# My next restoration project



## dukedkt442 (Feb 12, 2013)

An old rotted Sears little red wagon for my kids. 

The bottom on it looks like it was used to store fertilizer. The pan was soft and swissed. After a pass with a wire wheel, I saw a lot of daylight










So out it went. The one side was pretty bad too, so I cut it out but left a 1/4” strip along the bottom edge so that I could preserve the factory curve of the pan. 


















Sorted through my scrap for the best piece, and decided to use the bottom panel of the microwave I just replaced in my kitchen. The open area is from the light access panel; that panel will also be welded in when I’m done. I left the patch piece larger than needed so that I can use the wagon itself as a template to cut the curves. The opening is actually proving useful as I use a hammer and dolly to meet the new piece with the existing wagon sheetmetal: I’m butt-welding the two 20ga pieces and hammering them flat as I go so there’s no lip. I already have a piece cut to patch the side wall of the wagon; the other side still has the original Sears script that I can use to trace out a template to paint them back when I’m done. Now that I see how the wagon fits on the new bottom pan, I can slip a 4.5” cutoff wheel in the gaps to clean off the paint for welding. Considering the condition of the wagon, I switched my welded from MIG over to FCAW for the job. 



















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## BabyUnicornTaco (Jan 8, 2018)

I love projects like this. I’m about to restore my 1987 Peugeot bicycle and my 1994 Dyno Nitro BMX. Finishing up a vintage steel cooler as well. Using the bottom of the microwave is great. Adding history to history! Not sure if you will upgrade anything but some bulky wheels would be great for beach or rough ground. 


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## dukedkt442 (Feb 12, 2013)

BabyUnicornTaco said:


> I love projects like this. I’m about to restore my 1987 Peugeot bicycle and my 1994 Dyno Nitro BMX. Finishing up a vintage steel cooler as well. Using the bottom of the microwave is great. Adding history to history! Not sure if you will upgrade anything but some bulky wheels would be great for beach or rough ground.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Bimmerfest


Thanks! I had planned on reusing the solid rubber wheels, but fat pneumatics are a great idea! I just might!

I figured the microwave panel would work best because it was the only piece k had that was already stamped for strength. 


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## dukedkt442 (Feb 12, 2013)

Got a little farther today. Tacked and trimmed the patches. 



























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## BabyUnicornTaco (Jan 8, 2018)

Maybe some wooden walls?










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## dukedkt442 (Feb 12, 2013)

Made some headway today. 99% of the way through the welding and grinding; I switched from 0.030” FCAW to 0.025” MIG today to make it easier to fill the holes and thin blow-throughs which worked great until I ran out of wire on this spool. Even then, for many of the holes I was literally building columns of molten steel one shot at a time. Very tedious. Being 1600, I figured it’s a good time to stop for the day. 

The flash rust is due to my dunking the hot pan in a water tank to pop the heat-warped steel panels back into shape. A little Ospho will cure that later. 

I could have definitely cut a lot more out; a lot of the metal on the body curves isn’t great and won’t be able to be filled, so I’ll get it as structurally sound as possible and then glass it. 



























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## BabyUnicornTaco (Jan 8, 2018)

Any further progress? I love restorations that are not perfect but rather recovering the fun/abilities of the past. 


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## dukedkt442 (Feb 12, 2013)

BabyUnicornTaco said:


> Any further progress? I love restorations that are not perfect but rather recovering the fun/abilities of the past.
> Sent from my iPhone using Bimmerfest


Thanks for asking. Since the most recent pic, I think I switched size of welding wire to 0.035" flux cored for a couple of passes to use up what was left of that spool. Then, I ran out of shielding gas for MIG when I switched to the Bug. Last week I picked up a new tank of gas, along with an adjustable pressure regulator (with gauges!) for my welder; it had a non-adjustable regulator and no gauges, so I had to guesstimate the gas remaining based on quality of weld. Here's its current status.


















For now, I'm kind of in a holding pattern: I need to get the welding work finished on the Bug first, and then before I put the machine away, finish the couple of spot welds on the wagon tub. This way, when I do a finishing coat of glass on the Bug, I can do the wagon at the same time.

Bug work is partially chronicled here:









The ongoing Bug rehab


Well, that escalated quickly. So much for a simple steering box replacement; with the gas tank out of the car, it was the perfect time to fire up the hot glue machine and replace the rotted spare tire well. That, in turn, led to cutting off the tip of the apron and welding on a new piece. I got...




