24" Firestone - Tank art options??

[Critter1]

Shoulder bolts for the springer are on their way thanks to sdJOE86! Aren't the interwebs great!

[Critter1]

I received the new original shoulder bolts and they're perfect. Its so nice to use original hardware.... since you can't just go buy a replacement shoulder bolt! I'm also gonna need to cut the steer tube down by about 2".


Now the new issue i have is that the stem I was using on the original fork won't fit down into the rat-trap steer tube. The ID of the ret-trap appears to be slightly smaller than the original fork. They were apparently made with a slightly thicker wall tubing. Anyone else run into this issue? Am I going to need to get a Spaceliner stem?? Or just shave down the stem I have until it fits..?

The steer tube on the right is the original Monark/Firestone fork.


This is as far is it goes.

[Critter1]

Heres where I'm at on the chain guard. Its going to need lengthened about 1.5" to 2" in order to cover the rear cog. Also going to make a bracket that'll utilize the original braze-on on the top of the BB. I don't have my welder at my house anymore, so all the welding that needs done will have to wait until I can get to my buddies shop..

[sdJOE86]

I received the new original shoulder bolts and they're perfect. Its so nice to use original hardware.... since you can't just go buy a replacement shoulder bolt! I'm also gonna need to cut the steer tube down by about 2".


Now the new issue i have is that the stem I was using on the original fork won't fit down into the rat-trap steer tube. The ID of the ret-trap appears to be slightly smaller than the original fork. They were apparently made with a slightly thicker wall tubing. Anyone else run into this issue. Am I going to need to get a Spaceliner stem?? Or just shave down the stem I have until it fits..?

The steer tube on the right is the original Monark/Firestone fork.


This is as far is it goes.

I also ran into this issue on my current build, however, this size differance wasn't as big as yours. I just tok a dremel to my stem and it fit great.

[sdJOE86]

That rat trap springer looks great btw!

[Critter1]

I finally got out to my friends shop in Sonoma. Thats where I get my welding and paint done. I only had one day to be there and we had to fill a pretty tall order... Shorten rat-trap steer tube, bead blast rat-trap fork, grind stem shaft until it fits, extend chain guard and mount it, sand all bare metal parts with 320, and finally - seal & paint!!

No turning back now!


I measured the original steer tube and it was 4 3/4" from the center of the lower bearing race to the top of the threads. I subtracted 1/8" since the rat-trap doesn't need the truss rod bracket, so 4 5/8" was the goal. It worked out good with a tiny gap for good weld penatration. The angle iron is a sure fire way to get the two pieces of tube to line back up to be nice and straight.


Steer tube shortened: check.

[Critter1]

With the chain guard, I started by eyeballing it to see just where I wanted it, then marked it for a pocket around the fender and tire.


This Monark chain guard originally had the bracket that clamps around the lower frame tube. You can see where it was attached by the thicker piece on the inside lip. I don't know what frame it came off of, but it didn't line up with the lower tube of this frame so it got cut off. I took a bracket off a 26" chain guard, and had to shorten it some to make it work. We used a "nut-cert" for easy installation here.


I really like how these chain guards cover the rear sprocket, so I wanted to definitely make that work. We extended it 3" and for mounting the rear portion, we used another nut-cert and bolted it to the rear drop-out through the fender bracket hole.


Come to find out, this chain guard^ came off a 20" Monark.. I've never even seen a 20" Monark. Oh well, it's a 24" now!

[Critter1]

When I started this build, I had visions of this Hudson Hornet my friend built for a client of Pixar to use for the Car's movie premier. He had lots of this color left over too. Its a beautiful blue he had custom mixed. I like to call it "Old-School Blue" because it has that 1930's-40's gangster feel to it. Back then cars weren't painted to this high level of detail though. They didn't have fancy shiny clear coats. They were lucky if they even had any shine at all.... and that's what I wnated!



This worked out great for us (in the interest of time)... This frame wasn't 100% free of scratches in the metal and small dings. I mean, after all, it is 65 years old. So I wasn't afraid to let it show its character. This meant, there was no plan to use any high build primer, then sand to perfection.. I just took some 320 and went over the bare metal to give the paint something to stick to. Also to replicate that old school feel, we planned on using Hot-Hues satin clear over the blue paint. No need to put on a bunch of coats either, just a couple passes to get the affect we wanted.

First step is to hit the bare metal with a thin coat of sealer-primer tinted with black so the dark blue would cover faster.


