Mini-Radio Flyer Build--La Lagita

[jadewombat]

Hi, I've done almost a dozen radio flyers over the years and most of them have been here on RRB. It's been about two years since I did my last one, but we have a newest little member of the family--my nephew's girl.

Time to do a mini-radio flyer again. I bought this one on the ebays for $10 plus shipping this week, which is exactly what they are worth. Don't get me wrong, I loved the stamped steel tub but I don't need the plastic wheels or pull handle and this was never intended to actually be used by a little kid. Just sit on a shelf for cutesy decoration I'm guessing. Anyhoo, I like to make them functional for toddlers by extending the handle and putting some decent castors on them, among other things.

Of all the ones I've bought, this is actually in the best shape ever but it's still going to get stripped, fabricated, and made much cooler. The paint on these things bubbles with a spray of paint remover, again the plastic wheels don't take any abuse at all, and well we're going for a Chicago/Lake theme on this one.

 

[jadewombat]

I cut the aluminum pull handle and got out the bed liner for it. Will raid the steampunk bin of stuff next.

 

[jadewombat]

My daughter suggested a seat, which will be for a stuffed animal of course. I have some sort of wood and cork cap for the pull knob also. I put it on the lathe to shave the writing off the end of it, then flipped it around and opened it up a hair so it fits on the pull handle shaft now.

 

[jadewombat]

The wood for the seat I had to cut of course. I matched the curvature of the one corner with a cardboard template, filed the edges down, and cleaned up the whole thing to get it ready for dark wood staining.

 

[jadewombat]

Drilled the holes and mounted the seat today. Also picked out a leather belt to hold down the luggage area.

 

[jadewombat]

Slowly but surely. Put the luggage strap in across the rear and powder coat painted the pull handle. The pull handle is aluminum and didn't take the powder too well, but still somewhat textured and looks kinda cool.

 

[jadewombat]

About 5-10 minutes a day being put in the wagon now. Drilled a hole in the center of the pull knob for this cool button thingy, found some Chicago-themed stickers at Michael's, stained the seat back a couple of times, and used some liquid nails to install the knob and button.

 

[jadewombat]

Punched a few speedholes in the brackets and got some welding done over the weekend

 

[jadewombat]

OK, don't do what I did mounting the front wheels where they are above. They wind up being to close to the center (tipsy) and I wound up doing some adjustments to get them about 3/8" closer to the front.

The pink paint looks like poop and I couldn't figure out why. I did three coats and the chrome looks OK, not great, but the mild steel looks almost orange. I really thought (it may still be the case) there's an issue with my powder coating gun. I looked back at the pink paint I bought is translucent. OK, but this is really translucent. Never had this problem before, but knowing when to quit while you're ahead saves a ton of frustration.

I gave up stripping the tub down to bare metal and repainting for that reason. I have no idea what it would turn out looking like and none of it would be consistent between the different components. Anyhoo, I waxed the tub and reassembled everything. It's good enough to keep the cool uncle status in the family.