# 41 Firestone Flying Ace



## 56 Vette (Jul 1, 2015)

Picked up this Colson built Firestone last week. It was about a mile from the house hanging in a garage for for over 15 years. The owner had wanted to restore it years ago, but was put off by the $1100 quote he got, so there it hung, boy am I glad he didn't restore it! We make a deal and when I get it home I can't believe how nice and complete it is, plenty of bikes to work on, but this just jumped in the stand like it commanded the respect of all my other bikes! Lol.. Disassembly was a breeze and everything cleaned up really nice, best part is this rides every bit as good as my 49 B6! Got a feeling this one will get many miles on it this summer. Thanks for looking, Joe.


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## rollfaster (Jul 1, 2015)

Holo crap. That is one unreal transformation. Great work and great bike. Rob.


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## Robertriley (Jul 1, 2015)

I love it!


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## THEGOLDENGREEK (Jul 1, 2015)

That bike looks Like new , You did an amazing job on it Rob Congrats enjoy it!!!


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## Dave K (Jul 1, 2015)

Those colors pop.  Fantastic bike, great work.


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## Madness7 (Jul 1, 2015)

> Got a feeling this one will get many miles on it this summer.




That's what it's all about..to me anyway. Why have them if you don't ride them? Looks great!


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## jpromo (Jul 1, 2015)

Would you look at that... nice save! Came out smashingly.


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## delgan (Jul 1, 2015)

I would take back to the seller to let him see it--he would be in for a big surprise as I was. Great job!!


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## rollfaster (Jul 1, 2015)

If you don't mind me asking, what method did you use to clean it up?


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## CWCMAN (Jul 1, 2015)

Awesome Job. It would have been a sin to restore that bike. Great buy.

What did you use to bring back the paint?


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## SKIDKINGSVBC (Jul 1, 2015)

YES! AWESOME JOB! Keep it real...It is sad to think about how many bikes were restored back then,I have been collecting for 25 years ,never restored any of my bikes ,always brought them back from rusthell to the original finish.Never have been a fan of restored,most people that do restore go way overboard.Great job!


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## COB (Jul 1, 2015)

Wow!!!


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## Oldbikes (Jul 1, 2015)

Holy cow!  Amazing transformation and great save! 
I too would like to hear about your method...
Congrats on a very nice bike!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## robertc (Jul 1, 2015)

When I first looked at your bike I thought the paint looked decent but not over the top. Then the next couple of photos came up and I said to myself out loud "Holly crap" would you look at that. Great job and beautiful bike.


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## bikiba (Jul 1, 2015)

i cant say anything more than the rest of the guys. Fantastic job. I had my wife walk over to the lap top and she said... "wow!"

wld like to know your trade secrets too... im guessing a degreaser cleaning with #0000 and then a wd treatment the same way


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## dfa242 (Jul 2, 2015)

Now* that's *a before-and-after for the ages - good for you.


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## Flat Tire (Jul 2, 2015)

Good Grief thats incredible!  very cool bike also!


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## mike j (Jul 2, 2015)

I agree with all of the above, you couldn't have done a better job, all around. Congrats & enjoy.


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## 56 Vette (Jul 2, 2015)

WOW!! Thank you all for the great comments! I really appreciate it! I had a feeling this one would be special from the moment I got it home and really started looking at it. I didn't clean it up before tear down other than where the stand clamped, all parts were laid out and I started with frame then went in reverse and each part was cleaned before going back on. First step after warm water rag to remove dirt was to spray surface with WD40 and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then I soaked a 0000 steel wool pad in WD and started gently rubbing surface back and forth, with hardly any pressure on the steel wool, didn't do circles because of the chance of putting swirl marks in the paint. Every 5 or 6 strokes wipe it off to see what came off, several repeats of this and then stop when most of the rust is gone. Also want to be super careful around any pinstripes, or where paint colors meet, I've wiped out pins and hit primer on a few lesser bikes, very glad I have had the practice!! Once happy with rust gone, I use Meguiars scratch x 2.0, seems less abrasive than a polishing compound, once again keep away from pinstripes and keep rag wet and use very little pressure, next step is turtle wax super hard shell removed and buffed with a micro fibre towel. That's how I do it, thanks again for all the positive comments and feedback! Have a great 4th all, Joe. And hopefully have a chance to take it to the neighbor's to see if he would like to take it for a spin!


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## robertc (Jul 2, 2015)

That seemed to do the trick. Happy 4th to you.


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## HARPO (Jul 2, 2015)

rollfaster said:


> Holo crap. That is one unreal transformation. Great work and great bike. Rob.




What he said...and it's STILL hard to believe that it's the original paint beneath what covered it. DON'T show the original owner..he'll want it back!!


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## danilo1219 (Jul 2, 2015)

*this is my colson 41*









CWCMAN said:


> Awesome Job. It would have been a sin to restore that bike. Great buy.
> 
> What did you use to bring back the paint?


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## bikesnbuses (Jul 2, 2015)

WOW!Even brought those wheels back! MANoMAN!


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## Pondo (May 13, 2021)

This is a bit of an old thread but this Flying Ace came out great!


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## Sun311usa (May 14, 2021)

Nice color combo. I love it!


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## Balloonoob (May 14, 2021)

That bike is awesome.  I just love the color.


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