Pedal car shite - Getting ready to restore my childhood 'garden find' Sharna pedal car

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Various updates on this, but I may as well post on the car I've just sold. Possibly the best one left? Sharna circa 1982. I reckon it was loosely based on a Range Rover. Screen intact, blue light intact and working. This thing was immaculate and an amazing survivor. It sold to a chap who has been searching for one for years but hadn't had any luck. He owned one when he was a lad...

 

[Rod/b]

Holy shit I used to have one with exactly that running gear. It was a blue Panda car.

[martc]

Boy driving a pedal car. Photo by Leonid Lazarev, Moscow, USSR, 1958

[martc]

1962. Anyone on here?

[martc]

A little boy smiles as he drives a toy car shaped like a tank in a playground outside the Workers Gymnasium in Beijing. Photo by Adrian Bradshaw, People's Republic of China, 1989

[Dick Cheeseburger]

On 4/2/2021 at 7:04 PM, martc said:

1962. Anyone on here?

I'm sure that lad went far. Even as a small infant, he appears to have life sorted - it's all there in that photo!

[martc]

'Hell Drivers Club'. Marcus Winslow plays with his cousin James Dean at home in Fairmount, Indiana, 1955.

[ETCHY]

On 7/26/2017 at 1:07 PM, Dick Longbridge said:

I popped up to my parents place after work yesterday. As I chatted to my father in the garden, I spotted my old pedal car poking out from under the hedge. It's become a laughing matter - my parents bought it new for me around 1978ish and it's always lived outside. I painted the plastic body in household emulsion in the mid 1980's and around the same time bodged the front wheels and steering wheel from a mate's old Sharna *Edit - turns out it was built by Raleigh* AA pedal car onto mine, as they were in better condition. This is identical to my mate's old one:

Just spotted this thread.

The pedal car above is the same type I had (I got it Christmas 1974) but mine was the Police Rescue Tender, complete with fake telephone, siren (you pushed a rubber thing on it & it sort of squeaked). Also had traffic cones & a road closed sign.

I thought I was the mutts nuts that Christmas

[sdkrc]

[martc]

Are we ready to race?

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Right, some advice required here. I've slowly been working in the background at coming up with a plan to get the pedal car rebuilt. There's a major potential issue though. After almost four decades of living in a hedge, UV has damaged the surface of the plastic and there is hairline fracture near where the steering wheel would have been fitted. The hole for the steering shaft is also degraded and looks to require some reinforcement. 

Any ideas on how to reinforce the structure? I'm wondering if I could fibreglass a couple of layers of matting under the car in key structural areas? I've never used the stuff before but it looks simple enough...

Any other suggestions? I'm determined that our young son will surprise my parents by pedalling this thing across their garden within the next 12 months...

 

[Mr Pastry]

6 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

I'm wondering if I could fibreglass a couple of layers of matting under the car in key structural areas?

In a word, yes.  Proper resin and matting, not p 40 paste.  Messy but simple.  You could then vee out the crack and fill it, but without a lot of hassle it will probably recur, so maybe best to live with it and just paint over in a nice colour. 

[Minimad5]

16 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

In a word, yes.  Proper resin and matting, not p 40 paste.  Messy but simple.  You could then vee out the crack and fill it, but without a lot of hassle it will probably recur, so maybe best to live with it and just paint over in a nice colour. 

What this chap says.

But drill a hole at the end of the crack, that'll stop it cracking again or spidering out.

Could you rivet a spreader piece in the area, and then glass that in ?

Good luck and do update us along the way, with pictures etc

[Mr Pastry]

//www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-and-body-repair/fillers-and-preparation/davids-fastglass-glass-fibre-kit-

[Dick Cheeseburger]

1 hour ago, Mr Pastry said:

In a word, yes.  Proper resin and matting, not p 40 paste.  Messy but simple.  You could then vee out the crack and fill it, but without a lot of hassle it will probably recur, so maybe best to live with it and just paint over in a nice colour. 

Thanks, sounds a plan 👍🏻

1 hour ago, Minimad5 said:

What this chap says.

But drill a hole at the end of the crack, that'll stop it cracking again or spidering out.

Could you rivet a spreader piece in the area, and then glass that in ?

Good luck and do update us along the way, with pictures etc

Cheers - what do you mean by spreader piece though? 

And yes, don't worry, I intend to post my progress on here! Hopefully it won't look like it's been applied by ape...

