Radio Flyer Project

[zmotorsports]

Stay tuned for several posts being very picture heavy. Hope everyone is ok with pictures.

I had gotten a bit of criticism over the squared base of the handle so on Saturday morning I opened up the shop and began work by modifying the handle to change from the 90-degree handle bracket to a radius style. Started by working on a couple of bends to see what looked good. I could have made a completely new handle but figured I would just modify the original. Time wise it was probably sixes as to which was quicker, but either way it's done now.



Settled on a radius that looked good and duplicated it.



Mocked up and marked the points of tangency.



After cutting the radius bends I test fitted. Not quite as much room but ample for my large hands so it should work.



Cuts were made, edged chamfered and setup for tacking.



Tacked together and test fit the grip.



Final welds done and blended then metal finished on the outside...



and metal finished on the inside.



Set up on the fabrication table with both ends leveled so they are in the same plane.



Handle completed and ready for final sanding.




Stay tuned for more....

 

[zmotorsports]

Next out came the water and sponge for wet sanding.

A couple of drops of Dawn dishwashing soap in the water works well for lubrication and keeping the paper from clogging up so quickly.



I only had a couple sheets of 3M 400-grit sandpaper so I had to stop by the local paint & body supply shop a few days earlier.






I generally don't waiver from 3M products but I'm not gonna lie, there has been a huge price gap lately so I opted to give a less expensive brand a try on the counterman's suggestion.






For a good side by side comparison I used each brand on each side of the chassis. I really couldn't tell much difference in them other than I felt the import brand didn't clog as easily. That may have been in my head though or it could be that the SPI Epoxy Primer sands much better than the PPG brand of epoxy primer.



Chassis wet sanded and wiped down.



All of the nooks and crannies were blown out as well.









Pretty pleased with how everything sanded and came out.

Stay tuned....there's more...

 

[zmotorsports]

Before closing up the shop Saturday night I thought I'd get the wheels masked.

Here's a little trick to masking without taking any more time than necessary.

Use wide tape when possible, then fill in with the 3/4" wide tape. Start in one spot and work in a direction. Doesn't matter clockwise or counterclockwise but the key it to overlay in a sequence.



I just used my fingernail to press the tape down into the recess between the steel wheel and the rubber tire. Next take a sharp razor blade and run around the recess using it as a guide.



Here you can see the cut line.



Next, pick a starting point and peel in the same direction and it should come off all in one if you overlapped correctly.



Masked and ready to go in relatively quick order.



Everything masked and wet sanded, ready for sealer and paint.







That was where I closed up the shop and called it a day.

Yesterday after the wife and I returned from breakfast it was such a nice day with no breeze blowing so I headed back out to the shop to seal and pain the parts.

Everything hung and wiped down one last time with Wax & Grease remover as well as tacked using a tack cloth.







Stay tuned for more..

 

[zmotorsports]

I had mixed up the SPI Epoxy Primer and added just a bit of slow reducer to aid in laying down flat for the sealer coat.

Here is the sealer coat applied.



Sealer coat applied to the chassis.



The sealer was given about an hour and a half while I sat on the deck with the wife enjoying a nice lazy Sunday afternoon.

Then I mixed up some PPG DBC9700 black and sprayed a couple coats of color on the parts....






and the chassis....



The paint dries relatively quick so by the time I cleaned the gun and mixed up the SPI Univeral Clear it was ready to spray the final clear using a couple of wet coats.






The wife helped me carry the chassis and parts into the shop.










After hanging everything in the shop I cleaned out the guns, cleaned up the bench, coiled up hoses and put all of the paint supplies away and got the shop back to normal again.

Overall, I am pretty pleased with how the job turned out and it should be ready to final assembly after I machine a few fasteners and polish a couple of items.

Thanks for looking.

 

[nnnnnate]

Someone had the cajones to criticize your work? Point them out to me and I'll hit them with a monkey wrench.

 

[zmotorsports]

Someone had the cajones to criticize your work? Point them out to me and I'll hit them with a monkey wrench.

Yeah, you know how social media is. Everyone's a critic and trust me, I'm not perfect, I **** shit once in a while and have to go back to the drawing board.

Oh well, I do think the radius looks better.

 

[Pike2350]

Yeah, you know how social media is. Everyone's a critic and trust me, I'm not perfect, I **** shit once in a while and have to go back to the drawing board.

Oh well, I do think the radius looks better.

I agree...I think the radius looks better as well. It's obviously too late now, but I do wonder if the same change would've looked better at the bottom of the handle, instead of the squared off bracket.

