My First Project - Firerock Super 6V

[landon]

Ok, so I got the bright idea to get my (soon-to-be) 4 year old daughter a PowerWheels for Christmas this year. I'm going through a divorce and broke as a joke, so I knew that I wouldn't be able to afford a new one. I started watching the local craigs-list postings to see what people were getting for their used ones. I found a lady getting rid of a little red Jeep for $40. "Works Great" she said... took it home and found the battery was shot, there was some damage to the windshield, and it needed some minor cosmetic work. Purple is my daughter's favorite color, so I decided to paint it. That's when I stumbled onto this site...
I don't want to say that I'm hooked, but the potential is certainly there. Anyway, I figured I'd share my first project with you all so you can tell me how bad I'm f'n things up. lol!
Here's what I started with:

[landon]

Then, I took it apart...


Then.... I found an F-150 that someone was giving away. Hey, free parts, I thought.


A few days later, someone was giving away a bigger 12V Jeep... about an hour drive (one-way), and had to partly disassemble it in guys drive so it would fit in my Saturn, but hey, parts is parts...


I figure I'll start re-building this one once the Firerock is finished... you know, for when my daughter is bigger. lol :D

[landon]

Cleaned and sanded (actually, I used a super light steel wool, is that bad?) the body.


Chrome painted the bling (grille, hubcaps, hood pins and screws, gas cap, tail light boxes).


Bought 2 6V batteries from a dude off CL. He says they're new, tested both in the Firerock and they seem to charge and stay charged. I guess we'll see how long they last under load, right?
I will eventually make this a 12V high/low system, but i need this done by Christmas and don't want to bite more than I can chew!

[landon]

Painted the interior and undercarriage with Satin Black Fusion (and *oops* a little bit of the body).




That was last night. Hoping to start putting on the purple later this weekend. Have to ask a dumb question, though... Is it ok to use Fusion Satin White as a primer for a different Krylon (non-Fusion) paint? I think I read on here that others have had success with it... just wanted to make sure before I really screw things up!

[justme2108]

looks good lets see the finished product,i think that is right with the paint from what i read . anyway try it on a small spot first then if it looks god do the hole thing . awsome finds it is very addictive start out with one and then soon youll have a dozen !!

[landon]

Primed the body with Fusion satin white. Wasn't my first choice, but I couldn't find the Rustoleum plastic primer in either store I went to. Took a whole can...




Next... bring on the purple!

[landon]

Here it is in purple and clear coat. I used 2 cans of basic Krylon "Rich Plum" indoor/outdoor for the color, then almost a whole can of Krylon Triple Thick Glaze for the clear coat. The clear coat probably wasn't the best to use, but I'm pretty happy with the results. A little bit of orange peel that I'll live with and some haze from the over-spray... what's the best way to get rid of the the haze? Do I have to wet sand (2000 grit, I assume?), or can I rub it out with something else?

[landon]

I can't afford a new set of wheels for this thing, so I've been looking at different ways to re-condition the originals. I tried sanding, thought about painting, but finally ended up using heat to smooth out the years of scratches that built up on the treads. I used a burzamatic and glazed the outer edge of the wheel just long enough to get the plastic to soften... I think they look really good. I don't recommend using this technique for the sidewalls, though. The plastic is too thin and I caused some small distortions in the shape. :( Nothing too noticeable (to anyone but me!), it's a learning experience, right?



A few paint touch-ups here and there, a couple more days to cure, then assembly time!

[3JsWJ]

Looks Good! I'm working on a very similar project.
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=6077
And I have the same timeframe to get it done!

Just curious how you sanded the rollbar and the windshield frame? I'm not sure how to do that with the rough surface.

[gwinnythepooh]

looking GOod!

