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First ever restoration project. I believe all parts are original. Except the tank, that I bought separate. I’m excited to take this journey and can’t wait to get working on this. Any restoration tips are welcomed!
Invest in a kiddie pool, some oxalic acid, and search for some article on rust removal. You'll be pleasantly surprised at what you'll have afterwards. These older JC Higgins middleweight bikes are great riders. Post the numbers on the left rear dropout and someone will tell you the year.
Thank you for the oxalic acid recommendation. I will be trying that on the chrome parts. I just placed my amazon order and will probably work on it this weekend.
I was thinking of having the frame, fork, tank and rack sandblasted and powder coated. I got a quote for $240 for all parts. Don't know if that is a reasonable price or is that too steep? I was thinking of doing anodized red, similar to the picture below, with the tank as a matte white.
Also, i looked for the serial numbers on the dropout and i was not able to find them. If they are not there is there anywhere else they might be? I looked everywhere but i could not honestly see anything anywhere on the bike.
Could be on the bottom bracket. The bottom of where the crank goes through the frame.
Here's the serial number on my 59 JC Higgins Flightliner. The MOD502 identifies it as a Sears product. The 4690 is the model. The rest is the unique serial number.
Also, i looked for the serial numbers on the dropout and i was not able to find them. If they are not there is there anywhere else they might be? I looked everywhere but i could not honestly see anything anywhere on the bike.
Could be on the bottom bracket. The bottom of where the crank goes through the frame.
Here's the serial number on my 59 JC Higgins Flightliner. The MOD502 identifies it as a Sears product. The 4690 is the model. The rest is the unique serial number.
Thank you I found it! Had so much grime I overlooked it. The photo is hard to tell but it says
M00 502
46060
93218
Correct me if i'm wrong but i think I know the 502 is for Sears and the 46060 is the catalog # and 93218 is the identification #. Is there any way to determine the actual year with this information?
Yeah, doing my calculations i'm going to be spending over $500 easily I think the hardest thing to find would be the rear taillight. I don't plan on selling the bike since this is one I really wanted and I came across this deal on OfferUp, Picked this one up and 2 other bikes for $100
You look through the book that has the accumulation of Sears catalogs and find the catalog number that coincides with the model number on the bottom bracket. A Flightliner should be fairly simple. They started in 58 or 59 and shortly there after the numbers were moved to the left rear drop out. The 4606 is the only number you'll find in the catalog.
Dear 5M3D1N4 (is that a robot from one of the Star Wars movies?
Here's the relevant page from 1960 Sears catalog cut. The subject bike (4606) is a "Deluxe Flightliner." I am the proud owner of a 1960 "Equipped Flightliner," which was a cheaper model with a plain fork and painted fenders (see photo below). What Piercer was referring to as "rest-mod" is, I think, the concept that restoration is the process of returning the bike to as near as new condition as practical. Once you do something different than original, e.g., powder coating, it is no longer restoration, even if the modification could be considered an improvement. So once you go down that road, all bets are off and you can make any modification you want -- paint it different colors, add or remove parts, etc. It may be very cool, but it will never be a restored bike.
Have fun!
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