Back lot Toy Cars Dinky and Corgi

[TerryB]

Greg, that looks great.  Probably the least expensive of any restoration you have ever done!

[TerryB]

Well, with inspiration from Greg’s adventure with the Plymouth taxi, I’ve decided to take apart the Dinky Cadillac Eldorado and see if I can do anything with it.  I DO NOT like to paint so this is going out of my comfort zone. My spinal cord injury also makes breathing difficult around chemical fumes so that is reason #2 to avoid paint and chemicals.  So far a Dremel with a grinding wheel was used to remove the tin base that holds the wheels and the remnants of the broken windshield was retrieved.  A new replacement windshield is available but it’s in England and they price things in units of Ls. The windshield is L3.5 and shipping is L10.7 so that can be slightly expensive.  I’m going to see if I can fabricate some type of replacement that doesn’t require so many Ls. Pics so far.  I’m not sure about painting it the original color.  Dinky sold two colors of this car, the salmon seen here and a light yellow.  I’m thinking a light blue similar to Robin’s egg would look good too.

 

[TerryB]

Got most of the rust off the bottom plate. The plate makes up the floor of the car. It will be painted black.

 

[John S.]

Terry, I like the red tin car in the background.

[TerryB]

Work has been slow but progress is being made.  Had to do an unexpected repair to my wheelchair as during my monthly tire inflation and safety check I found the seat support bolts had an issue, some were loose and five had stripped out (10-32 x 3/4” machine screws).  Got new hardware at the local ACE and now back in business. Base of car is painted and body is stripped.  I’m trying to make my own windshield.  I’ve done a flat one for an MG TD but this curved one is more complicated.  A replacement from England is about $15 so I’ll go the DIY route first.  Note the new tires are O rings from the hardware store. Danco #31 faucet O rings make perfect replacements.

 

[TerryB]

Soda bottle windshield is taking shape.  I think it was a Diet Pepsi bottle.

[TerryB]

The salmon has been changed to a light blue.  Just finished the first coat, now it’s the 24 hr dry to see if some touch ups are needed and to shoot some paint on the underside.  I’m not setting any records in finishing time. I’m still not a fan of painting but I’m mellowing a little.  Oh, almost forgot, my wife found the lazy Susan at a yard sale today for 25 cents.  Yesterday I told her a lazy Susan would be a big help. Great timing!

 

 

Edited May 22, 2021 by TerryB (see edit history)

[John S.]

Terry, the car is coming along nicely. Great work. John

[TerryB]

Thank you John, it’s been a good lesion In patience.  If this works out I have a bigger project to attempt that will require painting too.  Part of my issue is finding ways to adapt to my limited mobility like the lazy Susan and the part holders made from Romex and alligator clips and a piece of 2x4.

[TerryB]

The Rustoleum paint with the built in primer seems to be working out well on this project. Wait, did I just say the painting is not going too bad?  I have a greater appreciation for the ”watching paint dry” saying during this whole exercise😀.

[Guest]

Terry, the body holder you made is ideal!

I love the light blue.  Period correct and looks great.

I hemmed and hawed over the cost of replacement windows as well.  The part cost isn't too bad considering, but with shipping it's a no go.

When I got down to the small trim, I took a small Testors paint brush and a good sharp pair of scissors and trimmed the brush down to about a third of it's bristles.  It looks a little splayed in this up close pic but with paint on it, it's very thin.  Then I used one of those lighted magnifiers to help my less than steady hand paint the small stuff.  

 

 

Cheers, Greg

[TerryB]

I have two sets of eyeglasses and at least three magnifiers around on projects like this!  Thanks for your painting tips. I’m always in too much of a hurry when it comes to paint.

[Guest]

Ditto Terry, that's why I don't care for Rust-oleum.  The 24 hour dry time is awful for a guy who drinks as much coffee as I do.  But it's an excellent and durable paint for this type of job.

Having done the TAXI, I now consider myself to have acquired "full novice status" on the restoration of Dinky Toys, so I'm ready for another challenge.  If the other cab and ambulance are still available, I'll take them both.

Greg

[Jim Skelly]

As a model car collector, I find this topic real interesting.  How is the chassis re-secured to the body since the rivets were drilled out? 

