When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

1939 Hawthorne Twinbar Zep

-

bairdco

I live for the CABE
Finally getting around to restoring/rebuilding my Zep.

Posted it up here a few times, and thanks to you guys, pretty much confirmed it's CWC-built, making it the third one known to exist (please prove me right or wrong, I can't find any others besides a rusty one and the blue one on Dave's site.

Serial number: E08804 with a 9C

20150921_083459.jpg


I hate red bikes, so I was happy to find original blue paint in the bottom bracket:

20160429_101925.jpg
 
Got this bike from a friend, who's dad found it in an abandoned warehouse in Santa Ana, CA. Rusty and missing parts.

20150921_082826.jpg


Front fender has holes for a light, so it might be the "standard twinbar model," but it has the horseshoe truss rod bracket for the twin lights. Fenders fit right, so probably original.

20150921_083618.jpg
 
Wheels were Lobdell drop centers with a Musselman coaster and a finned eclipse up front, but my buddy relaced the wheels with some different, modern wheels.

I had some rusty, bent, crappy drop centers so I straightened them, sandblasted and painted them blue with black pinstripes, and relaced them, using the Musselman coaster and a new departure up front.

20160503_064232.jpg


20160503_064308.jpg


Down the road I may swap them out with a chrome pair with the correct ND coaster, but for now, I'm going with what I have.
 
Fenders are going to get the same treatment, white tips with black pinstripe.

I hate the chevron arrow on the forks like the restored one on Dave's site, so I'm gonna do a different Hawthorne dart for mine.

That's where I'm at so far. Rusty parts are going to the chromer's, and I'll be pinstriping and detailing while I wait.

Need a chainguard, rack, tank (wish me luck on that,) lights, seat, pedals... but it's a start...
 
Awesome bike! Thanks for posting it.

Are your bars original? Mine has the flatter, streamlined torringtons like in the ad.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top