# What year is this skip tooth Hawthorne?



## staticguy (Dec 7, 2012)

I just got this at an auction the other day, it's my first Balloon tire bike.  I wanted something to ride on Tweed rides that wasn't my 74' speedster.

The auction listed it as a Circa 1950s H.P. Snyder built Hawthorne for Montgomery Ward.

I just liked that it's a skip tooth. 

It's got a lot of surface pitting from rust I would guess?  Any good fixes for surface rust like that, or just strip the frame and repaint it?

The tubes held air and I took it for a quick spin, it's a nice bike just needs some work.


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## OldRider (Dec 7, 2012)

As far as I'm concerned I absolutely love bikes in the paint condition yours is in.......we call it "patina"  You might be missing a tank , rear rack and a headlight, that chainring is what they call a throwing star ring, someone else that knows more then me will surely chime in soon. What I would do is give it a warm soapy bath, grease it up and ride it. A very nice ride for sure.


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## jpromo (Dec 7, 2012)

Nah, don't repaint that beauty! I'd say if you want to brighten it up, take ultra fine steel-wool sprayed with wd-40 and work it lightly. Then put a polish to it. Otherwise, the patina is cool as it sits. Definitely run through the hubs with grease and the bottom bracket since you plan to do actual riding on it.

Also, that is a very strange serial number.. I've never seen one so short. It seems like more of just an identification or model number. But, if it follows Snyder's standard pattern of reversing the year, you've got a '46 bike there. The features and styling agree with earlier postwar as well.


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## staticguy (Dec 10, 2012)

Alright, no repaint I will just clean it up.  I do like the look of it I just wasn't sure if I could keep the patina on it, but sounds like I can.

The front hub needs to be rebuilt anyway, it's very loose so I am going to grease both hubs and the bottom bracket.  And find a cool light for the front fender, and put a Brooks saddle on it.  

Would it had white tires when new?


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## Adamtinkerer (Dec 15, 2012)

Interesting bike, as that aluminum badge is only seen in the 1948-49 catalogs. But the '64' stamping certainly reveals a 46 date for the frame build. I'd guess a frame from a '46 batch, built up during the transitional period between 47 and 48 models!


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## hcdsign (Dec 25, 2012)

Adam, you seem very knowledgeble on the Hawhorne brand.  It seems like alot of these bikes are commonly dated early, then assembled with the next, or later years accesories.  You had also commented in my blue 1941 Hawthorne Vicory Series that was dressed as a 1942 model.  The picture is of my bike right after having 2-3 coats of house paint removed.  The parts are only hung together for the photo op, it still needs fenders rolled & alot of TLC.
Thanks, Howie


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## hcdsign (Dec 25, 2012)

I agree with the rest of the guys here leave it as is, clean up what you do have & make it the best it can be.  As someone else stated "Thats not rust, it's life experience".  I can appreciate a nice clean original paint bike, but these crusty old guys have way more character.  And you dont have to be affraid to ride 'em!!

Thanks, Howie.


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## hcdsign (Dec 25, 2012)

for what ever reason my post happened twice.  I removed the content, not sure how to remove the post itself.


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## Rivnut (Dec 25, 2012)

staticguy said:


> It's got a lot of surface pitting from rust I would guess?  Any good fixes for surface rust like that, or just strip the frame and repaint it?
> 
> 
> View attachment 76085View attachment 76086View attachment 76087View attachment 76088View attachment 76089View attachment 76090View attachment 76091View attachment 76092





To remove surface rust, if it hasn't penetrated the paint and started on the metal, fold a piece of aluminum foil and dip it into some water.  Use it like sand paper.  It will strip the rust and leave the paint with out exposing the paint to any abrasives.  When it's the patina that you want, clearcoat the entire bike.  The same will work on chrome that has surface rust on it.  I did this on the handle bars, chain ring, crank, and fenders on a bike I'm working on and it works great.  No fumes to stink up the house.  My wife's sensitive nose didn't pick it up the way she does with WD-40 or PB Blaster.

Ed


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## mre straightbar (Dec 29, 2012)

*be careful clear coating*

some leave a yellowish tint
useing a auto product with carnuba wax brings out paint pretty well
never heard of foil deal
have to try it


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## shawn57187 (Dec 29, 2012)

Honestly, I wouldn't recommend the aluminum foil method if you want to have any kind of gloss left in your paint.  The trick is to be nonabrasive as possible.  

For survivor bikes like yours, I would first strip it to the frame.  Then degrease the frame with WD40 (around the dropouts, headtube / fork, and bottombracket). Then follow up with soap and water to remove the degreaser. Finally tackle the rust on the paint with ScratchX 2.0 and a buffing pad. This will not only add a nice shine back to the paint by removing light scuffing, it will also pull out all of the rust staining on the paint.  Follow up with a nice car wax for protection and more shine.  

Then use oxalic acid and wd40 to remove rust / grease from all the metal bits. Reassemble and you've preserved most of the patina while adding some luster back to your bike. This is a bike I've been working on and you can see how this method works:





Also, I'd date your bike to the mid 40s by the look of the accessories (wheels, chain gaurd, etc).  My bike (a Columbia) is a 47 and looks very similar!


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## staticguy (Jan 3, 2013)

shawn57187 said:


> Honestly, I wouldn't recommend the aluminum foil method if you want to have any kind of gloss left in your paint.  The trick is to be nonabrasive as possible.
> 
> For survivor bikes like yours, I would first strip it to the frame.  Then degrease the frame with WD40 (around the dropouts, headtube / fork, and bottombracket). Then follow up with soap and water to remove the degreaser. Finally tackle the rust on the paint with ScratchX 2.0 and a buffing pad. This will not only add a nice shine back to the paint by removing light scuffing, it will also pull out all of the rust staining on the paint.  Follow up with a nice car wax for protection and more shine.
> 
> ...





That does look nice.  I'm going to strip this bike down as soon as the temp get's back up a bit.  Freezing is just too cold to work outside.
I would have never thought of using ScratchX but it makes sense.  Going to give that a try.


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## shawn57187 (Jan 3, 2013)

My bike started out like yours, but its looking like this now! 

I just sit in front of the TV and do some polishing after work.


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