1941 Firestone Cruiser Done 5/22

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Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Pinstriped Wheels 0303

it's to the point now where I dont want to be around it for fear of scratching it or dropping something on it.. I'll be barricading the shop to keep the kids out that's for sure..

I keep talking with my wife about ordering creme colored tires instead of doing the white ones. Anybody want to chime in their $ .02 worth fee free. I have white torpedo grips and would be recovering the seat in white as well. If it's creme tires then the seat would be done to match and possibly black grips since I cant find creme colored vintage looking grips.

hoping to cut down the new tank mounting bolts tonight and get that mounted up. either that or the fork situation...
 
Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Pinstriped Wheels 0303

Started hanging some sheet metal on the frame last night. I think I can live with white tires. I think if I had to install these tanks all day I would seriously loose it!

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messed with getting the left side of the tank on for about 10 minutes with no luck, there is a loose steel piece that floats between the frame tubes for the tank halves to bolt to. it just wont stay put....I'll figure something out...

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Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Hanging Fenders 0304

This might sound crazy or stupid, but how about 'magnetizing' the screw. Perhaps, it would 'pull' the bracket it to it enough to thread on.
http://www.wikihow.com/Magnetize-St...the bike looks AWESOME so far. Cheers, Dr. T
 
Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Hanging Fenders 0304

Wow, that's coming together nicely :wink:
 
Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Hanging Fenders 0304

SCHWINNRAY69 said:
Wow, that's coming together nicely :wink:


+1! Well done, Walker!
 
Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Hanging Fenders 0304

Your attention to all the little details is going to make this a really nice build.
Looks very good.
 
Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Hanging Fenders 0304

Not much to report.. I tore down a seat and started repainting the pan and frame. Springs are soaking in vinegar. Realized I need a different set of anti-rotation washers for the Nexus hub to work in the horizontal dropouts. Might have Ed sandblast the headlight innards to make my life a little easier. Teardrop pedals arrived over the weekend, crank arms need a little clearancing to sneak by the chainguard. I made Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies
 
Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Hanging Fenders 0304

Additional note to the weekend activities... U missed the "freeze your beep off ride"

Next weekend note. You going to be at Monson?


Walker said:
Not much to report.. I tore down a seat and started repainting the pan and frame. Springs are soaking in vinegar. Realized I need a different set of anti-rotation washers for the Nexus hub to work in the horizontal dropouts. Might have Ed sandblast the headlight innards to make my life a little easier. Teardrop pedals arrived over the weekend, crank arms need a little clearancing to sneak by the chainguard. I made Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies
 
Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Hanging Fenders 0304

Joe, sounds like you guys had a good time. maybe next year...

Here are the reproduction teardrop pedals, a bit chunkier than the originals but pretty nice.

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Here's where I'm at on the seat, going to hunt down some vinyl tomorrow

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Messy messy messy
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here's the painted parts in primer after rust removal
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springs after a vinegar bath
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Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser New Pedals & Seat Work 311

Thanks all for your support. Headed to a friends boat top and upholstry shop today to find some vinyl for the seat. Did a little more polishing of seat parts last night and I'll be replacing some of the seat hardware with chrome or stainless. My can of clearcoat failed on me so I'm hoping the hardware store will swap it out so I can hit the rear rack and seat parts.
 
Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser New Pedals & Seat Work 311

pret-ty sweet Walker. Pretty sweet.
 
Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser New Pedals & Seat Work 311

My friends down at Ship Shape boat upholstry set me up with a scrap of off white vinyl so I dove further into the recovering. I was at a loss for padding, my wife kindly offered a chunk of her old yoga mat :D

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applying contact cement
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gave the first layer a rough trimming and taped it tight for a while
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I used the bottom pan to trace out a second layer
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Here's the undercarriage, I struck out on shiny hardware, maybe later this week...
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Shined up the seat post and put a coat of hammered silver on the reducer collar
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Hopefully I'll be putting the vinyl on it tomorrow. I need a couple of rivets for the chrome wear tabs though. the best hardware store for all the good stuff is a 20 min drive each way so some details may wait till i can combine the trip with something else
 
Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser New Pedals & Seat Work 311

Fabulous work on that seat!
Later if you can and remember it, let me know how thick are those metal seat pans, I might have to build one from scratch and your pics will be very helpful, thanks!
 
Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser New Pedals & Seat Work 311

I'll post up some photos with measurements for you. I've actually been thinking that I have a bunch of beat long spring ladies seats, all I would need to do is extend the existing seat pan nose a bit and they would work fine as a mens seat. It would be a lot easier than making a pan from scratch I think.....
 
Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser New Pedals & Seat Work 311

It would be a lot easier I think, but either version is impossible to find here, that´s why I´m thinking of modifying the ones I have (destroyed leather brook´s type) and try those metal pans, cause replacing leather is to expensive and hard to do.
So if you find the time (no rush) to take those measurements, I would be very thankful! :mrgreen:
 
Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser New Pedals & Seat Work 311

I got the seat covered today. definitely a learning experience, had to re-apply the contact cement as i waited too long to put the vinyl to the padding. I used an orbital sander with 60 grit to smooth over the seam between the two layers of foam. I still need to add the little chrome wear tabs but otherwise it's done.
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Need to pick up shiny seat post collar bolt, and three tiny screws to mount the badge, deal with the fender light, swap the cranks out as the drive side just barely contacts the chainguard, I have another set where the dogleg starts a bit earlier so those should be fine. Also wish I could find a 7 speed thumb shifter to run the Nexus. the grip shift unit looks awful. I found that I had some vintage metal cable guides so I will paint them to match the frame in hopes that they will disappear.
 
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