Firestone Cruiser swap meet junk build

[bmac]

Found this bike at our local swap meet. It was in sad shape but I could see some potential. I'm not a bike guy at all. This is the first vintage bike I've customized. The only trouble was the asking price. The guy wanted $350. I don't know if that was way too high, or if it was a steal. Didn't care. That was more than I would spend on an old bike since I'm not really a bike guy. I collect old gas/oil signs, and I had a sign this guy couldn't do without. Worked out well, we traded the sign for the bike. I think I paid $100 for the sign. Works for me! So, I drug home this old Firestone Cruiser:

Got it home and started to do a little research. Looks like the wrong forks, but they were bent anyway so they need replaced. Wheels were bent so I'll need wheels. My plan is all new running gear to make it ride like a new bike. So, the tear down begins....

 

[bmac]

Steering stem was frozen. I worked on that thing like mad and no success. So, out came the sawzall. Cut the neck and drilled out the stem from the forks. Ruined both but they were needing replaced anyway. Also, I planned to put in all new bearings. So, I figured no harm was being done. I also decided to bob the rear fender. I should have done more thinking about this one before I cut. I lopped it off based on the look I wanted, but I should have cut it a little longer so I could leave the supports. Oh well....

Still needs some finish work but it's cut. Should look good.

One of my favorite things about this bike was the original paint and patina. I definitely planned to keep that. So, I needed to limit the shiney new parts and keep as many original parts as possible. I was undecided between two styles: a vintage board track racer look, and an ape hanger bobber look. Since I wanted to stay on somewhat of a budget, I decided to do the board track racer look and just modify the current bars instead of buying new ones (ape hangers). I cut the original bars 1.5" on each end, flipped them upside down, then bought some new grips and spent about 15 minutes making them look really old. Turned out kinda cool!

"un-aged" grip on the left, grip on the right is after "aging" it...

After:

 

[bmac]

I installed all new crank bearings, sprocket, cranks, chain, pedals, headset, etc... Purchased a new Monarch springer fork (quality wasn't too impressive) and found a NOS steering stem on eBay. Also got some new tires/wheels and put those together, then assembled everything. I didn't take too many other pics. Here's the final product. Rides like it should. Fun bike!

Here's the BEFORE/AFTER:

 

[bmac]

BTW, can anyone tell me what year this thing is?

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Very cool build!
If you post the serial number and pics in the I.D. section you should get a response from the knowledgeable people, I would not have a clue!

Luke.

 

[Dawg13]

nice ride dude!...

 

[deven_science]

I dig it, good job.