Mini Radio Flyer wagon--Australian Theme

[jadewombat]

I finished this other one a couple of weeks ago and took a break to work on my VW bus some more:

http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/in...flyer-mini-wagon-and-hungary-of-course.92671/

With the wagon for her older sister done, I'm starting on the next one for the little sister. So the girl's have Hungarian on their Dad's side of the family and Australian on Mom's side. Their Grandmother lives here in Texas also and has a horse which the girls ride. I plan to:

-Use a flat bedliner (tow truck)
-Powder coat paint the tub and running gear blue with the flag stars and Union Jack
-Aluminum knob on the pull handle (it's from a door handle)
-Yellow rope tied around the bed with tassels draped off the rear
-Sturdy castors for the wheels although a hair smaller than the last build (theme of "Lowrider" playing in the background)

The tub for this build is not as pristine as the other one, no dents but some scratches in the paint. I plan on stripping down the tub to bare metal anyway.

The bedliner is already cut for this one from the last build. I need to cut and reweld the front running gear and plug weld a couple of holes on the tub next. The paint arrived the other day also.

 

[jadewombat]

Got the front running gear, cut and welded together. It's going to track a little narrower than the last wagon--probably no so good for cornering but would be OK on high-speed straight line pulls and should help save on fuel costs.

 

[jadewombat]

Not much getting done today, it's been 108F with the heat index. Sigh. Did some plug welding later on in the evening though. Just need to grind them down flat tomorrow.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Any progress is still progress!

Luke.

 

[jadewombat]

Thanks my friend. Encouragement is better than another cold glass of iced tea.
Got the plug welds ground down on both sides of the tub, then started on the pull handle and knob. The knob is leftover from one of my doors in the house. The tube looked about the same I.D. as the knob. The inside of the knob had some engagement mechanism, thingy for the door handle. It was held in by four dimples and took over 1/2 hour to drill out the dimples enough to where I could get that metal out.

I was wrong about the I.D.s being the same as the tube is smaller and will have to be shimmed.

 

[jadewombat]

Still moving at a snails' pace. Found a visitor who came in out of the Texas heat this morning to take a rest on my bus.

Got the front and rear running gear tapered to the curves of the tub. Going to finish the pull handle next, do a test fit of everything, then get it ready for paint.

 

[jadewombat]

Got everything together for a test fit and loaned it to my daughter for a trial run. She gave it the thumbs up. It sits lower than her wagon, but since the handle and knob are longer all else is pretty equal for toddler pulling height. Pull everything apart one last time, clean up some parts and paint them.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Got everything together for a test fit and loaned it to my daughter for a trial run. She gave it the thumbs up. It sits lower than her wagon, but since the handle and knob are longer all else is pretty equal for toddler pulling height. Pull everything apart one last time, clean up some parts and paint them.

Very cool!

Luke.

 

[jadewombat]

Thanks. Almost done. Sprayed some paint stripper on the tub and front running gear and the thin paint wiped right off. Blue and painted fresh from the toaster oven. Need to buy some stickers tomorrow and paint the rope red.

 

[jadewombat]

And done. The new owner didn't want to sit still to pose for a photo with the wagon, just wanted to get it home and start loading it up with toys.