# '59 FLGHTLNR



## Sven (Jun 19, 2018)

* I picked this '59 J C Higgins Flightliner up outside Richmond for $45 a few months ago ( It was aprt of a Package deal). I know its not the " To die over, must have bike" . And a whole list of parts that aren"t original and missing the front rack.. But I decided to restore it to the best of my abilities. Im retired so I have a good bit of free time.*


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As I bought it*
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*I learned , after removing some of the paint, that the bike had stripped down to bear metal and painted over without much body work to fill the many pitted areas or any type of rust treatment.
Aircraft remover made quick business of paint removal. A little Bondo action to fill the pits, primed, Since then the tank was top coated with white primer.*
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*More body work *
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*I thought it was neat how the "Flightliner" showed up after stripping / rust treatment  / bondo and primed


 This stuff works great,  But extreme care and precautions when using it. 


 ..and the frame and fork stripping are done*
*

 *


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## Hammer (Jun 19, 2018)

Keep the pics coming, looks like you are making good progress so far

Aaron


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## bikerbluz (Jun 22, 2018)

Nice. I have a 59, great rider.


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## buickmike (Jun 22, 2018)

How can one pinpoint the year of these bikes?


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## Adamtinkerer (Jun 23, 2018)

buickmike said:


> How can one pinpoint the year of these bikes?



That chain guard was only used '58-9, and most are stamped with the Sears catalog # w/the serial, usually in the 4500-4700 range through '62, later models have an extra digit. This bike is interesting, having painted fenders, it must be a base model Flightliner. If it didn't have the name on the guard, I'd have said it was a lower Sportflite model!


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## buickmike (Jun 23, 2018)

This just came with the rack fork seat 1 rim that looks like a 26/1.75.


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## Sven (Jul 13, 2018)

*Well, the tank is finally finished..painted Dupli-color Chevy white over white primer, 4 coats of of clear coat , wet sanded down to a 5000 grit and polished as well as tank stickers applied.  Perfect ..not by any means..there is some slight evidence of orange peel around the edges. I didn't want to burn through the finish and have to start over.  Next up is the chainguard*


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## Sven (May 6, 2019)

Got a rolling chassis with the front end complete. Waiting for the rear rack's completion(  Clear coat the rack and paint the support braces ) to finish the rear section. Soaking a new chain chain in degreaser as to give it the Molten Speed wax treatment.



learn a good lesson. I thought I was going to slick and use the nice chrome rear rack braces that came with the female sears rack  I got of eBay..wrong. Too small. I am gonna strip the black paint off these pitted up ones that came with the bike and use filler primer, gloss black and Krylon "Chrome"



..and the seat needs padding,  Covering with marine grade black vinyl and white piping.
Its gettin' there. Slowly but surely.

g t


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## Sven (May 25, 2019)

*Well its done*. There are a few final adjustments to go. The seat didn't turn out all that great. Its covered but , looks like a tick. Not perfect, but not a stick in the eye. *Lessons learned*, I think the next time , I would have it stripped,  painted and striped by a professional paint shop. Or powder coated.











The Lights were upgraded to a 9 volt system LED.


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## CURTIS L LINDGREN (May 25, 2019)

Awesome !       That was a lot of work !     Stripping / Sanding/ Painting...................it takes some time and effort.      Unless you've done many paint jobs.  Paint and pinstriping is hard to do "Correctly" .    I learn with each attempt.   I bought a bike for VERY LITTLE  $  ,   and there's evidence all over showing that some one was "Practising "  their  Paint /Pinstriping / Decal Placement   Skills.    I couldn't pass it up..............and frankly.............would not have done any better myself.   Your thoughts on Professional Painting and /or Powder coating are on my mind more often now than ever.    Great Post , and thanks for all the photo documentation .        You should be very proud of your work.  Your bike looks great.        Here's a few photo's of the Bike I was referring to.


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## CURTIS L LINDGREN (May 25, 2019)

My last  Attempt at painting a tank was on my Spaceliner.   I liked the results ,  but there's room for improvement.       You did a good job saving that bike.  and....the light conversion is The BEEZ KNEEZ !!!


