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Goodbye Elvis, Hello John Wayne!

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Tomato John

Finally riding a big boys bike
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My 38-39 ish Huffman with g519 parts nicknamed Elvis. Worked out a deal with Krakatoa and Elvis left the building and was replaced with what I’m calling John Wayne
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Now when we put JW together with what was left of Elvis....
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hopefully someday we will have this
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looking forward to getting started on this project and am open to any and all suggestions or advice. Should I leave it?Strip it? Carefully remove paint layers to find original od green? I’m all ears. Thanks. J
 
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Hi Johan, Your website and CABE posts are what persuaded me to pursue this project. i really enjoy all the information that you have made available and it has been very helpful for me. Going to be fun putting this bike together. Keep up the good work and thank you. JR
 
Now beginning to try to remove layers of old paint to see how much OD Green was left underneath. Began with carb cleaner- no luck. Tried a heat gun but was worried that it would work too well. Using a chem stripper which is working but is pretty harsh. Working through a layer of red, blue, and possibly black and finding some green but is in rough condition. It’s really slow going but kind of satisfying as well. I kind of like the look- well worn and salty!
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View attachment 757501Not much Green on top. Pretty much bare metal. Bummer. If there is a better way to do this let me know. Totally winging it.....
Paint removal is tedious and it looks like i’m removing the original paint in places as well. Contemplating whether or not to remove it all and repaint. Is it better to leave it like it is with bare patches or completely repaint?
 
Seems you're experiencing the same trouble I had with the Women's Columbia...
Once all paint removed there were so many bare metal spots it wasn't even clear anymore just what color the frame originally was.
I do ride my restored bikes, so with that in mind I decided to strip the frame completely and repaint it the correct shade OD.
Had better luck on the Huffman; the original OD had never been covered and over 80% of the original finish, although quite worn, was still present. So I kept it that way...
 
I was really hoping i wouldn't have to repaint. Some of the other parts have a really nice original patina and would love to keep that look. will have to wait and see what it looks like after removing the rest of the top layers. You wouldn't happen to know where there is a torrington 8 left with wood blocks laying around? I think I have pretty much everything except that and bell, pump and rear reflector. Let me know if you happen to know where to find one of these. Thanks, J
 
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