Post by robriley on Sept 17, 2011 21:11:15 GMT -6
so i have discovered that some of the old tin toys from the 60's & 70's are pretty darn cool(especially the hot rod cars). It seems that ALPS was the best manufacturer of these things, but not the only one.
As i posted a few days ago, i picked up a 1960's Alps tin toy hot rod (they call it the old timer taxi).
well, i got the car and found that it is in almost perfect condition, but it's missing the header on the passenger side.
I put batteries in it, and the thing worked!
BUT, it would not mive forward.
These cars have a complex gear and cam system in them that makes them go forward for a bit, stop, shake side to side, blow smoke out of the radiator, and then take off and go forward again.
well, mine was missing that complex cam set up so the electric motor would spin but there was nothing to engage the gears to make the car move plus the cam that makes the car rock side to side was broken.
these parts were made of diecast metal and they are fragile. the canm used to make the car rock, crumbled to peices in my hand.
so, i made a spacer to go between the gears to keep them engauged all the time. This makes it so the car moves forward all the time without stopping, so i lost the stop & go function. Then i made a cam to go on the gear shaft which makes the car rock side to side. I made it out of a peice of lead weight used for a pinewood derby car, and made it oblong (it has 2 flat sides and 2 round ends).
this made the car rock side to side how it's supposed to.
no smoke came out of the radiator like it's supposed to but the little coil in the smoke generator gets red hot like it's supposed to. so i found a tin toy sight and got some info on how to fix this.
all i had to do was drill a small hole in the back of the canister that generates the smoke. Then add 3 drops of 3n1 oil to it. there's a wick inside that soaks up the oil, and the little coil gets red hot causing the oil to smoke.
so, i got that working.
Now all i need to do is put the body back on, add some headers that i found in my parts box from an r/c car toy, and put the plastic engine back in the chassis. I'm going to add stainless steel stacks on top of the red stacks that are on the engine. the stainless stacks will add a little more detail to it.
I will post pics of it when i get it done.
by the way, this thing is 10.25 inches long, and 6 inches high.
the interior lights up and it has the silhouettes of a driver and a passenger that show up as shadows through the gray windows.
this thing is pretty darn cool.
here's how it looked when i got it. missing passenger side exhaust, and the grill came loose.
here it is, driving around in circles without the body on it.
you can see the silhouette figures and the interior light bulb. the "clicking" noise is supposed to simulate the sound of an engine. it sounds better with the body on the car. also notice that there is little to no smoke coming out of the radiator. this was before i added the 3 n 1 oil to it.
Here it is again, but not moving around. i start at the smoke generator, work my way down the side to show how the smoke is pumoped out of the radiator (the little bellows under the rear axle puffs air into the smok generator as the axle goes up & down when the car rocks side to side). then i go to the other side to show the little cam that i made to make the car rock. The cam is a little crude but it works.
then i show how much smoke comes out of the radiator with the addition of 3 drops of 3n1 oil.
As i posted a few days ago, i picked up a 1960's Alps tin toy hot rod (they call it the old timer taxi).
well, i got the car and found that it is in almost perfect condition, but it's missing the header on the passenger side.
I put batteries in it, and the thing worked!
BUT, it would not mive forward.
These cars have a complex gear and cam system in them that makes them go forward for a bit, stop, shake side to side, blow smoke out of the radiator, and then take off and go forward again.
well, mine was missing that complex cam set up so the electric motor would spin but there was nothing to engage the gears to make the car move plus the cam that makes the car rock side to side was broken.
these parts were made of diecast metal and they are fragile. the canm used to make the car rock, crumbled to peices in my hand.
so, i made a spacer to go between the gears to keep them engauged all the time. This makes it so the car moves forward all the time without stopping, so i lost the stop & go function. Then i made a cam to go on the gear shaft which makes the car rock side to side. I made it out of a peice of lead weight used for a pinewood derby car, and made it oblong (it has 2 flat sides and 2 round ends).
this made the car rock side to side how it's supposed to.
no smoke came out of the radiator like it's supposed to but the little coil in the smoke generator gets red hot like it's supposed to. so i found a tin toy sight and got some info on how to fix this.
all i had to do was drill a small hole in the back of the canister that generates the smoke. Then add 3 drops of 3n1 oil to it. there's a wick inside that soaks up the oil, and the little coil gets red hot causing the oil to smoke.
so, i got that working.
Now all i need to do is put the body back on, add some headers that i found in my parts box from an r/c car toy, and put the plastic engine back in the chassis. I'm going to add stainless steel stacks on top of the red stacks that are on the engine. the stainless stacks will add a little more detail to it.
I will post pics of it when i get it done.
by the way, this thing is 10.25 inches long, and 6 inches high.
the interior lights up and it has the silhouettes of a driver and a passenger that show up as shadows through the gray windows.
this thing is pretty darn cool.
here's how it looked when i got it. missing passenger side exhaust, and the grill came loose.
here it is, driving around in circles without the body on it.
you can see the silhouette figures and the interior light bulb. the "clicking" noise is supposed to simulate the sound of an engine. it sounds better with the body on the car. also notice that there is little to no smoke coming out of the radiator. this was before i added the 3 n 1 oil to it.
Here it is again, but not moving around. i start at the smoke generator, work my way down the side to show how the smoke is pumoped out of the radiator (the little bellows under the rear axle puffs air into the smok generator as the axle goes up & down when the car rocks side to side). then i go to the other side to show the little cam that i made to make the car rock. The cam is a little crude but it works.
then i show how much smoke comes out of the radiator with the addition of 3 drops of 3n1 oil.
