So there I was a week ago rummaging through the 50¢ bin at Colorado Diecast. That bin is a lot lower and leaner now than it’s been the last few times I was there, so I didn’t really find much that interested me, but I did find one thing that I jumped on right away, something that I didn’t expect: a Thunderjet! A real vintage one! And not only that, a variation that I didn’t have! There it was, thrown in with all the Hot Wheels and Matchboxes! What are the chances?
I can’t know for sure, of course, and I hate to think of it, but I know it’s possible that this might actually have been decent condition before it was tossed into that bin with all those diecasts, where it then had its windshield, driver’s head and back bumper broken off from all the kids sifting through the piles. But then again, it might’ve been a parts car from the beginning, because I could tell when I picked it up that it was a non-runner: it had the chassis and axles and all four wheels (only one tire), but even without taking it apart, I could tell it had no motor or guts. Even so, I tossed it into my basket, and when it was time for me to check out, I took it up to the front counter, and the guys that run the place-not knowing what to make of this little plastic car-gave it to me for free, which didn’t seem like a bad deal! So I took it home and a few days later, unscrewed it to see what I had. I was surprised to find that the screw posts were both good! I didn’t expect that!
What I did expect was that it had no motor, magnets, or brushes, but the chassis pan was good! No sign of cracking or warping, easily savable! And so, considering I now had a tan ’63 “Bullet-bird,” one of the few colors that I do not already have this body in, I set out to do just that: save it!
One of the reasons this find seemed like providence is because I was convinced that I had bought a reproduction rear bumper for a ‘63 ‘boid a few years ago and never used it. I’m still convinced of that, but either I’m wrong, or I’m disorganized, because I looked through my whole stash of parts for a good long time and never located it. That diluted the excitement of the find quite a bit, because, while the reproduction parts are available and not unreasonably priced, they’re not terribly cheap either, and once you add in today’s postage prices to have them shipped, you’re looking at some real money. But, I had to order a replacement windshield anyway, so I threw a rear bumper in with that order, and it’s now on its way, and I do have to bear in mind that I got the car for free, so a little extra investment in parts isn’t so bad.
I knew I had the chassis parts, so after cleaning off the electrodes with a brush of Tarn-X and a warm water rinse, I went digging through the parts bins, and was fortunate to find a motor and gear plate that I had cobbled together from random parts some time ago and only tested with a 9V battery; the motor was a “tri color” (red, green, gold windings), and I decided I’d take a chance on that. I installed a brand-new set of brushes and a brand-new set of springs, but opted for a used set of pick-up shoes, partly because I have so many of them, which are the original copper items from the ‘60s. Most of them are worn and grooved badly enough that they probably shouldn’t be reused, but I went through my whole stash and matched a pair that looked decent enough. After all, that’s what spare parts stashes are all about, right? I also opted to pull all 4 of the original wheels, which were structurally undamaged but delaminating fairlly badly and looking yellowish and ugly, replacing them with a new set from a bag of “pull offs” I bought on ePay at great expense a few years ago.
It took the usual amount of patience and a lot of oil, but eventually I had it running and breaking in, and after quieting down the squalling with some adjustments, it started running like a song!
My next thought was what to do with the headless driver. I have some reproduction drivers that came with removable heads, and I thought that I could take one of the heads and cut the neck off and try to glue it on to the existing headless driver. I’ve done that before with some success, but here I decided against that, because I wanted the durability and uniformity of a complete piece, and as much as we all love originality, I did opt to pry the green-jacketed driver off of the seat. Doing so tore the vinyl on the seat, but when my recently ordered shipment of reproduction drivers arrives, no one will be any of the wiser!
In preparation for the reproduction windshield install, I carefully drilled out the broken pegs from the original windshield, leaving the mounting holes ready to receive the new one.
I ran it around the track a few times with no windshield, no rear bumper, and with the headless driver, just to see what it would do, and I was very happy with the performance that I got out of my chassis cobbled together from spare parts! So, in another week or so, this baby should be finished, and ready to join my lineup of original ‘63 “Bullet-boids,” and then I’ll have a new member of The Road Crew on a budget!
Lemmetellya, nothing satisfies like saving an original…especially when you find one in the unlikeliest of places, and when you get it for FREE!
Stay tuned for the update, since you just know I’ll finish this project as soon as parts arrive, and I’ll make sure to post the progress!
Amazing work! You put a lot of effort into saving it but it was well worth it. I bet that was a pretty satisfying feeling seeing her run. It looks like she did great with a smooth ride and control. I think this is a really neat story and it was meant to be that you found this and saved it from such an unlikely place. Good Job!!!!