My '58 J.C. Higgins Derusto-Resto

Old barn-find of an old Austrian made, Sears sold J.C. Higgins 3 speed that I converted to MTB wheels and installed a 48 cc engine on with a VM12 yamaha PeeWee 50 carb.

[media]

My still camera has been down, so I didn't get to chronicle the entire build.

It's been over 3 weeks in the making, the frame was completely scabbed and pocked with surface rust, I didn't put a lot of finish work into this, as even for a decent bike in the late 1950's, the frame finish wasn't all that great.

5 speed indexed rear derailleur, 14-34 cogset and kept the original bottom bracket axle and bearings as they were perfectly usable, as was the headset. Newer (used) generic MTB 1" fork and quill high rise stem with Northroad handlebars. The saddle is off my first moped, a 1964 Honda P50, one of the few parts that got saved from that old moped.
 
Last edited:
Well it's already been painted I rattle canned it with Rustoleum. It was originally black with pinstriping, would have been sweet with the original paint but it was stored far too long in damp conditions. Classic high tensile steel lugged frame, has a capped oiler port on the bottom bracket shell.
 
Back
Top