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My First Prewar Hawthorne...I Think...

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Getting there...

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Well, I got the tires off! I needed to use a hammer to separate the tire from the rim, whacking it on both sides around the entire wheel, which sent chunks of petrified rubber flying all over the place.
I then used the hacksaw to cut down almost to the wire beads. (Thank you @Archie Sturmer for the heads up that they were there). I lifted the tire enough with a screwdriver to get to the beads. Then a wire cutter to cut each one individually. All in all, it took just about an hour to do both tires. Today, I'll start the cleaning of the rims, spokes and hubs.

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I started on the rims yesterday (not the spokes yet, but I did do the hubs), and I'm happy so far. I don't want to go to crazy on the stripes yet for fear of removing them. Wouldn't be the first time I was overzealous and caused issues.

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Work continues, and I'm happy with it. I needed to straighten out the chain guard a bit, and I put on a pair of old Paragon tires I had which work well with it (even if they're only 1.75 size).

LOTS more work to do, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel! 😛

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Getting closer to completion, but I had to assemble it just to see the comparison from when I brought it home.

Still working on the handlebars and neck to get it better, but when that's done, then it's time to take it outside for some daylight photos. I try to take the bikes up the two flights to the top floor of my house only once (unless it's ones I keep there permanently) while working on them. WAY to heavy with something like this to go up and down with. That's fine for my Road bikes (which weigh about a third of this one), but not this type of bike. This will reside in my finished basement.

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