1941 Firestone Cruiser Done 5/22

[Walker]

I recently sold this bike to a local friend of mine to serve duties as a townie bike, grocery getter & all around cool ride. 8) .

I would really like to find the top to the fender light to keep that original.

The preliminary plan is to clean and polish up what is left of the paint. Swap in some shiny parts such as bars & stem. New period correct grips and a better seat. We are also discussing multi speed coaster brake wheelset so she can better battle the hills around here.

I will probably wire wheel the fender braces, truss rods, tear drop pedals and paint them silver.

Wire baskets will go away in favor of some vinyl ones to match the colorscheme.

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser

Tore it down to pieces parts

the original paint colors. Kind of a huge disparity between the fenders...

HELP

 

[npence]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser

I have the correct rechromed handle bar stem. Nice original handlebars. And a correct restored seat for this bike let me know if you are interested can get some pics. Thanks, Nate

 

[texasbigjon]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser

that bike has some really sweet lines to it!

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser

Thanks guys, I'm beginning to think I should just strip it and paint it back to original colors. The budget will be rattle can but I've been meaning to try some better quailty spray paint like Montana Gold.

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Repaint???

Here's the tank after some rubbing with easy off oven cleaner and a scotchbrite sponge

half way done

the red paint is turning out to be harder than the orig green finish so polishing it out is not working so well. The Easy off didn't put much of a dent in it either.

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Repaint???

time to stop avoiding the inevitable...more later

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Repaint???

Awful quite over here but I'll keep posting...

Spent some time with some parts and the abrasive wheel this afternoon. Tried it out on this old rollfast fender first to see how well or bad it would work. maybe someday I'll finish the Decoliner and put this fender to work. The wheel works great, doesn't take any metal off to speak of which was a problem with sanding discs

chainguard, fork and 1/2 the tank are done. I'll finish off the nooks and crannies with a wire wheel and sandpaper

 

[Terry66]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Repaint???

Looks good. I'll be watching this one. I have a boys Huffman tanker to strip and repaint. How do you plan to repaint? Rattlecan?

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Repaint???

I also broke out my trusty frame alignment string and rubber band combined with calipers for tweaking the rear triangle

Now this fits perfectly

Nexus 7

The owner likes the color red but I didn't want to deviate from the factory color. After some interweb research I found this color combo

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Repaint???

thanks Terry.

Unfortunately a rattlecan is my only option at this point. the bigger issue is where and how to do it. with temps in the 20's to 30's and no garage i may need to get creative. A buddy of mine down the road does a lot of motorcycle paint work (http://www.frostysfinishes.com) I might ask to use his heated & ventilated space when the time comes. I figure another week till I get everything ready for color.

 

[Terry66]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Stripping it down for repaint

Here is what I've been doing. I set the parts and the paint indoors a day before I get started painting. I take the part and paint to the garage, shoot on a coat, let it sit for a few minutes, then bring it back in the house and hang the part in the spare bedroom. Once the coat dries, I take it back out, shoot, let it sit, then back in the house....repeat as necessary. I have a small heater outside in the garage, but it just doesn't do the job for painting.

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Stripping it down for repaint

That's the coolest girls bike ever made in my opinion 8) Too bad you couldn't save the paint but I'm sure it will look SWEET when your done! :mrgreen: Keep us posted!! :wink:

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Stripping it down for repaint

My boss has a salamander heater (heats up to 2000sq ft) and I may borrow it and set it up in my tent 'garage" to get the job done. I painted a bunch of exterior trim this winter using this method, When it was 20 degrees outside I was in a T shirt in the tent painting.

No time for sanding tonight and I need to pick up some emory cloth too so no updates till tomorrow probably.

Planning on an off white/creme color stripe between the green and red and order a set of creme tires to match.

 

[mooseknuckle2000]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Stripping it down for repaint

I've been using a salamander heater in my garage and just got done painting an old Schwinn. It worked great for this, just make sure you heat the place for a while before you begin painting/priming. Both the metal and paint should be up to temperature or you'll find yourself using your wheel again! That's a sweet bike. Good luck and keep the pics coming!

 

[sleepy]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Stripping it down for repaint

Great bike 8) ....look forward to your progress.

 

[silvertonguedevil]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Stripping it down for repaint

Don't know how I missed this one! Can't wait to see what you do with it. Definitely one of the coolest girls bikes out there!

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Stripping it down for repaint

the abrasive discs I was using are burning up fast, and they aren't cheap, I may need to come up with a different solution. Might try some 60 grit discs on a random orbital for the fenders.

temps have finally warmed up a little. I saw 7 below zero this week. The boss even postponed starting a framing job due to cold weather on tuesday, so we started framing a rough sawn garage on wednesday, which was colder than tuesday!! Nothing like trying to shoot nails into frozen hemlock! Needless to say, no painting until temps come up or I find heated space..

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Stripping it down for repaint

Rear reflector will need some polishing and a new rubber gasket. Old inner tube should work fine.

Rear fender, half done. this took maybe 5 min with the orbital sander and some 60 grit.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Stripping it down for repaint

Awesome bike, your friend is lucky to know you!

Luke.