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1941 Wards Hawthorne Project

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Mike66

Look Ma, No Hands!
I just picked up a 1940 Lady's Hawthorne and a 1941 men's last night at what I think was a good price. I'm going to start a mild restoration on the men's first and thought I'd post a couple of 'before' picks of both bikes for any thoughts anyone might want to share. So far I've done light restorations on a '38 lady's Elgin and a '38 Men's CWC built Non-Pareil Bicycle Works bike.

My tactic is mainly focusing on the mechanical restoration and possibly undoing things that were done poorly or in bad taste. These bikes have areas where someone went nuts with the pinstripes and some thick clear coat, but only in places. They seemed to focus the efforts on the tanks and handlebars and . The men's bike's tank has been repainted, detailed and pinstriped.

I will likely strip the chrome paint off of the handlebars and stem and just go with whatever polish I can get on the metal underneath. I may try to strip the tanks but I'm not sure. It'd be great if I could get enough off to start seeing any old graphics or striping but that's probably unlikely. I'd consider adding some original decals if they are available but I'm not sure yet what the original scheme would have been. If anyone wants to share photos of a similar survivor, I'd love to see them. I'll be surfing the net looking, now that I've deciphered the serial number.

My other men's bike is a CWC. I'm not familiar with Snyder. What are the opinions of the two companies quality? Anything special I should know about Snyder? I do see that it has a slightly bent chainstay that I'll need to address. The welding in one spot looks like it was either sloppy originally, or it was redone at some point.

In the interest of actually being able to see when riding at night, I may retrofit some LED in the lights. Both bikes have some lighting in the rack which I have yet to look at in any detail. The ladies bike seems to have some little bulbs that have been painted over. If there are any replacement lenses or parts available for lighting, I'm all ears. I do see that the thin plastic lenses are available for the front lights and will consider using those over the LED retrofit.

I have questions about the tank on the men's bike as it doesn't fit the horizontal bars perfectly at the fork tube. Is that normal or did someone put a wrong tank on at some point?

The men's bike is missing the chain guard. I'll be looking for a replacement if anyone has one they want to part with, or if you can share a photo of the correct one, I'd like to see that as well.

If anyone wants to share any general comments about the bikes or the process, I'd value your opinion.

Thanks in advance!

Mike

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Thanks for the feedback! I was pretty sure the tank wasn’t right but hopeful it was. Now to find the right one to buy. I don’t see any popping up on eBay. Hopefully someone here has one stashed!

I will put a post in the parts wanted section and see what happens!

Mike
 
Looking a little closer with the bike upside down, it's clear that these are for a different frame. It appears that a little goo was used to aid in the fixing of this one to the frame. This one will be for sale once I can find a replacement. If anyone wants to guess what it's for, I'd be grateful. That might help in it finding its correct home.

Thanks,
Mike

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Mike welcome! yes to Stezell the tank is off another bike. as far as the welding goes ,i would sand it down first w/ a 4.5 angel grinder (flapper wheel) then find someone with a tig welder to finish it up..good luck w/ your project Richard
 
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