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I am putting my project on hold until this little guy is done. Got to have it ready for Xmas morning. The car will be painted satin black with Matt pink flames complete with replica frame rails, headers, working suspension, slicks and what ever else I think of...
this brings up something i did for my oldest brother.back in the early 50's he got a sad face"olds" pedal car for xmas.well after he outgrew it it ended up at my grandmas.well over the next 30 yrs it got rode hard.i remember riding it with no rubber on the wheels and the steering wheel had a half turn of play.
well my grandma moved off the farm in the mid 80's and i never put another thought into it.well as it would go when the kids were going thru the farm taking things they wanted unbeknownst to me my mom and dad grabbed the car and had it in their attic.in the late 90's my brother asked my dad what had ever happened to it and he told him he had no idea.well my dad said something to me one day in a sept or oct of 99 and at that time i just happened to work with a guy that restored pedal cars and had an n.o.s. set of tires and wheels for it.he gave me a catalog of speedway motors in lincoln ne. and they carry resto parts for all kinds of pedal cars.
so i took it stripped it to the bare metal and restored it with base/clear paint and new decals and gave it back to him for xmas again almost 50 years later.my mom and dad said he had just as big a smile on his face the second time too.
I've got some good stuff planned, if I have time I'll go for a working driver door, rumble seat (for the teddy bear) and functional headlights/taillights.
Originally Posted by Tedd Thompson
Ya baby, that's going to be cool. Pink flames gotta be for a girl,maybe... Tedd
Edit
Geese Tedd read the title, grand daughters are almost always girls... I need a nap.. Tedd again.
Lol, yes Tedd, she's a girl.
Originally Posted by cherokeepeople
this brings up something i did for my oldest brother.back in the early 50's he got a sad face"olds" pedal car for xmas.well after he outgrew it it ended up at my grandmas.well over the next 30 yrs it got rode hard.i remember riding it with no rubber on the wheels and the steering wheel had a half turn of play.
well my grandma moved off the farm in the mid 80's and i never put another thought into it.well as it would go when the kids were going thru the farm taking things they wanted unbeknownst to me my mom and dad grabbed the car and had it in their attic.in the late 90's my brother asked my dad what had ever happened to it and he told him he had no idea.well my dad said something to me one day in a sept or oct of 99 and at that time i just happened to work with a guy that restored pedal cars and had an n.o.s. set of tires and wheels for it.he gave me a catalog of speedway motors in lincoln ne. and they carry resto parts for all kinds of pedal cars.
so i took it stripped it to the bare metal and restored it with base/clear paint and new decals and gave it back to him for xmas again almost 50 years later.my mom and dad said he had just as big a smile on his face the second time too.
I bet your brother was ecstatic to see it all shined up again.
Originally Posted by CRUZN 66
Should be a very cool project... Please keep us posted on the progress... After all, only 127 days until Christmas...
Ugh, don't remind me. So much to do and my warped little mind keeps coming up with more ideas.
All of the metal work you see is fabbed up from raw steel, there is no kit involved. I tried searching for a vintage pedal car but I just couldn't find one with any soul so, I decided to build one from scratch. The only things that will actually be purchased are the body, wheels/tires and steering wheel. Everything else will be made by me right down to the tuck & roll interior.
All of the metal work you see is fabbed up from raw steel, there is no kit involved.
I did assume that, but you know what they say about assume, so I just had to ask... The detail of that grille work is phenomenal, not to mention the windshield frame... Are you using a water jet machine or a wire EDM by chance??? Or it it the old flame cut, weld, and grind method??? Your work is truly exceptional, regardless of the method used...
Thank you very much, fabrication/welding is something I greatly enjoy. The frame rails I used a plasma but for intricate sheet metal cutting, I just use a jig saw with a metal blade. To be honest, I think a jig saw is one of the better ways to cut sheet metal.(Assuming you don't have a band saw handy)
I made a working "test" coil over today just to make sure that I have a solid plan of attack. The real ones will look much better.... yes that is an Oldsmobile valve spring.
I'm no engineer but you are obviously an artist with metal. My question is can that be geared to pedal comfortably? I have no doubt it's going to be the best pedal car ever. Following along because this is a super cool project.
I still haven't decided on the pedal mechanism yet. I am either going to use a chain drive crank and sprocket or a conventional lever system. I really want to have a set of floor boards in it, so I'm not sure if the chain drive system will work out. No matter what, I will make it so the pedals will be adjustable for height. I'm also confident that I can make it pretty easy to pedal...it really shouldn't weigh that much.
This is without a doubt the coolest pedal car project i have ever seen. It is amazing to see the craftsmanship of some of the members on this site. This i effort i hope goes into a photo album or similar for your granddaughter to remember as a adult. Congrats on the work so far. I am looking forward to see this project finished.
Thanks guys, I'm pretty excited about this project. Yes, there will be a photo album put together for her and my daughter is also wanting to enter it in the Autorama for the little one. She probably won't be able to pedal it right off the bat so I will make a provision to hook a long handle in the front so her mom can drag her around. Lol, I see a snowmobile engine going into this thing in a couple years.
Last edited by gear head; September 11th, 2017 at 05:58 PM.
Oh yeah, the rear tires came today. I was holding out for a set of new Hoosier slicks but, I got a killer deal on these. Now I just need a narrow set for the fronts.
Lol, she started smiling and laughing as soon as I put her in the car.... she definitely knows it's hers now.
I fabbed up an I-beam front axle today. I'm pretty stoked, it looks like the front suspension is going to work out well. With the coilovers placed In front of the axle, I have Just enough room for a decent turn radius. I should have the rod ends and tubing for the suspension arms early next week to get the front end buttoned up.
Well, here we are, just over a month into this thing and barely have a front suspension. Summit racing dropped the ball and sent me the wrong rod ends I needed for the coilovers and also sent me an empty box that was supposed to contain the tubing for my tie rods. Anyways,this is where I'm at... I really need to pick up the pace.
Any progress is better then no progress... I'm sure you'll get the job done, as long as your suppliers don't keep messing with your time schedule... Again, nice job...
Any progress is better then no progress... I'm sure you'll get the job done, as long as your suppliers don't keep messing with your time schedule... Again, nice job...
Thanks!
Lol, those darn suppliers. I can't talk bad about Summit, this is only the second time in 30 years or so that they have botched up an order. I just hope Hoosier gets the front tires shipped soon so I can build the spindles.
Originally Posted by Fullsizelover
Some serious fabrication skills there, you might try it on a 1:1 model
Thanks! One day, I aspire to have the skills to shape a shell from flat sheet.
I was able to get a bit of time with the '32 this weekend. I have the front coilovers mounted and the seat frame done. Next, I'll work on interior templates and the rear axle assembly.
August 19th, 2017, 02:31 PM
