# 1940-41 Gamble's Badged Elgin Curve-Bar



## Scribble (Apr 20, 2018)

I did a test patch on the tank, and it seems all the OG orange paint is still under the house paint. And as you can see it's in fantastic shape for being painted over. 


 
And the fenders and frame also have the OG paint as well. 


 


 


 
This is the original fork and it's pretty beat to heck, so I'm gonna replace it with a nicer one I have. 


 
Here's the replacement.


 
all of the rusty chrome and metal is soaking in vinegar over night. 


 
sadly theres a really bad weld job on the frame, I'll see about cleaning it up a bit.


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## bikerbluz (Apr 21, 2018)

Really like the curved bar frame and long tank. Gonna be a sweet ride.


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## the tinker (Apr 21, 2018)

That frame repair puzzles me.  Has the down tube been beefed up from the inside? Was that done before you got the bike?  That repair was arc welded. If your frame was originally brazed, and I suspect it was , that may be the reason that the re- weld broke.  Once something is brazed, it's impossible to get a good arc weld bead over it , without a  multiple cover-pass and a very poor weld resulting. I would check the frame over on the underside of the bottom bracket for evidence of brazing rod being used. If it looks "brassy" , it's brazed. If it is, I would use a small grinder to carefully remove that poor weld, and have it re-done by a professional that's not going to simply apply another cover-pass over it. With the welding techniques available today, you could have that frame fixed properly and looking like the day it was built.  Good luck with your project, that frame is worth putting the effort into it.


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## ADVHOG (Apr 21, 2018)

Great start! I love the curved bar elgins!


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## Scribble (Apr 21, 2018)

the tinker said:


> That frame repair puzzles me.  Has the down tube been beefed up from the inside? Was that done before you got the bike?  That repair was arc welded. If your frame was originally brazed, and I suspect it was , that may be the reason that the re- weld broke.  Once something is brazed, it's impossible to get a good arc weld bead over it , without a  multiple cover-pass and a very poor weld resulting. I would check the frame over on the underside of the bottom bracket for evidence of brazing rod being used. If it looks "brassy" , it's brazed. If it is, I would use a small grinder to carefully remove that poor weld, and have it re-done by a professional that's not going to simply apply another cover-pass over it. With the welding techniques available today, you could have that frame fixed properly and looking like the day it was built.  Good luck with your project, that frame is worth putting the effort into it.




I honestly don't really know what people were thinking with some of these repair jobs, I just sit there and puzzle about it for a moment.

And ya it was like that when I got it, I didn't notice it until I started taking the bike apart. The repair was hiding under a big glob of house paint, I've got a friend that can braze I'll see if he can help me out so I can put this beauty back on the road.


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## Scribble (Apr 21, 2018)

Cleaned up most of the small parts, turned out real nice. It always amazes me how nice that old chrome/nickel plating cleans up. I just buffed out the paint with 0000 grit steel wool and WD-40, then all the parts got a coat of boiled linseed oil.


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## Scribble (Apr 23, 2018)

Enjoy 30 minutes of me rambling about rebuilding pedals .


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## Scribble (Apr 23, 2018)

Awesome member over on RatRodBikes found this awesome ad for me. Could indicate this bike as a 39 model


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## rusty.kirkpatrick (Apr 23, 2018)

Nice project @Scribble, love that  frame/tank combo. Plus, it’s has painted wheels, hope you go with blackwalls, but that’s my worthless opinion, lol.


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## rustjunkie (Apr 23, 2018)

Cool bike and nice work!
For a while it was sort of a generally held belief that curved seat tube Murray bikes were exclusive to Sears, so were always badged as the Sears "house brand" Elgin.
A couple/few surfaced badged as Firestone...do I remember seeing a Derby (Pep Boys) as well?
So what we have here is a Murray sold by Gamble's Dept Store: a Hiawatha badged Murray.
These Murray built frames were electro-forged, a process that Schwinn took and ran with post-WWII.
They break fairly often at the seat tube/bottom bracket.


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## Scribble (Apr 23, 2018)

rusty.kirkpatrick said:


> Nice project @Scribble, love that  frame/tank combo. Plus, it’s has painted wheels, hope you go with blackwalls, but that’s my worthless opinion, lol.




Well I've got those pie crust Black Walls you sold me, or I could use the set of original Cream lightning darts I have. Decisions decisions .


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## Scribble (Apr 23, 2018)

rustjunkie said:


> Cool bike and nice work!
> For a while it was sort of a generally held belief that curved seat tube Murray bikes were exclusive to Sears, so were always badged as the Sears "house brand" Elgin.
> A couple/few surfaced badged as Firestone...do I remember seeing a Derby (Pep Boys) as well?
> So what we have here is a Murray sold by Gamble's Dept Store: a Hiawatha badged Murray.
> ...




