turned up nothing on the light:










On the left is an original battery canister going on my 1930 Hartford & on the right is the fabricated unit going on the Stutz:





More to come soon as I get the Hartford completed.....


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## Gary Mc

Also found a New Departure Model C rear hub and a Model SM front hub both off ebay this past week.  They'll get cleaned up to see if they'll polish, if not they'll get new nickel plating:


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## Gary Mc

*Vesta Accumulator Co. Pat. Pend. Electric light*

I had never heard of the Vesta Accumulator Company so thought I would pull over some information from another thread I started on the Vesta Accumulator Co. Pat. Pend. Electric light graciously provided by CABE member chitown.  Thought others might find it of interest & add a little history to an accessory going on this bike.

*1915 Ad*





*Vesta Accumulator Company History*

The Vesta Accumulator Company Building is locally significant under National Register Criterion A for Industry for its
association with the Vesta Accumulator Company, whose growth in the 1910s and 1920s exemplified the development
and importance of Chicago’s burgeoning automobile industry.

*The Vesta Accumulator Company (1897-1929)*
The Vesta Accumulator Company was founded in 1897 by Chicago industrialist David P. Perry. Born in 1845 in
Painesville, Ohio, Perry arrived in Chicago in 1878. After first making his way in the garment manufacturing business,
Perry’s interest in applied electricity led him to become general manager of the Standard Electrical Company and an
associate with the Hyde Park Electric Light & Power Company. In 1897, he rented space in a building at 53 South
Dearborn Street and began a small manufacturing concern that produced electric lamps for bicycles and storage
batteries. 1 The company quickly branched into products for the burgeoning automobile industry, and that same year, the
Vesta Accumulator Company was incorporated as a “manufacturer of automobile accessories such as headlights, lamps,
generators, lighting and ignition batteries.”2 During the early 1900s, the company continued to expand its product lines
and its operations in Chicago, relocating to larger quarters in May of 1902 and again in 1905, when the company moved
to the just emerging Motor Row along South Michigan Avenue.
Following the Fire of 1871, Michigan Avenue south of 12th Street developed into an exclusive residential district of
impressive mansions, high-end rowhouses, and stately churches. Just after the turn of the century, however, the
character of the area transitioned rapidly into a commercial district that catered to the emerging automobile culture.
Residents moved to areas farther from the noise and dirt of the city, and Michigan Avenue’s wide lanes and smooth
pavement made it a popular test-driving route for the city’s first automobile dealers. By 1920, the mansions and churches
had been replaced by automobile showrooms and related businesses, which created a unique shopping experience for
the city’s automobile owners. Chicago’s Motor Row, which at its height encompassed an area that stretched from 12th
Street to 26th Street, from Indiana Avenue to Wabash Avenue, was one of the largest early motor-related commercial
districts in the country.

The Vesta Accumulator Company had a long standing presence in Chicago’s historic Motor Row beginning in 1905, when
it established a general office and salesroom at 1336 South Michigan Avenue and leased factory facilities in a building at
1521 South Wabash (both buildings are no longer extant). Vesta was one of the first automobile parts suppliers to
relocate to the newly emerging Motor Row—it’s offices were on the same block as the first automobile showroom to be
constructed on South Michigan Avenue (for the American Locomobile Company), and less than a block from the Ford
Company’s first Chicago showroom, constructed in 1905 at 1444 South Michigan.4
Recognizing the advantages of the location, the company decided to remain in close proximity when they again outgrew
their existing facilities. In 1912, the Vesta Accumulator Company acquired the property at the southwest corner of 21st
Street and South Indiana Avenue to construct a new factory building to accommodate its expanding business. The
existing building on the site, the Mt. Sinai Temple, was demolished to make way for a new four-story masonry building
that would serve as the first purpose-built factory for Vesta. Chicago architect Carl M. Almquist designed the $80,000
building with an open, utilitarian floor plan that would allow the Vesta Accumulator Company to consolidate its operations
into a single building. J. Seymore Currey noted in his profile of the company in the 1918 Manufacturing and Wholesale
Industries of Chicago that the construction of the new factory “effected a centralization of all departments of the business,
the offices being on the ground floor of the building and the factory and other departments utilizing the other two stories
and basement.”5
Several other industry publications also announced the construction of the new building. The April 27, 1912 edition of
Electrical World described the building at 2100 South Indiana as “a four-story office and factory building…to be used for
[Vesta’s] storage-battery business.” The Iron Age ran a brief announcement on August 8, 1912 that “the Vesta
Accumulator Company, Chicago, has awarded the contract for a four-story factory building to be 100x161 feet and to cost
$80,000.”6
The Vesta Accumulator Company moved to its new factory in 1913, and over the next fifteen years the company
continued to expand its business into new territory, establishing branch offices in New York, Boston, Atlanta, St. Louis,
Cleveland, Kansas City, Pittsburg, Omaha and Louisville. By 1918, Vesta had also developed a complete line of storage
batteries, electric generators, and electric lamps for automobiles, all of which were manufactured at the 2100 South
Indiana building. Automobile parts suppliers were an integral component of Chicago’s automobile industry during the first
half of the twentieth century, one of many small but important subsets of the city’s massive and wide-reaching
manufacturing economy. As Currey’s profile of Vesta stated, “with the marvelous development of the automobile industry
has come the possibility of upbuilding of many important manufacturing and supply concerns relative thereto in a direct
way, and thus have been extended in large volume the functions and business of the Vesta Accumulator Company.”7
The building at 2100 South Indiana initially also served as an office and included a service station at the rear where
patrons could bring their cars to have the batteries serviced, recharged, or replaced. However, in 1920, Vesta opened a
separate service station at 29th Street and South Michigan Avenue that was dedicated to battery repair, sales, and
service. The Commercial Car Journal announced the company’s new building plan in July 1919, which “was made
necessary by the large increase in business during the past year. The company had to have more room at its factory,
2100 Indiana Avenue, and the entire service department will be moved to the new location in the near future.” When the
new service station was completed, Motor Record reported in November 1920 that the new building on Michigan would
serve as a model for Vesta service stations all of the country, with space for more than 100 cars, “a fully equipped repair
department, a recharging room which will handle 2,000 batteries at a time and storage space for more than 5,000
batteries. On the Michigan Boulevard side there is a sales room in which will be carried a complete stock of Vesta lights,
as well as battery parts.” The service station even provided a special waiting room for women drivers, with “magazines,
telephones, writing materials and other conveniences.” That same year, the company formally changed its name to the
Vesta Battery Corporation, reflecting the company’s increasing specialization in the production of batteries.
With the new service station taking the burden of sales and service off of the Vesta factory at 2100 South Indiana, the
company was free to give the first floor of the factory over for the manufacturing of its products. From 1920 until 1929, the
building at 2100 South Indiana was used exclusively as a manufacturing facility.
During Vesta’s time in the building, the company developed many innovative products for the automobile industry,
including the first battery-supplied electric lighting for commercial trucks. Advertisements from the 1910s and 1920s
promoted the Vesta storage battery as the longest lasting automobile battery on the market, and the company developed
direct relationships with many of the leading automobile manufacturers, including the Ford Motor Company.