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## Sven (May 25, 2019)

CURTIS L LINDGREN said:


> Awesome !       That was a lot of work !     Stripping / Sanding/ Painting...................it takes some time and effort.      Unless you've done many paint jobs.  Paint and pinstriping is hard to do "Correctly" .    I learn with each attempt.   I bought a bike for VERY LITTLE  $  ,   and there's evidence all over showing that some one was "Practising "  their  Paint /Pinstriping / Decal Placement   Skills.    I couldn't pass it up..............and frankly.............would not have done any better myself.   Your thoughts on Professional Painting and /or Powder coating are on my mind more often now than ever.    Great Post , and thanks for all the photo documentation .        You should be very proud of your work.  Your bike looks great.        Here's a few photo's of the Bike I was referring to.
> 
> View attachment 1003740
> 
> ...



Thank you for your kind words.
I probably spent a liitle over $200 in stripper ,wire brushes ,sandpaper , 7 cans of Duplicolor Electric Current Red Metallic ( which is no longer available in auto stores in my area, had to order the last can online), 2 cans of Duplicolr Chevy white, 2 cans of  the areosol 2 part clear . I figue pay the extra have a person who knows the art and chemistry of auto painting or powder coating do it.
  I like doing the body work.curing the rust with vinegar , Bondo, ,sanding

Just got you pic of the spaceliner . The tank came out great. On your tiger, theres a lot if metal to take car of, not just a frame and forks.

I'm wearing the shirt my attitude on my paint job


Anyway, Thanks again for the compliments


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## razinhellcustomz (May 25, 2019)

Tah man!! Your rattle can paint looks great! I'm the same way as far as learning paint tricks. I just did my 66 sting ray in red and turned out pretty decent. I'll have to touch up some chips from dropping the bitch, but that's no biggie. Enjoy your new old flightliner, curtis. Razin.


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## razinhellcustomz (May 25, 2019)

CURTIS L LINDGREN said:


> Awesome !       That was a lot of work !     Stripping / Sanding/ Painting...................it takes some time and effort.      Unless you've done many paint jobs.  Paint and pinstriping is hard to do "Correctly" .    I learn with each attempt.   I bought a bike for VERY LITTLE  $  ,   and there's evidence all over showing that some one was "Practising "  their  Paint /Pinstriping / Decal Placement   Skills.    I couldn't pass it up..............and frankly.............would not have done any better myself.   Your thoughts on Professional Painting and /or Powder coating are on my mind more often now than ever.    Great Post , and thanks for all the photo documentation .        You should be very proud of your work.  Your bike looks great.        Here's a few photo's of the Bike I was referring to.
> 
> View attachment 1003740
> 
> ...



Nice job on the paint. I love,love,love the headlight too. Enjoy. Razin. And what year is your tiger? I'm looking at a 61  one on craigslist that i may pull the trigger on in the next day or two.


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## razinhellcustomz (May 25, 2019)

Sven said:


> Got a rolling chassis with the front end complete. Waiting for the rear rack's completion(  Clear coat the rack and paint the support braces ) to finish the rear section. Soaking a new chain chain in degreaser as to give it the Molten Speed wax treatment.
> View attachment 992979
> learn a good lesson. I thought I was going to slick and use the nice chrome rear rack braces that came with the female sears rack  I got of eBay..wrong. Too small. I am gonna strip the black paint off these pitted up ones that came with the bike and use filler primer, gloss black and Krylon "Chrome"
> View attachment 993007
> ...



Very  nice bike!! I'll have to blow my flightliner apart and give it the once over. What is the molten wax treatment? And i also love the mexican krylon chrome in a can. I have also used bright silver on some occasions. Looking good!! Keep up the good work. Ride on!!! Razin.


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## CURTIS L LINDGREN (May 25, 2019)

razinhellcustomz said:


> And what year is your tiger? I'm looking at a 61 one on craigslist



      It's a 1955


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## Sven (May 26, 2019)

razinhellcustomz said:


> Very  nice bike!! I'll have to blow my flightliner apart and give it the once over. What is the molten wax treatment? And i also love the mexican krylon chrome in a can. I have also used bright silver on some occasions. Looking good!! Keep up the good work. Ride on!!! Razin.



