How to Fix the Headlights on your Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Cozy Coupe
How to Fix the Headlights on your Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Cozy Coupe. This model originally came with plastic push in discs for the headlights and tail lights. They can get pulled off, or broken, so I designed a couple of choices for decal replacements. I can also change the colors as well, so if you have a custom coupe you have in mind, just send me an email. These can even help you to customize your coupe to suit a particular look you are wanting. It still may be possible to contact Little Tikes for replacement plastic parts, but at the time of writing this, it was not possible. To check, call the 1-800 number on your toy.
These can be easily resized to suit any car, I have this listing for most diameters, but I can custom size it for any project. Just send me an email.
How to Fix the Headlights on your Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Cozy Coupe. Headlights and Tail lights decals regular set.
Reinventit Reinvent It to keep it out of the landfill
Reinventit Reinvent It to keep it out of the landfill. I don’t bother painting my kids toys anymore… Honestly, I am too busy for that. But I interchange the parts, or I just use the colors that are with it…..
I like to design things around what is given to me. So my son LOVES Scooby, and we have an older blue Little Tikes Cozy Coupe II Patrol Car, and I just made him some stickers. No paint involved. He’s happy, and I can use it for a Police car again in the future.
Even some of the more popular mods, you could just buy two cars, and swap out the parts to get different color schemes.
For example the Little Tikes 30th Anniversary police car, with the red 30th Anniversary Cozy Coupe. Then you would have two yellow columns, yellow roof, grey columns, and a white roof, and a red body, and a black body. So you would have yellow and black for one car, and red, grey and white for the other…. Minnie mouse? Batman? Princess? VW? The possibilites are endless… And they would be brand new. You could resell them, without wasting anything. Or mixing these parts with older coupes, and making them new again… #outofthelandfill.
#reinvent I like that… I want my customers to be able to sell their toys again after their kids are done with them. I want families, to pass these toys on to the next generation. I am tired of wasting, I am tired off seeing things thrown away, because we had too much.
I will try to add posts, where I change around my kids toys, without painting. I got a lot of them…..
How to bleach Whiten Yellow Plastic Toys : Why does it turn yellow?
How to bleach Whiten Yellow Plastic Toys : From my research, which was a while ago, the yellow color is the bromine in the plastic, that migrates to the surface over time. It helps the plastic to be more flexible, and if it is removed, the plastic will become more brittle. Heat will help the bromine migrate faster. So a window display toy, will yellow quickly in the window of the store, because the heat, from the sunlight, will move the bromine faster to the surface. Or a toy that was too close to a heater, will yellow on the heater side. This particular yellowing is not from cigarette smoke. I have seen things stained from smoking, but the smell is really the over whelming thing you notice, not the yellow color.
How to bleach Whiten Yellow Plastic Toys : My personal experience with doing it.
This is a narrative of my journey into using, sunlight, bleach, and peroxide to remove the yellow color in the aging plastic toys. I have heard of other people doing this too, and I would love to hear from them as well on their experiences.
If you decide to try these techniques, know that it is at your own risk. Each toy is different, and requires different approaches to restoring them. Also please take the necessary safety measures, such as eye protection, and be careful, as bleach, and peroxide can hurt your skin. I always start a new unknown project slowly, and then as I know how it works out, I can make it go faster with stronger peroxides.
I found hydrogen peroxide, with bleach, along with a lot of sun, works the best. And really, the best, for preserving toys, is just the sunlight method only. If time is an issue, then I carefully use the peroxide, and bleach method to whiten up older toys. Most decals will not survive being bleached, so try to avoid getting bleach on them. I do sell a lot of replacement decals, and you can check out my store to see if I have what you need,
You can find peroxide pretty much anywhere, but in Canada, we are not allowed to buy it from a beauty store, so I just used over the counter hair color peroxide, and Oxi clean from the cleaning isle. I do think that the cream bleach or fine powder bleach would work better, but I had to use what I had. I might try to grind up the Oxi Clean next time, or even just do a good soak in a water solution with just Oxi Clean first.
