Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser -- OMG IT'S DONE!

[ratTED]

Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

Your lucky to have a wife that appreciates old things; you should just do what makes
her happy and not worry about a few extra bucks for the paint

I second this, it makes it all worthwhile.

 

[noodlenoggin]

Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

Really nice find, and your doing a great job. I like what you have done so far and will be watching to see the progress.

Thanks, ratTED, I appreciate it.

As for the other thing, I am graced with a wife who loves antiques and yard sales and bargains. The paint will be what I already have in the garage though, as my budget really doesn't allow for much else anymore. Luckily, my wife loves things made nice for cheap.

 

[noodlenoggin]

Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

Worked on the bike more this afternoon while the kids played outside. Got the masking tape off the spokes and touched up the gold paint a bit. Started a vinegar bath for the fork, chainguard, pedals, kickstand. And, I wire-wheeled the entire frame and started sanding the paint off it. I took pictures but our carpy digicam wouldn't focus on anything in my garage tonight.

 

[noodlenoggin]

Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser


DSC02301 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC02302 by sunliner500, on Flickr

My son and I have popped into RRBO#8, and I've been working with him on his OCC Stingray for it, but tonight I spent a little time on my wife's bike. I sanded down a couple of parts that came out of the vinegar bath and got them primed.

 

[noodlenoggin]

Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

Now that our RRBO8 entry is done, I can go back to picking away at this build for my wife. It's really down to just stripping the frame and priming it. I got a can of spray-on paint stripper from a neighbor's yard sale, so I think I can take it down to metal pretty easily.

Remaining tasks:

• Strip'n prime frame
• Buy tires, tubes, chain, basket(s), lace
• Make ratty front cap for the tank
• Reassemble and mock up
• Decide on final paint scheme
• Paint that scheme
• Assemble
• Hope my wife likes it

 

[noodlenoggin]

Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

Wow, so it's 3 months to the day since that last post. Did anyone else know it's god-damn hot in Florida in July, August and September? And for some reason my garage is always 10 degrees hotter than outside. It's finally starting to cool down some -- only in the mid-80's during the day, so the garage is only about 90 degrees after dark. So I want to get back on my wife's bike.

I'm wondering if I can make a front basket out of wire clothes hangers. Anyone here try that before?

 

[noodlenoggin]

Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

So I set out to see if I could answer my own question -- a basket out of coathangers...possible?


DSC02690 by sunliner500, on Flickr

Started with the requisite pile of wire hangers. Also pliers, nippers and bailing wire.


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First step is to make a top frame.


DSC02695 by sunliner500, on Flickr

And make it double.


DSC02696 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC02697 by sunliner500, on Flickr

Then some bottom pieces.


DSC02698 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC02699 by sunliner500, on Flickr

I attached the wickets (or whatever their name is) that go the long way.


DSC02700 by sunliner500, on Flickr

And wove through the crosspieces.

At this point I showed it to my wife, who raised an eyebrow and asked it it would be strong enough to hold a gallon of milk. So I pushed on it a tiny bit...and it twisted all up.

Epic fail. At its best, this would be a soft wire basket that couldn't carry anything more than a teddy bear, and is full of sharp points where I nipped the wires. So out to the recycle bin it went.

But I answered my question. No, I can't make a usable basket out of wire clothes hangers. :mrgreen:

 

[noodlenoggin]

Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser

Got some time this afternoon, and it's nice outside now, so I stripped the last bit of paint on the frame and gave it two coats of primer.


DSC02769 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC02767 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC02768 by sunliner500, on Flickr

 

[noodlenoggin]

Re: Ladies Firestone 500 Speed Cruiser -- Frame Primed

I did a little bit of mocking up.

First, since the tank is missing the plastic lights that would go on the front, I wanted to make some kind of a cap. It'd also keep the basket my wife wants from rubbing on the head tube and scarfing the paint. I have some old license plates, and I'm thinking of cutting something from one of them. My metal-working skills aren't even worthy of the name, so it'd truly be rat-tastic.


DSC02770 by sunliner500, on Flickr

This is the front end of the tank, it's just kinda there.


