Build-Thread - finally getting around to fixing it up....

[loworange88]

Hey everyone, I introduced myself a few years ago with ambitions to fix up my old Bird Wren/Sears Runabout. Well my ambition was halted for one reason or another. But anyways, I'm here now and ready to go. My 9 year old son and I tore the bike down to the bare frame, and I got rid of the old HF HP motor that I had on it originally. I ordered some new tires for the wheels along with bearings. My wife's family was cleaning out her Grandparents old barn, and I scored a NIB never fired up 3HP Briggs engine which I will use on the bike for the kids as it wont be able to go so fast. Aside from the tires and new engine, I need to address the brake, the original scrub brake was toast even before I got the thing some 15 years ago. I am thinking of having a welder at work help me fab up an "original" style brake lever and scrub brake. Not sure if I want to go with a caliper brake on the sprocket or try to fab up a band brake for the clutch, as the motor I have does NOT have the mounting holes around the shaft. I'll post some pics here soon.

Take care for now.

 

[loworange88]

Before:



So Far:



My new to me NIB 3HP Briggs:



I did not yet show, that I have the old wheels at my work, I ran them thru the sand blaster to clean them up, and just need to bring them home to paint, and get the bearings and tires mounted.

 

[RobertC]

Glad to see you're back at it loworange88. It's cool to see that this time is with your son. That's great, he'll remember that forever.

Keep us posted, and y'all have fun !

 

[loworange88]

A quick update. I got some parts ordered such as tires, wheel bearings, valve stems....My 5 year old helped me paint the wheels:


I took the forks and frame to work, as the frame needed a new brake lever, which I had a guy in machine shop weld up for me, also
all of the metal parts have had a dip in our ultrasonic cleaner(acid bath), which just ate all the old layers of paint right off:




This was a surprise, the chain guard was just painted over, but whomever did it, never really scuffed it up, and it cleaned up rather nicely...not perfect, but still looks pretty good.

 

[loworange88]

We’ve got a rolling chassis. I need to do some after the fact adjustments to the brake lever, but it’s on the right path.

 

[Street Smart]

Nice!!!

 

[SCooke123]

Looks a whole lot better so far!

 

[loworange88]

What’s the best way to connect the throttle cable? I made a bracket to connect it to the engine, but not sure how I should secure the outer part of the cable at the engine.

 

[loworange88]

I figured out the throttle, we got the engine mounted, clutch on, and chain on. My oldest and I took it around the yard some. My wife thinks its goes way too fast and wants me to dial it down some. I will have to play with the throttle to try to achieve this. We still need to make a new seat, I had hoped my 9 year old would have helped on it more that he did, but perhaps now that he's riden it some, he'll get the itch to wrench on some things.

 

[Havasu Dave]

Thanks for sharing this build. Neat deal, finding that NOS Briggs in the barn!! I note you asked above how to hook that all up.

Edit: Deleted the rest of the post on throttle options after seeing you got it figured out.

 

[loworange88]

Done!

 

[FOMOGO]

Looking good! :thumbsup:

 

[Yotgguitar]

Nice....I will eventually try to find an old bike to restore with my son...
He's 11 and doesn't show interest in the Coleman CT200U that we recently purchase...
I think the Coleman is slightly to large for his smaller size, and it scares him.
That Wren seems like a perfect size for him..