1 hour ago, Mr Pastry said:

//www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-and-body-repair/fillers-and-preparation/davids-fastglass-glass-fibre-kit-

Appreciated! 

@Bfg Thinking about it, you've done lots of fibreglass structural work - any other pointers? The above all sounds good so far! 

[Minimad5]

4 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

What do you mean by spreader piece though? 

 

A large flat piece of steel or Aluminium,  which is attached to the original fibreglass, and is used to spread any stress etc across a wider area.

[Bfg]

15 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Right, some advice required here. I've slowly been working in the background at coming up with a plan to get the pedal car rebuilt. There's a major potential issue though. After almost four decades of living in a hedge, UV has damaged the surface of the plastic and there is hairline fracture near where the steering wheel would have been fitted. The hole for the steering shaft is also degraded and looks to require some reinforcement. 

Any ideas on how to reinforce the structure? I'm wondering if I could fibreglass a couple of layers of matting under the car in key structural areas? I've never used the stuff before but it looks simple enough...

Any other suggestions? I'm determined that our young son will surprise my parents by pedalling this thing across their garden within the next 12 months...

 

First question I'd have to ask is ; Is the body made of fibreglass or an injection-moulding of something like ABS. ?  A cursory look or feel of the inside of body, whether it is rough and fibrous, or very smooth will give you a good idea.   And also whether the crack is in the first 1mm of the panels thickness or right the way through.?  

Bfg

[Dick Cheeseburger]

6 hours ago, Bfg said:

First question I'd have to ask is ; Is the body made of fibreglass or an injection-moulding of something like ABS. ?  A cursory look or feel of the inside of body, whether it is rough and fibrous, or very smooth will give you a good idea.   And also whether the crack is in the first 1mm of the panels thickness or right the way through.?  

Bfg

It's definitely injection moulded plastic, circa 1978!

The crack is all the way through the plastic unfortunately...

[Bfg]

 

11 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

It's definitely injection moulded plastic, circa 1978!

The crack is all the way through the plastic unfortunately...

As it is not fibreglass, I would not use polyester resin to repair it.. but rather superglue and then epoxy (which in small quantities is easiest bought as Araldite). The two important things for a strong repair is that the bridging material spans the damage and attaches to solid material either side, and that the surface to be adhered to is spotlessly clean (which usually means cutting a little of the edges and surface away).  

It's difficult to get adhesive into a crack without further stressing things and extending the crack further, so the first thing is to stop the crack from going any further..  by drilling a clean-cut hole just beyond its very end.  In you pedal car edge, let's say a neat 2.5mm hole,  6 - 8mm beyond the end of where you think the crack ends. 

And working from the inside (which will not later be seen), clean of the surface as best you can.  Carburettor cleaner quickly wiped off with a clean tissue is useful to do this with many materials, but you'll have to be quick to wipe it off some plastics because it will melt them. A little spray / test in a discrete corner might be wise.  

Then gently flex the crack while applying superglue into it (still working from the underside of the panel) and before it sets.. make sure the panel sets straight as it cures.  A clothes peg or small bulldog clip may be just the job for this.  Naturally find and trial fit this peg / clip holds things nice n' true in advance of gluing the crack ..because 30 seconds is not not a lot of time to search the house for such a clip . . A piece of plastic bag wrapped over the edge first will prevent your gluing the peg or clip to the car !

Once that superglue has properly cured, I'd probably want to router a groove ..just half-way through the thickness of the panel (still working from the underside) with a rotary burr ..such as the first middle or last burrs you might see in this set < here >.  I bought a very similar set 15+ years ago, and I still use them (with a cordless drill) for all sorts of things from gas-flowing the induction ports on cylinder heads to cutting out crazing on the gel-coat of my boat's deck.  

Fill the rounded half-groove with Araldite and smooth over that with a narrow scraper blade or similar. 

From the outside ; the repair would hardly be seen (the small hole would be filled with Araldite) but the crack will not now flex and split or lift any paint you later refinish the pedal car with.  And with just a little paint on the inside of the panel, over the cured epoxy, it would similarly be almost invisible.  

Around the frayed hole I would again use a burr to clean up the edges, and then apply Araldite to refinish the hole.  Again working from the underside, with Cellotape over the outside of the hole, to contain the Araldite around the edge until cured.  You might then need to re-drill it, use a burr, or use a round file to get its Araldite edge neat. 