 

[zmotorsports]

I agree...I think the radius looks better as well. It's obviously too late now, but I do wonder if the same change would've looked better at the bottom of the handle, instead of the squared off bracket.

I thought about that at the time but actually like the smaller squared off one at the bottom much better as it keeps the pivot area cleaner and more compact.

 

[Spork]

I'm a fan of the square just because that's what my old wagon had when I was a kid.

 

[zmotorsports]

I didn't get much time on the wagon last night as I had a few other tasks in the shop to do but I was able to unmask everything and get a good start on final assembly.




I'm quite pleased with the depth of the paint on the chassis. All of the work paid off, although this project took on quite a bit of project creep.



Even the smaller parts have nice deep appearing paint work and the welds are smooth and barely visible.



Next was to add another finishing touch of mine, knocking the knurls off of the stainless steel socket head capscrews. I did this same technique on all of the snowmobiles, sand quads and sandrails I built over the years before the fasteners went off to chrome. I don't particularly like the visible knurls on fasteners for show jobs.



Those look so much better than the knurls.



Next I thought I'd grease and assemble the Torrington bearing assembly for the steering pivot plate.













Stay tuned for more pictures.....

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.

Assembled the steering knuckles after pressing the Delrin bushings in and lubing the pivot points.



Bolted the rear axle in place.






Installed the tires/wheels onto the chassis to get it to ride height.



Removed the interior's lower panel and bolted the body to the chassis.



I like how the body rests on top of the chassis rails giving it that Roadster appearance.



Interior reassembled and moved to the lift table as that was all the time I had for the night.













Thanks for looking.

 

[Pike2350]

Man, that is beautiful. Your attention to detail is outstanding. I love your posts and highly admire your "do it right" mentality. It is a dying mindset but I love seeing it still in practice.

 

[zmotorsports]

Man, that is beautiful. Your attention to detail is outstanding. I love your posts and highly admire your "do it right" mentality. It is a dying mindset but I love seeing it still in practice.

Thank you. I appreciate the comments.

It's sad that that mindset is dying because it isn't that much more difficult to do things right vs. half-assing something. If I can do it anyone can.

 

[STAG]

Thank you. I appreciate the comments.

It's sad that that mindset is dying because it isn't that much more difficult to do things right vs. half-assing something. If I can do it anyone can.

Not much more difficult, but definitely more time consuming!

 

[zmotorsports]

Putting the finishing touches on my grandson's Radio Flyer project.

Polished some aluminum parts such as the hand grip.


Installed the hand grip using some 12-point stainless steel ARP fasteners I had on hand, leftover from another project.


Polished the aluminum tie rods. One down, one to go.


Chucked up the stainless steel shoulder bolt for the steering pivot to knock the knurls off.


Ran a reamer through the steering pivot points to clean up the paint mil thickness and aid in smooth steering.





Steering pivot plate bolted in place. I had to add a .040" shim to properly tighten with no slop or play in the Torrington bearing.


Ran a .250" reamer through the steering pivot plate as well as the handle pivot point to remove paint thickness.


Chucked up the stainless steel socket head capscrews for the tie rods to removed the knurls. One down, three to go.


Tie rods installed, alignment completed, tie rod jam nuts tightened down and "King Bee" headlights installed.



More to follow...

 

[zmotorsports]

Moving on to the last of the pictures as the project is now complete.


Before lowering it down off the lift table I gave it a wipe down with Final Inspection and installed the handle with the quickl release pin.


While I still had some daylight left I rolled it outside to snap a few pictures of the finished product.




















Thank you for continuing to follow along on this project/build. It was a fun project and one I hope my grandson cherishes and enjoys for many, many years.

 

[Gawynz]

Thank you for continuing to follow along on this project/build. It was a fun project and one I hope my grandson cherishes and enjoys for many, many years.

That thing is so rad. I pray I never see a post about it being left in the drive and backed over or filled full of dirt and worms lol.

 

[zmotorsports]

That thing is so rad. I pray I never see a post about it being left in the drive and backed over or filled full of dirt and worms lol.

Me too. My son said he was afraid to use it because it turned out so nice. That's not what I wanted and there was some project creep that took place. I want it to be enjoyed and know it will get at least a scratch here and there but I want it to be used and enjoyed.

 

[STAG]

That thing needs to be pulled around at car shows 😎

 

[zmotorsports]

That thing needs to be pulled around at car shows 😎

May even be a reason to start going to car shows again.