1954 columbia 3 star deluxe

[charliechaindrive]

Found this in the back of a little antique shop/ice cream parlor, with a 150$ price tag on it. Couldn't get the money out of my wallet fast enough!

I was really happy to see the inside of the light is in good shape too.

All the chrome is pretty toasty but the paint is pretty amazing. Threw some cheap walmart white walls at it to fill the fenders out, the 1.75 middle weight tires that were on it when i bought it looked goofy. Definetly needs a rear hub service though, I've never had a new departure hub slip this badly when you get on the brake before.

 

[charliechaindrive]

Had a chance to clean it up a little better last night and dealt with the rear hub. The paint is coming back great

Also took the fork apart because it was put together wrong and not functional, but now it works just fine.

Most of the staining came off and it's probably going to shine up great.

 

[pedalpower17]

Nice find....be sure to put some post-shine-up pics

 

[charliechaindrive]

After a good scrubbing and new grease everywhere, the '54s riding like a new bike. The fork works smooth, I rebuilt the rear hub and took the time to clean each of the little discs from inside there one at a time

all the chrome is in quite sad condition though. It's actually kind of dangerous on the handlebars, where a flake has one looser edge it turns into a little knife blade. But the fenders themselves are in good shape, with minimal damage.

Seat also is super nice after a clean up

I had a lot more detail come back on the rear rack than i was expecting. Out in the sun is when it's really nice

I'm really happy with it, and with these walmart tires. I was hesitant to buy a cheap folding tire but these Bell ones are pretty nice. The white is really even on the sidewall, they fill the fenders out perfectly too.

These old decals are pretty sweet

It's a shame that one is destroyed. Hoping I'll be able to pick up a tank soon here that's a close paint match, before i cleaned it you could tell that this bike was just recently seperated from the original one, and you still can. And for the chrome issue, I know our local powdercoat shop can do something very close to a hazed chrome finish now. May have to look into getting the bars and fenders done

 

[charliechaindrive]

A few more beauty shots I forgot to put in that post.

Kinda neat, there's only 10 years difference between the bike and my dad's Valiant.

 

[2jakes]

Almost there...looking good!

 

[charliechaindrive]

Almost there...looking good!View attachment 868221

That's pretty cool haha thank you.