Thanks @razinhellcustomz ,
The closest place to me  that chrome plates seems to be Nasville TN. So I went the spray route.

Molten wax, no more grease or oil flung on your bike.
https://moltenspeedwax.com

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...FE532FF0B5ED09771642FE532FF0B5ED&&FORM=VRDGAR
You can make your own .




I use White Lightning wax at intervals to freshen it up. But about ever 250 to 300 miles redo the process.
For the first. I find it easier to start with a brand new chain and remove the oils from it with Whatever your favorite degreaser is then soak it in denatured Alcohol.


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## Allrounderco (May 26, 2019)

The wax sounds cool. I’m building a Motobike with no chain guard. Sounds like a great solution.

Excellent work on the Flightliner. I think (for me at least) any restoration will come with lessons learned. That’s a fine job, in my opinion, and best of all it’s a rider. So how do you like riding it compared to the Corvette?


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## Sven (May 26, 2019)

Blackbomber said:


> The wax sounds cool. I’m building a Motobike with no chain guard. Sounds like a great solution.
> 
> Excellent work on the Flightliner. I think (for me at least) any restoration will come with lessons learned. That’s a fine job, in my opinion, and best of all it’s a rider. So how do you like riding it compared to the Corvette?



Thanks@Blackbomber,
The Flightliner has a 52 tooth front sprocket as my Corvette has 46 teeth.Both have 18 tooth rears. The Corvette is quicker of the line. Not by much but you notice the difference. I do like the fact that I dont have to worry about boogering up the paint on the Corvette .


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## Rivnut (May 26, 2019)

Any progressive pictures and a parts list for the LED headlight conversion?


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## razinhellcustomz (May 26, 2019)

Sven said:


> Thanks @razinhellcustomz ,
> The closest place to me  that chrome plates seems to be Nasville TN. So I went the spray route.
> 
> Molten wax, no more grease or oil flung on your bike.
> ...



For THAT KIND OF MONEY{$20.00} I'LL JUST KEEP DOING THE WD-40 PROCESS I'VE BEEN using for years.  I can buy 4 cans for that and do 20 chains for the price of one chain. But thanks any way. Ride on. Razin.


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## Sven (May 26, 2019)

razinhellcustomz said:


> For THAT KIND OF MONEY{$20.00} I'LL JUST KEEP DOING THE WD-40 PROCESS I'VE BEEN using for years.  I can buy 4 cans for that and do 20 chains for the price of one chain. But thanks any way. Ride on. Razin.



That's cool my brother, whatever works for you. Just keep those wheels turning


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## Sven (May 26, 2019)

Rivnut said:


> Any progressive pictures and a parts list for the LED headlight conversion?



Pretty simple upgrade
Here are the bulbs I used.
https://www.amazon.com/Flashlight-Replacement-Torch-Light-White/dp/B01IP68ALG 

. As for the 9 volt hook up, I stole one from a broken  multimeter . I put the Positive wire  to the Switch and the ground wire is secured to the tang that touches the outside base of the bulbs.
Here are some 9 volt battery holders / leads. I just didn't need that many. That's why I used one from a broken multimeter.
https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Black...Ajw8qjnBRA-EiwAaNvhwIrKqYD-WQr0l2-jpYoU-WwUK7 

https://www.amazon.com/5pack-Batter...=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198076596450&h


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## Rivnut (May 26, 2019)

Thanks, I think that I can take it from here.


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## razinhellcustomz (May 26, 2019)

Sven said:


> That's cool my brother, whatever works for you. Just keep those wheels turning



Thanks. Will doo. Ride on. Razin.


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## AndyA (Jun 3, 2019)

Sven:
Beautiful job! According to a Sears catalog cut, that is a 1959 "Equipped Flightliner," not to be confused with the "Fully Equipped Flightliner," which had a few more bits like a crash rail on the saddle, chrome fenders, push-button horn (in tank), and springer fork. It can be distinguished from 1958 bikes because the rails supporting the rear carrier on the 1959 models did not extend above the carrier. It can be distinguished from 1960 bikes because in 1960 the designs of the chain guard and the tank were tweaked. I had a 1960 bike when I was 12 years old and I have another one now.

