Tin Car Rescue

These old Japanese tinplate cars were given to me as gifts when I was a child. It's time to show them some love and restore them for display.
In this episode (there'll be more than one) I dismantle the cars, soda blast the paint off the sheetmetal parts, remove the rust, knock out some dents and powdercoat the body and roof panels.

[@anthonycash4609]

Mark back in the 1950's and 1960's my father worked as a mechanic for ford. Back then if you bought a new car they gave you a toy car that looked just like the one you bought sometimes in a different color but the same year and make. Back then by working there he was able to collect the hole set. And the license plate number was the year the car was made. The size of the toy cars was close to the ones you have. As kids my brother and me were not aloud to play with them. When he passed away i got the hole collection and they still look just as good as the day they were made. I keep all of them in a shadow box hanging on my wall.

[@be007]

nice project. cheers ben

[@joedowling5452]

I can recall taking tin toys apart in my youth and finding the inside painted with all sorts of bright colors and strange writing. They were trying to get whatever they could out of the material they had on hand.

[@DavidKutzler]

I was born in 1951. I well remember cheap tin toys from Japan, that had been stamped from sheet metal that had been recovered from tin cans. I recall disassembling a toy and recognizing that it had been made from an empty "Bugler" tobacco tin. It's possible that the tin was "liberated" from the trash of an American military base doing post-war occupation duty.

[@campbellmorrison8540]

I have done up a lot of Meccano but never a tin toy, I've panel beaten them but never painted. A useful trick with tinplate is using a curved piece of brass to burnish creases by putting the tinplate on a sheet of hard rubber, its a good way to retain the original paint as much as possible. I look forward to your plating I've never done it but has some jobs that need it.

[@fepatton]

Very cool project, Mark! I have my Dad’s tinplate Lionel and Marx trains. I love how they look, and these cars are fantastic. The detail is amazing considering the simplicity of the technology.

[@dale9896]

Great work so far mate, well done on

[@marlobreding7402]

Not corrosion. They are metal eating worms. They arrive in water. 😂

[@michaelwynne2801]

Hey Mark, Blue one is definitely a 1960 Ford Starliner, with the wrong 1/4 window. 1961 the stepped boot or truck was charged back to a flat side fin with round taillights same as Aussie XM Falcon.

[@petergamache5368]

Your plating and powder coating episodes are always fascinating. Thanks for sharing!

[@MattysWorkshop]

Gday Preso, brilliant job as always mate, keen to see the next episode, cheers

[@Preso58]

Thanks Matty. Wait until you see the new project which is currently sitting on my bench in a big box. I think it's the most ambitious project I have taken on in a long time. Regards, Mark

[@b0rd3n]

Might i remind all folks that Mark has amazing tutorials on metal finishing/plating on his channel so go ahead, learn you bleeep off!

[@garagemonkeysan]

Nice video and resto. I was brought up as a Ford guy but that A pillar stumped me too. Thanks for sharing.❤

[@iteerrex8166]

Mark, these cars reminded of the movie “Back to the future”, when Michael J Fox went to the past, and almost unalived himself. Though these cars are a few years younger than those in the movie.

[@LerrySanders]

I just wanted to say that I really enjoy your videos

[@Preso58]

Thanks. I am glad you like the content. It makes me want to continue. Regards, Mark

[@MyMiniHomeWorkshop]

I remember you telling me you like to mix it up a bit, well you certainly have with this little project. I also remember as a child getting a toy machine gun with a rotary trigger that gave it a rather annoying firing sound, it suddenly disappeared later that day, and when it reappeared it no longer made a noise, dear old dad had had enough, and modified it. Unfortunately, my parent's house had a deep dive in the 1974 floods in Brisbane and anything that remained from my childhood went with the rest of the contents of the house. Maybe a coat of clear lacquer may have perked up those internal parts.

[@travisjo801]

Cheers preso

[@franksmodels29]

Very cool a man of many talents great vid 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@b0rd3n]

Getting your affairs in order brother? I know the feeling... take care! Thanks for your time!

[@OldPumpMan]

Those are so cool, I still have my dads airplane toy with the same style drive as those, his was from the 1950's. Its in really good shape as he was super careful with his toys as a kid & he kept them away from me as I wanted to take everything apart growing up😄.

[@brianleduc2244]

The part that were hard to cover was probably because of the way the power flowed throw the part!its like when it hits the part its been pushed away instead of be pulled in like two magnetic feilds pushing away

[@billdoodson4232]

I have never done any powder coating of any sort, I take anything I need doing to my local guy, also Mark, who blasts and coats them, and I give him some beer tokens. Talking to him, I understand that sharp edges, creases, and tight corners for instance cause the static electrical field to distort in such a way that it's difficult to make the powder stick, as its attracted to areas where the static charge is greater.

[@Preso58]

That is correct. Narrow channels and undercuts are notoriously difficult. Eastwood do sell a dual voltage gun which is more adaptable to the difficult areas. Regards, Mark

[@seabreezecoffeeroasters7994]

We know the real truth you just want to restore these and get out on the Concrete and rev these up again 🤣 Static Powders/Chemblast are 10 minutes from me if you want me to drop some Cow stuff on their front doorstep 😉

[@Preso58]

I am now thinking that the KL primer I had used was the issue. I have since disposed of it. It actually came from Prismatic Powders in the USA. Regards, Mark

[@osgeld]

10:24 Yes we call it the hood :)

[@WayneCook306]

Hi Mark, I guess there was a little adult language going on with this project, 🤬🤬🤬 great job so far Mark. 👍👍👍👍👍

[@Preso58]

Yes, It's a good thing we live on acreage. Regards, Mark

[@WayneCook306]

@@Preso58 Yes it is.

[@DessieDoolan]

17:07. The inside of my early 60s toy police car was printed with a food label of some sort. Almost as if the manufacturer had repurposed a roll of pre-printed soup can material.

[@Preso58]

That doesn't surprise me at all. I think that post WWII Japan would have had severe material shortages Regards, Mark

[@robertwragg9224]

Mark do you think the power is out of date . We had a problem at work some time ago it was down to it had run out of shelving life.

[@peterwooldridge7285]

Nice one Mark... Now, I don't think you were really "...somewhat vexed..", I think you were #$@@&$ $@&%%@

[@philmenzies2477]

I'm surprised they had such futuristic looking cars as models when you were a boy, Mark! 🤔🤪🤡🤡

[@Preso58]

Harrumph! Are you suggesting that I am old? I should make haste and challenge you to a bout of fisticuffs 😁 Regards, Mark

[@Doc_Fartens]

Regarding the parts cooling down before you could earth them for recoating. Could you have earthed them then heated them with a blowtorch afterward?

[@Preso58]

It's hard to apply the heat with a flame when the metal is so thin. The risk would be overheating in some areas and burning off the powder. The pro's use an infrared heat lamp or several depending on the size of the job. Regards, Mark