Hope that helps, Pete

[Dick Cheeseburger]

2 hours ago, Bfg said:

 

As it is not fibreglass, I would not use polyester resin to repair it.. but rather superglue and then epoxy (which in small quantities is easiest bought as Araldite). The two important things for a strong repair is that the bridging material spans the damage and attaches to solid material either side, and that the surface to be adhered to is spotlessly clean (which usually means cutting a little of the edges and surface away).  

It's difficult to get adhesive into a crack without further stressing things and extending the crack further, so the first thing is to stop the crack from going any further..  by drilling a clean-cut hole just beyond its very end.  In you pedal car edge, let's say a neat 2.5mm hole,  6 - 8mm beyond the end of where you think the crack ends. 

And working from the inside (which will not later be seen), clean of the surface as best you can.  Carburettor cleaner quickly wiped off with a clean tissue is useful to do this with many materials, but you'll have to be quick to wipe it off some plastics because it will melt them. A little spray / test in a discrete corner might be wise.  

Then gently flex the crack while applying superglue into it (still working from the underside of the panel) and before it sets.. make sure the panel sets straight as it cures.  A clothes peg or small bulldog clip may be just the job for this.  Naturally find and trial fit this peg / clip holds things nice n' true in advance of gluing the crack ..because 30 seconds is not not a lot of time to search the house for such a clip . . A piece of plastic bag wrapped over the edge first will prevent your gluing the peg or clip to the car !

Once that superglue has properly cured, I'd probably want to router a groove ..just half-way through the thickness of the panel (still working from the underside) with a rotary burr ..such as the first middle or last burrs you might see in this set < here >.  I bought a very similar set 15+ years ago, and I still use them (with a cordless drill) for all sorts of things from gas-flowing the induction ports on cylinder heads to cutting out crazing on the gel-coat of my boat's deck.  

Fill the rounded half-groove with Araldite and smooth over that with a narrow scraper blade or similar. 

From the outside ; the repair would hardly be seen (the small hole would be filled with Araldite) but the crack will not now flex and split or lift any paint you later refinish the pedal car with.  And with just a little paint on the inside of the panel, over the cured epoxy, it would similarly be almost invisible.  

Around the frayed hole I would again use a burr to clean up the edges, and then apply Araldite to refinish the hole.  Again working from the underside, with Cellotape over the outside of the hole, to contain the Araldite around the edge until cured.  You might then need to re-drill it, use a burr, or use a round file to get its Araldite edge neat. 

Hope that helps, Pete

Thanks for all the suggestions Pete. They're really useful and should address the crack and steering column hole effectively. 

Can I ask why you wouldn't use fibreglass resin/matting to strengthen other areas of the underside of the structure? I'm concerned that the plastic is weakened generally after being exposed for so long and that the corners, seat and some of the other areas susceptible to stress and impact are likely to stress fracture once used if they're not reinforced. 

[junkyarddog]

Would plastic welding work on those cracks and other weak areas?

I don't think fiberglass matting will stick particularly well to the plastic those old pedal cars were made of,one bash into a a solid object and it would most likely delaminate from it.

[Bfg]

 

On 9/7/2021 at 7:44 AM, Dick Longbridge said:

Thanks for all the suggestions Pete. They're really useful and should address the crack and steering column hole effectively. 

Can I ask why you wouldn't use fibreglass resin/matting to strengthen other areas of the underside of the structure? I'm concerned that the plastic is weakened generally after being exposed for so long and that the corners, seat and some of the other areas susceptible to stress and impact are likely to stress fracture once used if they're not reinforced. 

Like junkyarddog , I don't believe polyester fibreglass will stick to many injection moulded plastics.   However, after so many years old plastics does have a more pourous surface to stick to ..and so it might work.  IMO., there's no reason to lift the body off its chassis, to clean the inside surface up with light sanding, and to fibreglass the whole, or at least a ring around the outside and under the more stressed areas with grp.  That, if sufficiently strong, would be like having a fibreglass sub-frame fitted to the chassis ..with the original body resting on that.  It wouldn't matter if it stuck well because the area of support would be wide and its fit (..even if loose) would be close to perfect. In any case, CT1 structural adhesive  would stick the ABS to cured fibreglass very well indeed ..if it were needed.

