Super donor / parts toy - "Grandpa's Car"

[Martian Gil]

Hola!

My kind, local postal clerk had some hint that I was an old toy nerd, so she asked if I could take a look at one of her father's old toys.  Of course, I was happy too.

Dangit.   It wasn't a previuously unseen robot.

It was a super common "Grandpa's Car" - made in Japan.   

(It seems that nearly every maker had the pieces or tooling to make these, as they are all over the place with "N", Yonezawa, T.N., as well as just "Japan" - and I think Alps.    Not 100% on Alps.)

 

Anyway, she asked if I would take a look at it for her and perhaps make it run again.

She could recall chasing down her cats with it when she was younger, but not sure how many years back that was.
I was happy to oblige & see if I could get her cats running again!

The curse that affected this old toy was that great big beast and foe to most toys... forgotten batteries.

The toy - I was wonderfully surprised when I got this open.
What a cool smoking set-up!

Soft rubber tubing running from directly under the "radiator cap" - that stretched back to the rear of the car, where a dedicated gear would snap a soft rubber bulb in time with clicking another stout strip of tin. That would likely have been meant to mimic some "put-put" noise.
I have to imagine that a working model would do some impressive puffing.

Back to that battery acid.   Yeah, that rubber did not hold up at all against it.   As a matter of fact, I can get a sense on how that car was setting in the basement - from everywhere that I found melted rubber...
Mostly, it was in all layers of the switch components. 

 

Like all of these old Japanese cars, the parts are super well made - but the weaknesses really did this in was the tire set.  Hard rubber and axle components allways seem to age better than the tin hubcaps and connections.    The rear wheels where fairly good - the front were really stretched out.

I was able to clean it up and get the switch, drive system** and lights working, but the wonky wheel situation was just goofy - and since these are a dime a dozen, she wasn't really interested in going all out for this repair.  
She chose to have me clean it up, leave the motor disconnected - but leave the lights functioning.
That way, she can put a couple of d cells in it now and then and see those lights shine... but don't forget the batteries!
Memories saved, even if the toy could not be brought back 100%.

Regarding parts - the rubber of course would be not good at this point anyways, but that still leaves you with a couple of bulbs (which nearly always still work) - some solid gearing with some offset options, and a little motor.
I would imagine that based off of all of the maker's makers, you might see some parts differences here and there.  Mainly the motor, I would imagine.

**I needed to replace the motor.
Interestingly enough - this car was a piece marked with "N" (for "Nippon", I think?).   

This is one of those rare times when the motor in the toy was trashed.
It was one of those 2 part aluminum body housing motors - the magnetss are placed in the frames and then the body pieces are tabbed down to lock in place.
It seems to me that if I come across a motor that has truly worn badly, this is the type - AND! - I think the olther cases were toys also marked with that "N".
I'd be interested to know if anyone else has noted that peculiar detail.

So, if you ever see one of these little cockroaches in a bargain bin at a flea market, snag one for fun.

Cheers, 

 

 

[Roboto]

Nicely done!!

[Eagle]

It's a very rewarding sensation [ To make Things Go ] ! 

[Andyman]

Well done, Kirk.

[robothut]

Yes these grandpas' cars will be a great low cost doner for robot & space toy repair. The tin smoking unit and the motor are classic.