Need help identifying this minibike

[leafvillage]

Hello, I bought this minibike at a flea market yesterday, the guy sprayed it with a can of blue paint .. Uggggg
he must have had his eyes closed when he sprayed it. I found a little plate saying Montgomery Wards.
I never seen a throttle setup like this, at first I thought it was a brake. I like the springs on it and the seat.
Just wondering if the minibike is stock. Thanks

 

[capguncowboy]

Monkey Wards is right. They were made by Gilson

 

[leafvillage]

Monkey Wards is right. They were made by Gilson

I think the original stickers are on the bike, is there a way to save them after he sprayed them with paint?

 

[Kyminibiker]

I have seen far worse spray bomb jobs, good score. I have a arco built monkey wards bike myself.

 

[leafvillage]

I have seen far worse spray bomb jobs, good score. I have a arco built monkey wards bike myself.

I want to take off this spray paint and see what the chain guard looks like, I would also like to put a headlight on it, need to find one and how to power it. Wish I could add some shiny chrome to it and a cool exhaust like I see on others.

 

[Tom S.]

That's a great find and the start of a good project. Such carelessness in trying to keep the overspray off of anything is mystifying. Why not just paint everything blue? When I was growing up, we were definitely a Montgomery Ward family. MW had a huge store/distribution center in Portland, Ore., and I loved going there with my parents. Sears was always the second choice, or maybe J. C. Penney. Wards shut down their stores in 2001. The floor jack, air compressor, and wrenches that I purchased from them still see almost daily use.

 

[leafvillage]

That's a great find and the start of a good project. Such carelessness in trying to keep the overspray off of anything is mystifying. Why not just paint everything blue? When I was growing up, we were definitely a Montgomery Ward family. MW had a huge store/distribution center in Portland, Ore., and I loved going there with my parents. Sears was always the second choice, or maybe J. C. Penney. Wards shut down their stores in 2001. The floor jack, air compressor, and wrenches that I purchased from them still see almost daily use.

I miss those days and great stores, I want to get my mini bike looking like the ones in this photo

 

[capguncowboy]

A mild cleaner like Goof off will remove the spray paint without harming too much underneath it. Be careful on the decals though as they'll remove the color on some types. I just cleaned up a Cat All American that had some light overspray on the fenders. I used with Goof Off on the painted parts but it was removing the color on the decals so I covered them to clean the paint. Afterward, I used used a magic eraser on the decals and they removed the overspray without harming the decal color. I can't guarantee results, but that worked for me.

Be careful with those fenders btw. They're prone to crack right along the mount tabs. I've seen a lot of Gilsons with half-fenders on them.

BTW, here's my Gilson -- i've done a little more clean up on it since the pictures (replaced the fuel line and recoil with NOS)