That said, the underside finish of grp does tend to have splinters of glass fibres and is rough to the touch of a child.  There are woven types of fibreglass cloth  which would finish the surface off much better than chopped strand mat, or else a surfacing tissue (which is very fine layer of grp glass).  Lesser known to most is that resin can be used with different materials other than glass-fibres.  For example cotton or hemp can be used, and although not as strong as glass, it is at least as strong as the cotton or hemp.  Man made cloth doesn't work as well as the resin doesn't really soak well into it nor to stick s well.   But then there's no reason to put a couple of layers of fibreglass on and then while the resin is still wet.. to smooth over that with a layer of cloth. The resin is almost clear ..so the printed material will be visible in much the same way as a vehicle wrap.  Dad's old shirt or familiar material from mum's dress would add a nice touch of nostalgia in another thirty years time.!  or perhaps a picture from a printed t-shirt of the grandparents ? Conversely on the underside of the bonnet you might have a print of the car's engine (and a body of a teddybear in the boot ?).  The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.!    A sheet of paper can also be used but it doesn't smooth into compound curves very well.  Alternatively, you might just carefully sand the inside surface smooth and paint over it so that every surface and edge of the glassfibre is covered. 

Btw fibre-glassers very commonly place rope or strips of timber into the corners or along the underside of a ridge (after the first layers of grp have been applied) and then fibreglass over that to create what is essentially a fibreglass tube.  This adds a huge amount of stiffness to the finished article.  So much so that it they are used to stiffen (hold the shape) of moulds. rope for small moulds and around corners and shaped edges, with timber for straighter sides and around bigger moulds ..like boat hulls and decks.

Polyester resin shrinks by 2 - 5% so when laying up inside your pedal car's body, keep to a slow catalyst mix (to keep that contraction down to the minimum) and apply only the first layer. Let that properly cure ..to hold the shape, and then another layer inside that with the surfacing cloth to finish.   

Of course the original body of the pedal car needs to sit inverted on a flat surface while you work ..to prevent twisting of the finished article.

In another thread < here >  I'm being asked how to repair damage (missing sections) of an invalid carriage. Again the gentleman needs advice on how to fibreglass too.  so I'll deal with its shaping first, and then try and impart how to apply the resin to the glass-fibres.

Hope that helps, ask any other questions you have.

Pete.

 

[Bfg]

Btw .. y'all might find < these > of absorbing interest and diversion

[Dick Cheeseburger]

On 9/7/2021 at 10:44 AM, Bfg said:

 

Like junkyarddog , I don't believe polyester fibreglass will stick to many injection moulded plastics.   However, after so many years old plastics does have a more pourous surface to stick to ..and so it might work.  IMO., there's no reason to lift the body off its chassis, to clean the inside surface up with light sanding, and to fibreglass the whole, or at least a ring around the outside and under the more stressed areas with grp.  That, if sufficiently strong, would be like having a fibreglass sub-frame fitted to the chassis ..with the original body resting on that.  It wouldn't matter if it stuck well because the area of support would be wide and its fit (..even if loose) would be close to perfect. In any case, CT1 structural adhesive  would stick the ABS to cured fibreglass very well indeed ..if it were needed.

That said, the underside finish of grp does tend to have splinters of glass fibres and is rough to the touch of a child.  There are woven types of fibreglass cloth  which would finish the surface off much better than chopped strand mat, or else a surfacing tissue (which is very fine layer of grp glass).  Lesser known to most is that resin can be used with different materials other than glass-fibres.  For example cotton or hemp can be used, and although not as strong as glass, it is at least as strong as the cotton or hemp.  Man made cloth doesn't work as well as the resin doesn't really soak well into it nor to stick s well.   But then there's no reason to put a couple of layers of fibreglass on and then while the resin is still wet.. to smooth over that with a layer of cloth. The resin is almost clear ..so the printed material will be visible in much the same way as a vehicle wrap.  Dad's old shirt or familiar material from mum's dress would add a nice touch of nostalgia in another thirty years time.!  or perhaps a picture from a printed t-shirt of the grandparents ? Conversely on the underside of the bonnet you might have a print of the car's engine (and a body of a teddybear in the boot ?).  The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.!    A sheet of paper can also be used but it doesn't smooth into compound curves very well.  Alternatively, you might just carefully sand the inside surface smooth and paint over it so that every surface and edge of the glassfibre is covered. 

