Archie Sturmer
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
The black fork/crown looks like a Colson.
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I seem to think there were a few ladies bikes that I didn't get from that place, they were cut up in a scrap pile already, maybe the odd forks were off those bikes.
The older Columbia is less complete, just a frame, fork, cranks, and two hubs and rims, all well painted in thick black paint, over top of green paint that's sprayed over everything.
Even the headbadge was painted but I was told its an older Columbia.
I seem to remember I may have a set of fenders for this one too, but I don't think they're original to the bike.
Here's a pic of the older Columbia:
This has a small seat post, I didn't measure it but it looks to be just a piece of bent 5/8" stock with no shim. The clamp is part of the frame.
This has had many coats of paint over the years, I see orange, red, blue, green, and black on it in various spots. The back of the chainring shows signs of both school bus yellow and sort of an army green color under the heavy black that's on it now. The outer chainring has some silver under the black.
The numbers appear to read G9 at the top, then E121103 below.
None of the three are original paint, none are particularly 'clean' examples of their era.
I think I'll likely paint the WF the right color again, put the wheels I have together for it and make it a riding bike again.
I'm not sure what I should do with the older Columbia above.
The newer Columbia is complete and ridable as it is, I did go over all the bearing a few years ago when I first got it but it too is a crude repaint.
The older Columbia is less complete, just a frame, fork, cranks, and two hubs and rims, all well painted in thick black paint, over top of green paint that's sprayed over everything.
Even the headbadge was painted but I was told its an older Columbia.
I seem to remember I may have a set of fenders for this one too, but I don't think they're original to the bike.
Here's a pic of the older Columbia:
This has a small seat post, I didn't measure it but it looks to be just a piece of bent 5/8" stock with no shim. The clamp is part of the frame.
This has had many coats of paint over the years, I see orange, red, blue, green, and black on it in various spots. The back of the chainring shows signs of both school bus yellow and sort of an army green color under the heavy black that's on it now. The outer chainring has some silver under the black.
The numbers appear to read G9 at the top, then E121103 below.
None of the three are original paint, none are particularly 'clean' examples of their era.
I think I'll likely paint the WF the right color again, put the wheels I have together for it and make it a riding bike again.
I'm not sure what I should do with the older Columbia above.
The newer Columbia is complete and ridable as it is, I did go over all the bearing a few years ago when I first got it but it too is a crude repaint.
Archie Sturmer
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
The Columbia looks like a Westfield-built, and some use those terms interchangeably. The chain ring sprocket looks like one used on Sears Elgin bicycles (built by Westfield). Looks like a 1940-E. Not sure what year that the Alemite grease fittings were discontinued.
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Isn't Columbia and Westfield sort of the same company?
I cleaned off the headtube and measured the headbadge holes, they're vertical and spaced 2 7/8" apart.
The layers of color on the headtube were black/white/burgundy/blue/white/green/white/red/white/orange/primer red.
The paint that chips off this thing is 1/8" thick in spots.
I seem to remember seeing an tall aluminum Elgin badge in one of the boxes but it looked newer. There is a rectangular 'Westfield' badge but I'd have to dig to find it to get the screw hole measurements.
Between the black 'Westfield' and the CWC, the CWC looks like a better bike. The CWC has forged forks vs tubular on the Westfield, and all tubing joints are fillet brazed. Both need proper paint, the Westfield needs it worse. I'll likely wait for a clear, warm day and strip off all the coats of paint in the Westfield just to better assess what I have. The CWC will also get repainted once I find the right color for it.
If it is an Elgin, would that mean it gets one of those finned Musselman hubs?
The wheels that came with the black bike are likely incorrect for 1940 being square pattern and not drop center rims?
I cleaned off the headtube and measured the headbadge holes, they're vertical and spaced 2 7/8" apart.
The layers of color on the headtube were black/white/burgundy/blue/white/green/white/red/white/orange/primer red.
The paint that chips off this thing is 1/8" thick in spots.
I seem to remember seeing an tall aluminum Elgin badge in one of the boxes but it looked newer. There is a rectangular 'Westfield' badge but I'd have to dig to find it to get the screw hole measurements.
Between the black 'Westfield' and the CWC, the CWC looks like a better bike. The CWC has forged forks vs tubular on the Westfield, and all tubing joints are fillet brazed. Both need proper paint, the Westfield needs it worse. I'll likely wait for a clear, warm day and strip off all the coats of paint in the Westfield just to better assess what I have. The CWC will also get repainted once I find the right color for it.
If it is an Elgin, would that mean it gets one of those finned Musselman hubs?
The wheels that came with the black bike are likely incorrect for 1940 being square pattern and not drop center rims?
Rivnut
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
I have a 35, a 39, and a 40 Elgin and none of those have the Alemite grease fittings. I think they were only a couple of years.
I dug out the fenders that came with the red WF:
The fenders for the Westfield (or Elgin), are nearly identical but with less of a point on the leading edge on the front fender.
Does anyone think these two are worth repainting and putting back together?
The WF is pretty complete, but the wheels are in primer and the whole bike is the wrong color. So both need paint.
The red paint may be older than I thought, the rear fender paint is starting to show cracks all over. The front fender appears to have had two holes filled in from a previous headlight.
The paint that is there though looks pretty decent. I don't know how well new paint on the rims would match the rest of the old paint. The shade of red that this thing is painted is very bright, likely not a color that would have existed back then
The original plan was to strip the whole thing down to bare metal and repaint it the original cranberry color I see inside the frame with some fender pinstripes.
The Westfield is really just a frame, fork and crankset, the rest of the parts are likely from another bike. If it is a 1940, then it likely should have drop center rims. If it is an Elgin, then the wheels maybe should have finned hubs?
I'd have to find a correct chainguard and handlebars as well. (Or something period correct at the very least).
The fenders for the Westfield (or Elgin), are nearly identical but with less of a point on the leading edge on the front fender.
Does anyone think these two are worth repainting and putting back together?
The WF is pretty complete, but the wheels are in primer and the whole bike is the wrong color. So both need paint.
The red paint may be older than I thought, the rear fender paint is starting to show cracks all over. The front fender appears to have had two holes filled in from a previous headlight.
The paint that is there though looks pretty decent. I don't know how well new paint on the rims would match the rest of the old paint. The shade of red that this thing is painted is very bright, likely not a color that would have existed back then
The original plan was to strip the whole thing down to bare metal and repaint it the original cranberry color I see inside the frame with some fender pinstripes.
The Westfield is really just a frame, fork and crankset, the rest of the parts are likely from another bike. If it is a 1940, then it likely should have drop center rims. If it is an Elgin, then the wheels maybe should have finned hubs?
I'd have to find a correct chainguard and handlebars as well. (Or something period correct at the very least).
Superman1984
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
Build'em the way you'd enjoy them. At this point there's Not anything worth trying to restore as it's parts; I sense adhd & Trust Me throwing something together to Ride sometimes helps that! Project bikes are a Great Curse 'cause you can aim to put it back orginal restored (lots of time, money, and waiting) or you can build it the way you want it, like the way it looks, and enjoy riding it. Even sell it & let someone else do something with it; tough decisions
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