Hi Dave,
Thanks for the additional information.
It's good that you have parts stashed for this, they are harder to find spares for that the Columbia's.
I forgot to mention that the original Morrow rear hub was probably dated M3, all the known Morrows from the last part of this group are M3, and September is probably too early to have moved onto an M4. That said, it's common for these bikes not to have the original Morrow, tires would be changed in a workshop where there might be several bikes, or even spare wheels ready to go, so they would be easily mixed up.
Incidentally, the Torrington 8 pedals on the bike are the correct ones, just lacking the wooden blocks. If you decide to replace them, then I would be happy to buy them off you, please let me know (-:
Here's a photo study of an unrestored Huffman, built about a month before yours, H124670
This gives you some good close ups of the fender braces on a Huffman, they hav a ridge pressed into them, and the hole for the axle is elongated, which is a weak point and often found broken/repaired.
I can't say how 'generic' the fenders are, but they certainly appear on prewar Huffmans, such as this Dec 1941..
This bicycle has been hanging in the barn for as long as I can remember. Anyone know anything about it. please help. Thanks. It does have a Belknap tag on the front. What year?? I have no idea.
thecabe.com
Going back to the unrestored bike, you should note some unusual features. The pedals ar not Torrington 8's but Persons, though they have wood blocks, and look like they could have been original. The side stand is not standard, but Huffmanbill says that these have appeared on several Huffmans. The wheel rims are not the type like your front wheel, but straight sided (I'm sure there's a term I don't know), and this occurs on quite a few Huffmans, including mine.
Parts variations due to wartime shortages is not uncommon, and can be seen on many military vehicles. This bike was built at the same time as a big contract was going through Westfield, so , as a smaller purchaser, they were probably second in line for parts.
The gurrd on wartime Huffmans (and , I think, prewar), is a little diffzerent to postwar, there is an oval lined pattern pressed into the leading edge of the guard.
The upper bracket for the truss rods is different beytween a Huffman and Columbia. The Columbia has a rounded bracket, like this one from Bergerwerke
The Huffman has a squarer bracket, as seen in the unrestored bike pictures. The lower bracket on these late models is the same.
The bolt heads are also recessed on the Huffman, and rounded on the Columbia, the slots for the axle are again elongated on the Huffman.
I hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Adrian