[Guest]

I drilled a very small hole in the rivet towers and re-secured the chassis with  #2 screws. 

Edited May 24, 2021 by GregLaR (see edit history)

[TerryB]

14 hours ago, GregLaR said:

Ditto Terry, that's why I don't care for Rust-oleum.  The 24 hour dry time is awful for a guy who drinks as much coffee as I do.  But it's an excellent and durable paint for this type of job.

Having done the TAXI, I now consider myself to have acquired "full novice status" on the restoration of Dinky Toys, so I'm ready for another challenge.  If the other cab and ambulance are still available, I'll take them both.

Greg

Sent you a PM

[TerryB]

Cadillac ambulance is SOLD.  These are fun cars and great to tinker with if you find them at the right price.  I rehabbed a bunch without painting them, just repaired bent axles, cleaned them up with light polishing compound and found tires for them either on eBay or o rings from the hardware store.  For some I had to rebuild or fabricate small parts. I then sold the finished ones at an antique shop for a lot less than eBay prices.  It got to the point that the shop would call to see if I had any more ready to sell.  
 

Here are photos of a Corgi wrecker I made parts for.  The wrecker boom was broken and the tow hook was missing.  The two boom uprights are small diameter aluminum tubing from the local hardware store, the connector at the top is 14awg wire and the pulley is two pop rivets cut apart and glued together. The hook was made from a small eye hook into a piece of aluminum tubing and the hook end was a piece of pop rivet.  The copper wire was painted silver before I sold it.

 

[Guest]

That is excellent fabricating Terry!

[Guest]

How's the Cadillac coming along?

[TerryB]

3 hours ago, GregLaR said:

How's the Cadillac coming along?

Good!  The Testors paint is drying, the famous 48 hour wait time is almost done.  I have visitors from California here at my house, my son and his girlfriend are back east for a wedding so the Cadillac is on the back burner.  Will be back on the project later this week.

[TerryB]

Son is on his way back to CA, so a little work today.  Red tail lights are done with red ultra fine tip Sharpie and dashboard center chrome is also Sharpie, metallic silver fine tip.  I’ve used the silver Sharpie in place of paint on other Dinky cars. Fast drying and no runs!

[TAKerry]

Following this thread has me wanting to hit up the flea market for some beat up old pot metal!  (matchbox, etc.)

I have at least 60 car models from my youth in the basement. One of these days I would like to 'restore' a few. I have quite a few Hubley's that were made of metal, they would be my first choice to hit the shop. I keep saying to myself that I am going to do them 'this winter' when its too cold to work in the shop, guess what?........another winter has passed by. Maybe I will get to them in a month or so when its too hot to work in the shop 🙂

[Guest]

The Sharpie idea is a good tip Terry.

(no pun intended).

[John S.]

Terry, Rustoleum bought out Testors paint, and the paint isn't as good as it used to be. I do a lot of painting with an air brush with nice results. I can control the flow, and it doesn't matter if I use enamel, lacquer, water base, etc. I find that if you warm up the paint can in the sink for a few minutes, you get a better flow from the can. I will probably start on the Plymouth Taxi next week, take it apart and strip the paint. Nice work on the Caddy. John

[Jim Bollman]

Have any of you tried the Molotow Liquid Chrome Paint Marker they come as fine as 1mm. The last one I bought was around $14. On a very smooth surface it looks really close to chrome. Molotow makes many different colors of paint pens, I have several for special projects.

[Guest]

Funny you mention this Jim.  I was just introduced to the Molotow pen on another site two days ago for touching up plated dashboard plastic pieces.  I really want to give it a try.

Greg

[TerryB]

Well, a little more progress and a little dose of reality with the painting.  I used Testors white in a bottle and brush and got the not-so-great results of using it.  I think I needed to prep the seats better before painting to get the white to adhere better so it came out with blue showing through.  I’m half way into the 48 hour dry time for the white so I ll let it dry.  The wheels on the car are now silver as the original painted wheels didn’t look so “Cadillac” to me.  Overall it’s come out better than I expected which gives me inspiration to try another project.

 

[Guest]

I'm sure it will look fine with a second coat Terry.

The blue looks a bit darker in this last photo, very nice!