DSC02773 by sunliner500, on Flickr

I started with sketching the outline of the tank on some paper, then cutting some flaps.


DSC02771 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC02772 by sunliner500, on Flickr

A little folding, a little taping...hot dang, it fits! I didn't take a pick but I tested it on the bike, and it fits around the head tube nicely. I can use this paper template exactly as-is.


DSC02774 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC02775 by sunliner500, on Flickr

And just for the halibut, I stacked some parts on some other parts and made it look like most of a bike, so I could call my wife out into the garage and show her "her bike."

 

[noodlenoggin]

Made some progress on my wife's Firestone 500 tonight, I put down some accent color, and worked on my idea for a tank cap.


DSC02814 by sunliner500, on Flickr

Got some accent color on the frame. I have to sand the bottom bracket and redo -- I forgot I'd put a bit more primer on it and it was still wet.


DSC02815 by sunliner500, on Flickr

White on the back rack, chainguard, chainwheel and pink on the forks. (my wife's remember!)


DSC02817 by sunliner500, on Flickr

And the idea I have for capping the tank so a basket doesn't scratch the paint. Also because I just wanna.


DSC02816 by sunliner500, on Flickr

On the backside, the dashed lines are where I need to fold over the tabs. I did the cutting so far with a hacksaw, but I'm debating how to make the curved cuts. I'm thinking of maybe getting a cutoff wheel for my Dremel tool.

 

[noodlenoggin]

I haven't finished the end cap yet, but I think I'll use the hole saw on my power drill for the curves.

Tonight I made a couple steps forward on paint, and a couple of steps back. The white on the bottom bracket had bubbled, and I sanded it down, re-primed and re-painted. It doesn't look like it's bubbling again.

I also taped off the darts on the fork and painted it white.


DSC02849 by sunliner500, on Flickr

So, the back rack had wrinkled when I painted it. I sanded down the wrinkles and re-primed. I had gotten another can of white spray paint, so I sprayed the entire rack white to avoid a color mismatch. And the whole goddarn thing wrinkled. I'm gonna have to strip the whole thing down to bare metal and start over.


DSC02851 by sunliner500, on Flickr

 

[77XLT]

A wicker basket and a can of white spray paint and leather straps/belts attached to handle bars may help with the milk run. You may be able to find these second hand.

 

[noodlenoggin]

A wicker basket and a can of white spray paint and leather straps/belts attached to handle bars may help with the milk run. You may be able to find these second hand.

I was thinking about a wicker basket -- that's the look my wife wants. Can't beat the usefulness of a Wald wire basket, though.

 

[kingfish254]

You've got some cool and fun ideas going on with this build.

 

[noodlenoggin]

Thanks, Kingfish!

 

[noodlenoggin]

I spent some time working on the Firestone this afternoon. It's a warm, 82-degree January day in Florida. I sanded down the wrinkled back rack with 80-grit, then some 100-grit, and a fine sanding block, then sprayed two coats of primer on it.

Then, I wasn't happy with the fork. The darts I taped out left some primer visible between the white and the pink, so I re-taped, and re-sprayed some white, to cover the primer and make it look better. The colors aren't too visibly different, so the darts didn't stand out very well, so I got out my Testors model paint and an old brush and put an amateur-looking stripe between the two. I plan to do the same kind of stripe for all the darts on the frame, and any boundaries on the chainguard, rack and tank.

DSC02865 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC02864 by sunliner500, on Flickr
​

I'm letting it all dry, and I'll clearcoat the forks so the model paint hopefully doesn't fade too badly. Once upon a time I painted some flowers and vines on our mailbox with model paint, and in a year or so it was all faded to white. The bike won't be out in the direct sun all the time, though, like a mailbox, so I'm hopeful.

 

[noodlenoggin]

So the wife and teenager put on "Dawn of the Dead," and I hate horror movies so I put in some time on the bike. Besides, it's a gorgeous Florida day. I finished the cap for the head tube...and I think I'll call it Version One.


