USMC Westfield Columbia G519 fresh out of the wood work!

[Huffy45]

Howdy all!

Between work and celebrating my birthday this past weekend I have been off the radar with this bike.

Today I received my molded-from-original grips via Kevin C.
I am pleased with the quality, color and finish. They fit my Torringtons very nicely but had a tiny bit of rotational play.

I used some GI-like friction tape on the ends of the bars before install to secure them/snug the fitment up.
Don't know if any sort of adhesive or tape was used from factory.

Only thing I did not like about these grips is where the two halves meet at the end. It makes for a thin/sharp molded edge. NOS ones have this parting line so it is not inaccurate but was a bit uncomfortable in the palm of my hands.

I sanded this ridge down, slightly sacrificing a factory finish.. This is a military bike I plan to ride at some point, so I really don't care much for blemish. I may high grit wet sand or polish it a touch.

Very happy with these reproduction grips!

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After much delay the front axle arrived today. I measured and filed it to fit my forks and installed it with the original front wheel straight away.

I also received an original Columbia seat post binder bolt and nut. Turns out the bolt was too long, stupid me. I cut it to size and installed it.

I failed to grab any photos during the process of filing the axle and cutting and shaping of the bolt. Just went into GO mode and started working.

Here's a shot of the gun blue on a lot of small parts before reinstalling.

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The final layers of lusterless forest green have been applied! I am experimenting on the unit placard paint layout with the scarlet red and gold on black.

Seat leather has been dyed and the seat post blued as well.

Here is the bike as it sits this evening. She's a rear wheel and clean chain away from rolling again. Also should straighten those bars!

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Aaron

 

[Pedro96]

I've really been enjoying watching this restoration come together and appreciate you taking the time to share it with us all! Can't wait to see the finish article, it's a credit to you and your skills.
Oh, happy birthday as well for earlier!

 

[Huffy45]

Thanks @Pedro96, I am just a shade tree mechanic with a lot of determination and bikes are fairly easy to wrench on!

Nearing the finish line for this Westfield Columbia and I am so happy it is back to looking like it should.

This morning I aligned/leveled the handlebars, lowered the seat to height and painted/installed the Bevin bell. Checked tightness on all forward end fittings.

Family photo for now. A Womens 1944 VG296 will be joining them soon. Gotta have something for the wife to ride.

 

[johan willaert]

Family photo for now. A Womens 1944 VG296 will be joining them soon. Gotta have something for the wife to ride.

Great job.... Funny you say your wife needs something to ride....

This photo taken a couple of years ago shows my wife on her Women's G519 and my daughter on my all original VG296

 

[Huffy45]

Great photo, thanks for sharing @johan willaert. Love those bikes. Maybe one day I will locate the rare M306.

The VG296 I just landed is very original but worse for wear and will need a complete cosmetic re-do.

My wife really likes the forest green paint I'm using on this Columbia MC so the women's bike might be going military. His and hers?

I will start another thread once it arrives to document the restoration.

 

[johan willaert]

Nice one!
Here are photos of my Vg296

1942 Westfield Columbia VG296 Women's Bicycle | Military Bicycles

Just acquired this 1942 Model Vg296 Women's Columbia... Not a Military contract bicycle, but seems some of these models were used by the US Navy WAVES later in the war... Ser# is G65334 and looks all Original down to tubes and tires... Hope you like it... Cheers, Johan

thecabe.com

 

[Huffy45]

Side mission!

I plan on reskinning the seat on this build and trying to fabricate a tool bag. With that I decided to design a Persons logo to be made into a stamp.

It ain't perfect.. but I am happy with the result. Fonts and spacing are pretty spot on.

I could not find a source for a pre-made stamp or this logo readily available on the CABE. So now I share my version with you.

Making the template for the tool bag leather now and hope to have some updates on that soon.

Aaron

 

[Jonesy]

My quick attempt at the Persons logo. I don't want to hijack your excellent thread, so how's about starting a new one on making a replica Persons tool bag?

 

[Pedro96]

I've looked into making templates etc for a while so I'm fully with @jones on this.
i looked for the latches and the below is about as close as what I could find. May need alterations to make it more suitable to the real one.

 

[Mercian]

Hi All,

This is a set of measurements I did for another member here who restores Persons saddles.

The measurements were taken from one of my tool bags. I hope they make some sense in conjuction with your drawings above.

• The impressed border around the shield is 1/16 inch wide.
• The impression of the letters is generally 1/32 inches wide, with tiny variations.
• The letters in PERSONS are all the same height, The E is 3/16 inch tall.
• The E in PERSONS is 1/8 inch wide.
• The letters in WORCESTER MASS. are all the same height, The E is 1/8 inch tall.
• The E in WORCESTER is 1/16 inch wide.
• The letters in U.S.A. are all the same height. 5/32 inch tall.
• The U in U.S.A. is 3/32 inch wide.
• The shield at it's widest point (outside border to outside border) is 1 1/4 inches wide.
• The shield at it's tallest point, from the bottom of the shield to the top of the central 'spike' (outside border to outside border) is 1 5/16 inches tall.
• Distance between the tops of the two outer 'spikes' on the top of the shield is 1 1/8 inches (the central spike subdivides this accurately at 9/16 of an inch).
• The smaller shield surrounding the word Persons, at it's tallest point, from the bottom of the shield to the top of the central 'spike' (outside border to outside border) is 5/8 inches tall.

If you need any more detail, or what I've said's unclear, do let me know.

Best Regards,

Adrian