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## s1b

OK... Are you going to try and find the original type battery can for that light? I think the tube type looks better, but different is better also.


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## Gary Mc

s1b said:


> OK... Are you going to try and find the original type battery can for that light? I think the tube type looks better, but different is better also.




I have my sights on one but I think I like the Delta cans a lot better so short answer depends on getting my hands on one for a decent price..... we'll see.


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## fordsnake

Hey Gary, here's a battery pack similar to what you need?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/380495987416


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## Gary Mc

fordsnake said:


> Hey Gary, here's a battery pack similar to what you need?
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/380495987416




Thanks fordsnake. I'll definitely be in on the bidding.  I need the electrical connector on the light too & the one I already have has the light mounting bracket the ebay one is missing.  Hoping the missing bracket & the serious holes created by battery leakage & rust in the canister keep/scare others away.


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## decath6431

I was actually the one you ended up getting the rear hub from...interesting to see where it is going to end up in it's new life.  Glad it's going to a worthy project


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## Gary Mc

decath6431 said:


> I was actually the one you ended up getting the rear hub from...interesting to see where it is going to end up in it's new life.  Glad it's going to a worthy project




decath6431,  Thank you on the hub, can't wait to get the bike together & it on it!!!!!!


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## Gary Mc

fordsnake said:


> Hey Gary, here's a battery pack similar to what you need?
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/380495987416




fordsnake,  I won the auction so I'll post some pics after I get it.  Thanks.  - Gary


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## Wcben

Your bike is very cool but here's my favorite Stutz!






1914 Bearcat....


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## Gary Mc

*Circa 1915 Vesta Accumulator Light & Battery Canister*

*Got this week - Circa 1915 Vesta Accumulator Light & Battery Canister (black light & can are new ones) - May be going on the 1927 Stutz or may be being saved for a circa 1915 project??????? A few holes to patch in the canister, otherwise great condition.*


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## fordsnake

Wow, a sweet light and battery pack! Fantastic!


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## s1b

Very cool light! Looks to be good except for a couple patches.
Don't know what to think about it on the 27 though. Styles changed a little by 27, but if someone had it "laying around".....


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## Gary Mc

Been in parts gathering mode & have almost everything I need finally to start & complete the Stutz.  Change of plans on the wheels on this bike, it is getting Velocity Blunt 35 rims that I already received & still need to paint the carmine color of the bike.  Decided on the Blunt 35's to save some money since they are going to be painted anyway.  Received new white jeweled Coke Bottle grips from eazywind and will be using these white pedal blocks from BicycleBones on some Torrington 8 pedals. Also bought a Persons Heavy Duty brown saddle that should be perfect for this bike last night from Catfish so waiting to receive it.  Got a Persons Majestic Tombstone auto car rear reflector off ebay that will be altered for bike use just for a fun touch.  I'll document the alteration here when I get to it.  The auto versions can be had for around $50 whereas the bike versions sell for $200+.  Cream Electra Amsterdam tires are on their way to me as well.  The bike will get the Delta battery canister I fabricated and a Delta light rather than the Vesta Accumulator set.  The Vesta light & cannister are going on my 1915 Chief.  Plan to start cleaning the bike up over the next week as soon as I get the Hartford finished, I am down to just lacing up the rear wheel on that bike (got the front one done Saturday & on the bike).

