24" Firestone - Tank art options??

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Re: 24" Firestone - DONE! pics

Great build,Congrats on the award,And I agree very good color combo!
 
Re: 24" Firestone - DONE! pics

Haven't found a tank yet, but I need to solve a couple other issues that popped up.

I wish I would have realized before we painted... :x The clearance between the front tire and the under side of the fork crown is tight. Right now its about 1/4". If that tire was to bottom out on a nice size pothole, your definitely going "butt over tea-kettle" when the tire stops dead in its tracks! Now luckily my son is only 90 lbs soaking wet so there's not a whole lotta weight pushing down on the front end, which is a plus in this case..

By grinding away the little fender mount tab and the excess steer tube hanging down below the crown I'll gain another (almost) 1/4". I'm just going on the fact that "every little bit helps". It may still bottom out but lets hope not! The rat trap spring tension is pretty tight and the further it tries to travel, the tighter it gets so this could be the cure.. To the garage I go :)
clearance_2.jpg
 
Re: 24" Firestone - DONE! pics

Secondly... The rim set i bought used and I hoped the coaster would work fine.... well it sux! It doesnt brake very well at all and makes nasty clunky sounds when you stand on it. Its not safe at all to leave it this way. Its a crappy Shimano coaster, and I pondered trying my hand at rebuilding it but in the end we'd still have a crappy Shimano coaster :?...

I've had this Bendix red band that I've been dying to use! I cleaned it up and repainted the band and the lettering with some One Shot. I think this bike deserves this hub, so I'll see if I can get Mike at Vintage Supply to lace it in for me. It'll probably need new spokes too..
CIMG1867r.jpg
 
Re: 24" Firestone - Couple of issues...

I got those same tires on my cosmic liner, and ya.. they rub when you go over bumps... after goofing around to get more clearance, I have come to the realization that they will have to be swapped out for another brand.. :roll:
 
Re: 24" Firestone - Couple of issues...

scrumblero said:
I got those same tires on my cosmic liner, and ya.. they rub when you go over bumps... after goofing around to get more clearance, I have come to the realization that they will have to be swapped out for another brand.. :roll:
Yea, I'll go ahead and do some grinding... AND probably get some better quality tires too. These tires^ are about as cheap as you can get :|

Maybe Quick Bricks? What tires did you end up with?
 
Re: 24" Firestone - Couple of issues...

Critter1 said:
scrumblero said:
I got those same tires on my cosmic liner, and ya.. they rub when you go over bumps... after goofing around to get more clearance, I have come to the realization that they will have to be swapped out for another brand.. :roll:
Yea, I'll go ahead and do some grinding... AND probably get some better quality tires too. These tires^ are about as cheap as you can get :|

Maybe Quick Bricks? What tires did you end up with?

I still have those on there I just ride real careful.. :shock: and ya they were $20 FOR 2 TIRES AND 2 TUBES, thats why I bought em!! :lol:
 
Re: 24" Firestone - Couple of issues...

you might try reversing the rockers, switching sides, and it will bring the wheel out in front farther, I know that Karfer67 did it and some others on here, dont know if it be the look you would want, just a thought :?:
 
24" Firestone - Couple of issues...

If clearancing under the crown doesn't work, I might flip the rockers. Either that or put the original fork & truss rods on it..... but that rat trap just looks sooo cool!!!! haha! :lol: I mean, an eleven year old without some road rash just isn't normal :wink:
 
Re: 24" Firestone - Couple of issues...

I was able to get the Bendix laced in for a decent price and fast too. The rim got scratched up pretty bad during the process, so the LBS decided to take it upon themselves and repaint the rim with some random rattle can red they had laying around :roll: :roll:. I figured the rim would get scratched and I'D be the one to touch it up when I got it back... Well the red they used is no where close the deep red I used on the rims.... aaaand its looks they used 80 grit to scuff it first :x. Geeeez! They meant well,,, right?? I suppose the main thing is that we have a coaster laced in now with some serious cool factor!! :D Now its time to start the process of splitting 36 straws down the middle, re-sand their lackluster repaint, and re-repaint the rim again...
 
Re: 24" Firestone - Couple of issues...

So you brought them nice parts, they worked on them, damaged them and painted them (without checking with you first?) and then charged you? Sounds to me like they owe you money back.
 
24" Firestone - Couple of issues...

Walker said:
So you brought them nice parts, they worked on them, damaged them and painted them (without checking with you first?) and then charged you? Sounds to me like they owe you money back.
I could've complained more but I do a lot of business with them. They meant well, and in the end they cut the cost to less than half..
 
Re: 24" Firestone - Couple of issues...

Ok, got the rim repainted this morning and it looks new again. WE HAVE A BIKE WITH BRAKES!! :D I also ground down under the fork crown for more tire clearance and touched up the paint.

NEW ISSUE:
When I first assembled the bike I noticed the chain had a tight spot in it when rotating the cranks. My first thought was it had something to do with the junk Shimano coaster. I pretty much forgot about it since I knew that coaster would get replaced. Well, the tight spot is still there with the new Bendix. The chain is new, so I'll rule that out as a possible cause. The sprocket must either be out of round or the center hole was stamped out off-center. I guess I could leave it like it is and just make sure the chain is adjusted to where it doesnt become "too tight" in that tight spot. Hmmm.. It'll always bug me if I leave it like that though!! Anyone have a 44t Monark sprocket to sell me??
 
Re: 24" Firestone - Couple of issues...

Critter1 said:
Ok, got the rim repainted this morning and it looks new again. WE HAVE A BIKE WITH BRAKES!! :D I also ground down under the fork crown for more tire clearance and touched up the paint.

NEW ISSUE:
When I first assembled the bike I noticed the chain had a tight spot in it when rotating the cranks. My first thought was it had something to do with the junk Shimano coaster. I pretty much forgot about it since I knew that coaster would get replaced. Well, the tight spot is still there with the new Bendix. The chain is new, so I'll rule that out as a possible cause. The sprocket must either be out of round or the center hole was stamped out off-center. I guess I could leave it like it is and just make sure the chain is adjusted to where it doesnt become "too tight" in that tight spot. Hmmm.. It'll always bug me if I leave it like that though!! Anyone have a 44t Monark sprocket to sell me??
lemme check. i had one from my monark, but didn't like the way it looked.
 
Re: 24" Firestone - Tight spot in chain!!..????

OK, ya let me know :)

I was scrounging around the garage looking through my stuff to no avail when I looked up and saw the Schwinn Predator BMX frame I picked up last weekend :!: The Predator sprocket is a 44t so I'm gonna clean it up and throw in on there to see if that takes care of the tight spot in the chain. Not sure how it'll look though... Who knows, it might just look good enough to stay.
CIMG1875r.jpg
 
Re: 24" Firestone - Tight spot in chain!!..????

I went ahead and put the crank and sprocket from the Predator onto the Firestone. Predator had 7" cranks and the Firestone crank was 6 or 6.5". Now he doesn't feel like he's spinning so much. So thats a good thing!! The Predator sprocket cleaned up real nice too!

THE TIGHT SPOT IN THE CHAIN IS STILL THERE!!!!

I said this bike has a new chain.. Well, I think I paid $6.00 for it at a hardware store :?. Is it possible that I have a bad chain?? Can anyone enlighten me or give some insight please? I'm at a loss here. I will pick up a new better quality chain today at my LBS just to be sure. What else could it be??

I'll also update with pics later today. I know everyone likes pics! :)
 

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