Yeah I've seen two or three Firestone badged ones, I've never seen a Hiawatha badged one until now. Guess I was just lucky getting to pull this old girl out of the depths of a storage unit.


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## Scribble (Apr 24, 2018)

More cleaning and thinking about adding this cool mud flap.


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## Scribble (Apr 25, 2018)

Rebuilt the wheel set today, super nice condition on theses blackouts.












Alright these wheels are super cool, which means they need cool tires. I think both tire sets would be cool but tell me what you guys think.


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## SKPC (Apr 25, 2018)

*Black* tires Scribble!   Love those old double-butt spoked ND wheels.


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## ADVHOG (Apr 26, 2018)

I vote black also...those wheels are gonna pop!


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## A.S.BOLTNUT (Apr 26, 2018)

ADVHOG said:


> I vote black also...those wheels are gonna pop!




+ 1 !


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## Scribble (Apr 27, 2018)

stripped the fenders, this is gonna be one cool bike.


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## Scribble (May 4, 2018)

Stripped the paint off, on this particular bike it's kind of hard to tell so I took a pic half way through.


 


 

 

 
Sadly the guy I took the frame to for a repair decided it need "MORE WELD"
At lest I can sand it down and try to blend it.


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## the tinker (May 5, 2018)

Sadly the guy I took the frame to for a repair decided it need "MORE WELD"

At lest I can sand it down and try to blend it.


Please don't take this comment wrong, but "Sally" is no welder . It looks to me like a cover-pass of old 60-11 stick was added. There is still time to correct this before you paint, as that poor weld will open up again on you. Harbor freight sells a small, cheap grinder. It's a piece of crap but will do the trick for this one job if you don't own a grinder. A dremel  will work too. Carefully grind that weld out and take it to a professional and have it re-done correctly before you paint. Your're going to have a nice looking bike!  Have fun  Bring a photo of your frame with you of "Sally's" work. If your new welder thinks that looks good....find someone else.


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## buickmike (May 5, 2018)

Not the prettiest bead.  But it matches the weld higher up on tube. Run it like it is


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## Scribble (May 5, 2018)

the tinker said:


> Sadly the guy I took the frame to for a repair decided it need "MORE WELD"
> 
> At lest I can sand it down and try to blend it.
> 
> ...




Ya I'm not one to chew people out don't really like conflict, but I'll tell you I was less then thrilled when I picked it up. I had to put the biggest fake smile on ever . And the worst part is that the guy that put the monster of all beads, was a local small machine shop I just wanted to give him my business. 
I've got someone else that can ACTUALLY WELD, well see if he dies of laughter before he even gets to fix it.


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## Scribble (May 9, 2018)

Well cleanup went better than expected, this guy right here. He's the bike doctor, I've taken a lot of messed up bikes for Weld Repair to him over the years. He's in the process of retiring so I didn't bug him for the repair in the first place. But I've learned my lesson not to trust somebody I haven't worked with before, anyway he said there wasn't much he could do in the terms of fixing the bad weld. So he just slapped it down on his workbench and went ham with the sanding wheel.


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## Scribble (May 9, 2018)

He told me the weld was perfectly fine it was just ugly, so he cleaned it up as best as he could. And I have now been painting and sanding the bare metal parts from the sanding on the BB shell. I'll post pics soon of the finished product.


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## Saving Tempest (May 9, 2018)

Even if they are about to retire, always ask the one that knows. Trust is a good thing indeed.


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## Scribble (May 10, 2018)

Well what do you think, turned out really well in my opinion.
Next up update with be the completed bike.


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## modelcarjedi (May 10, 2018)

Scribble said:


> View attachment 804415
> View attachment 804414 View attachment 804416
> Well what do you think, turned out really well in my opinion.
> Next up update with be the completed bike.




Looks good to me. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Scribble (May 10, 2018)




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## Scribble (May 10, 2018)

I'm calling this one done, she turned out fantastic in my opinion.


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## ADVHOG (May 19, 2018)

Very nice! I like everything about it. Great job as always!


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## Shawn (May 19, 2018)

My compliments to you Scribble ! It is fantastic. Great work on the repair and with blending it into the original look so well.


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## Scribble (May 19, 2018)

ADVHOG said:


> Very nice! I like everything about it. Great job as always!





Shawn said:


> My compliments to you Scribble ! It is fantastic. Great work on the repair and with blending it into the original look so well.




Thanks guys


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