# Firestone Ladies Speed Chief



## Morgart (Dec 15, 2014)

Hello all. I am new to the site so here goes... On Christmas morning, my wife will become the proud owner of a Firestone Ladies Speed Chief bicycle in a lovely shade of turquoise. At the moment I know little about this bike as I had only a few moments to admire it as it hung from the rafters of a shed in Central PA. Happily, I was able to buy the bike from the previous owner, an old gentleman I have known since childhood, before my wife found out, and with the help of some elves, it will arrive here at our home on Christmas Eve. I know nothing about bicycles of this vintage as I was a child of the 1960's. I am guessing it was made in the late 40's or 50's by the design, but will of course know more when I see it again. The bike is in original paint that I would call turquoise and off white or cream(?) and has the seat, tank, chain guard etc. The only thing that I saw that was missing was the top half of the front fender light. My wife loves antiques and I suspect that she will want to keep the bike as original as possible. If there is anyone out there who knows these particular bikes I would be happy to hear from you. I will try to post photos once the bike arrives here, assuming I can figure out how to do so. My goal is to eventually see my wife riding this old beauty on an Eastern Shore boardwalk. Wish me luck and thanks for any replies.    Michael


----------



## Freqman1 (Dec 15, 2014)

Welcome Michael,
       As soon as you get some pics up we'll be able to help you. V/r Shawn


----------



## Morgart (Dec 25, 2014)

*Update to Firestone Speed Chief*



Morgart said:


> Hello all. I am new to the site so here goes... On Christmas morning, my wife will become the proud owner of a Firestone Ladies Speed Chief bicycle in a lovely shade of turquoise. At the moment I know little about this bike as I had only a few moments to admire it as it hung from the rafters of a shed in Central PA. Happily, I was able to buy the bike from the previous owner, an old gentleman I have known since childhood, before my wife found out, and with the help of some elves, it will arrive here at our home on Christmas Eve. I know nothing about bicycles of this vintage as I was a child of the 1960's. I am guessing it was made in the late 40's or 50's by the design, but will of course know more when I see it again. The bike is in original paint that I would call turquoise and off white or cream(?) and has the seat, tank, chain guard etc. The only thing that I saw that was missing was the top half of the front fender light. My wife loves antiques and I suspect that she will want to keep the bike as original as possible. If there is anyone out there who knows these particular bikes I would be happy to hear from you. I will try to post photos once the bike arrives here, assuming I can figure out how to do so. My goal is to eventually see my wife riding this old beauty on an Eastern Shore boardwalk. Wish me luck and thanks for any replies.    Michael




12-25-14: Merry Christmas to all. As I posted before, the ladies Firestone Speed Chief has arrived and my wife is delighted. Now we need to clean it up a bit. So far I have convinced her not to do much more than wash it but it does have some rust speckling on the paint and pretty rusty handlebars. We will try to attach photos and would be happy for any advice regarding clean-up, restoration, etc. I am guessing less is best but what do I know...  We would like to find out the date it was made and any other info if anyone knows that sort of stuff. The serial number on the sprocket hub (?) appears to have been hammered crookedly but I can see this:   373-??-4 but it might be 372-??-?. It just isn't very clear. The chain guard says Speed Chief and the Firestone badge is red on white.The top half of the light is gone but the rest may work. Not sure yet. The tires are probably original and say 26 x 1.75 Carlisle Tire and rubber Division Zephyr Flight First Line. The seat also appears to be original and is in very good shape. The grips are likely to be original too.

Not sure if I should simply clean it or start sanding so any comments would help. Is there any chance of finding a light ? Thanks in advance for your time.