DSC03076 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC03077 by sunliner500, on Flickr

I found the mounting hardware for the tank and test fit the cap. It clears the head tube, but I need to do a new one with longer "flaps." This one just doesn't do it.


DSC03078 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC03080 by sunliner500, on Flickr

I also got some white paint on the back rack. No wrinkles this time either.


DSC03081 by sunliner500, on Flickr

And I painted the tank halves white.


DSC03082 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC03083 by sunliner500, on Flickr

Otherwise, while my extended family in Michigan has been dealing with snowpocalypse, and drifts and frigid winter, I did yard work and replaced a window motor in my Thunderbird. Life is hard.

 

[noodlenoggin]

It's a damp day today so I couldn't do any more painting, so I went for Version 2.0 of the tank cap. Started by tracing the paper pattern, then lengthening the flaps to 1.5" all the way around, and then tracing it on another Michigan license plate.


DSC03084 by sunliner500, on Flickr

Half an hour or so with a hacksaw and a holesaw, while one of my 7-year-olds cautioned me to not hurt myself (lol), and some bending with pliers, and I have a cap to protect the head tube from a basket. I just need to drill a couple of holes and get a couple of sheet metal screws to hold it to the tank.


DSC03085 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC03086 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC03087 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC03088 by sunliner500, on Flickr

I know my "metalworking" (if I can call it that) skills are rudimentary at best, and a lot of the things folks here do put my efforts to shame, but I'm proud of my ratty, functional piece.

 

[noodlenoggin]

I finally got some time this weekend to work on the bike. I've been flying from Florida to Wisconsin every other week for the past month -- 3 trips total -- and the time between has been either busy, or drizzly, or both. This weekend we're lazing around the house, and it's sunny and 65 outside, which means it's paintin' time!

So to make the darts on the frame, I made my own stencils by laying painter's tape on waxed paper, then tracing out the shape and cutting. These are the stencils for the darts by the head tube:


DSC03222 by sunliner500, on Flickr

Cut out and laid on the frame:


DSC03223 by sunliner500, on Flickr

And the darts for around the bottom bracket:


DSC03224 by sunliner500, on Flickr

On the frame...


DSC03225 by sunliner500, on Flickr

After masking off the rest of what I wanted to stay white, here's the frame drying in my custom paint rig :


DSC03226 by sunliner500, on Flickr

And after peeling off the masking:


DSC03228 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC03229 by sunliner500, on Flickr

That was all yesterday just before dinner. I let it dry overnight, then broke out the Testor's model paint and cheap brush to paint some scraggly striping to separate the white and pink. I figure that if ALL the striping is wobbly and amateurish...it's at least consistent!


DSC03230 by sunliner500, on Flickr


DSC03231 by sunliner500, on Flickr


I also made a trip to the hardware store this morning and picked up a chain, and a couple of screws to hold the cap on the tank. I'll most likely hit up Amazon for some tubes'n tires and a basket. After this paint has dried enough, I'll clear the frame and fork and start some reassembly.

 

[noodlenoggin]

More incremental progress on the bike. I degreased and cleaned up the head set and bottom bracket, and assembled everything I could. Turns out a chrome stem with gold handlebars looks dorky so I shot some gold on it...the seat clamp, too. After assembling I shot some clear on 'em. So the seat and bars can be mounted probably tomorrow.

DSC03313 by sunliner500, on Flickr

Nice, clean headset. Those bearing cups look like they're new inside.

DSC03314 by sunliner500, on Flickr

Bottom bracket cleaned and bearings re-greased.

DSC03315 by sunliner500, on Flickr

DSC03316 by sunliner500, on Flickr

Aaand, a lot of reassembly.

So, I really just need tires and tubes to make it rideable. Need a basket to meet my wife's needs. I'd like to do some more paint things on the tank, chainguard and the back rack. I'm kinda dismayed at the amount of scratches showing up on the paint from laying the bike down to attach pieces. I'll probably have to strip it all down and repaint it at some point in the future.

Oh darn, I'll have to redo the paint with all the metalflake and stuff I originally wanted to do. What a shame.