[TerryB]

Ok, the grand reveal 😀.  I’m calling the blue in the white interior blue piping in the seats for now.  Again thank all of you for the encouragement to do this.  I sometimes tell myself, or better, use the excuse, I can’t do this type of stuff anymore because of my confinement to life in a wheelchair when really all I need to do is figure out a different non-typical approach to problems.  My shoe did get a little overspray on it but other than that no visible mess and no people or animals were harmed in the process. It was fun an of course a bit frustrating at times too. The Diet Pepsi plastic bottle windshield worked out well so maybe I can make a side business of supplying them for other restorations.

[TerryB]

The next project, an abandoned school bus....Of course the windshield is smashed🤔.

 

[Guest]

Terry, the Caddy really turned out great!

I think your idea to change up the colors was excellent. I would not have thought to make the windshield out of that Pepsi bottle. 

Were you a U.S. Marine at some point? Because your ability to "Improvise, adapt and overcome" is remarkable. 😄

[TerryB]

I often attribute my ability to make these things to my drive to be innovative when in fact the real answer is I’m too cheap to buy the ready made option.😀

Edited May 30, 2021 by TerryB (see edit history)

[John S.]

On 5/27/2021 at 7:31 PM, Jim Bollman said:

Have any of you tried the Molotow Liquid Chrome Paint Marker they come as fine as 1mm. The last one I bought was around $14. On a very smooth surface it looks really close to chrome. Molotow makes many different colors of paint pens, I have several for special projects.

 I use Molotow  Chrome pens on my models. Along with Alcad and Bare Metal Foil. the pens are a great modeling tool. Terry, when I ampainting the interior,  I would use a primer, then mask off the car, and air brush the interior. 

[John S.]

Terry, you did beautiful work on the Caddy. Real cool project.

[TerryB]

5 minutes ago, John S. said:

Terry, you did beautiful work on the Caddy. Real cool project.

Thanks!

[Jim Bollman]

Saw this on the Jalopy Journal and thought it would fit nicely here.

 

[TerryB]

I’ve added two more restoration cars to the for sale list, another (nicer) 1953 Cadillac and a rougher AC Aceca.

The Cadillac was at the antique shop and no one has shown an interest in it.  Price is $10 each.  More info and pics in the memorabilia for sale section.

Edited June 3, 2021 by TerryB
More information (see edit history)

[Guest]

Here we go again!

1962 Cadillac Superior Ambulance arrived today (thanks Terry) in need of another full restoration.  Well except for the brand new set of Big O (ring) tires Terry included. 

 

 

Gonna get right to it.  Dremel time....

 

 

Complete separation, all parts look good and restorable.  This toy originally came with a lower plate that contained a battery, light bulb and on/off switch to light up the center beacon/dome light and the fore and aft roof lights on the raised roof top.  Those parts are long gone now and, while reproductions are available in the UK, they aren't particularly cheap and the addition of "over the pond" shipping makes them outrageously over priced.  So I'm going to follow Terry's lead and fab up something new, which should be pretty easy... or at least pretty interesting with all the LED choices available today.

 

 

Paint stripper on...

 

[TerryB]

Wow, that didn’t take long to arrive and for you to dig in.  You’re off to a good start!  Honest Terry’s used cars is the place to shop!

[Guest]

Paint is stripped.

 

 

Last time (on the Taxi) I wasn't thinking ahead and waited to drill the rivet tower until after the car was painted, which made it more difficult.   I had to hold the body in a soft towel and drill by hand.  It worked but took longer and was slow going.  This time I'll put it in the drill press before paint and make it easier.  However, I broke my tiny drill bit so I'll have to run down to Lowes and purchase another first.

 

Chassis was straight and suspension in good condition so it only needed a cleaning before a shot of Chassis Black paint.

 

 

Corgi offered this ambulance in two different color combinations.  So again, like Terry, I think I'll take a little artistic license when it come time to repaint.

 

 

I gotta tell you guys, I have as  much fun doing these little cars as I do with my full sized cars.  In fact, maybe more because I don't have to wait two years for results! 

If you have a little spare time, and I know most of you do or you wouldn't be here, you should grab one of "Honest Terry's Used Cars" or one from anywhere really, and give it a go.  It's satisfying and easier than it looks.