[landon]

3J: I just used steel wool on pretty much all the plastic getting paint. The only thing with that is you have to clean all the parts thoroughly after scrubbing. I did not rough up any of the smooth pieces getting chrome, I guess I'll find out if that was a mistake or not...
Thanks, Gwinny! I'm pretty proud of it so far. Can't wait to put it together and add the finishing touches :)

[landon]

Mom always said I was impatient...
I couldn't wait any longer and started re-assembly last night. The clear coat wasn't totally hard, so if I held or pressed to long on parts, it left a little imprint. So, I did my best to not be too rough with it. I sprayed the final detail pieces with the chrome and for whatever reason, it crinkled... I'm not about to sand the whole hood down to fix it, so it's gonna have to stay looking like crap. Oh well, live and learn, right? :roll:



Other than that (and a few tiny bumps, scratches, and faint fingerprints that happened during assembly), it came together quite nicely. I'm really happy with the color scheme and I think my daughter is gonna LOVE it.









All that's left is to make the emblems for the side, the stickers for the dash and steering wheel, the license plates, and mount the spare tire on the rear... I'm sure to be ready for Christmas!!

Question, does anyone have any experience in making custom emblems? I designed a nice oval-shaped graphic that I'd like to put on it, but don't know the best way to mount it or protect it. I was thinking of just gluing the photo paper to a piece of acrylic and clear-coating it a few times to seal it, but don't know if there's a better way. Any thoughts/suggestions?

[Roxtar]

They make decal paper you can print to. Also some use white contact paper cut to fit in a printer. I made some small decals for my windshield using photo paper, then I covered them with clear packing tape, sprayed the back with 3m spray adhesive . I just put them on, so time will tell. I may clear coat over them, but I don't want to remove the windshield right now.

[jam1ej20]

Looks good. The most likely reason for the paint wrinkling is because the layer underneath wasn't fully cured yet. The can usually says recoat after 15mins or after 7 days. I usually wait two weeks just to make sure if at all possible.

[gwinnythepooh]

Yes, crinkly happens if you wait too long. It looks good in photos though. :) The first project there will always been lessons learned. I am sure your daughter will love it and never notice the issues! :)

[ms1120]

Nice work dude. I krinkled the first one I paint.....THE WHOLE THING...live and learn. My rule now is to paint with laquer. lol. Ever try to sand an entire power wheels harley tub in a cold garge? Thats why I switched to laquer and a spray gun.

[landon]

Added the rear-mounted spare last night. I think it looks sharp... and I think it'll add some protection for the body if (when) she backs into anything. I haven't seen this done on many (any?) Projects on here. Is this not done very often?



Talked my mom into making/sewing a cover for it, but I'm not sure if I want it. Even if it's not the same tire and hubcap, I think it looks pretty good as-is...
Opinions welcome :)

[spyder384]

That turned out great. I had a horrible experience with that Krylon Triple Thick Glaze Clear. I got constant splatter and terrible haze. I sanded it and ended up using multiple coats of regular automotive clear. The results were superior and it was easier to work with.

[landon]

Thanks, spyder. When I realized that the clear was leaving bad overspray, I shot the outside of the body pretty thick and let the overspray go on the inside. So I just wet sanded the inside a bit (too much in one spot, rubbed right through to primer... oops!). In the future, I'll be using some sort of automotive clear.

[Roxtar]

Looks good! I have a spare on the back of my jeep as well.

Would those f150 wheels fit on the jeep? I would put those on and use the jeep wheel as a spare.
here it is waiting for the spare to return.

[landon]

Looks good! I have a spare on the back of my jeep as well.
Would those f150 wheels fit on the jeep? I would put those on and use the jeep wheel as a spare.

They would fit, but I kinda like the wider Jeep wheels and hubcaps a little better, personally. I like the yellow paint on yours, looks sharp with the black trim...

[Roxtar]

Thanks, I hope it holds up. I already have a touch up paint pen that I have had to use from scratching the grill messing with the lights. For what its worth, I think the f150 wheels are taller and would make it faster. However, Opinions are like a holes, everybody has one. It looks great just the way you have it.

