Tricycle restoration (son's Christmas present)

Well as if i didn't have enough on my plate lately, A few weeks ago i stumbled across a vintage late 50's Evans Tricycle at the local antique store for $45.





At first i was just going to leave it the way it was and just fix the loose and broken stuff but once i tore it down, i found some issues that made me decide to fix it up. i hesitate to use the word "restoration" as i have no intention of making it original, just nice.

To start, i tore the whole thing down



Once i did, the first issue i found was the fork. it was cracked. I was happy i decided to check everything



The seat was next. The cover was ratty, i could see rust from the bottom and most important, my son has a bony but so a padded seat is a must.



once i stripped off the cloth and old padding, the under pan was rusty but not to bad



The rear wheels were another issue. the tires had become hard and there were ribs that had started to break off. i have a plan for that later.



Then it was a trip to the blasting cabinet



for the rear wheels i took an angle grinder to them, then a DA sander to smooth off the grinding marks. later i may add white walls but i'll see how i feel.



The front fender took some work but i got it strait and clean



then the fork got cleaned



and welded shut



another thing i noticed when it was blasted, was that at some time in the past the spokes broke off the front wheel and they were welded back on. since they seem to be secure and strait, i'm not going to mess with them.



the foot pad on the rear of the frame came out real nice as well. i was concerned because it was really rusty.



the seat pans and frame came out pretty good as well





Now it was time to fix it up. My dad is really good at tinkering with things and polished the handlebars up and straitened the grips out.



then he tore the bell apart, got it working, cleaned it and polished it up.



in the mean time i began painting the small parts starting with the seat pan

 

and now the first custom touch. i always wanted to try my hand at making tuck-n-roll upholstery so i got some white vinyl and ,using the seat pan, cut and sown a new seat cover with padding





then I attached it to the freshly painted frame





then i took the name plate, which was in excellent shape, and stripped the paint off the inside and cleaned it up





then applied a fresh coat of paint on the inside.



now it was time for paint. I chose candy red with a silver base. i didn't have any automotive paint so i used Rust-Oleum silver and Krylon X-metals red







the flake shows through real nice



and, with the suggestion from my wife, i added some silver scallops.





finally i touched up all the little parts and everything was ready.



And finally here it is all ***embled. didn't turn out to bad if you ask me.





and here he is testing out his new ride this morning.



He has a bit of growing to do but he loves it just the same.

Merry Christmas!

 

That's a great present! Ya did good DAD!.

 

Awesome! What a great gift.

 

That is so cool

 

Excellent..the tricycle will bring him happiness now and for years to come,,hopefully some day his child will enjoy it too. HRP

 

He'll be the coolest kid on the block, even if hes too young to know it.

 

that's a cool old trike! great gift.

 

Great idea, good job!!!

 

Great job on it, love the paint. I p***ed on a pedalcar recently and I'm kicking myself for it, I've messing with rustoleum with ebay pearl mixed in, the pearl lays down and looks pretty good, my mailbox got a coat of leather brown and copper pearl during testing.

 

Those are the best gifts.

 

Cool looking trike. Great job on the restoration! That little boy is going to have a blast.

 

Great job,Love the scallops!

 

Nice job!!!

Years of fun and memories in the future.

 

Very nice!

 

That turned out nice. He will be the envy of the neighborhood.

 

Great job Dad.

 

Awesome job!

 

Nice job, those scallops are the cat's ***, good call by your wife to add them.

 

Way to go Dad!!



.

 

great job!!! Dad!!!

my guess pedal car for his next birthday so he can have his own on cruise night

and Ill see ya in akron when he's 7

 

Came out great!The scallops were a great idea and the gift means more because you put so much work into it.

 

Very Cool! You cant buy that

Did you get the bowling ball under the tree?
I dont know if thats what it is or not but the wrapping reminds me of that bowling ball the dad gets, on the movie, The Christmas Story

 

Great job!! Makes me wish I would of got one for christmas

 

Thanks guys! I am very much into vintage toys. not just because they are neat but they are rugged, rebuildable, and often are cheaper then new ones! the ambulance and yellow Jeep in the background are his Christmas presents as well. the ambulance cost $20 and the jeep was free. so far he has those, an early 70's Tonka pick-up that i got for $15 and a large Bronco styled Tonka that was grabbed from a s**** yard. You can't get new stuff for near that price and it lasts 1/10 as long.

yah the Scallops were the icing on the cake. it's the first time i ever did scallops and i am happy how it turned out. the wife has a good eye for these things.

Well he already has a stroller made from a pedal car

Actually they are soccer balls for the kids but the movie is where i got the idea on how to wrap them.

 

Nice job!!!

 

Very nice!! He can p*** it on to his son some day!!!

 

well it's been a while since i updated this and Dean has grown enough over the last year to finally reach the petals. Now being a typical little boy he likes to do "tricks" on the bike (jumping from the seat to the pedals while it's not moving) and eventually broke one of them. they were on borrowed time being that they were about 60 years old.



At first i was going to try and fix one up and cast it in resin



then i decided to draw them up at work,



and print them out in ABS on the printer available to employes.



The color was not perfect but it does the job and i can make as many as i want if he brakes these.