A Dodge Charger Power Wheels Restore For My Boy

[jhammel85]

So I found this little thing on the side of the road, destined for the trashman about a month ago. Christmas is coming up and it's a super tight year for us so I figured it was worth checking out. My plan is to restore it completely and bring it back to life for my 2 yr old son's Christmas. His Birthday is on Dec 30th so we may even hold till then.

Here it is after I picked it up. A Total piece of crap but I think I can save it:



In the garage....Nothing worked. At all. The wires had been chewed on by mice, Motors didn't turn by hand, Trash and junk in every crevice. This was after a little clean up.




More cleaning. Got access to the motors and broke them loose with good old elbow grease (and pliers on the output shafts). I also found the lines that would normally go to the battery. So, I got out my car battery charger, applied twelve volts, turned the key and viola! It was "running". Everything but the speaker worked. A little bit of tinkering and that worked too! Has motor sounds, all fwd and reverse gears work, has a siren, lights (well not yet) and a PA Speaker so he can yell at the dogs when he's driving it around!






Right now, It's torn down about as far as I plan to go. All electronics are working, Battery is hooked up and new parts were ordered directly from the factory. I needed new hubcaps, mirrors, head and tail lights, lightbar and a sticker set. All for about 60 bucks shipped!

I had a simple plan for the battery. I put in a 12 volt battery out of a deer stand camera. It's the same type of battery that comes with the car and will be completely safe. Won't spill or any of that stuff. Only thing is that I need to charge it with my trickle charger. Not a big deal though. You'll see what I did with that below.

Anyway, Here's how it's sitting now:




Battery needs to be held down but I still have to do a lot of cleaning here:

 

[jhammel85]

Also, this happened this weekend. Finally got the new light bar in! It was a pain because the circuitboard it goes into is up inside the dash. I had to get creative but I got it.




Next up is total cleanup, sticker removal and something with the plastic. I've heard of some plastic restores out there. Are any of them worth it? Do they really work? I could always scuff and paint this thing but kids run into stuff. Plus, who knows if black paint would get gummy in the hot sun. I hope to clean it up, rub it down and find some shiney unfaded plastic here.

Any ideas?

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Get the headlight restoring products, or kit, from 3M.

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[jhammel85]

Thanks man. I'll give that a shot. Hopefully it's enough to do the whole car. Anyone think it matters if I use a headlight repair kit on all the plastic? Does it matter if it's clear plastic restore or not? Theres a lot out there and a few different ways to go. I'd like to get this kit: http://www.amazon.com/3M-39008-Headlight-Restoration-System/dp/B001AIZ5HY/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

I wonder if I got sanding paper that matches whatever grit the 1st step is, if I'll be messing up the kit's process. I'm worried that If I was to use the same disc, all over the car, It would eventually gum up and give me bad results. This could happen in any of the steps really, couldn't it? If I don't start it by hand, I'll be picking up a few of the 1st step discs just incase.

A few years ago, I restored the plastic I had on an ATV with a kit that came with a brillo pad and some compounds. I did it all by hand and it turned out nice. Of course though, It came back once in the sun for a few days.

 

[86MUDRCJ]

That's pretty neat. I didn't even know you could get parts for those things.

 

[jhammel85]

That's pretty neat. I didn't even know you could get parts for those things.

Thanks! I had trouble finding anything online so I tried the manufacturer to see if they could point me in thebright direction and they had it all! It was great. I'm really happy about how that worked out.

 

[MastuhWaffles]

You should put a real engine in it! LOL

 

[backroad101]

Recently saw one of those at Toys R Us. Retails for something like $400 if I remember right.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

You should put a real engine in it! LOL

I'm doing one right now with a john Deere tractor. Took much work to have it kid friendly.

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[jhammel85]

small update. its all cleaned up and repairs to the panels (fitment) have been made. now its time to get the stickers off and work on this plastic. it looks like a headlight restore kit will work. i tried a friends on it and it shined it up quite well.

new mirrors mounted

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[85_Ranger4x4]

I wanted a Jeep one of those so bad when I was a little kid, the problem was I was just about too big for them when they first started to catch on.

 

[jhammel85]

Same here!

 

[jhammel85]

shining up and getting these stickers off! slowly but surely getting there. i still have some gouges to remove but its coming up nice.

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[MountainMike]

Looks great. Back when I worked at Canadian Tire I fixed up a quad that was destined for the junker. Got so messed up in shipping they were going to write it off. I fixed all the bodywork and axles and we put it out at half price. I remember I put the decal kit on in a different way than stock because I thought it looked cooler. Funny thing, now I see it down the street from me and recognize it because of that. Some little kid is super happy.

I had to do warranty repairs and stuff on them. Too expensive to ship them out. Pretty cool and simple tech.

 

[jhammel85]

Did a little bit more work tonight. Cleaned up the tires and seats and did a bit more on the stickers. I also gave it a good wash and tried to buff it out with a lens cleaner but it's just not going to work. It's hard to get a nice, even, uniform buff with this stuff so it's just going to be painted. One of the main reasons is because the bumper has a lot more scuffs then a thought. I can wet sand it, scuff the plastic on the car and paint it. The only "issue" is that the doors don't come off so I'll have to get creative with masking those out.

It's not ideal but I bet I'll be happy with the finished product once it's done! Anyway...here you go. It's on 4 wheels now!

Still dirty! here's a side without many stickers left