Lego Taunus 17M repairs

 
I believe the Ford Taunus 17M actually replaced the older Taunus 17M Deluxe model in the Lego range. This is the model Ford made in the early 60s, which the Germans refer to as a bathtub because of its rounded shape. 

The Lego model is constructed as described in the later Lego patent (see earlier post), as is apparent when taken apart. Pressing down the rear bumper will allow a thumbnail to be inserted under the boot and pull it further apart.

All my bathtubs had broken axle mounts when I got them, the black example above requiring four.

As described elsewhere, the replacement axle mounts are cut from a warped window frame and stuck in place with acetone. The ones for the rear are the standard inverted U-shape; the ones for the front are inverted L-shapes to be set in front of the part holding the window piece in place.

The body was a bit playworn with fine scratches, which were removed with compound wax and copper polish. A toothpick is used to remove any residue from the details, because wood doesn't scratch plastic as metal will.

Once reassembled, the red replacement axle mounts really stood out within the black body, much more so than with cars in other colours. So in this case I've painted them silver to keep the red from spoiling the overall impression.

This photo of one of my white Taunus cars show how the windows part is held in the chassis by its two feet fitting into slots.

This particular car only required one replacement axle mount. Keeping the chassis off the ground allows it to be fitted without the axle being in the way.

My other white Taunus needed two replacement axle mounts at the front, after the axles were cleaned of rust with steel wool. I think this car was stepped on, where its more sturdy construction kept the roof intact but resulted in two cracks in the boot lid next to the broken chassis.

The Taunus in grey turned out to have been repaired by a previous owner but not that well. The red part came off rather easily, after which the axles could be cleaned of rust and two of my replacement parts fitted.

This Taunus in red cellulose acetate was seriously dented next to having a front axle broken loose. The axle was fixed with two replacement mounts, but the dent required more work.

Here's a close-up view of the damage - a dent and several areas with deep scratches, as well as a crack in the far front corner.

I figured some heat might soften the plastic and let me press out the dent. So I taped my grandfather's metal funnel to my wife's hairdryer to aim the heat at the precise spot. This worked well for all of five seconds before overheating and filaments burning through, so I now owe my wife a new hairdryer.

I then immersed the nose of the car in near-boiling water, which softened the plastic sufficiently to let me press out the dent with a small teaspoon over a number of times. On the inside of the bonnet this left traces, but the outside got straightened out. A piece of thick card underneath helped keep things stable.

The dent had now gone from the nose, but the crack in the corner had widened a bit. Another red Taunus in ABS plastic was used for comparison. (This was my first red Taunus, which also has one replacement axle mount iirc).

The scratches associated with the dent could now all be sanded away. This was done with very fine 1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper so did take awhile.

The crack in the corner was filled with tiny off-cuts of red cellulose acetate plastic. These were first partly dissolved/softened in acetone, then inserted and sanded to shape.

After sanding the bonnet and corner, the body was polished and made to shine with compound wax followed by copper polish.

The end result is not at all bad, and a definite improvement over how it looked when it arrived. Over time the plastic has very slightly warped back a bit which is slightly visible on one wheel arch, but it's still a very presentable little car.

Currently still on the work table is a grey Taunus. I received a loose body with some other parts in a lot, and a friendly fellow-collector supplied a broken chassis. The wheels are the ones from the donor Beetle chassis that had already yielded replacement bumpers for my Beetles (below at right).

The Beetle axles were fitted to the Taunus chassis with replacement mounts. Because a Beetle has a wider wheel base than the Taunus, a bit of each axle has been ground off with a Dremel (where I wasn't careful enough so the wheels got slightly damaged on that side).

What I still need is the transparent window part for this car. If anybody has one to spare then my contact is on the About page. :)

A parts lot I found somewhere provided brief hope for the grey Taunus, but it turned out to have all the other parts for an almost complete white Taunus as well. So it was an easy decision to reassemble and repair that one again.

The chassis received the standard repairs to fit the rear axle back in place. The two halves of the white body were superglued together and carefully clipped over the window insert that was fitted to the chassis. A piece of low-tack tape held the roof in the correct position, while new roof pillows were made out of sanded-down strips of white ABS plastic sawn from a broken brick. The loose grey body served as an example for the shape.

With the replacement roof pillars superglued in place, the white Taunus is complete once again. The repairs can't be invisible, but the car has been saved from the scrapheap and now sits on the display shelf instead.

Meanwhile the grey Taunus is still waiting for its windows - hopefully soon.