Hawthorne Duralium questions

[Cyclelogical]

Hello all. I’m using my second post here to ask about this bicycle I’ve been asked to try to rehab. It belonged to my wife’s grandfather and I dragged it out of his barn today. We also inherited an old Schwinn as well.

From what I gather this is one of those aluminum Hawthornes from the 30’s. And that’s about where my knowledge of them ends. The family wants me to get this thing running again but I’m not quite sure how to rehab the surfaces of this type of bicycle. I feel like the best I can do is polish the hell out of the frame, recover the seat and add new tires and clean/grease all of the bearings. I can re-lace the wheels with new spokes but I’m not sure how far to go with this. How would you proceed with a restoration of this bicycle? I don’t have the ability to repair the mashed up fenders. We could farm out the work to a pro but maybe it should be preserved in a way? Suggestions? Thanks for reading this

 

[1817cent]

If i owned the bike, i would roll the fenders, get rid of the rear carrier, clean up the rust on the chainguard, service and add tires. You can also pick up a decent saddle and add grips. It is a fairly desirable bike that can be put back on the road without spending a fortune in the process.

 

[DonChristie]

I hit mine with xxxx steel wool and wd40. It cleans it up but does not leave a mirrored finish.

 

[tripple3]

Hey there, welcome to theCABE.
There are a bunch of So Cal bike folk.
Since its aluminum, check close for cracks, before you spend much time or $$.
Way cool bike!
Long Beach, 1st Sunday, 4th and Junipero coffee shop, Cyclone Coasters ride, 10-ish.
Lots to see, and learn about old bikes.
Hope to meet you, and you stick around.
Sparky

 

[old hotrod]

I think a sympathetic "preservation" wouldn't be too tough. Since these bikes are raw, the surface cleans easily. Invest in a quality penetrant and start spraying all the spoke nipples, seatpost and stem. Once you get it apart, put your need list on the "wanted" section and get her back together...always sounds so easy...LOL...here is a pic of my old silverking, looked a lot like yours when I got it...<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="

https://flic.kr/p/6dcsiN

" title="IMG_4049 copy"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3586/3419816520_70173d1cdd.jpg" width="500" height="440" alt="IMG_4049 copy"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[J-wagon]

It should clean up nicely. If you can find the lock key, that bonus!

 

[Cyclelogical]

If i owned the bike, i would roll the fenders, get rid of the rear carrier, clean up the rust on the chainguard, service and add tires. You can also pick up a decent saddle and add grips. It is a fairly desirable bike that can be put back on the road without spending a fortune in the process.

Not spending a fortune is nice! I’ll look into having the fenders rolled. Looks like 24” tires aren’t too expensive, either. Do you know if this would have had blackwall or whitewall tires? Thanks for the info

 

[Cyclelogical]

I hit mine with xxxx steel wool and wd40. It cleans it up but does not leave a mirrored finish.

View attachment 1581300

That looks great! I’m going to start out with that method. Thanks for the inspiration

 

[Cyclelogical]

Hey there, welcome to theCABE.
There are a bunch of So Cal bike folk.
Since its aluminum, check close for cracks, before you spend much time or $$.
Way cool bike!
Long Beach, 1st Sunday, 4th and Junipero coffee shop, Cyclone Coasters ride, 10-ish.
Lots to see, and learn about old bikes.
Hope to meet you, and you stick around.
Sparky
View attachment 1581373

Appreciate the invite! I’m further north but I do venture down there quite a bit. That looks like a good time

 

[Cyclelogical]

It should clean up nicely. If you can find the lock key, that bonus!

Her grandfather keeps everything so I wouldn’t be surprised if he still has the key somewhere. Would certainly be awesome to find it