[landon]

Roxtar - had to check, but my F150 wheels are actually shorter and narrower than my Jeep wheels.

Made and mounted my custom emblems this past weekend. Kind of a pain, but they look good. Here's what I did; took a piece of plastic/acrylic (in my case, it was an old CD) and cut it into two ovals, beveled the edge with a file, made a graphic in Photoshop (with a little help from Google), printed it for 7 cents at WalMart, cut it out, epoxied the pic to the plastic oval, and clear coated the sh!t out of it (like 8 coats). I accidentally got a little chrome over-spray on them in between coats of clear (fml), but it didn't ruin them, just added a little metallic flake effect (yeah, that's it). They looked like total garbage until the clear coat dried, which worried me... but once they were dried, I scraped some paint off of the body in between the two emblem mounting holes and slapped some more epoxy on the exposed plastic then pushed the emblems into place.





oh, I also fixed an issue I was having with the front bumper. I noticed that the bumper was sagging a little and angled out. I probably wouldn't have cared, except that after making the cuts to the dashboard to tighten the turning radius, the right front wheel was coming very close to the bottom of the bumper in a hard right turn. I screwed a piece of wood wedged under the body between the grille and battery box to push the bottom of the grille/bumper out about a half inch. Worked like a charm! Don't know if you can tell the difference, but I took a before and after pic:

before:


after:


Only minor things left, steering wheel insert, rear wheel cover, maybe some dashboard graphics... sometime after Christmas, I'll be adding lights, a key, and upgrading to 12V.
Thanks, you guys, for all your advice and inspiration!

[aVWguy]

nice work man it looks sharp

i still occationaly get wrinkles in paint :oops: i blame impatience and ADHD

lost parts though i blame purely on CRS

[taz11]

NIce Emblems.......That sets it apart from the rest. They fit the theme perfectly :D I'm sure she will love it!

[landon]

Finally getting the time to start the mods to this project. It looked pretty for Christmas, now it's time to make it COOOOL! I'm adding:
-12V (variable timed 6V "soft" start into 12V high)
-key
-horn (already made the horn switch from another steering wheel. it looks stock, but press the center cap and the switch goes off!)
-head/tail lights
-flood lights
-mp3 w/ speakers
-voltmeter
-charging port

I installed the flood lights and the voltmeter into the roll-bar last weekend. They're pretty bright! And... the voltmeter looks pretty sweet in there, if I do say so myself :D





(well worth $7, don't you think?)

Here's the diagram I made up for it... by all means, look it over and tell me if you see something that I should do differently, or need to fix!


One thing I'm not too sure on is what size resistor to put in for braking... I'm thinking 5W .5ohm, does that sound right?

I'll try to post pics of the progress, now and then.

[GunnyHartman]

Wow!! That turned out GREAT!!!

[NceptioN]

Turned out great.I like the volt meter too.

[landon]

At last, I think the FairyRock is (mostly) finished!
Here's everything I've done/added/modded:
-headlights
-taillights
-floodlights
-12V high/low (with time delay high speed)
-26ah battery
-key start
-voltmeter
-MP3 w/ amp & stereo speakers
-horn
-110V charge port

Some pics:

all back together


lit up


MP3 and volume knob


key, headlights, floodlights, and horn (the steering wheel center cap is the horn switch)


12V 26ah battery showing a little... I had to trim the seat to get it to fit.


charge port


basement test run (in the dark)

very short high-speed test

I'd put a pic of the wiring up, but it's more than a little embarrassing. It's far from clean. It's safe and everything, but it's just a tangled mess.

Just a little more trimming to do to the seat, some touch-up paint here and there, and a good cleaning, then it's on to the next project (which hopefully won't take me 4 months again!).

[madmaxdecals]

Great job...bet your little one is pretty thrilled with it

[aVWguy]

that is a sweet little jeep man nice build and great work

[gwinnythepooh]

Great!

[kysunmans]

nicely done