Btw fibre-glassers very commonly place rope or strips of timber into the corners or along the underside of a ridge (after the first layers of grp have been applied) and then fibreglass over that to create what is essentially a fibreglass tube.  This adds a huge amount of stiffness to the finished article.  So much so that it they are used to stiffen (hold the shape) of moulds. rope for small moulds and around corners and shaped edges, with timber for straighter sides and around bigger moulds ..like boat hulls and decks.

Polyester resin shrinks by 2 - 5% so when laying up inside your pedal car's body, keep to a slow catalyst mix (to keep that contraction down to the minimum) and apply only the first layer. Let that properly cure ..to hold the shape, and then another layer inside that with the surfacing cloth to finish.   

Of course the original body of the pedal car needs to sit inverted on a flat surface while you work ..to prevent twisting of the finished article.

In another thread < here >  I'm being asked how to repair damage (missing sections) of an invalid carriage. Again the gentleman needs advice on how to fibreglass too.  so I'll deal with its shaping first, and then try and impart how to apply the resin to the glass-fibres.

Hope that helps, ask any other questions you have.

Pete.

 

Thanks again. 

The car doesn't have a chassis. The mechanical parts attach to the body and all of the strength is in the body itself.

My issue is the plastic is degraded and clearly quite brittle. I think it could live again if well reinforced underneath the key stress areas, but I envisage strengthening bracing larger sections to do the job properly, hence my thoughts of fibreglass matting and resin. 

The photos aren't great but hopefully give a rough idea...

[somewhatfoolish]

In view of the hero levels of 'patina' perhaps giving this a go might help?

I'd give credit for pointing me in this direction, but my sieve-like memory fails me and I can't remember who posted this elsewhere on AS.

 

[GingerNuttz]

I use one of the hot plastic staple machines when repairing cracks in bumpers and the like, you can heat normal staples with a blow torch and use pliers to achieve the same repair. 

Works great and is a fair bit stronger than just fiberglass. 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

On 9/10/2021 at 4:24 AM, somewhatfoolish said:

In view of the hero levels of 'patina' perhaps giving this a go might help?

I'd give credit for pointing me in this direction, but my sieve-like memory fails me and I can't remember who posted this elsewhere on AS.

 

Thanks for that. Yes, the fact the pedal car shell has lived in a hedge out in the elements since the 1980s definitely hasn't helped it! Having said that, the shade provided by the hedge during the summer months has probably helped protect the plastic more than if it had been fully exposed to all weather and UV. 

We literally had to dig around the lower part of the shell when removing it from its tomb a couple of years ago as years of leaves and general detritus rotting around it had pretty much swallowed it up. No wonder anything metal on it had completely dissolved. 

On 9/10/2021 at 7:39 AM, GingerNuttz said:

I use one of the hot plastic staple machines when repairing cracks in bumpers and the like, you can heat normal staples with a blow torch and use pliers to achieve the same repair. 

Works great and is a fair bit stronger than just fiberglass. 

Interesting and first time I've seen anything like that. Good idea for small localised repairs but I don't reckon it would be suitable to strengthen a longer run of the underbody, which is ideally what needs to happen before I plonk the lad in it.

Do we reckon the pedal car is an ABS type plastic? I just read this on a Mazda forum in response to someone else's question. I guess the acetone may be too harsh for old brittle plastic though? 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Things continue to make slow but steady progress this end. The main thing is I'VE MANAGED TO SOURCE A SPARES CAR!!!!! They're unicorn poop, but I found one. More to come on that.

In the meantime, I have decided to part with this ultra rare 1977 Sharna Triang Go-kart. 

I've never, ever seen another for sale. I bought it ages ago for parts for my police pedal car, but it's way too nice for that. 

It's complete and works well. The seat is adjustable to two different positions. It's designed for shiters to add to their collection of rare British pedal cars. Apparently 3-6 year olds can drive it too. 

It's a lovely old thing and I'd let it go on here for £40. Let me know if of interest. I am happy to box it up for a courier or can chat postage if required. 

 

[loserone]

That is far, faaar too nice for my children.

 

GLWS

[Dick Cheeseburger]

16 minutes ago, loserone said:

That is far, faaar too nice for my children.

 

GLWS

Thanks chap. It's bloody lovely, but my garage is getting to the point that it'll require a second storey in a minute. It would be great if the go-kart goes to someone on here so I can see photos of it as and when!