Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser -- OMG IT'S DONE!

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noodlenoggin

noodlenoggin

Joined
Jul 10, 2009
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Tampa Bay Area
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We've been looking for a bike for my wife for a while now. I thought it was going to be one of those cheap, new Huffies or Schwinns from Walmart, but was hoping to find a project to clean up for her. She's short -- borderline needs-a-24" short, but I found this Firestone 500 here on RRB from @panelman, and picked it up last night. Wayde's a nice guy, and helped me break the bike down to fit in the trunk of a Thunderbird. Check out his builds, he's working on a cooool Mercury bike.

Here's the bike "before."


Firestone Bike Before 6 by sunliner500, on Flickr


Firestone Bike Before 5 by sunliner500, on Flickr

After I got home last night, I reassembled, pumped up the tires and sprayed some WD40 on the chain. My wife then rode it around the neighborhood and came back with a big smile on her face. It's a 26", but sits really low and fits her perfectly. She loves it, and has ideas for the build -- she wants big, fat metalflake paint, and big wicker baskets front and rear so she can go to the store and get milk with it. I'm thinking of a paint scheme the same as but opposite to my Vista Cruiser -- red head and forks, white rest of the bike, with red accents.


Firestone Bike Before 3 by sunliner500, on Flickr

I'm not sure who made this bike -- I saw a chainguard the same shape on a Huffy on this forum somewhere. Once I find a serial number I'll post it here and ask all of you who know more about this than I do.


Firestone Bike Before 4 by sunliner500, on Flickr

I'd like to keep the original emblem and lettering, but won't be able to. I'm wondering if I'll be able to print out this pic, and make a stencil, then spray-paint the lettering back when I'm all done.


Firestone Bike Before 2 by sunliner500, on Flickr


Firestone Bike Before 7 by sunliner500, on Flickr

You can see the original Firestone 500 lettering on the tank. Same deal as the chainguard, I'd like to save it, but might be able to re-create it.


Firestone Bike Before 1 by sunliner500, on Flickr

The bike is really complete -- the only thing that seems to be missing is the front piece of the tank/headlight. The tank is there, with the switch and a wire coming out of it -- I haven't taken it off and looked in it yet. I'd like to find the original double headlight for it, but if I'm putting a big basket on the front, I probably can't because it sticks out in front of the headtube.

So, the plans are to disassemble, strip to bare metal, prime and paint. I'll clean and regrease the bearings -- they're smooth and quiet right now -- and reuse basically all the parts that are there right now. I'll need to paint the wheels and bars, as they're rusted pretty well. I think the fenders will clean up and shine, as they're only a little bit pitted. It needs new tires and chain, and I'm thinking of 26x1.95 whitewalls. I don't know if the 2.125's will fit inside the fork and fenders -- I could pull the wheels from my Vista and check it out, I guess. Oo, maybe I'll do that this afternoon. :)

Anyway, I have a project, and something to fiddle with for the next couple of months! :D My goal, and I don't know if I'll be able to do it, considering the spraypaint my wife wants, is to bring this in for about the same cost as one of those Walmart Schwinns.
 
Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

Your lucky to have a wife that appreciates old things; you should just do what makes
her happy and not worry about a few extra bucks for the paint :)
 
Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

just an idea....if ya get wicker basket on front, they play havoc with paint near headbadge. Either get a headlight bezel to hold it away,or get some clear Scotchcal to protect the paint and badge.
 
Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

@Voyager Al: Thanks, I'll remember that when it's basket time -- I might have an idea for the front of the tank.

@Dr. T: That's a cool bike there, my wife liked the pinstripes a lot. In fact, she might make me do that...so thanks a lot, buddy! :lol:


Firestone 500 w/Big Tires by sunliner500, on Flickr

I threw on the fat 26x2.125 whitewalls from my Vista Cruiser, and they're a total failure -- they look cool as heck, but they don't work. The front fits, barely, but the rear rubs on both sides of the frame and the bolt for the rear reflector in the fender. Also, when my wife sat on it, it was clearly too tall. She wants to stick with 1.75's like are on it now, and I want to go larger, like 1.95's maybe.

Incidentally, she's out riding it now, selling Girlscout cookies with our oldest girl.
 
Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

Peatbog said:
That metalflake paint will be awesome.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping so. My wife wants wild purple and white, with fat metalflake and "swirly" transitions. We'll see what I can pull off.
 
Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser


Firestone Parts by sunliner500, on Flickr

Tore down the Firestone tonight. This bike is in really fabulous shape, and it only really took an hour. I don't think this bike has ever been apart before -- every part I took off revealed more original, shiny, yellow-green-pee paint. The bearing cups on the bottom bracket just came off with a little finger pressure. There wasn't a single seized bolt or screw anywhere on it.


Firestone S/N by sunliner500, on Flickr

Found the serial number on a dropout: 9H459740


Chainwheel by sunliner500, on Flickr

I think my cleanup will be (and I'm jinxing myself here) easy because most of the parts are like the chainwheel -- rusty, but nice and shiny where they were covered.


Stratolite Reflector by sunliner500, on Flickr

Stratolite Reflector Reverse by sunliner500, on Flickr

Interesting bit on the bike -- the fender had a "Stratolite" reflector made by the "Gulotta " division of "Bright Star" Industries.


Seat by "1Persons?" by sunliner500, on Flickr

And the seat, which is massive, is "Made In 1Persons." So, that's my progress tonight. I have another Huggies box full of bike parts in my garage.
 
Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

Real nice Huffy 8) ...I believe that the 9 preceding the H on the serial # indicates a 1969 build.
 
Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

sleepy said:
Real nice Huffy 8) ...I believe that the 9 preceding the H on the serial # indicates a 1969 build.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I love knowing that kind of thing. I collect old watches, and Elgin kept a registry of all their serial numbers from the 1800's up through about WWII. So when I get a "new" Elgin, I can look up the serial number and see what year it was made. Is there anything like that for bikes? (like...Huffy? :D )
 
Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

LukeTheJoker said:
Awesome score on that bike, looks like a perfect solution for your wife, cant wait to see what it looks like when you get finished with it!

Luke.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Neither can I! :p
 
Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

I did a little on the Firestone tonight. I went at the chainwheel with the wire wheel on my power drill, and made the rust shiny. :? I have some Royal Jelly laying around, so I used some of it, and it looked like it did some good, but not enough. So, using a tip from some other folks' builds here, I scrounged some vinegar and a cheap platter, and starged a vinegar soak on the chainwheel.

I also took the wire wheel and Royal Jelly to the handlebars, and will probably soak those in vinegar, too. For a nice surprise, the handgrips came off easily, so I was able to pull the bars out of the stem. :)

And, I got a great idea for the paint from @ichoptop's thread, Chop's House of Speed and Style. I'm going to get some paper lace doilies and put a lace pattern under the accent color, purple or pink or whatever. I think that's going to give this bike the bit of "pop" I was looking for.
 
Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

Pre-spray BOTH sides of the paper with a coat of paint BEFORE ya lay it down. Let it DRY!!, then lay it down.
 
Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

i would not mess with paper. check out either lace runners from anywhere (even wall mart has em for under $10) or nylons/panty hose/ fishnets. the risk to reward of trying to save a buck and using paper is not worth the paint and labor loss, if and almost when the paper or paint gets stuck. I like fishnets the most, cause they come in crazy patterns, are way cheap, slip on and are easy to pull tight on a surface. Also note that nylons will not leave a bunch of fuzz like cotton can.
 
Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

pholTmonx said:
i would not mess with paper. check out either lace runners from anywhere (even wall mart has em for under $10) or nylons/panty hose/ fishnets. the risk to reward of trying to save a buck and using paper is not worth the paint and labor loss, if and almost when the paper or paint gets stuck. I like fishnets the most, cause they come in crazy patterns, are way cheap, slip on and are easy to pull tight on a surface. Also note that nylons will not leave a bunch of fuzz like cotton can.
Click to expand...

Wow, okay. Lot of people have apparently tried this. :) My thought on the doilies wasn't to save money, but rather that I'd be able to cut it to fit and tape it down pretty easily. I've been thinking that since I dust on a bunch of light coats, the paper shouldn't get too soggy...but the collective wisdom here seems to be over-ruling me. :mrgreen:
 
Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

Little bit of progress. I pulled the chainwheel out of its vinegar bath, after three days. Wow, this forum is great, all the rust is gone! Five minutes with steel wool, and we have this:


Chainwheel After Vinegar Bath by sunliner500, on Flickr

The metal's pitted and the chrome's gone, but I knew I'd be painting this anyway. After a quick shot of self-etching primer, it looks like this:


Chainwheel Stripped and Primed by sunliner500, on Flickr

Ready for some lace and accent color. I think I know how I'm cleaning up all the nuts and bolts for the tank, fenders and chainguard!

And, the hardware for tank, fenders, chainguard and seat are starting their vinegar soak.


IMG_20130216_111455 by sunliner500, on Flickr

Incidentally, as a first for me, this whole post was done without touching a computer. Pics taken and uploaded to Flickr on my smartphone, and this post done on the iPad. Maybe that's normal for the younger generation, but I'm all proud of myself. :mrgreen:
 

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