How to bleach Whiten Yellow Plastic ToysHow to bleach Whiten Yellow Plastic Toys
If you make your solution too thick in any area, that area gets whiter faster, so it is very important you have an even coat. One of my featured projects is this Playskool Victorian Dollhouse Restore.
how-to-bleach-whiten-yellow-plastic-toys
I used a hair color brush, to as evenly as possible, paste the bleach on. And I avoided the areas that were not discolored.
how-to-bleach-whiten-yellow-plastic-toys
Then I put the dollhouse in a clear plastic recycling bag.
how-to-bleach-whiten-yellow-plastic-toys
And I watched it closely for the entire day. Making sure it was wet, and that it was in constant sunlight.
how-to-bleach-whiten-yellow-plastic-toys
I noticed the yellow color was not lifting evenly. For this Dollhouse, it would have been much better to take it apart, and bleach each piece out flat, so the bleach stayed on it evenly. But I really didn’t have 60 hours to put into the project. I do have a green house. I quickly cleaned off the bleach, and dried it out. There was discoloration, in blotches. Therefore the best I could do at that point, was slow…. I just put the dollhouse in my green house for about a month. I kept watching it, seeing how much it changed, but I was able to turn it as I needed to, and it didn’t get over done, and having all the color washed out.
How to Whiten Yellowed Plastic Toys
Eventually, the color, including the blotches evened out as best as it could. There is still a lot more work needed on this dollhouse, but I am too afraid to continue with bleaching it. The plastic has already become brittle.
How to Whiten Yellowed Plastic ToysHow to Whiten Yellowed Plastic Toys
The pink on the finished project is more pink now, than orange / salmon color, the blue is more blue, rather than greeny blue, and the yellow, is more like the original pastel yellow, rather than the bright yellow.
How to bleach Whiten Yellow Plastic Toys : Whitening Vintage Fisher Price Toys
I have done this whitening process, with tones of Fisher Price Fun With food toys.
Fisher Price Fun With Food Yellowed Toys
The sunlight gets the yellow out nicely. But adding the bleach and peroxide, speeds up the process. I just make sure I only used it on the white areas, and watch it like a hawk. I make sure it is spread evenly, so that it doesn’t look blotchy.
Bleaching yellow toys, Fisher Price Fun with Food dish, got blotchy from not having an even coat.How to bleach Whiten Yellow Plastic Toys
How to bleach Whiten Yellow Plastic Toys : Sunlight also quickly removes markers, and most pen marks.
I have picked up quite a few large plastic furniture items for kids, that have marker on them. The thrift store usually sells them cheap. The best way to get rid of the marker, is to put the chair in the sunlight. That’s it, and it usually goes away quickly depending on the time of year it is.
How to bleach Whiten Yellow Plastic Toys : Does it matter what time of the year it is, for the sunlight?
Here in Canada, in July we get a lot stronger sun, and more hours a day for it. So I do all my whitening in July / Aug. The heat of the summer will help the chemicals along faster.
How to bleach Whiten Yellow Plastic Toys : Yes, you can over do it! Color can fade.
Pink, and purple, seem to be colors that fade quickly. Red, will fade to pink… etc.. I got my daughter this beautiful Vintage Little Tikes Beauty Salon. We played with it for a long time. I put it outside in the shade when she didn’t play with it anymore. It is now white. And it was in the shady spot in my yard for maybe six months. It wasn’t long.
Sun Bleached Vintage Little Tikes Beauty Salon
How to bleach Whiten Yellow Plastic Toys : Yes, you can over do it! Plastic become brittle.
I tried removing the yellow from some clear Fisher Price Fun with Food glasses, and I got busy and forgot about them.
Sun Bleached Vintage Little Tikes Beauty Salon
When I came out to look at them, they were very brittle, and they crumbled along the edges. I do have some pictures of my older work, but I can’t find them at the moment. Here is an example of just a little bit too much bleaching, the plastic will crack easily.
Bleached out clear Vintage Fisher Price Fun With Food Glass becomes brittle, and cracks easily.
When you bleach them, you are removing the bromine that migrated to the outside. When the bromine is gone, the plastic looses its flexibility.
The same can be said about play kitchens that are left outside. The knobs particularly from the Vintage Little Tikes ones, will become very brittle if they are left outside. So be careful if you have to remove them.