There are a couple of items that aren't quite authentic on your bike, if it matters. Flightliner saddles on boys' bikes from that era were black with white welting. Pictures below show a disassembled saddle and an intact one.The intact one has a crash rail, which the bike in question would not have had. Also, boys' Flightliners had black, coke-bottle style hand grips. Girls' models had white grips.
Have fun and ride on, Andy


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## Sven (Jun 3, 2019)

AndyA said:


> Sven:
> Beautiful job! According to a Sears catalog cut, that is a 1959 "Equipped Flightliner," not to be confused with the "Fully Equipped Flightliner," which had a few more bits like a crash rail on the saddle, chrome fenders, push-button horn (in tank), and springer fork. It can be distinguished from 1958 bikes because the rails supporting the rear carrier on the 1959 models did not extend above the carrier. It can be distinguished from 1960 bikes because in 1960 the designs of the chain guard and the tank were tweaked. I had a 1960 bike when I was 12 years old and I have another one now.
> 
> There are a couple of items that aren't quite authentic on your bike, if it matters. Flightliner saddles on boys' bikes from that era were black with white welting. Pictures below show a disassembled saddle and an intact one.The intact one has a crash rail, which the bike in question would not have had. Also, boys' Flightliners had black, coke-bottle style hand grips. Girls' models had white grips.
> ...



*Thanks for the compliment  and great information! *
The seat has a funny story. Now funny , at the time it just kind of really pissed me off.
 That seat I have pictured above came off a girls Murray Jet Fire 64 (as well as the handlebar grips). I bought black marine grade vinyl ( 5 yards ) and some white piping (welting). Well, the two times I recovered it, I still wasn't 100% satisfied with the outcome ( it reminds me of a swollen tick). And the piping thing wasn't really thought out either. okay so I will live with it.
*But, next time I'll find a professional to handle recovering and attaching the welting.* 
And then, shortly after putting it on the bike,  the front rivet on the bottom seat pan came loose. This makes the the whole seat swing side to side when pedaling. So I removed it , called it bad names and threw it in the corner and put the other seat on it. 
I have ordered a  cruiser seat, until I can find the correct seat. 

So who makes the correct seat? Persons?
Anyway, You are very knowledgeable of this subject,  thanks for sharing .

i still want to build a "maggot fly green" flightliner


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## AndyA (Jun 3, 2019)

I also lack the skill needed to rebuild the sad bits of the original saddle shown in the earlier post. Note that that saddle has a single pan. The best I could do was to paint the pan and under structure. So, instead of using the original, my imperfect solution was to paint the bottom edge of a found saddle to simulate the white welting. That is shown below.


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## razinhellcustomz (Jun 3, 2019)

Sven said:


> *Thanks for the compliment  and great information! *
> The seat has a funny story. Now funny , at the time it just kind of really pissed me off.
> That seat I have pictured above came off a girls Murray Jet Fire 64 (as well as the handlebar grips). I bought black marine grade vinyl ( 5 yards ) and some white piping (welting). Well, the two times I recovered it, I still wasn't 100% satisfied with the outcome ( it reminds me of a swollen tick). And the piping thing wasn't really thought out either. okay so I will live with it.
> *But, next time I'll find a professional to handle recovering and attaching the welting.*
> ...



You know you could take it apart and tighten up the rivets. It's not hard to do and requires no special tools. If you have no use for the seat, I would consider taking it off your hands. I have a space liner with the wrong seat. Let me know. Ride on. Razin.


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## Sven (Jun 4, 2019)

AndyA said:


> I also lack the skill needed to rebuild the sad bits of the original saddle shown in the earlier post. Note that that saddle has a single pan. The best I could do was to paint the pan and under structure. So, instead of using the original, my imperfect solution was to paint the bottom edge of a found saddle to simulate the white welting. That is shown below.
> View attachment 1009559



That is a very ingenious idea, Andy.


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## razinhellcustomz (Jun 4, 2019)

Yes. A very cool idea. Works for me.


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