# 1929-30 Elgin Cardinal



## Kato (Jul 4, 2016)

Found this about a month back. I think it's a 1929-30 Elgin Cardinal. I've only cleaned a couple spots with WD40 and 0000 steel wool. I think the tires are original but totally trashed.
Plan for now is to carefully take it apart - do the WD40 / 0000 steel wool cleaning and make it a wall hanger.
Not sure what to do about the rims / tires - for now leaving as-is.
Looking for any info - opinions, etc - Thanks !!


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## Freqman1 (Jul 5, 2016)

Wall hanger? I'd make this a sweet rider! V/r Shawn


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## XBPete (Jul 5, 2016)

Clean that beauty up, get ya some Velocity  P-35's and enjoy that classy ride...

Ride it, don't hang it...... I look for an Elgin to ride daily, on my list of three "gotta haves"

Great find!


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## OhioJones (Jul 5, 2016)

Ugghh


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## bikiba (Jul 5, 2016)

i love these Cardinals. Such a nice roadbike


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## Kato (Jul 5, 2016)

XBPete said:


> Clean that beauty up, get ya some Velocity  P-35's and enjoy that classy ride...
> 
> Ride it, don't hang it...... I look for an Elgin to ride daily, on my list of three "gotta haves"
> 
> Great find!



That will probably be Step 2 . I've just now started looking into rim / tire options so that it can be ridden.
Thanks for the info on the Velocity P-35's


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## Robertriley (Jul 5, 2016)

Mine looked just like that before I cleaned it up.   I'm totally with Shawn, Clean and ride that bad baby!


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## Kato (Jul 6, 2016)

I saw pics of your bike on the web doing search work on mine - SUPER looking bike !!! 
Can I get some tips on how you cleaned yours up that nice - am I going about it right with WD-40 and 0000 steel wool ?? I've read and seen so many other ways. 
I've used naval jelly on some but getting all the goopy residue off can be a pain although I'd take extra time on this bike. What ever works best is my goal - I want it looking as nice as I can get it.


[/QUOTE]


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## robertc (Jul 6, 2016)

I have cleaned up several with WD-40 and 0000 steel wool. As most will tell you be extremely careful around the decals. I usually finish mine with a good paste wax afterwards. Good luck and as most have posted, it would be a tragedy to hang that bike on the wall.


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## Freqman1 (Jul 7, 2016)

OK Kato you have your mission. Now move out and draw fire! Seriously though good luck with the project and get it on the road. Much more fun than hanging it on the wall! V/r Shawn


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## Robertriley (Jul 7, 2016)

Kato said:


> I saw pics of your bike on the web doing search work on mine - SUPER looking bike !!!
> Can I get some tips on how you cleaned yours up that nice - am I going about it right with WD-40 and 0000 steel wool ?? I've read and seen so many other ways.
> I've used naval jelly on some but getting all the goopy residue off can be a pain although I'd take extra time on this bike. What ever works best is my goal - I want it looking as nice as I can get it.



[/QUOTE]
I used 0000 and Navel Jelly when I did this one


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## Kato (Jul 7, 2016)

Freqman1 said:


> OK Kato you have your mission. Now move out and draw fire! Seriously though good luck with the project and get it on the road. Much more fun than hanging it on the wall! V/r Shawn[/QUOTE
> 
> Freqman1 - Mission accepted - I plan to carefully take bike apart this weekend and start cleaning it up.
> I'll try and post pics as I go so updates can be seen, comments and suggestions made.
> ...


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## Kato (Jul 7, 2016)

Another question guys..........opinions / suggestions needed.

On the other bikes I've done which were crusty when found - once I got done with the naval jelly / WD-40 and steel wool cleaning I wash them up really well and lear coated them with a matte varnish to lock everything in and keep any future rust from starting. 
It looks really good - doesn't look shiny and is almost hard to tell it's even been done. I'm not so that's the right move on this bike since I consider it a few notches up from the other bikes I have. Another thing I've been told to use once cleaned is Boiled Linseed Oil which I did buy but have never used.

Thanks again to everyone for the help on this !!!!


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## Freqman1 (Jul 8, 2016)

Personally I like Johnsons paste wax. Using varnish or spray clears is an irreversible treatment whereas the wax protects, doesn't leave a whitish film, and can be removed with wax and grease remover. V/r Shawn


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## Kato (Jul 8, 2016)

Just realized I have this in the Classic Balloon Tire Bicycle section..........no idea why I did that ??


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## Robertriley (Jul 8, 2016)

Freqman1 said:


> Personally I like Johnsons paste wax. Using varnish or spray clears is an irreversible treatment whereas the wax protects, doesn't leave a whitish film, and can be removed with wax and grease remover. V/r Shawn




:eek:  I just noticed Shawn's post to you and *he's 100% right*.  Thanks for catching that Shawn.   Kato, I just picked up an Elgin like yours and we will have to keep each other posted on the progress.  I'm sure you will get yours done first as I have too many irons in the fire.


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## Kato (Jul 8, 2016)

Robertriley - Sorta funny how things turn out. I don't think you saw the comments in one of my prior posts. The bike you have, the same exact bike was sitting right next to mine and was going to buy both - - *See below*

**** I never mentioned that when I went to look at this bike the owner actually had 2 of the same exact bikes sitting side-by-side.
      There was another guy there that made a really low-ball offer to the old owner on both bikes that wasn't fair.
       I had enough cash to buy both but like a nice guy I let the other guy buy the 2nd one once he raised his offer to what was more fair.
       I found out the other guy flipped his in under 2 weeks.........for a pretty big profit. 
       My son and I do this for the fun of it as Father-n-Son projects. I still have the 52 Hornet ( pic ) we found covered in rust 7-8 years ago 
       and it isn't going anywhere. Each to his own I guess - I know flipping is part of the game - I'm just not into it.*


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## Robertriley (Jul 8, 2016)

Kato said:


> Robertriley - Sorta funny how things turn out. I don't think you saw the comments in one of my prior posts. The bike you have, the same exact bike
> was sitting right next to mine and was going to buy both - - *See below*
> 
> **** I never mentioned that when I went to look at this bike the owner actually had 2 of the same exact bikes sitting side-by-side.
> ...



Where was this at?  I got a great price on it so the guy couldn't of paid much for it.


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## Kato (Jul 9, 2016)

Robertriley said:


> Where was this at?  I got a great price on it so the guy couldn't of paid much for it.




Sent you a PM / conversation........


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