*Need to say a big thanks to CABE Members eazywind for the grips & to Catfish for a great deal on the Saddle!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*

All I have left to find is:

 donor Torrington 8 pedals
 28"drop stand
 EA Labs Klaxon Horn (black with appropriate patina)
 The perfect 1927 license plate (I'll know it when I see it)

Here are the new parts:

Pedal Blocks from Bicycle Bones & white jeweled Coke Bottle Grips from eazywind





NOS Diamond Chain from BicycleBones





Persons Tombstone Reflector from ebay





Persons Heavy Duty Saddle from Catfish


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## Gary Mc

*Thanks Catfish!!!!!!!!!*

Received the perfect saddle for the Stutz in the mail today.  Thanks Catfish for a great saddle, a great deal, & the super fast shipping not to mention I love the "Catfish" stickers!!!!!!!


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## Gary Mc

More new items for the Stutz:

For fun, a 1927 Stutz hood ornament (older repop)









Rear rack that will have to be painted & distressed (came off a 1920's Hawthorne Flyer)





Got this killer EA Labs "klaxon style" horn but it's a little large so not sure yet what it's going on.  I will try it on this bike but it appears to have been meant for a teens / twenties motorcycle.  It is really large & loud!!!!!!!









Also having CABE member axsepul make me a custom license plate which I can't wait to get.  I've been looking for an original 1927 license plate & nothing has showed up yet so opted for a custom touch.  Also got a 28" drop stand off ebay & Torrington 8 pedals from Catfish last week.  I have now bought 4 sets of pedals for this bike & still unsure which route I'm going.  Have everything on the way including accessories now except potentially a smaller EA Labs horn & maybe a bell to complete the bike, we'll see.  Now it's time to get to work cleaning & restoring everything.


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## fordsnake

Gary, as always I like your style...two thumbs up! 

-Carlton


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## bricycle

This is gonna be great, can't wait Gary!!!


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## Zonkers8382

Can't wait for another update. Piecing back together 1930's (34?) Elgin Camelback myself. Love the styles of the era. You scored on the seat!


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## pelletman

Wcben said:


> Your bike is very cool but here's my favorite Stutz!
> 
> View attachment 71729
> 
> 1914 Bearcat....




I love that car.  Mercers too, and Pierce made a VERY nice little runabout in that era


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## Gary Mc

*New stem & light for the Stutz*

This bike will now be getting a Chief/Indian long handlebar stem to go better with the longer crossbar handlebars it is getting & I found the Delta light I really wanted to put on this bike.  I've now bought 4 lights for this bike and finally found & settled on this Delta which is what I was originally looking for.  Luckily 2 of them, the Vesta Accumulators, will create one complete light/canister set for the 1915 Chief leaving me only one light which will likely go on the 1930 Columbia. 

I also got the custom bicycle license from Axsepul which I thought he did a great job on.  Had him go Jekyll Island Club on it as we vacation there some & it was the second home for some of America's most wealthy in the twenties & thirties.  It is a great place to ride bikes, play golf, and lay around on the beach if you've never been, very laid back vacation spot.  

Got the headbadge polished up and cleaning the frame is in progress so more to come......


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## bricycle

can't wait for da finish....


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## Hermanator3

My wife & I were on Jekyll Island this spring.  Rode our tandem around the island, almost entirely on bike trails.  A very cool place.  The "cottages" of the wealthy were very impressive.


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## Larmo63

Isn't Jekyll Island where the Federal Reserve Bank was drawn up? No wonder

those "banksters" were/are wealthy.


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## Gary Mc

Larmo63 said:


> Isn't Jekyll Island where the Federal Reserve Bank was drawn up? No wonder
> 
> those "banksters" were/are wealthy.




Yep, that's the place and you should see those "banksters" cottages.


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## stoney

I go with the brown and the red. To me the bike is too nice to restore. Love the pin stripes and the graphics. Clean up bike as well as it can be and leave alone. It has the age look. I'm 59 years old and since I was 18 I have had so many motorcycles and cars restored, and bicycles, that it is nice to see original honest mantiques. Just my opinion. Love the bike.


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## Iverider

Is it done yet? Is it done yet?


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## 2jakes

Gary Mc said:


> This bike will now be getting a Chief/Indian long handlebar stem to go better with the longer crossbar handlebars it is getting & I found the Delta light I really wanted to put on this bike.  I've now bought 4 lights for this bike and finally found & settled on this Delta which is what I was originally looking for.  Luckily 2 of them, the Vesta Accumulators, will create one complete light/canister set for the 1915 Chief leaving me only one light which will likely go on the 1930 Columbia.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There's no marking that I can see on this light. Looks similar to what you have.
> 
> The light & bracket is all I have. Do you have information on what batteries it needs to fire it up ?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> jake
> _>s.o.t.f.m._


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