I have 2 10-A-73 Firestones. One is a 51 and the other a 53. They are both unrestored originals. Both share the same metallic green paint on almost everything EXCEPT the power head. The powerheads are natural metal finishes. From the factory the metallic green was sprayed directly onto the base metal of the gas tank, side covers, leg and gear case with NO primer underneath. The one odd difference I see between the two is the prop. On the 51 the prop was natural metal. On the 53 the prop was painted the same metallic green as the leg and gear case. The prop nut differed between the two as well. The 51 prop nut is natural brass, the 53 was painted. Not sure what the base metal was on the 53 yet. It is waiting patiently in line to be restored.

I missed this on my first post. The recoil was green metallic as well. Good luck to you with your restoration. One guy that was very helpful to me was http://www.americanoutboard.com He set me up with the carb kit and has some NOS gaskets and things. This guy really knows his stuff. Another source for info is oddjob motors. He’s a member here and has a great tutorial for using the reasonable priced OMC coils in place of the very expensive originals. Both are great sources for tech info on the Firestones.

I just checked the prop nut on the 53. It’s painted black. Don’t know what’s underneath yet. Glad you started this post. It has sparked my interest in these 2 motors again. Thank you!

Hey Frank,
I know you have your finger on the pulse of everything antique as far as motors go. Do you know where I can find original or repro tiller handle grips for the 51 to 53 Firestones?