Then it was time to apply the "Old-School Blue". Oh ya, I didnt feel like messing with all that spring tension of the rat-trap, so I just taped it off.


Thats my buddy Rick, owner of Classic Restoration in Sonoma.. we go waaay back.



I ran out of time to get everything into paint. The fender and chain guard need slight bit of body work still, but they'll get done during the week. I'm shooting to have this bike wrapped up by next Friday. I want to bring it out to Karfers "Hands Helping Hand" event here in town next Saturday. I want my son to get the full "show" experience. He's looking forward to entering it into the show's kids bike class. Unfortunately he hasn't been able to be part of this buid since he lives in San Diego with mamma... But he'll be here tomorrow and stay with dad for the summer. He'll definitely be here to help reassemble his new Firestone bike!!

[sdJOE86]

Way cool!!!

[Critter1]

So I order a part from a guy over on the CABE, he's outta New York. He replied to a wanted ad I had for a rat-trap springer chrome fork crown cover. He said all I'd have to pay is shipping, so he quoted me $5.00..... no problem. I paid right away. About a week goes by, and I have a package on my porch (from New York). Its kinda heavy, and the postage was $14.00 . I scratch my head, then open the box....

Here's the first thing I see.


I start digging through the bubble wrap and news paper and pull out small part after small part. At first I was thinking he sent me the whole springer . Well, turns out he sent me pretty much everything but the spring and fork... aaaand a sweet ratty Troxel seat and speedo!!!
Remember.. all i expected was the little chrome fork crown cover that he could have shipped for two bucks! He must have needed this "Higgins stuff" outta his sight...


I think this seat needs to be blasted and clear coated over the bare metal with a little red detail



The speedo had no cable or gear with it, and the lens is real faded, but it still pretty awesome for the whole sum of FREE!


This is what will make it on to the Firestone. Maybe the truss rods too, but I think they may be for a 26". I'll have to see if they work.


My son is here now with me, and we're heading up to Sonoma on Thursday to reassemble the bike... See you all Saturday at "Hands helping Hand"!!

[Critter1]

If anyone can tell what brand this speedo is, that would be helpful. I might as well hunt down the cable and gear for it.

Edit*

I was able to get the bezel off without damage. The lens is definitely shot and will need replaced. Obviously its made by Western Auto Supply Co. Now my new question is: Can someone date this speedo. My guess would be 40s/50s...

[Critter1]

My son and I made a quick trip to the local crafts store to see if we could find something fitting for a new lens on the speedometer. We walked every aisle and weren't having any luck. As we started to walk out, we see a stack of do-it-yourself key chains that allow you to put a picture in it. It looked pretty close to the size we needed, and for .99 its no big loss if it didn't work. Well, turns out that the outter (larger) portion of the key chain was the exact diameter of the old faded yellow cracked lens.. score!! (still need a cable though )

[Critter1]

We decided to use a 1930's Bosch headlight I had instead of the Royce headlight as we originally planned. The Royce had an offset mount, and any way we tried to come up with a mounting solution, it just didn't look right. So after we left the crafts store with our speedo lens, we headed over to Radio Shack for a switch, then to Harbor Freight for a cheap 32 LED flashlight so we could use the guts in the Bosch light.

$5.99


The original switch hole in the headlight was too big for the new switch, so a couple of washers sandwiched it in there just fine.


Out came the soldering iron and heat shrink! I like this picture. Someone had wrote in pencil "1932"... Its kind of funny to see circuits and LEDs inside a headlight thats possibly 79 years old!



I used super glue to attach the LED cluster to the inner lens of the headlight (after removing the old bulb assembly). This light has seen some rough times so the lens and glass didn't seat into the outer bezel very well, and the glass was broke in two pieces. Super glue to the rescue!! After glueing the LED to the inner lens, I glued the glass back together and glued to to the inner lens. Unfortunately the glue fumes fogged up the inside of the glass and now there's now way to get in there and clean it. DANG!! no worries, the light still shines through just fine.

[Critter1]

I picked up this old "suicide" steering wheel knob at a swap a while back thinking it would make a neat tail light.


While at Harbor Freight we grabbed this flexible 1 LED pen light for $1.99. All I could do was hope I could make it work with the knob.


As luck would have it, the 1 LED fit snugly into the back of the knob!!


One rat tail light! I think we'll hide the battery pack behind the fender brace.

[Blackwing]

All I can say is - Awesome!

This is great stuff! Thanks for all the pics!