It's that 'tweener' time again...between the end of the Winter Build Off and the start of the RRB annual Summer Build Off.
Last year I built Faded Glory during the month of April. It was the first bike produced out of the new hangout, the BACK40 bike shed.
My neighbor's mother is finally moving out of her house at age 88 for health reasons. Robyn text me and asked if I'd like to pick up an old bike that was in the garage at the house. I could tell from the pic that it had potential. When she told me it was her mom's bike from childhood, I knew I wanted it.
Turns out it's a Firestone Pilot, and others in-the-know have told me it is a CWC built bike. All I know is, it's a solid bicycle, covered in 70 years or more of grease and dirt. Probably the best skip tooth chain condition I've ever come across. This will be a clean the grease off, clean and lube bearings and cups, true up the wheels (really straight already!), maybe do a re-cover on the seat in leather, and mount some new tires and tubes and call it good!
I'm thinking cream colored tires to match the ivory / cream accent color on the bike. It's mostly clean now, after a couple quick mornings with a rag and my own 'Light degreaser' mix. Here are some shots of it in process. You can see the cleaned portions up against the original condition when I got it.
Should be a fun project. Now I just have to find a real 'retro girl' who would love to have this as a daily vintage rider.....
Some shots of the 'before' cleaning....
And during the process.......I use my wooden vise built in to my work bench to hold the wheel while cleaning or working on the hubs. Works really well!
I welcome your comments or input on the bike and / or process. If anyone has a good resource for finding birthdates for Firestone bikes I would appreciate that as well. RaT oN!
Last year I built Faded Glory during the month of April. It was the first bike produced out of the new hangout, the BACK40 bike shed.
My neighbor's mother is finally moving out of her house at age 88 for health reasons. Robyn text me and asked if I'd like to pick up an old bike that was in the garage at the house. I could tell from the pic that it had potential. When she told me it was her mom's bike from childhood, I knew I wanted it.
Turns out it's a Firestone Pilot, and others in-the-know have told me it is a CWC built bike. All I know is, it's a solid bicycle, covered in 70 years or more of grease and dirt. Probably the best skip tooth chain condition I've ever come across. This will be a clean the grease off, clean and lube bearings and cups, true up the wheels (really straight already!), maybe do a re-cover on the seat in leather, and mount some new tires and tubes and call it good!
I'm thinking cream colored tires to match the ivory / cream accent color on the bike. It's mostly clean now, after a couple quick mornings with a rag and my own 'Light degreaser' mix. Here are some shots of it in process. You can see the cleaned portions up against the original condition when I got it.
Should be a fun project. Now I just have to find a real 'retro girl' who would love to have this as a daily vintage rider.....
Some shots of the 'before' cleaning....
And during the process.......I use my wooden vise built in to my work bench to hold the wheel while cleaning or working on the hubs. Works really well!
I welcome your comments or input on the bike and / or process. If anyone has a good resource for finding birthdates for Firestone bikes I would appreciate that as well. RaT oN!
