My restoration project

[Satty]

I've had this thing since I was like 3, dont know where it came from, my parents might remember, I haven't asked. But I've decided that I need to restore it. Shouldn't be too hard, the body is straight and most of the parts are there, it just has hellacious surface rust. For parts, all I'll need is a pedal (somehow its been through 3 houses and 2 storage units and only lost 1) the hubcaps, the seat cushion and a a new bell. The bell is there, but the dangly thing in the bell is M.I.A. I found most of the stuff online, my biggest concern at the moment is the graphics. They're painted on, and mostly there. I dont see any way around stripping the paint and starting over, but that means removing the graphics. I'm not artistically inclined at all, so re-doing them myself is out of the question. I'll have to do some looking around to see what having it done professionally would run. I found vinyl graphics online, but that just wouldn't be the same, now would it? Whats going to slow me down is that anytime my son sees it, he jumps in and starts cruising around, so I haven't been able to do jack yet.

Oh, and you can see my next restoration project in the pic. No, not the Buick, the driveway thats just all sort of $h!ty.

[balthazar]

Graphics may be available too; there's a surprising amount of pedal car resto stuff out there. Pretty sure this vintage should still have a steel steering wheel.

I've sold a number of these over the years, including a circa '30 U.S. Mail pedal plane (a leather cord turned the steel propellor with the pedals) and a '30 Willys Overland. I have a '65 Super Diesel Tractor, brand new in the box, never assembled, just sold it.

[Satty]

I found this sute that has close, though not exactly the same, graphics.

The soft steering wheel is, as far as I know, the one that same with it, but I'm thinking abour getting a chrome reproduction AMF wheel because it will look much better than the black one.

[Sixty8panther]

Hella Cool.

You sure you want to put your kid in a car lacking a roll-hoop & B-pillars, never mind a windshield!? /sarcasm

Edited October 5, 2008 by Sixty8panther

[balthazar]

I don't know how old you or the pedal car are exactly Satty, but the '65 tractor I have has a steel wheel, an all-original '66 AMF Super Sport I sold this year had a steel one.... every '60s/'70s pedal car I've seen has had a steel wheel. Only thing I would venture is I don't know how long AMF built this- if this design went well into the '70s or into the '80s, the wheel certainly could have been changed, I just doubt it from my experience. Just an FYI.

[Satty]

*Note to self: Add seatbelts, airbags (front and side) and a,b,c,d,e,f and g pillars

I have thought about getting this and building/painting it myself, but it wouldn't really be the same.

[Satty]

Balthy: I'm 24, no idea how old the car is, but I saw somewhere that this basic design was sold into the late 70's or early 80's so its possible it was a late production model, or someone swapped it out, cause the one on it is definitely plastic. I do really like the idea of a metal one, it just seems so wrong having one plastic piece in the whole thing.

[balthazar]

The design dates to the '60s originally. I agree; a metal wheel seems loads more appropriate.

[Sixty8panther]

Yes on the metal wheel.

Another way we (as a whole) are softening our kids these days and raising

a bunch of lazy, instat gratification seeking whiners: POWER WHEELS.

These pedal cars are def. much cooler. I had one myself back in Slovakia

that looked very similar to yours, either way good luck with the project.

[Satty]

I'm having very bad luck with Power Wheels. We have 2, they were my nephews, but he outgrew them and my sister just kinda dumped them off at my place. One is a John Deere tractor whose battery is hidden very well. It took me forever to figure out how to get it out to charge it. The other is a Harley Davidson that doesn't have a battery, which confirmed my theory that my house is just my family's storage unit.

I had another pedal car as a kid, it was a blue Ford tractor, I'll have to see if I can find it, I dont think we left it when we moved, so there are only a couple of places it could be hiding.

[ocnblu]

It has a nice patina, Satty. Would you consider just replacing the functional parts it needs, and leaving the rest alone? I think your car is modeled after a Rambler American. It's cool. I had an electric, white Sting Ray... long gone. I also had a 60's style John Deere pedal tractor... it got dumped in the swamp on our farm.

[Satty]

I like the idea of making it new and bright and shiny, so a new generation can use it so much it fades again.

And here is my other project, the 'rents brought it over this morning. All it needs is a new seat, otherwise its in fantastic shape. A few paint chips and the bed in the trailer has some surface rust, but I'm just going to get a new seat and leave it as-is.

And here is the same tractor on eBay. It has a plastic seat, like mine used to. The replacement one I've ordered is aluminium.

[XP715]

Very cool. I have a couple antique bicycles and an antique snowmobile that are on my "to do" list (and probably will be for years to come). I've always wanted a few old pedal cars, though.

[balthazar]

Just sold this for $600, shoulda brought much more but things are just too tight:

[knightfan26917]

Satty,

VERY cool.

One of my aunts in PA used to have a few pedal cars that us cousins "fought" over at times. Sadly, I don't know what happened to those pedal cars .

Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker

WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"Every song, another scene" ... Dierks Bently ... 'Every Mile A Memory'

[toesuf94]

I remember this car when it was original...and yes, there was a steel steering wheel in the one my neighbor had. His WAS in decent, played with shape until we decided to tow in on a long rope on our bikes and drug it into the curb a few hundred times. It was really totaled when we were finished playing with it. Looked like it had fallen off of a cliff.

Stupid kids...

[Satty]

One project done. It took me forever to find a bolt to hold the infernal seat in place. Now to start ollecting bits 'n pieces for the pedal car.

[balthazar]

As the 1 billionth example of how the economy is in the toilet, my buyer for the Murray Super Diesel pictured above backed out... so if anyone want's a perfect, 100% complete pedal tractor brand new in the box, it's available for $600 firm. You cannot restore one to this level- it's impossible to find all the little pieces (ignition key, decals, etc) anymore.

[A Horse With No Name]

Wish I had $600, but I don't at the moment....

Chris

[XP715]

As the 1 billionth example of how the economy is in the toilet, my buyer for the Murray Super Diesel pictured above backed out... so if anyone want's a perfect, 100% complete pedal tractor brand new in the box, it's available for $600 firm. You cannot restore one to this level- it's impossible to find all the little pieces (ignition key, decals, etc) anymore.

If I had the spare cash I'd buy it in half a second. I'm even in New Jersey this week for work so shipping would be a non-issue. Hopefully everybody else is as strapped as I am so I can pick it up in the future!