Extreme rust on me frame, and looking for some advice- 1917 Wards Deluxe Flyer

[1motime]

It does have other issues

 

[Archie Sturmer]

The through-holes might make one wonder about the corrosion on the insides that one cannot readily see?
Reminds me of an old air compressor tank that only had one little 1/4” rust through-hole, that I could see — from the outside.

I saw another Hawthorne frame on eBay, not sure of its age or if it was built by A&S or Great Western Manufacturing, La Porte, Ind., or another; ($200 + s/h), Wisconsin?
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-...0001&campid=5335809022&icep_item=184491389343

 

[Superman1984]

I know this older than a 1958 but I am going to say Unless it sat with holes in the frame full of water It Will be Fine. I have a USA Army air compressor that did & it didn't rust through. Still builds 250 psi on all original parts but the hose & fittings. I would fill the cut pieces with an internal tube before welding as suggested & just fix it. It's not a $100,000 show piece so put it back to the way it looks or good enough & make a rider out of it or until Your content. If you're too stressed about the rust it may or may not have; might be the wrong hobby. Lol. If it's worth saving you'll make that decision of what's too far or far enough.

 

[The Carolina Rambler]

I know this older than a 1958 but I am going to say Unless it sat with holes in the frame full of water It Will be Fine. I have a USA Army air compressor that did & it didn't rust through. Still builds 250 psi on all original parts but the hose & fittings. I would fill the cut pieces with an internal tube before welding as suggested & just fix it. It's not a $100,000 show piece so put it back to the way it looks or good enough & make a rider out of it or until Your content. If you're too stressed about the rust it may or may not have; might be the wrong hobby. Lol. If it's worth saving you'll make that decision of what's too far or far enough.

Yes, I agree. I am inclined to think that likely, the rust overall inside those tubes, is probably not as bad as it may seem right now. And even with the rust inside the tubes, I would expect that on most any bike of this age, there is a fair chance some rust will be inside the tubes, simply because that was bare steel, and likely had little to no paint even from the beginning, so rust is inevitable. Since it is now stored indoors and will be maintained, its good to know that any existing rust should not really progress further. I will be getting out the hack saw and taking a look inside here in the coming weeks, so we will know for sure then.

Thank you everybody for all of your advice, and I feel that I have the information I need now to do a proper job. I'll be keeping yall in the loop, and wishing everybody happy and safe riding!

 

[Superman1984]

Yes, I agree. I am inclined to think that likely, the rust overall inside those tubes, is probably not as bad as it may seem right now. And even with the rust inside the tubes, I would expect that on most any bike of this age, there is a fair chance some rust will be inside the tubes, simply because that was bare steel, and likely had little to no paint even from the beginning, so rust is inevitable. Since it is now stored indoors and will be maintained, its good to know that any existing rust should not really progress further. I will be getting out the hack saw and taking a look inside here in the coming weeks, so we will know for sure then.

Thank you everybody for all of your advice, and I feel that I have the information I need now to do a proper job. I'll be keeping yall in the loop, and wishing everybody happy and safe riding!

If you feel the need plug every hole/opening in the frame & vinegar soak it inside, drain & neutralize; rinse & repeat. Weld it up. Now I can't wait to see it progress Cheezin'

 

[the tinker]

Hang it up as is for a kool piece of nostalgia, or sell it and let someone else deal with it. Once it's out of your sight you'll forget about it and move on to an easier project, and there's plenty of them out there. As wall art, it'll be awesome. Unless it's grandpa's bike, it's not a Bluebird. Don't bury yourself in it. [EDIT] It's been a few hours since I posted this and I want to add that I've buried myself in several bikes that I would have been better off leaving as is. Sometimes the rusty ones hanging from the ceiling, or stuck in a corner get more interest and positive comments than the restored ones. I know this as fact. I'll post a photo of a bike that I've just finished and I'll get comments about some other rusty junker that's in the photo, buried in a corner. I don't exactly know why, but maybe it's like a rusty old steam locomotive, long sidelined, setting alone on a railroad siding. It's rusty and almost beyond repair, but there's just something nostalgic about it, that a restored bike doesn't possess. It's only original once.

 

[49autocycledeluxe]

first thing to do is find someone else to weld your stuff. you need to find a craftsman, and not all welders are craftsmen.

maybe get one of those cameras they make on the end of a tube where you can put it inside and see whats up like a colonoscopy for your frame tubes rather than your butt tubes.

if that were my project at the very least I would run my sandblaster in the tubes. that frame has been rusting from the inside out, you would most likely end up with more holes than when you started and that would give a better indication to whether this could be built into a rideable bike again. after that I would pour POR 15 inside the tubes, it encapsulates rust and stops it.

a better alternative would be to have it dipped. that will clean it up inside and out.

I take things like that as a challenge... anyone (not really) can fix up a bike already in good shape.

repair the tubes, put it together as rideable, then go jump off some curbs to test your work.