Rusty Bowtie
Miscellaneous => Outdoors Area: Hunting, Fishing, Firearms, Camping, Hobbies, Videos etc => Topic started by: TFoch on January 24, 2014, 07:13:21 AM
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When my first grandchild was born a couple years ago I got the idea from a thread on the HAMB to build a stroller out of an old pedal car. After looking into several places to get one I found a vendor on EBay that had reproduction pedal car bodies. He happened to have a reproduction body of the pedal car I had when I was a kid so for $50 plus shipping I bought one. I got the body only in primer, no wheels, chassis or windshield. That was the start of my project.
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The next thing I wanted to get was the wheels and tires. After using cardboard templates to see what size would look best, I chose 8”. A trip to Harbor Freight got me some casters with the right size wheels and tires. I removed the wheels from the casters and tried them. The only thing I had to do to them after is to remove the steel rims and powder coat them chrome.
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One of the changes I had to make to the body is that it didn’t have any rear wheel openings. I didn’t like that look so I made cardboard templates and after a few tries I got the shape I liked. Then took out the tin snips and cut away. I had to remove the pedal mechanism which was riveted in. Then I had to fabricate some “rear wheel tubs” to fit the wider than stock tires I was going to use. Other than that I had to weld a few holes that I wouldn’t be using.
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Now that I had the wheels, I needed a chassis. I decided on ¾” square steel tubing. I took measurements of the inside of the pedal car and started with the center. I mig welded that together and then measured for the narrower parts for the front and rear. Once I had the basic chassis together I had to locate where the axles would be.
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Once I had the rear wheel openings cut I figured out what the wheel base needed to be. I used some wooden dowels to mock up the axle location and test fit the body. Once I was satisfied I used the axle bolts from the casters I bought, cut off the hex heads and fabricated some brackets to attach them to the chassis.
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I attached the body to the chassis with 4 stainless ¼-20 low profile phillips head screws, 2 on each side going through where the door would be. With the body in place I fit and welded the wheel tubs. Once that was done I made a template for a floor. I used a piece of 1/8” Lexan I had hanging around for the floor and painted it black on the bottom side so she couldn’t scratch it. I found a steering wheel for a power wheels car on EBay for not a lot of money, just had to make a bracket out of aluminum to mount it to the dash.
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To make the stroller handle I used 1” square aluminum tubing for the vertical part and 7/8” round tubing for the “T” handle. I bought some bicycle handle grips and installed then. I welded a piece of ¾” square tubing on the chassis where the handle would mount so I could slide the 1” aluminum tubing over it. Then I drilled a hole for a quick release pin so the handle could be removed to transport it.
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Very good Thread...Thanks for Posting....Ed
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Thats real kool Tom!
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Very cool. When I had my son my Dad built a wagon for him. The front end even has working suspension. The pedal car body is a pretty cool idea!
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Very cool. When I had my son my Dad built a wagon for him. The front end even has working suspension. The pedal car body is a pretty cool idea!
That is one cool wagon!
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To make the seat I used plywood and foam. It has a small piece of wood across the bottom front to angle it back so she wouldn’t keep sliding off. My mom sewed the seat cover for me to finish it off. I found a belt for men’s pants on EBay with a buckle that looked like old GM seat belts. I cut it down and mounted it to keep her in the stroller.
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Next was paint and she chose red. I used rattle cans and sprayed the silver onto the headlights, taillights bumper and grill first, then added the red. I felt the silver needed a little more so I found some silver metal flake rattle cans at the local hobby store. I think it made it pop a little better. I used cardboard again for a template for the windshield. Just laid it back and kept trimming until I had the look I was after. Then cut it out of 1/8” Lexan and bolted it to the body.
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Final assembly came just a few days before the stroller’s debut at the Labor Day weekend car show in town “Cruising Downtown”. My granddaughter was 10 months old at the time and loved cruising in it for the whole show. She had other little kids coming up to her and wanting to sit in it. We even had a few people ask where they could buy one. She still has to check it out every time she comes out in the garage. Looking forward to giving my grandson a ride in it!
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Here's a picture of the first ride. She had a blast!
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Tom
I've been watching this thread and I have to say you did a really great job. People don't realize the amount of time and craftsmanship that goes into a project like that. Came out super nice!!
Moose
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Moose,
Thanks it was a lot of work but worth it. People have asked if I could build them one but it's too much time and wouldn't be profitable. I'll do one more when my daughter gives me a grandchild. I'll have to come up with something different for that one.
Tom