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Post by Volktales on Mar 3, 2015 21:43:01 GMT -8
I freely admit I have a thing for Tonka VWs. I am slowly collecting the different colours available for the first two series and am going to get the ones I want eventually. I have also upgraded to better quality examples as they have become available. Some of the worse off examples have been earmarked for restoration in original VW colours. I did one in L87 Pearl White, a while ago, now it is time for the next subjects...
These two are perfect candidates for the restoration treatment. Both have too much of the dreaded "P" word for me. The blue one is a first production run and has nice fitting panels and almost no rippling. The green one is a later production with less then perfect stamping. The green one also has some deep pitting in a few places...
I used some chemical paint remover to get the worst of the old paint off. This revealed the blue version to have lots of surface rust under the factory paint. Shift changed perhaps with unpainted steel sitting around??? I later glass beaded the bodies as well to get them real clean.
Both bodies in etching primer. The blue car needed no additional work, the green one needed more primer brushed on to fill the rust pits. Both are curing, awaiting the top coats... Hopefully done by this weekend... |
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Post by Brenticon on Mar 4, 2015 8:11:51 GMT -8
Boys, and their toys, lol.
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Post by PICTUP on Mar 4, 2015 23:11:10 GMT -8
Cheaper than full size restos, and much better than watching TV. I think restoring these is a very cool idea. Plus you get to use the paint colour of choice which is fun. Maybe even replicate your eventual 1:1 car restoration, complete with slotted mags…inspirational, right Russ?  |
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Post by Volktales on Mar 9, 2015 21:35:41 GMT -8
And now some shine!
I did get a few useful things accomplished this weekend... Two coats of basecoat, two coats of clear. This was my first time using this type of paint and I was surprized how thick and lumpy the basecoat went on. It smoothed out quickly however before drying to a very dull finish. The clear went on thick and mottled too, but again levelled itself out quickly... The colours are L487 Beryl Green, and L620 Savannah Beige. These were mixed up at Rondex in Nanaimo which had no trouble at all with these '60s era colour codes.
This was the first one completed. I intend to display this with the '62 Beetle at shows which is obviously also Beryl Green...
The second required some repairs to the bumpers so was finished tonight. The lighting in this shot wasn't as good as I hoped. This Beetle was painted to match my yet to be started 1970 project.
The last shot also includes the L87 Pearl White example I restored last year. All were done to match my real cars. I also intend to paint at least three more Tonkas to match my future VW Beetle projects. My first '66 Beetle might end up Sea Blue, the '59 if it ever happens will be the original Mignonette Green. My first car, if fixed, will be 588 Electric Lime Metallic. This is a Toyota colour that does it for me. Rondex was unable to provide a formula for this 2015 colour at this time, but when they can, I will definitely do up a "special" Tonka for inspiration to do the real car... |
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Post by Brenticon on Mar 9, 2015 22:03:14 GMT -8
That's pretty cool, and they'll look good being displayed in your cars at shows
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Post by busaddict on Mar 10, 2015 18:53:44 GMT -8
What? You ruined all that patina!  |
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Post by Volktales on Mar 11, 2015 19:15:47 GMT -8
I am well known to hate patina and am proud of it! Shiny is the way to go for me...
Try to imagine this colour on a '70 Beetle with red interior. Hope it looks ok on the real car...
Here is Beryl Green on the real car of the same colour. The colour match was not 100%, but then the original paint has been gently fading for the last 53 years...
I won't be repainting this one however. Don found me this version some time ago and it is relatively rare. Apparently this style came with the car carrier tractor/trailer combination and was not available separately... |
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Post by busaddict on Mar 11, 2015 19:44:06 GMT -8
I was teasing you about the patina... |
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Post by Brenticon on Mar 11, 2015 19:46:40 GMT -8
It's "poo"tina
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Post by busaddict on Mar 11, 2015 20:05:53 GMT -8
Do you mean Poon Tina?  |
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Post by Volktales on Mar 11, 2015 21:09:01 GMT -8
Damn I loved that show as a kid...
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Post by Volktales on Dec 3, 2016 20:24:35 GMT -8
Sooo, here we go again...  Unlike the other Tonka VWs that I have repainted, this one did NOT come from Ebay. In fact this beat up Tonka VW has been in my possession for close to 40 years now! I originally acquired it at one of those elementary school "fun fairs", we used to have back in the '70's. I was around 8 years old and probably forked out 25 cents for it... It was already beat up when I got it, but that didn't stop me from playing with it a lot. Anyway I felt like restoring it, but with a bit of a twist...  These are the wheels I want to use. They originated on a Tonka dune buggy that Don found for me on Ebay. The buggy was a poorly repainted incomplete version but the wheels were very nice shape and snapped up for this project.  To make them fit, significant modifications were performed to the chassis and plastic interior tub assembly. I borrowed my Dad's Dremel and it worked great for this.  Meanwhile the body was getting an application of Navel Jelly. This rust removal is very slow but effective. It removed the years of surface rust easily.  Things were test fit throughout the project. Note the Toronto sticker on the back indicating a Canadian produced Tonka...  Chemical paint remover was used to strip the remaining old paint. Quite a bit of bodywork was necessary. Lots of dents to remove, although I concentrated on the worst ones. The rivets holding the body together needed re peening and the side panel to roof fit was improved. Hard to do dent repair on a Tonka because there are a lot of factory ripples...  Another test fit. Note the broken bumpers have been modified.  As the original axle mounts were lost due to modifications, I made new axle mounts out of some Beetle fuel line tubing. This tube was a piece bought from CIP that turned out to be crap quality and was never installed on the car. At least it has come in handy for now... The tubing was soldered to the chassis, which was tweaked to allow a lowered stance! You won't here me say that too often!  The interior tub assembly had a lot of material removed to accommodate the fatty tires. Now you know why Tonka let the rims stick way out from the body... Continued... |
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Post by Volktales on Dec 3, 2016 21:03:51 GMT -8
Meanwhile the body was primed...
And then painted with basecoat the next evening. Two coats of base were applied.
And onto the clear coat! Three were applied this time to make it really pop. Now time to wait for it to dry for reassembly...
And there we go. Patina be damned!
It turned out the way that I hoped it would. Now why would I the "original" guy do something like this???
For a good reason. All of my real VW restorations have been to original, or at least looking relatively original. All my future projects will likely be to original as well. Except one that is. IF I ever do get around to restoring my first car, my 1970 Beetle, it would absolutely NOT be to original condition. My full intention is to customize it in a retro fashion, and most certainly will run slot mags, T-bars, and Electric Lime Metallic paint just like this Tonka. I hope I can do it before there is nothing left of the real car... |
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Post by PICTUP on Dec 3, 2016 22:05:26 GMT -8
Looks like you might have a few rubbing issues in the front. I think a narrowed beam is in your future, or some smart car tires LOL  Seriously though....Nice job! BTW... How long has your real Beetle(the one you wish looked like this one) been in your possession? |
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Post by Volktales on Dec 3, 2016 22:17:46 GMT -8
My real 1970 Beetle, my first car has now been in my possession for 31 1/2 years. Sadly it was last driven 16 years ago due to severe structural rust. Maybe my goal is to start repairing it when it turns 50 years old!?! Hmmmm.
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Seriously though....Nice job!