it wouldn't take much to restore it, you can still get most of the parts, but i'd just clean it up, get some heavy duty rims and slap a motor on it. worksman makes 24's, that's about the best you can get, but they're about 200 bucks.
i've got a 24", 1939 Colson, and it's an awesome bike. the smaller size gets a little squirrelly at high speeds, but i like it.