Firewing 1953 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe (2nd) - 3/15 TRADED

[kingfish254]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

There is an exposed area where the tires and fender rubbed so I sanded a small spot. Looks like the entire fork has a brass plating over steel. If the paint was in worse shape I would strip the paint and have a polished brass fork.

 

[bfelt]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

Could the "g" in FireWing become a stylized 8 ???

 

[jats]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

wow this thing is looking great! if those forks are solid brass that would be incredible!
Troy

 

[kingfish254]

Re: FireWin8 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

Could the "g" in FireWing become a stylized 8 ???

Hmmmm, have to see how that looks when it comes time for lettering. I tried it in the header of the thread and I don't like it much there.

FireWin8
It's like a cross between Firefox and WIndows 8 :mrgreen:

 

[kingfish254]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

Finished scrubbing the big pieces of the fork after we went out to dinner. I used a little polishing compound and scotchbrite green pad for these. You just have to be careful and do baby steps, otherwise you end up down to bare metal. It turned out super nice, but not quite as nice as the pics show.




Spring cleaned up well too on the wire wheel.

 

[kingfish254]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

I have been moving the orignal wheels out of my way here and there and the rusty patina on them has really started to grow on me. The spokes are about shot. I may unlace the wheels, clear coat them as is and then relace modern hubs and new spokes. The rims seem pretty solid and true.

Of course that would mean no 24x3 fatties. Maybe my brick colored Typhoon Cords or the Creme Fat Franks or the WW Electras. Who knows.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

Looking good!

 

[kensmurray]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

Looking forward to what you come up with this time.
kenny

 

[fordsnake]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

Awesome build!!! I'd love to step inside your head for a day...I'm sure it would take a week to recover after my visit?

 

[kingfish254]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

Awesome build!!! I'd love to step inside your head for a day...I'm sure it would take a week to recover after my visit?

It's called a hangover. :shock:

 

[rat-a-tac]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

super cool forks! this build is looking great.

 

[yoothgeye]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

My "secret" for cleaning old paint with rust showing through is using mag wheel polish (a soft rubbing compound would work the same) and rub it on with fine (0000) steel wool. I think you could get rid of the rust stains on your white paint that way.

 

[kingfish254]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

My "secret" for cleaning old paint with rust showing through is using mag wheel polish (a soft rubbing compound would work the same) and rub it on with fine (0000) steel wool. I think you could get rid of the rust stains on your white paint that way.

Thanks for the tip. I used polishing compound with a green scotchbrite pad. The white paint isn't as tough as the red or black, so I'm not taking it down any further. If you push it too far, you can quickly remove teh paint that you really want to keep. I'm digging the amount of patina that is left behind right now.

 

[yoothgeye]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

On lighter stuff you might want to keep a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser in the shop.

 

[kingfish254]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

On lighter stuff you might want to keep a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser in the shop.

I've got a box of the Family Dollar version of those. I'll give them a shot.

 

[Critter1]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

That guard cleaned up really nice. With that and the other red accents it'll look great!

 

[kingfish254]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - Brass Forks?????

That guard cleaned up really nice. With that and the other red accents it'll look great!

Thanks man, I hope so.

 

[kingfish254]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - First Brass Now Chrome?

I was too busy yesterday to even look at FireWIng, so I was itching to get out to the shop tonight. Only had a couple hours, but it was productive.
Cleaned up the rack first. The stripes came out nicely. The black is in similar shape as the frame.



Then I started on the rear fender. Here is the
BEFORE


Here is the after. There was chrome (mostly) under the dirtina. Big rusty streaks are down the center (which I just realized are peaked).
AFTER



Here is everything together so far. Still need to clean the front fender.


This update was brought to you by Oskar Blues Old Chub Scotch Ale (another fave)

 

[eparsons]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - First Brass Now Chrome?

Looking cool so far King.

 

[nateyboy]

Re: FireWing 53 Columbia 3 Star DeLuxe - First Brass Now Chrome?

I can't believe this is the same bike. I'm getting close to having trader's remorse. :lol: