Looking for Parts to Restore a Toy

Thursday, June 27, 2012

Looking for Parts to Restore a Toy

Dimensions:

14 1/2" (L) x 5 1/2" (W) x 5" (H)

368 mm x 140 mm x 128mm

Weight:

3 pounds 5.9 ounces

1.528 kg

     Yesterday, I wrote about this Pierce-Arrow car that I'll be writing about  here. I purchased it in order to be able to show a highly skilled repair person what's missing on the another toy that I bought. That toy is the same as this one, but is missing parts, ad has a different colour.

 A Girard Pierce Arrow 1930's Pressed Steel Car.

Mechanical Wind-up Mechanism with Battery-Operated Lighting

Circa 1930's-Early 1940's

 The same car.

However, this one is missing parts and was repainted.

   A photo showing the inside colour of the car.

The owner of the toy did not re-paint the inside!

   Another clue that informed me that the car was repainted.

Notice the  orange colour at the bottom left where the on/off battery switch (lever) is.

Also notice the orange underneath some paint chipping.

   A closer look at the battery on/off lever.

   More paint chipping.

Missing: The rear luggage rack

Missing: The rear light bulb and the housing to hold the bulb in place.

On the original car, this light, was left on at night to notify other cars when it was parked.

Street lighting had not yet been universally adopted for all city streets.

Missing: The special rear axle.

Notice that the rear axle has a gear, and 2 metal prongs  near the bell.

The prongs hit a small spring that then bounces back to hit the bell.

Missing: Front Light Bulbs and Wiring.

These are easily available through toy-parts sellers on the Net and E-Bay.

Missing: The Battery Compartment and the Battery Cover.

This replacement part will definitely require a very good parts-maker and repair person!

As well, the wiring is missing and will have to be rewired.

At $75.00 an hour, I think that with parts and labour the restoration will cost between 200-300 dollars. I will have to strip the car, and repaint it also, and purchase 2 replacement tires as well.

I'll have to see what lies ahead.

Toy selling slows down at this time, and spending that much definitely will require serious judgement.

Thanks for dropping by, and as always, have a great morning, afternoon, or evening.