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Huffman: Firestone Supreme Streamline Help Needed Please!

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Please explain how you removed the other layers of paint, but left the original pain in such nice shape! Thanks in advance!
I used "Everclear" grain alcohol on the removal. Everclear is available in different proofs depending on your state; in New Mexico it is 190 proof. It doesn't work with all paint binders; I have used Goof-off and acetone as well depending on the paint. Denatured alcohol should work the same at the Everclear but they add toxic stuff so you can't drink it; I have noticed a haze residue with denatured alcohol on art pieces so I stopped using it years ago. With the alcohol, you can add small amounts of water to cut-it if its "too hot" and removing your base coat you are trying to save. With this bike the maroon is pretty stable but the original white decorative elements are very fragile.

I work small areas at a time with small pieces of cotton cloth ( 3 by 3 inches, folding in half and then large postage stamp size for the final removal:( t-shirt for the removal of the top layers of paint, terry-cloth towel for the final layer. You want the cloth pieces to be wet but not dripping. Sometimes it will take many seconds for the overpaint binders to "relax" and start coming off so you should not give up if you do not see results immediately. Try test spots with to see what solvent works best. Once the cloth is covered in paint discard it immediately and use a new one. Be very careful with pin stripes as they are typically very fragile and hard to save. Once down to final over-layer I use the smaller cloth pieces and just wipe usually once pulling away from the exposed original paint; discard cloth with removed pigments and use a new one every sweep!

With some bikes you can remove most of the overpaint rather quickly but the final layer and detail cleaning will take hours to do well. Patience and working small areas cannot be stressed enough! With this bike the green and cherry red overpaint is adhering to any bare metal spots better than areas were the original paint is intact. I still have a lot of work that needs to be done at these spots. I have experience removing overpaint off antique furniture and art objects but I am stilling learning on bikes. Any input from others would be appreciated.

Good luck!
 
I used "Everclear" grain alcohol on the removal. Everclear is available in different proofs depending on your state; in New Mexico it is 190 proof. It doesn't work with all paint binders; I have used Goof-off and acetone as well depending on the paint. Denatured alcohol should work the same at the Everclear but they add toxic stuff so you can't drink it; I have noticed a haze residue with denatured alcohol on art pieces so I stopped using it years ago. With the alcohol, you can add small amounts of water to cut-it if its "too hot" and removing your base coat you are trying to save. With this bike the maroon is pretty stable but the original white decorative elements are very fragile.

I work small areas at a time with small pieces of cotton cloth ( 3 by 3 inches, folding in half and then large postage stamp size for the final removal:( t-shirt for the removal of the top layers of paint, terry-cloth towel for the final layer. You want the cloth pieces to be wet but not dripping. Sometimes it will take many seconds for the overpaint binders to "relax" and start coming off so you should not give up if you do not see results immediately. Try test spots with to see what solvent works best. Once the cloth is covered in paint discard it immediately and use a new one. Be very careful with pin stripes as they are typically very fragile and hard to save. Once down to final over-layer I use the smaller cloth pieces and just wipe usually once pulling away from the exposed original paint; discard cloth with removed pigments and use a new one every sweep!

With some bikes you can remove most of the overpaint rather quickly but the final layer and detail cleaning will take hours to do well. Patience and working small areas cannot be stressed enough! With this bike the green and cherry red overpaint is adhering to any bare metal spots better than areas were the original paint is intact. I still have a lot of work that needs to be done at these spots. I have experience removing overpaint off antique furniture and art objects but I am stilling learning on bikes. Any input from others would be appreciated.

Good luck!


It scares me to think I drank that stuff in high school, and now I'm going to use it to remove paint!
 
Thanks Marty for posting the Hull Compass advertisement.

I have been corrected about my chain guard theory. Apparently there has never been an original Firestone guard found in chrome. It has been suggested the guard was stamped from "pre-plated" metal sheeting. Has anyone else seen an original Firestone guard with a similar treatment? The below girls bike, in original paint, has plating exposed on its' guard. The difference: chrome was an option on the crow's beak guard; possibly it was painted over at the factory to satisfy an order?

View attachment 672176 View attachment 672176


Cool looking house!
 
Hello Brant. Brady here. I just found this thread. The frameset is looking great. Love the original paint. I'm glad I sold it to you. The Firestones are awesome looking bikes. I got the bike off of the original owners son. His dad had this bike, and he rode a mid 50s Schwinn. I asked him if it had a Tank at one time, but he couldn't remember. The son was probably in his 50s. The bike came out of New Castle, PA.
 
Get a load of this. I hope you like 'em.

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Great looking bikes but none of those are Firestone's. For those looking to find out more about Huffman built bikes including Firestone, National, Dayton, Airflyte, etc... I suggest you pick up a copy of the book Scott published earlier this year. It contains a wealth of information about these bikes. V/r Shawn
http://www.ebay.com/itm/All-NEW-HUF...988737?hash=item440b28a341:g:DV8AAOSw3YJZOtuD
 
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Wow, can't belive it's the same bike! Your magic is unbelievable. Thank you very much for sharing your tips. I haven't taken on a project like that before and hope to use your techniques one day. I learned a lot from your post!
 
I just found this thread as well. AMAZING work!!!!

I am going to run to the liquor store and try it out. I wonder what they will think carrying out a couple bottles? Jungle Juice????

Thanks for the Post. I was a lot of fun to follow.
 
Just to add to the Firestone bicycle compass narrative, this little gem got listed right here on the Cabe this week.
I have been looking for one of these for about ten years now, and this is the first one I've seen.
The sales ad listed it as a Holy Grail accessory item, and not for the faint of wallet.
In fact, this little guy practically cost more than the bike it's bolted on to!
I know!
Pretty crazy, but what are you going to do, wait another ten years?
One of the things that I found interesting, was that it was shown with a 1942 Sears catalog page that listed it as an Elgin accessory.
The earlier ads 1937/38 listed it as being exclusively developed by Firestone.
Interesting that it showed up in the Sears catalog during the war years.
My guess is, these were being surplused to move the remaining stock during the war years.
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
Pretty cool acquisition, and you got to love that rush you get, when something so elusive pops up in your field of view.
It's like, BAM!
I'll take it!
Now how much is it going to cost?
Lol!
 
Just to add to the Firestone bicycle compass narrative, this little gem got listed right here on the Cabe this week.
I have been looking for one of these for about ten years now, and this is the first one I've seen.
The sales ad listed it as a Holy Grail accessory item, and not for the faint of wallet.
In fact, this little guy practically cost more than the bike it's bolted on to!
I know!
Pretty crazy, but what are you going to do, wait another ten years?
One of the things that I found interesting, was that it was shown with a 1942 Sears catalog page that listed it as an Elgin accessory.
The earlier ads 1937/38 listed it as being exclusively developed by Firestone.
Interesting that it showed up in the Sears catalog during the war years.
My guess is, these were being surplused to move the remaining stock during the war years.View attachment 791713 View attachment 791714 Pretty cool acquisition, and you got to love that rush you get, when something so elusive pops up in your field of view.
It's like, BAM!
I'll take it!
Now how much is it going to cost?
Lol!
Were you able to get it to display correctly? I'd like to see a pic of it mounted. V/r Shawn
 
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