How to bleach Whiten Yellow Plastic Toys : Yes, you can over do it! Colored Plastic becomes White
When you forget about colored plastic, it can get bleached out to white, and if it is not evenly put on, the white will be blotchy as well. Here is an example of a Fisher Price Fun With Food cupcake tray, that I forgot about too.
Fisher Price Fun With Food CupCake pan, was bleached too long. It got white and blotchyFisher Price Fun With Food CupCake pan, was bleached too long. It got white and blotchy
I realize here I am showing mostly my mistakes, but I do have lots of examples of successful projects. You wouldn’t even think it was bleached. For me, I learn from mistakes, and I hope that my readers will be able to learn from them as well.
My knowledge of chemistry is limited, so if I have made errors, please let me know.
Customize Childs Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Coupe with Eye Color
Customize Childs Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Coupe with Eye Color
I came up with three designs, all of which can be changed in many ways. It is a fun way to personalize your child’s cozy coupe. All decals are 100% waterproof, UV proof for 4-5 years, and are machine cut for accuracy. I also stand behind all my decals. If you have any problems with them, within a year or two of purchase, I will gladly ensure you are happy with your purchase. I want to keep these awesome toys out of our landfills, so I want my decals to last.
Customize Childs Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Coupe with Eye Color : Blue Eyes
Customize Childs Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Coupe with Eye Color Color
Here is my design for the blue eyes decal to be placed right over top of the pupil, on the molded plastic screw in eyes, which came factory with this model.
Customize Childs Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Coupe with Eye Colorblue
Customize Your Childs Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Coupe with Green Eyes
Customize Childs Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Coupe with Eye Color green
Here is my design for the Green eyes decal to be placed right over top of the pupil, on the molded plastic screw in eyes, which came factory with this model.
Customize Childs Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Coupe with Eye Color green
Customize Your Childs Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Coupe with Brown Eyes
Customize Childs Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Coupe with Eye Color brown
Here is my design for the brown eyes decal to be placed right over top of the pupil, on the molded plastic screw in eyes, which came factory with this model.
Customize Childs Little Tikes 30th Anniversary Coupe with Eye Color brown
Upcycling: Ice Cream Truck Cozy Coupe Makeover. What kids doesn’t love icecream, and what kids doesn’t love the idea of driving thier own car! Put those two ideas together and you have the Icecream Cozy Coupe Truck. For this Cozy Coupe Redo I used a Princess model of the Cozy Coupe II, so I didn’t have to paint it.
Upcycling: Ice Cream Truck Cozy Coupe Makeover: Find a Second Hand Coupe
An Icecream Truck Cozy Coupe Makeover: Remove the Old Decal, and Throughly Wash it.
An Icecream Truck Cozy Coupe Makeover: Remove the Old Decal, and Throughly Wash it.
Removing the old decals is a bit of work, but well worth the effort. I have a more detailed instructions on removing decals here. Once the old ones are going you can do so much to change the car. You can repaint it, or add new decals. I sell new decals for most of the Little Tikes foot to floor cars on Ebay, and Etsy. For this particular Cozy Coupe Makeover, I used my set here. But I have lots of other styles that would look nice on this cozy coupe without having to repaint it.
Upcycling: Ice Cream Truck Cozy Coupe Makeover : Apply the New Decals
Upcycling: Ice Cream Truck Cozy Coupe Makeover : Apply the New Decals
My kits contain everything that you need to make your coupe look like an ice cream truck. The front grill, the license plate, the dash, mirror, tail lights, door logos, front logo, and 2 logos for the back pillars, and some extra ice cream decals.
Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Steering Wheel Replacement
How to Fix Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Steering Wheel
Here is a quick overview of how to replace a steering wheel on the Little Tikes Cozy Coupes. For the purposes of this post, I am using a 1990s Little Tikes Cozy Coupe. I will add measurements in the future to be sure that this can be used for other car replacments.
Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Steering Wheel Replacement 2
The basic set-up is simple. There is the steering wheel, a washer, and a steering wheel clip. All your car needs is the right size of hole, both in diameter, and in depth. I am pretty sure you could modify the replacement parts to fit different dimensions though. That will have to wait for another post. 🙂
Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Steering Wheel Replacement 4
So the steering wheel clip slides into the bottom of the steering wheel, with the “Y” end up. Push it up until the clip ends pop out of the holes in the tube.
Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Steering Wheel Replacement Title
Put the steering wheel into the hole, and underneath, before it goes through the other side, hold the washer on the underside of the hole, and thread the washer and the otherside of the hole onto the bottom tube of the steering wheel. The washer will slide upwards and over the two nobs that are expsoed from the steering wheel clip inside the steering wheel. If you need to take it off again, push in the two exposed clips and let the washer slide back down the tube again.
Little Tikes Steering wheel underneath
I will get the dimensions and add to this post as soon as I can.
What child doesn’t like to fill up their car with gas? Usually when I find a vintage Little Tikes ride on the first thing gone is the gas cap. Here’s how I fix the gas cap on these toys. They originally had flimsy plastic tabs to hold the top of the gas cap on, and they broke off over the years. With design changes, the newer Little Tikes replacement parts don’t fit the older ones anymore, but you can easily make them fit, by drilling a hole.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : Each Project is Different
As with any case of modifying new replacement parts to fit older toys, these instructions will vary depending on future design changes on the gas cap. In this case, I used a replacement part from a 1990s version Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, on a vintage Little Tikes petal tractor. I believe the 30th Anniversary model is the same basic design as well, but I have to double-check my measurements on that, and I will update this post when I do.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap :
Find the Replacement Part
Call the 1-800 number on your toy, or visit the Little Tikes website to see if they offer replacement gas caps. If not you can easily find sellers on Ebay who will offer them. If I have any available you can order them HERE.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap :
Remove the Old One
Pry off the old one, and clean the plastic.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : Replacing an old style Little Tikes gas petro cap with a new one
When you compare the vintage style to the newer style, you will note that the vintage one has a larger diameter then the newer one. Luckily there is a smaller plastic column in the newer one to help hold it in place, otherwise the newer gas cap would just fall out.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : A comparison of an early 1990s vintage gas / petrol cap versus a newer late 1990s – early 2000s Little Tikes Cozy Coupe gas cap.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap :
Measure
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : Measure out there to drill the smaller hole for the Little Tikes Ride-On
Just for when the design changes, you should double-check to see where to drill your hole. When I first did this, I didn’t measure a thing, I just eye-balled it all. I marked the place to drill the hole, in the above photo, and I eye-balled the drill bit size, as in the next photo.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : Find the right grill bit. You can eye-ball the size by placing the bit in front of the plastic column. If you should barely be able to see it on each side.
When eyeballing things, you want the drill bit to be the same size or slightly smaller. So place the grill bit in front of the plastic column, if you can slightly see the plastic column on each side of the grill bit, then you have a good size. You don’t want it too small, or too large. If you make it too small you can re-drill it with a larger grill bit, or crave it larger with a box cutter. I measured the plastic column for the newer replacement part and it is 6.3mm, so 6 mm grill bit would work fine. I will add the equivalent imperial measurement when I find my imperial drill bits, or my scientific calculator.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap :
Drill the Hole
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : For my example, using a 1990s version replacement gas / petrol cap on a vintage Little TIkes petal tractor, I drilled the hole 10mm from the outside edge of the large hole, to the center of the smaller hole.
Drill your hole, and push in the new cap. Hopefully it all fits snuggly, if not, you could thicken the larger column of plastic on the replacement cap with electrical or duct tape to make a snug fit. But I have never had to resort to that, the drilling always seems to work out fine for me. You could also choose to turn the cap a different direction and drill again. The first hole would be hidden behind the cap.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap :
Pop it in
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : New gas / petrol cap for your vintage little Tikes ride on.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : New gas / petrol cap for your vintage little Tikes ride on.
Please feel free to ask me questions, I will gladly update this file as I can.
How to Fix Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Wheels or Tires
How to Fix Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Wheels or Tires : Replace a missing tire with new parts
How to Fix Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Wheels or Tires. I cannot tell you how many Cozy Coupes from Little Tikes I rescued from the garbage, or recycling, just because they were missing a tire, or front wheel assembly. Maybe people don’t have the time, or energy to fix them, but maybe they just don’t think they can. So here’s what I know of how to fix them, in the hopes that more are rescued from the landfills.
