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Looking for more info on a possible Elgin bicycle

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Murray straight bar, 39-41. If I was a betting man, I'd say the date on the seat post was when the bike was re-done, considering the fenders, pedals, etc.. Seat, bars, guard and truss rod setup are wrong as well, Good Project. They make great looking racer's, if not complete when found.

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After a quick dusting, I could really tell just how well this bike could clean up... aside from the paint. Some of it flaked off with almost no pressure from wiping the dust off. Still, just a quick dusting, and this bike wants to shine!
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The kickstand's not right for this bike, I don't think, but it is pretty interesting. Anybody know what kind it's supposed to be?
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Anyone know what's up with the "S" stamped onto the fork and bottom bracket?
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There's a date, August 16th of 2001, marked on the seat post. I need to find out what the significance of that date means. Maybe that's when the fire museum acquired this bike?
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I'm having a hard time reading the stamping under the bottom bracket. Looks like they didn't stamp it on right, based on how they seemed to have stamped it more than once. It looks like it's supposed to read "MOS T95504," but I'm not sure. Also, what's up with all the dots at the top?
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Hey Austin, Their is a patent # on the kick stand.. Could be an indicator to the year of the bike.. Nice Score, Deadman.. RideOnn.. Razin..
 
Rear hub mfg musselman, check hub shell nondrive side for date code
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Found the markings on the rear hub. Looks like my bike (or at least the hubs) were manufactured in the 1st quarter of 1938. According to one of the guys on RRB, the frame I have should be a 1938 model, so I'm willing to believe that at least the hubs (if not the complete wheels) are original to the frame.
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The bike has been repainted and wrong fenders, guard, and pedals. Not sure about seat. At a swap I’m seeing about $150 bicycle tops. V/r Shawn
First repainted bike I've come across that not only didn't have primer under the paint, but didn't even have the original paint hiding underneath either! Kind of surprised. Whoever repainted this bike thought to get the bike down to bare metal, but didn't put at least a coat of primer on first? Yeah, I could tell right away that the fenders, guard and pedals were added later. I don't think the seat is original, but it's definitely old. That's lower than I expected, but I'm guessing that value comes mostly from the frame, fork and wheel hubs? I've seen people on the "For Sale/Trade" section asking at least that much on similar bikes just for the frame, so I don't know if that's just the difference in swap meet prices vs. online prices, or what. Thanks for your input, though!
 
if bikes like this were $150 a pop where I live I would own a lot more bikes. a person with a 70's huffy in the same shape would ask $150 on the Bay Area Craigslist.
I've seen similar prices for cheap '70s step-through road and track bikes here in Oklahoma! Based on what I've seen folks asking for on similar frames here on the "For Sale/Trade" section, I figured this bike was worth closer to $300, if only for the frame, fork, and wheels! Guess it depends on the region and what the buyer/seller thinks it's worth.
 
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Do like some of the other left coasters and come to Memory Lane next month. You’ll feel like you’re in Bargainmart for stuff like this! V/r Shawn
I'd love to go to more swap meets like that, but that's not a drive for me, that's a flight! I can't afford to make those kind of trips right now. Hopefully that'll change soon, but for now, I'm sticking within 3 hours drive-time from home.
 
Okay, this took longer than I meant for it to, but here are some additional photos to help identify the "Elgin."

I take it these are those Alemite fittings I keep hearing about?
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I tried sanding off more of the paint under the bottom bracket to see if any other numbers or letters would show, but nothing else revealed itself.
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Some close-ups of the rear hub.
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Also, just to put it out there, as I was replacing the tubes and tires so I could get this bike rolling, I made a few discoveries.

First, the inside of both the rims are clean! Whether these are the original hoops or not, like the rest of the bike, they're nearly rust-free! Shiny, even!
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Next, I found this inside the back tire. It even still holds air! (I took it out and replaced it with a new tube, both to be safe and to preserve the original tube.)
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Before I replaced the tires, I just wanted to see what they'd look like inflated. The rear tire is actually in really good shape, almost like new! It's still grippy, it has now cracks that I could find, it's still got the mold lines on the middle of the tread! The front tire is not in as good of shape as the rear tire, but it'd look alright on a display bike, I think.
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Murray straight bar, 39-41. If I was a betting man, I'd say the date on the seat post was when the bike was re-done, considering the fenders, pedals, etc.. Seat, bars, guard and truss rod setup are wrong as well, Good Project. They make great looking racer's, if not complete when found.

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Nice! Is that the period your Elgin was manufactured? According to one of the guys on ratrodbikes.com, mine appears to be a '38-'39. That also just so happens to be the date of manufacture on the rear hub, according to @J-wagon's earlier post. So I'm willing to bet mine is either a '38 or '39 model based on what I know so far.

That would definitely make sense for the date on the seat post. My guess was that was the day the fire museum acquired the bike, but I'm not ruling anything out until I ask someone from the museum itself.

I knew the fenders, guard and pedals were all wrong, and I figured that the seat and handlebars might not be original either, but I'm a little surprised by the truss rods. How are those wrong; just not the correct parts, or are they assembled incorrectly?

Thanks! They do look great as board track racers, as yours clearly shows. I know mine would look good as one; I've seen a lot of other folks build similar bikes that way, but that's part of the problem; just about every prewar Elgin/Murray I've seen that's similar to mine seems to have been converted into a board track racer. That just makes me want to go a completely different direction with mine! I've mocked up a few parts on this bike already, but nothing's really clicking just yet. I'd have to sketch up some ideas both on paper and in Photoshop before I make any decisions.

I actually got my Elgin rolling under its own power yesterday, and looking like a board track racer too! I had to tweak the master link on the chain so it'd actually lock together this time, but I was able to use the original skiptooth chain on this bike. Granted, it'd need to be cleaned and lubed again to be at its best, but none of the links are locked up at least. I just took it for a very short ride around my neighborhood, just to assess everything. The biggest issues the bike has right now is that the coaster brake needs a rebuild, and I can't get the handlebars clamped tight enough to prevent them from rotating down with any reasonable pressure applied to them. Seat's not too comfy either, but it's tolerable at least. I left the chain guard and fenders off, both because they weren't original to the bike, and because I just wanted to see how the bike would look without them. The tires are just some freebies I got from a friend, and the tubes were just ones I salvaged from some parts bikes. Not very elegant, but functional.
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Found the markings on the rear hub. Looks like my bike (or at least the hubs) were manufactured in the 1st quarter of 1938. According to one of the guys on RRB, the frame I have should be a 1938 model, so I'm willing to believe that at least the hubs (if not the complete wheels) are original to the frame.
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Hub dates the bike to first quarter 1938. V/r Shawn
 
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