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Today's goals are to replace the (possibly) leaking oil cooler seals, and cross my fingers that, along with an oil change and strainer gaskets, solves the leak. UV dye helped source the leak, but also brought another question (case-joint weep?), so we'll see. Then, get the engine back together; as that shouldn't take more than a couple of hours, I NEED to get back to metal work on the front of the car.


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## dukedkt442 (Feb 12, 2013)

As I had the welder out, I plugged up some finishing holes on the wagon today. Just need to grind it down and lay some glass which I’ll do when I do it on the Bug 


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## dukedkt442 (Feb 12, 2013)

BabyUnicornTaco said:


> Any further progress? I love restorations that are not perfect but rather recovering the fun/abilities of the past.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Bimmerfest


After reaching a few milestones on the VW, I had some time to work on the wagon. Laid down a few more welds (0.025” MIG with my new gas regulator worked sooooo much better than 0.030” FCAW), ground everything smooth, gave everything a final acid wash (pronounced “war-sh” by many in these parts) and then rough-glassed it over. I also stenciled the white Sears logo to paint it back on later. I’d give it at least a day before sanding it and applying final skim coat of filler, but it’ll get to dry until August; this weekend we’re going to the OBX house for 10+ days, coming back and going racing at Lime Rock, then going to our place near the Hamptons for the rest of the month. Busy month, and I’m supposed to be on vacation until September! 


































Yes, I weld and grind barefoot and shirtless. Scars heal. 

Being cheap (and not buying a new wagon) has never been so expensive! 


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## dukedkt442 (Feb 12, 2013)

I was a day off yesterday, thought it was a day later. Over two months of vacation will do that.  

Sanded down and laid down a finishing layer of puddy on this POS. It may finally see paint tomorrow!











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## dukedkt442 (Feb 12, 2013)

Well one things for certain, actually two things: 1) I hate glassing 2) it shows. All painted up. The first pic is of the side I patched; thin gauge metal plus a ton of impurities had some warpage, oh well. It’s a child’s play-thing. 


















Also painted the running gear. 










I got farther than I thought in the past few days, but that’s it until August. 


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## dukedkt442 (Feb 12, 2013)

All done. Can’t wait for the kids to beat the crap out of it. 



































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## BabyUnicornTaco (Jan 8, 2018)

dukedkt442 said:


> All done. Can’t wait for the kids to beat the crap out of it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Looks good! Nice work. Wait for Christmas time and make a few bucks using it as a Christmas photo prop! 

The kids will love it. 


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## BabyUnicornTaco (Jan 8, 2018)

Can you do this?










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## dukedkt442 (Feb 12, 2013)

I’ve actually got a bunch of spare engines I’m mulling over future uses for. 


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## dukedkt442 (Feb 12, 2013)

Time to revisit this project. Back in August, young nephews with no regard for taking care of equipment were a tad rough on the old wagon, and shattered one of the FL-sun-weakened wheel hubs (not on my side of the family, I assure you). Finally got around to the upgrade today.

The carnage. 









I found cheap wheels on the internet, but the with hub bores 1/8” larger so that I could install bearings and have a smooth, wearable surface. 










But first, the seized retaining hats needed to come off, so some delicate surgery with a 4-1/2” cut off wheel on the angle grinder made light work of those.  Afterwards, I skimmed the axles with the cutoff wheel to clean them up, sanded them, and washed with Ospho. Before:










After:









The bearings I purchased were a purposefully tight fit on the axle.









So holding them with Vice grips 









I heated them up cherry red to grow them 









And drive them on with a hammer and then a hollow drift. As they cool, they’ll clamp on to the axles fast. 









About a half hour total. Same trick is used on some engines’ press-fit distributor or cam gears. 










Unfortunately, the red retaining hats/hubs I’d ordered have not yet arrived, or the wheels would be back on. 


_Buy socks on Amazon, not car parts._


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## dukedkt442 (Feb 12, 2013)

Amazon lost my order (hey, these aren’t mission critical car parts ) so I ran to the hardware store to get 3/8” white push nuts, painted them red, sanded and grease the new bearings with marine grease, and reassembled. Bring on the next wild child! 



















_Buy socks on Amazon, not car parts._


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