How to Fix Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Wheels or Tires:
Find Replacement Parts
Little Tikes offers lots of replacements parts, and you can get them from just calling the 1-800 number that is printed on your toy, or on their website. If they don’t have cozy coupe kits with the wireforms available anymore, then you can find sellers on Ebay who will offer what you need.
How to Fix Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Wheels or Tires :
Vintage 1980s Original Model Cozy Coupe: Front wheel Assembly Replacment
With the older 1980s vintage models, the front wheels, and wireforms are quite different from the newer models, but you can modify the newer parts to fit them. The major differences are in the wireforms.
Front Left Little Tikes Cozy Coupe wireform comparisons. and measurements, Vintage 1980s vs 1990s model (no eyes) vs the 30th anniversary, (has the eyes). These measurement go from the edge of the rod, to the notch that catches the washer to hold the tire or bushings in place.All the wireforms have this notch. My measurement are from this notch to the end of the rod. This is the important measurement to understand.
How to Fix Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Wheels or Tires :
Equal Sizes for Both Front, or Both Back is Important
There are two forms needed for the front, a right and a left. If you are unsure which one you need, I’ll put that to an end now. You need both, as the angle is different, and the newer tires are larger so you have to replace both wireforms and tires at the same time. If both your vintage tires are still useable then you could use them. The idea is that it must be the same on both sides. So the tires must match, and the wireforms must match each other.
Comparison of vintage Little Tikes cozy coupe tire vs a 30th Anniversary model coupe
Yes it sounds expensive, but if you sell the parts you don’t need, that can cut the cost down a bit. I know it is not hard to list them on Ebay and sell them. Maybe have a peak on Ebay first to see if someone is selling a vintage tire, or wireform before ordering new parts from Little Tikes.
How to Fix Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Wheels or Tires :
Removing The Old Parts
A word about dismantling your older coupe. If you can avoid pulling off the old version cap nuts, do it, as they are VERY hard to pry off. And if someone knows a trick to this I would love to hear it.
Old Little Tikes vintage cozy coupe cap nuts, vs the new cozy coupe cap nuts. These cap nuts are quite universal too.
I think I found the easiest way to get them off is with a pry bar and a hammer and just tapping the pry bar with a hammer to wiggle it off. But rarely any of them were able to put back on. I just pull off the top cap nut and the rest of the wheel assembly will come off all together.
Removing just the top cap nut will leave you with the vintage wheel assembly still all together. Ready to sell on Ebay to someone else.
How to Fix Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Wheels or Tires:
Save Your Old Parts if Possible
Definitely try to save the original bushings, as they are shorter, and can make assembly easier. If you don’t have them, or you are going to use them with on another car, you can use the newer ones, but then you need to increase the length of your upper straight length, the part that goes through the body of the car.
How to Fix Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Wheels or Tires:
Measure Your Cut
Once you have both tires and wireforms off, put on the new version ones. They will be too long for the older coupe, but you can measure them out on where to cut them. The length will change depending on whether you have the old or new bushings. So measure them with the bushings you are going to use. Give yourself a good 2 cm of clearance on the top. If you find the wheel is a little loose you can pry off the newer version cap nut much easier recut the wireform, and put it back on. Obviously if you cut it too short, you won’t be able to use it, so really put a lot of thought into the length. And as I said before, you have to replace them with either two new wheel assemblies, right and left sides, with wireforms, and wheels, or find some vintage parts you need, and replace them. If you end up replacing with all new parts, please sell the old stuff you had. I promise you there is someone out there who needs that left tire you don’t anymore. 🙂
How to Fix Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Wheels or Tires
Make Your Cut
So here you are, you have two new 30th anniversary wireforms, and two new tires from a 30th anniversary, how do you make it fit your coupe. Easy cut it with a hack saw to the right length.
Just cut it with a hack saw
A vise grip holding it to a work bench makes life easier, but I have to admit I have tried several Macguiver type set-ups and it still worked out fine.
I’ll be adding more to this hopefully adding links and more pictures and stuff. Please feel free to ask questions. I will try to answer as quickly as I can.
