Looking for more info on a possible Elgin bicycle

[Bike from the Dead]

I do believe the bike is a 39. To be honest the closer I look it could be just the bracket is upside down, arch in rods also seems smaller looking as well. Being a Murray, a couple different styles were used, one style being the one piece truss rods with plate, similar to what the Higgins used. What's on yours, they also used a similar style. Either way, congrats, great project to have some fun with.

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Okay, thanks! I still wouldn't be surprised if the truss rods aren't original, given how many other parts were replaced, but they do look nice on the bike at least! Thanks! I'm looking forward to building it!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I've seen '39s that were simply stamped 'SD', this must be from a transitory period where they were starting to use 'MOS', but for whatever reason, no 'D'.
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I think a safe bet would be to say that my bike is a '38-'39 model. I'm not super concerned about specifics, but it's still nice to know as much as I can. Thanks!

 

[Girlbike]

I think a safe bet would be to say that my bike is a '38-'39 model. I'm not super concerned about specifics, but it's still nice to know as much as I can. Thanks!

That's me too. For mine I was actually glad mine isn't some really desirable and rare bike,as I intend to trick it out. The thing is that it's really cool to learn a little about what you have found.

 

[rollfaster]

You can compare it to the Murray built 38 I had.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

You can compare it to the Murray built 38 I had.

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I like how that looks! Very nice!

 

[Rivnut]

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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Besides these fittings on the hubs, there are two on the top of the bottom bracket and one on the head tube

 

[razinhellcustomz]

I like how that looks! Very nice!

Elgin update: I just picked up a curved seat post about a month ago and could send you some pix from my phone...