1941 Firestone Cruiser Done 5/22

[mooseknuckle2000]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser SNOW & Tobasco 2/24

I guess I'm not that professional, but I'd just mask and hit it lightly with the rattlecan. The masking is a pain and will take time, but I have a feeling it would be worse if I tried to hand paint it

 

[yeshoney]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser SNOW & Tobasco 2/24

You live up near Laconia and "no one" pinstripes??? :shock: :shock: :shock:

Joe

I like the work you have done on this. Great color choices and it looks like this one will be completed, LOL

Thanks for the support

totally exhausted tonight so no work on the project

Fender rivets are on the way and that will help out alot in getting this thing together. rear rack is over at my new friend Ed's shop for sandblasting as I could not clean up the underside with a wire brush. Also having him blast a shelby springer fork while he's at it...Should have those parts back by the weekend.

I need to either locate a pinstriping brush or thicken up the enamel so it wont pour out of the Buegler bottle, what a mess! Nobody pinstripes around here.

I think a repop set of teardrop pedals are in order too and a new lense for the Delta light. After those purchases I think it's just a matter of putting it together. The owner did mention some color matched saddlebags but I may put her in charge of that, we'll see...

 

[Gdcast]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser SNOW & Tobasco 2/24

Amazing job! Paint is great and bike totally awesome. :mrgreen:

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser SNOW & Tobasco 2/24

Joe, during bike week there's quite a few pinstripers in the neighborhood but today....not so many

I'll be driving by a couple of sign shops tomorrow and will try them out. Seems like they all do vinyl these days but you never know.

Picked up the rack from Ed this afternoon, looks like a nice clean slate. It's raining outside now (and the forecast calls for more over the next few days) so I might only do the primer coat on the rack tonight. I was hoping to get another coat of clear on the other parts...

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser SNOW & Tobasco 2/24

Ordered these fender rivets from a guy on ebay, I'll post his info in a bit. the shipping kind of shocked me, Colorado to NH in 2 days?!? :shock:

Here's the rack all whiped down and ready for primer

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser SNOW & Tobasco 2/24

started painting the rack today. also stripped off that cold glavie finish and put a coat of Rustoleum hammered finish silver. Looks much better.

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser SNOW & Tobasco 2/24

Shot of the repainted fender braces

Local sign shop was excited that I might try pinstriping so he gave me these two Mack brushes. Picked up some mineral spirits today and will try to give it a go over the weekend. I still think the enamel paint is too thin based on what i've seen online but I'll do a practice run first

With any luck I should be bolting things together tonight

 

[mooseknuckle2000]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser SNOW & Tobasco 2/24

Good call on the braces. Looks good!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser SNOW & Tobasco 2/24

Looking forward to seeing your bike, and also looking forward to seeing any pin striping you do, looking to start trying it myself so any tips would be greatly appreciated... :wink:

Luke.

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser SNOW & Tobasco 2/24

Thanks guys. The hammered paint looks pretty close to orig if you dont lay it on too thick it doesn't go all marbley (I just made that word up)

LTJ, maybe I'll write a book called "How not to Pinstripe" . Worst case I disassemble the wheels and polish off all the silver paint.

Here's some update photos..
A tapered hand reamer is perfect for adjusting the fender mounting holes a little

Front fender

Rear fender

Horn installed & operational. I wish the button wasn't recessed like it is but nothing can be done about it.

made a pattern for a new reflector gasket using an old innertube

Just a test fit while the paint dries on the drop stand clip (hammertone)

 

[mooseknuckle2000]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser turning the wrench 03-02

Love that reflector. Also digging the curved braces. That thing is gonna look cool 8)

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser turning the wrench 03-02

Awesome work, this bike is really going to stand out from the crowd!

Luke.

 

[Pudge]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser SNOW & Tobasco 2/24

Walker, amazing job on the paint scheme! Bravo! Can't wait to see the whole thing put together! Hey, I think I recall you mentioning having a plan to get the pitted chrome of the rear reflector to look better and it appears you did it! What's your secret?

From this:

To this:

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser turning the wrench 03-02

Pudge, dont tell anyone but my secret is............I had a better one in my parts bin 8)

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser turning the wrench 03-02

So late last night I decided that there was nothing left to do with respect to the pinstripes I've been avoiding then to just get it done. So with the company of a UFO I set to work.

Here's the rear rim after I tried a few days ago with kind of a home made brush. The stripe was kind fo skinny

So I fattened it up a little... rear wheel one side done...

Front wheel, one side done

Front rim done, gotta have vintage valve caps

The ballast in my shop light is on the fritz so I dont have any good shots of the headset and crankset installed. I spent some time polishing the pieces before install. I was fortunate enough to have an identical upper chrome dust seal with really good chrome as the orig was crusty. Now if I can tackle the rasberry stripes on the fork a whole bunch of parts can go on this thing. I'm still hunting for a set of nice chrome truss rods 8)

 

[mooseknuckle2000]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Pinstriped Wheels 0303

Noice! That paint is gonna pop!

 

[feeblington]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Pinstriped Wheels 0303

fair play i did not think, lookin at the first picture it could look so damn fresh!

well in man truly awesome machine


also may i offer some insight - ive used many spray paints as i used to do a bit off graff and turned to frame painting, few things that are always handy if you never no, get a "soft" cap and youll get a very smooth finish and also ironlak, belton, montana black, montana gold and montana 94 < in that order from best to worst as far as painting metal goes, ironlak is also the cheapest but i think has the hardest finish, and if done with 3 + coats unless you want a shine theres little need to lacquer

keep it up man!

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Pinstriped Wheels 0303

Among other things, my wife is an artist, printmaking and watercolor are her two main mediums. As a result we get the Blick catalog and I keep looking at all those awesome Montanan colors. One day I might pop for some of those colors instead of settling for what the hardware store has in stock.

I went for it on the fork this morning..

rear rack with the main color, there will be a bit of rasberry on the lower part of the rear end of the rack.

There was some paint left over from the fork so I messed around on a rusty fender, certainly straight lines along the fender edge are a whole lot easier than making curves. Maybe if the brush was trimmed down a little it would bend around corners better but hey, I've never done this before

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Pinstriped Wheels 0303

Looks REAL nice! 8)

 

[Walker]

Re: 1941 Firestone Cruiser Pinstriped Wheels 0303

Thanks!...I mounted the fork and front fender but then remembered I needed to widen the legs a little and cut down the front axle to fit...fortunately I have a fork alignment tool. I suppose I really need to get going on that headlight now!