Radio Flyer

Pablo83

Sleep, wrench, ride.
My daughter has an old Radio Flyer 80. I figure it needs a little hotrodding.

The stock machine...

6225137374_be59d8e16c_b.jpg
 
I'm thinking a scrambler style would look sweet. Add some knobbies, a rock guard, and a number plate then let her loose!
 
subscribed....I will be building something similar once I track down a wagon for sale.
 
The teardown

some bolts where rusty and needed to be ground off, otherwise, this was the simplest teardown I've ever done (car or bike).

6225137558_24cdbcfed3_z.jpg
 
I'll re-purpose this piece:
6225137702_79722605ba_z.jpg


6225137796_08372a53f0_z.jpg


I bent up the sides and welded them together to give the piece a continuous flange for strength.
6225138524_fb21d2ab7f_z.jpg


Then I welded some reinforcing pieces to the end.
6224619357_7bab0d5e1f_z.jpg
 
I see a proper steering mechanism... much more conducive to high speed downhill runs :)
 
Rad! so me and my daughter go out yardsale shopping on weekends, she talked a guy down to $8 for this.

IMG_20120929_151230.jpg


Was dirty inside and a bit rusty, but just surface.. Repainted the inside. She wants it to match HER sidecar so I will repaint it when I paint the sidecar this winter.
 
JohnGoFast said:
Rad! so me and my daughter go out yardsale shopping on weekends, she talked a guy down to $8 for this.

IMG_20120929_151230.jpg


Was dirty inside and a bit rusty, but just surface.. Repainted the inside. She wants it to match HER sidecar so I will repaint it when I paint the sidecar this winter.

Your daughter has a good eye.
 
I can't wait to see how yours turns out! I love the reinforcing and plan to do similar.

I showed this thread to my daughter and she says I need to tell her when its all done so she can see it.
 
Awesome thread I recently Dug one of these out of a field behind a barn ....It was missing a wheel and handle & had a few rot holes.... so I Rigged it up to be useful again
 

Attachments

  • radio flyer.JPG
    radio flyer.JPG
    641.8 KB · Views: 473
  • radio flyer1.JPG
    radio flyer1.JPG
    642.4 KB · Views: 454
DesmoBro said:
Awesome thread I recently Dug one of these out of a field behind a barn ....It was missing a wheel and handle & had a few rot holes.... so I Rigged it up to be useful again

I like the wrench.
 
That looks pretty classic and old - might want to leave it as-is. I'm no Radio Flyer expert but I'd bet it's worth more as-is vs. repainted etc.
 
Mines worth $8 dollars :)

The more I think about it, I'll probably have everthing chrome and brass plated like the bike and paint the tub to match the sidecar.. Get some new decals and then have it pinstriped like the rig.

Can you imagine one with some chrome wheels, maybe brass caps on them... yeah
 
I picked up some stuff at the hardware store, but now I'm realizing I'll need more of them. Those fork shaped things (clevis fasteners) are going to be real handy, but they were a little expensive ($6.50 ea). I'll need 4 total, which means those pieces alone will cost as much as the wagon did ($25).

6224618731_526737e24d_z.jpg
 
Rear half-shaft components

The new half shafts were cut from the original axle, hence the rust. I like rust, BTW.

6224620171_86dc1c1e76_z.jpg
 
Front clip

I need another piece of metal to attach a bracket to the frame rails so I can rivet this piece to the firewall.

6225138986_6377774a0d_z.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom