# 1938-41 Elgin Twin-Bar



## Scribble (May 2, 2018)

View attachment 799801


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## Scribble (May 2, 2018)

Been sitting on this project for a while now, figured I'd post it up now that the RatRodBikes build off has started.


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## Scribble (May 4, 2018)

Got most of the 60s repaint off the bike, now I'm gonna order some wood bleach and see how well the green on the fenders come back.


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## Scribble (May 5, 2018)

I spent some time today sanding the frame down, and did a little mock up. I'm going to order some OA on Monday so I can clean up the fenders and rims. 
One thing I'd love input on would be, leave it Bare steel, or should I go ahead with my forced patina paint job idea. I'm leaning towards bare steel as of right now.


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## ADVHOG (May 6, 2018)

Love the bare steel on that!


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## Scribble (May 6, 2018)

ADVHOG said:


> Love the bare steel on that!




I do to, I'm gonna leave it bare .


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## Scribble (May 6, 2018)

Ordered some oxalic acid, for the fender and rim clean up.


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## Scribble (May 10, 2018)

Well here we go, my first OA bath.


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## 3-speeder (May 11, 2018)

That's gonna be sweet!


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## mfhemi1969 (May 13, 2018)

Scribble said:


> View attachment 801590
> View attachment 801591
> View attachment 801592
> I spent some time today sanding the frame down, and did a little mock up. I'm going to order some OA on Monday so I can clean up the fenders and rims.
> One thing I'd love input on would be, leave it Bare steel, or should I go ahead with my forced patina paint job idea. I'm leaning towards bare steel as of right now.



Great project! Looking forward for the progress photos. Thanks


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## Scribble (May 13, 2018)

Painted the seat parts with some matt black today. Also started clean up on the small components.


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## Phattiremike (May 14, 2018)

Can’t wait to see the progress of the OA bath.


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## Scribble (May 14, 2018)

Phattiremike said:


> Can’t wait to see the progress of the OA bath.





OA work better then expected, the only problem is that it revealed some unwanted things. Two things to be exact, 1st is the fenders ended up being mismatched paint. So I just took them down to bare steel. 2nd is the wheels also ended up being mismatched, I did not notice this because of how rusty they were. I ended up just finding a matching prewar set for sale here on the forum to replace the other set. 

And this photo is how the small bits turned out, the OA took the rust away and left a really dull gray color. 


Scribble said:


> View attachment 806808
> Painted the seat parts with some matt black today. Also started clean up on the small components.
> View attachment 806809


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## Scribble (May 15, 2018)

Did a light mock up, and a whole lot of sanding/grinding on the fenders. You can see here that the fenders were missmatched pretty badly.


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## Scribble (May 15, 2018)

Removing original paint is a last ditch thing for me, in this case the build demanded it.


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## Hammer (May 16, 2018)

My bike has several layers of paint on it, I am considering just soaking the frame in an OA bath I have used, Goof Off Pro Strength, Graffiti Remover, paint thinner and WD-40 with brass and steel wool for hours and have little to show for it I'm trying to bring back the original paint but I guess I will be using Aircraft Remover on all the painted parts, they are all off different bikes and different colors, so I'll have to strip all the parts because my Higgins looks like the Partridge Family bus! Thanks for showing your progress it puts wind in my sails and keeps me going on my own bike!

Aaron


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## Scribble (May 16, 2018)

Hammer said:


> My bike has several layers of paint on it, I am considering just soaking the frame in an OA bath I have used, Goof Off Pro Strength, Graffiti Remover, paint thinner and WD-40 with brass and steel wool for hours and have little to show for it I'm trying to bring back the original paint but I guess I will be using Aircraft Remover on all the painted parts, they are all off different bikes and different colors, so I'll have to strip all the parts because my Higgins looks like the Partridge Family bus! Thanks for showing your progress it puts wind in my sails and keeps me going on my own bike!
> 
> Aaron




Glad my bike gives some motivation. Here's some more inspiration, built this last year. Brought it back from the brink of a really bad house paint job.
Might not look like the same bike, but it is. Took over 30 hours to clean, but was totally worth it.


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## alecburns (May 16, 2018)

I'm also inspired. I'm going to have to take a relatively thin, but ugly, layer of paint from my entire '41 Westfield...





I can't wait to get those awesome dark blue, dark red, and bright white colors and darts out from underneath. What'd you use on pinstripes? Those worry my the most...


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## Scribble (May 16, 2018)

alecburns said:


> I'm also inspired. I'm going to have to take a relatively thin, but ugly, layer of paint from my entire '41 Westfield...
> 
> View attachment 808722
> 
> I can't wait to get those awesome dark blue, dark red, and bright white colors and darts out from underneath. What'd you use on pinstripes? Those worry my the most...




pinstripes are really hard to save, there not as rugged as the old enamel. I haven't found a good way of saving them yet.

0000 grit steel wool and gasoline is what I use to take rattle can paint off. House paint and vintage spray paint is much tougher, so I use thin layers of cirtistripe to clean that off.


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## Scribble (May 17, 2018)

Lots of cleaning and rust removal today on the new wheel set.


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## Scribble (May 26, 2018)

Got the wheels together.


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## Scribble (May 30, 2018)

Mock up part 2


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## SKPC (May 30, 2018)

This frame bare looks great as you can see it really well in it's "metal" finish. The fenders don't take away from it's clear lines.. .
..


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## Scribble (Jun 6, 2018)

Parts list
-Torrington half moon bars 
-Original 40s Coke bottle grips 
-Prewar Musselman drop center wheels
-50s cream Lighting Darts 
-Torrington 10's mens pedals 
-Elgin Deco stem 
-Working 40s Cadet Speedo 
-Lucky 7 seat post 
-prewar long spring saddle (think its a Messenger)
-Vintage Boise license plate 
-Custom RatRods license plate 
-prewar Elgin kickstand 
-David Deluxe tubes


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## Hammer (Jun 6, 2018)

Love the bare metal look on the bike, looks like it's coming together great! A set of dual lights would look killer on there, are you planning on putting a light on it?

Aaron


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## Scribble (Jun 6, 2018)

Hammer said:


> Love the bare metal look on the bike, looks like it's coming together great! A set of dual lights would look killer on there, are you planning on putting a light on it?
> 
> Aaron




The fender does not have the mount for a light, but if I could find a head shroud that doesn't cost a small fortune then I'd love the duel light set up.


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## Scribble (Jun 19, 2018)

Started recovering the seat.


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## Scribble (Jun 27, 2018)




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## Scribble (Jun 28, 2018)




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## Scribble (Jul 10, 2018)




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## Scribble (Jul 10, 2018)

soaking the wheels again since there completely disassembled, should make clean up easier.


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## Scribble (Jul 16, 2018)




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## Scribble (Jul 16, 2018)

The video explains what I'm doing, only thing I am having a creative block with is the rims. Leave them bare steel or paint. Decisions decisions...


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## JRE (Jul 18, 2018)

Bare steele with blue pin stripe then clear them.


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## Scribble (Jul 19, 2018)

Got both Wheels laced, now I just need to tension and true them. As well as rebuilding both hubs.


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## Scribble (Jul 24, 2018)




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## Scribble (Jul 24, 2018)

She's done for now.


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## Scribble (Feb 8, 2020)

Elgin got her shroud  !!


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## John G04 (Feb 8, 2020)

Looks great!!


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## JLF (Feb 8, 2020)

Awesome project thread!


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## SteveF (Feb 8, 2020)

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing


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