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PEDAL CAR RESTORATION--Al Nyquist
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In 2002, I retired from GM as a Powertrain
Engineer after 36 years. During the years at GM, I had always worked on my
2 full-size antique cars as a hobby, as well as also enjoying woodworking.
For about the last 25 years, I had an old Murray
V-Front stored in the barn--I had picked it up at a yard sale for a couple
bucks--it was missing a wheel. Every once in a while, the kids would take
it out and ride it, the missing front wheel not seeming to be a big
detriment!
Once retired, I decided to restore the car. I
knew very little about pedal cars, but did some searching on the net and
found Blue Diamond. I spent about $100 ordering a wheel, tires, and a T-bird
decal set, and amateur restored the car. That got my interest sparked.
Then, I found out about the "Wheel Goods Trader", and phoned John Rastall.
John and Marge live about 45 miles from me, so Virginia and I went down and
visited, and I started learning a lot more about Pedal Cars. John is a
great source of information, having a very extensive literature collection,
as well as a Pedal Car collection, and, he also knows everyone and anyone
having anything to do with Pedal Cars!
Through John, I fell into my second stroke of
luck. I spend my Winters in Arizona, and John mentioned that Dave Kleespies
was in Phoenix and restored Pedal Cars.
While in Arizona last winter, I looked up Dave
and Sno, and Dave was nice enough to take the time to teach me how to
properly and professionally restore a Pedal Car-- an un-restored Steelcraft
36 Ford that I purchased on E-bay while in AZ. I can tell you that if you
ever have a Pedal Car restored by Dave (D & S Pedal Car Restorations) you
would be absolutely thrilled to see the results--his restorations are
absolutely stunning!
Armed with my new knowledge (stripping, bumping,
straightening, priming, sanding, priming, more sanding, more sanding, and
painting) I started buying some more cars on E-bay. Here I learned a
valuable lesson--"buyer beware". I got totally "taken" on several
purchases. The seller then would say--"sorry, no refunds", or, "didn't you
see the pictures?" (you cannot tell condition from pictures), or, "what do
you expect from something 70 years old?". Well, I expected the item to be
as represented.
The one vehicle in particular, a small
fender-less Steelcraft, represented as having original paint, had in fact
been "over-painted" years ago with a brush. There was a bright side to this
however, Dave had told me that once a Pedal Car had been repainted, you now
have license to restore it properly!
Next came the first week of May, 2005, and away
Virginia and I went to Pigeon Forge, TN. Well, we thoroughly enjoyed it,
met a lot of very nice people, made some more new friends, spent a lot of
money (just too hard to resist some of the wonderful cars--and a real
benefit to be able to see and touch what you are actually buying). There, I
had my third stroke of luck--we met Dan and Linda Portell, and now I know
where to get most any pedal car part needed (Dan does amazing things with
sheet metal), and we have 2 more new friends
Besides the Pedal Cars, I purchased from Dan some
headlights, hood ornaments, tire rubber, decals, bumpers, etc. (Dan had
plenty of spending money after meeting me)! In September, I finished
restoring that little Steelcraft-my first "proper" restoration all on my
own. Since car was all one color, I painted it with single stage PPG
Urethane. Chrome Plating by Midway Plating in London, Ontario; misc.
hardware by Dan Portell, consultation and free advice from Dan and Dave; pin
striping by a local new friend Ted May (he loves striping the "little"
cars).
This hobby is absolutely addictive for me, and
I'm really enjoying it. I have now restored 4 cars, and the house is
starting to fill up--you have to watch where you are walking. See you in
Tennessee in May! Al Nyquist