How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap
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.
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 :
Measure
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.
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
- 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
Please feel free to ask me questions, I will gladly update this file as I can.
Hi,
I need to take apart a black Classic Pickup Little Tikes, can you offer any advice.
Kind regards
Devon
Hello Devon,
I haven’t yet taken one apart, but I have put one together. There are screws on top, that are under these little plastic covers. You can take a screw driver and pop the cover off, and expose the screws. It is on the roof on the back part. And then there are some screws holding the body together in behind the front grill. You have to remove the grill and the screws too. If you make sure you remove all the screws in the body, the roof of the truck should pull off. They usually all snap together, so sometimes you need to use some force to break the body parts apart. I am going from memory though, so I might have forgetten something in there. If you have any further questions, I can try to find the instructions for you. I should have them somewhere. I hope that helps. Melissa 🙂
Great blog! I was wondering whether you think there is a way to repair a cozy coupe where the plastic part of the main frame that holds the metal piece for the front wheel has broken through. I was thinking maybe I could glue it somehow or use some of the meltable plastic to fuse it together. I would hate to just have to throw it away. Thanks!
Yes, I have had that problem with a cozy truck I bought from a thrift store. We used a plastic 4 litre (1 gallon?) Milk jug, and cut a flat piece from it, and a circle where the hole for the wire form would go. I used a glue gun, and even pressed the nozzle onto the body of the truck first to melt the plastic a little. And then we pressed hard on the outside milk carton piece to try to meld it all together. I think my husband then drilled a couple of holes, and but in a couple of bolts to make extra certain it stayed. And it has lasted for four years so far, and three kids. I think to make it easier would be to use a heat gun on the body first, to have the plastic even more open to accepting the glue gun material. I would also recommend making sure the wireform has the room to add the extra plastic, as it was a little tighter once we put it back together, and wheel didn’t turn as easily. I’ll try to write up a proper post on it, with some pictures if I can find it. Thank-you for your comment, Melissa 🙂