----------



## Morgart (Dec 25, 2014)




----------



## bikejunk (Dec 25, 2014)

nice colors this bike looks like it will clean up ok you can get new handlebars and a stem if the rust is really bad im thinking early to mid 1950's  have fun with it . now you gota get one too


----------



## spook1s (Dec 27, 2014)

http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?11387-26-quot-Girl-s-Firestone-quot-Speed-Chief-quot


----------



## Adamtinkerer (Dec 28, 2014)

I'll quote myself from the 2012 post spook listed:
"This bike was built by the Snyder corp., and basically the same as their 'house' brand, Rollfast. Monark did build Firestone bikes through the mid 50s, but a 1959 ad in the Evolution I book shows all Snyder built bikes. At some point, in the early-mid 60s, Huffy and AMF took over."
Also, a Firestone bike would have naturally had Firestone tires originally! I have one that's probably '61ish:


----------



## Morgart (Dec 31, 2014)

*Time to decide on a strategy.*



Morgart said:


> Hello all. I am new to the site so here goes... On Christmas morning, my wife will become the proud owner of a Firestone Ladies Speed Chief bicycle in a lovely shade of turquoise. At the moment I know little about this bike as I had only a few moments to admire it as it hung from the rafters of a shed in Central PA. Happily, I was able to buy the bike from the previous owner, an old gentleman I have known since childhood, before my wife found out, and with the help of some elves, it will arrive here at our home on Christmas Eve. I know nothing about bicycles of this vintage as I was a child of the 1960's. I am guessing it was made in the late 40's or 50's by the design, but will of course know more when I see it again. The bike is in original paint that I would call turquoise and off white or cream(?) and has the seat, tank, chain guard etc. The only thing that I saw that was missing was the top half of the front fender light. My wife loves antiques and I suspect that she will want to keep the bike as original as possible. If there is anyone out there who knows these particular bikes I would be happy to hear from you. I will try to post photos once the bike arrives here, assuming I can figure out how to do so. My goal is to eventually see my wife riding this old beauty on an Eastern Shore boardwalk. Wish me luck and thanks for any replies.    Michael




It's time to decide on a strategy. Should I sand and paint or try to keep things as original as possible? My wife would like the bike to look shiny and new but if that was the plan I would be better off to just buy her a new one. No, I would like to keep as much of the original color, etc as possible. So that's where you come in. Do I rub the old paint down with scotchbrite? Try to ease the rust specks off with WD30? What is the best method for such a project? The handle bars may need sanded and re-chromed? So tell me,you antique bike guys, where do I start? And is there a light cover out there some where with my name on it? Happy New Year!


----------



## spook1s (Jan 2, 2015)

Morgart.. Can we send you private messages??


----------



## Freqman1 (Jan 2, 2015)

You may want to search through the posts in the restoration thread. There are a thousand ways to skin this cat. I will agree though that you would be better off buying a restored or new bike if she wants shiny. The restoration costs on this will give you sticker shock. V/r Shawn


----------



## HARPO (Jan 2, 2015)

Here's my all original 1952 Firestone Super Cruiser.


----------



## bicycle larry (Jan 2, 2015)

*firestone ladies*

here is my granddauther on her monark firestone cruiser org paint never has had any paint touch up  from bicycle larry


----------



## bicycle larry (Jan 2, 2015)

*firstone ladies bike*

super nice firstone harpo i like it!!!!!   from bicycle larry


----------



## Morgart (Jan 2, 2015)

Sure. Thanks for your interest. Morgartml at aol.com


----------



## Morgart (Jan 2, 2015)

Thanks for the pointer. I hadn't found that thread yet but I checked it out and got some helpful info.


----------



## Gus (Jan 3, 2015)

FYI. I have the Speed Chief Graphics and could provide water slide decals.


----------



## HARPO (Jan 5, 2015)

Bicycle Larry...the bike looks almost new, and the rims are in amazing condition!! Very cool.......


----------



## popawheelie (Jan 5, 2015)

If you want it shiny, but original, spray WD 40 on the finish. It will look new for a few weeks, and it won't take longer than 10 min. to spray and wipe. You may wish to spray wd 40 on a cloth and apply instead of spraying onto the finish, so it doesn't get everywhere. Wipe it down a bit with a dry, clean towel or cloth after applying so the WD 40 doesn't get on her clothes. Clear lacquer works too, but future buyers don't like a clear spray lacquer over an original finish, and sometimes it reacts with the paint and causes blistering. Best to  you, Mike Siddons


----------



## Morgart (Jan 7, 2015)

Thanks Mike. Still considering all of the options but I am about to fly into this project just as soon as my shop heats up to a reasonable degree.


----------

