Asahi Mercedes - Leave it alone, touch it up - or hold out for parts....

[Martian Gil]

Cheers, fellow 'dromers.
The mrs and I did some junking this weekend and went a little out of our way... the day turned dreary, so drive and junk!

I found a few items - the most interesting being this old Asahi Merc with Robot driver.
Oh, it's seen better days, but the price was golden.   
I cleaned it up a bit - and added a simple copper coil antennae (not soldered in place or anything).

 

The friction drive is missing from this car - for a display car for me that doesn't matter much.   I might consider replacing, but the tabs on this car look to be very brittle.

 

Can anyone suggest a repro bot that I could scavenge a new coil and ear tabs from?

I figure that I'll knock out the remainder of the old acetate windscreen and remake...

 

Thoughts?  on the Mercedes?
I need to do some family stuff for awhile, so I might not be able to respond for a bit...

 

Also found a cool old lil Android buy Radio Shack - it has some fun actions - the dog seems to really enjoy him!   And a great little Creature from the Black Lagoon wind-up with spark.
 

[martijn]

Nice find! You got the robot, the car turn more often up without than with robot, so i would wait for one.

tried taking a repro easelback coil? then you could place the repro easel in this car when you find a other loose car:)

[Fineas J. Whoopie]

Perhaps this cheap little robot is closer to the scale of the driver? I think you did a fine job with the copper wire.

[Martian Gil]

Excellent thought Martijn!   Searching for the car now...

Thanks FJW - I thought the copper would make a good temporary fit given his color.
For a cheapie, that's not a bad looking little fella.   I'll have to get one and check out his ear caps too. 

[Maloo]

A nice Asahi Martian Gil.

I would replace the windscreen and call it a good one.

[Ranger]

Nice, you have picked up some more cool pieces recently. You are most definitely now on the slippery slope!

[Martian Gil]

.

14 hours ago, Ranger said:

Nice, you have picked up some more cool pieces recently. You are most definitely now on the slippery slope!

... tumble, tumble, crash.   

I have gone over.  

Trading one set of toys for another - I think this must be like moving up from the devil's lettuce to the old smackeroo.  :)
 

 

[Martian Gil]

lyrics tossed in for bonus points.

 

This really blew my mind, the fact that me,
an overfed, long-haired leaping gnome, 

 

and supposed toy car guy... would completely whiff on this one.  

 

this old toy that I couldn't pass on because it was such a junker and low priced... even with the friction motor gone...  I got it as a cheap, cool old, free wheeling display toy.

Today, I had it out of my cabinet getting some photos & I noticed that it seemed oddly balanced.

And with good reason - the friction motor is in the front of the car... along with the sparking gun.  Duh.  to put it mildly.

 

I played around with the front axle and could occasionally get it to bite a gear.  
So, apart came the car.

 

It was rough for good reason - Ouch!  

methinks that this old toy started having some problems and someone thought that it would be a great idea to glue an old cat to the motor.  

or... they oiled the bejeebers out of it and locked everything up - for awhile... until they tore this gear up.  Then it just rolled... 
And there it sat - waiting for help.

I've got the motor / gearing repaired and working - that little gear was an odd size.  

Nothing I had on hand worked as a replacement, so I cut another gear up and soldered up a special gear sandwich.

That is the 3rd pic - the outside gear is what I salvaged - it engages the flywheel.   The sandwiched gear is the donor for the torn up gear. 

I'm going to try to get some time tomorrow replacing the flint and further cleaning... 

 

If I get him done, I'll post a pic of him sparking for joy!

peace, all

 

 

 

[Fineas J. Whoopie]

"Wait a minute - I know I'm in a field of grass somewhere!" My favorite line in that song.

 

So the answer was wait for parts - to show up in the car itself! Nice furry mechanism. Looking forward to seeing the car back up and running.

[Maloo]

A nice bit of work with the gearing repairs.

Have you managed to replace the flint and re assembled yet.

[Martian Gil]

Fin J. Whoopie with the bonus points for the win - a little Eric Burdon always goes well in the shop!

Thanks Maloo - I could have been more patient and hunt for the proper proper gear - as it turned out, I had zero opportunity to work on anything fun this weekend :(  

 

I hope to get to it at the start of the new week.    

As FJW suggested, I did order a couple little "parts" bots so that I can try a couple other wires and phones for the robots head.

I think the flint won't be a problem - I'm going to have to hold my breath with some of his tabs though!
 

 

[Martian Gil]

It took me awhile to get back to this, but he's now armed and ready for space patrol duty - in his bitching, cherry red Mercedes.

 

I had to use a strip of emory cloth on the wheel.   

I cleaned up the rust a bit and rubbed in a bunch of carnuba wax into the corroded areas on the inside / bottom..  
He should be good for a few more years!

I haven't got the little repro robots to cannibalize for his coil & headphones yet.

 

I debated about the windshield.   I'm leaving it - this guy will likely get sold - (more for the robot fund) - I'll let the new owner decide whether on that.  I briefly thought about cutting the old stuff away, but if I keep him, I sort of prefer it.   

I guess I wait to decide until I get the little repros...

 

As it is, it was a pretty fun little project and will be a fair little addition to the collection.

 

Peace, Alphadromers!

 

 

[Maloo]

A nice end result MG.

One just like it is for sale now, with box for about 1000 bucks.

I guess you grabbed a bargain

[robert]

Great job Kirk! I like the idea of restoring the toy only to the point where it is functioning, but not necessarily removing all blemishes and signs of age. I know there is a level of collecting that demands "mint in box" and occasionally I fall prey to that desire but for the most part I enjoy the "played with" versions - they are more affordable and have a character that is sometimes missing from the more pristine version. Just my two cents...

[Martian Gil]

Thanks Maloo!   I saw that also.  The box is really nice!

 

And I'm with you Robert - character counts.   And in the words of the great Craig Ferguson - "CBS Cares!"   :)

That car really had a nice shine to that cherry red paint!
It was certainly a fun project that helped fill the hot evenings this past week plus.  

 

It has been sold, so mission accomplished!   Old toy given a new spark of life - and the old robot fund got a little infusion.

I had a couple choices for coil antennae / wires, earphone, etc...
Again,I left it alone really - I sold it with my copper coil - and I affixed a re-painted headphone to the side that was missing one.  This was disclosed and understood.
None of that is actually "fastened" to the robot, so future replacement will be easy enough if the new owner chooses to.

 

Thanks all for the fun comments and help with this.

 

Now I get to decide if I get back after my Mr. Merc - or dig into a Radar / Zoomer to see if I can get it kicking.

peace to you and yours - mg