Redline Garage

 As you know, if you've been reading this blog for a while, I collect Redline Hot Wheels. These cars were the first Hot Wheels made, between 1968 and 1977. Of course I try to get cars in good condition, but sometimes you get examples that could use a little help. Case in point, this 1968 Silhouette!

I got this car in a ten dollar bag of "almost good" cars I found on Facebook Marketplace recently. The bag would have been worth much more, had the cars been in decent shape. But, alas, the nicest car is also one of the most common cars out there (a 1970, black interior, Jack Rabbit Special) so it was a "good" buy, but not a great one. Here's the Jack Rabbit...

One of the cars that got closest to being nice was the 1968 Silhouette pictured below. The blue paint was pretty nice, and even the wheel chrome was pretty intact, however it was missing it's bubble windshield and the front passenger side wheel flopped around like a dead fish. Still, there was something to work with there.

I ordered another windshield from an outfit called Second Chance Redlines that makes reproduction parts. It was 10 bucks, so I effectively doubled my investment, but I thought it was worth it. I intended to slide the new glass into place without disassembling the car, but when I got it I found that this was impossible. Also, that floppy wheel really bugged me, so I decided to drill. 

I'll now take you through the process of restoring this car! The fact that we don't have to paint it simplifies things quite a bit, by the way. That would involve stripping off the old paint, buying special Spectraflame paint from The Redline Shop and using an airbrush. I've done it plenty of times, but it's a hassle!

So, here's the car, as found. The new "glass" is there too. You can see how that front wheel is sticking way out at a weird angle.

Flipping it over, we see our targets. The two silver rivets; one in front and one in back. They are all that's holding the car together.

Our handy-dandy drill will take care of them, though! Starting with the smallest drill bit I own, I carefully drill guide marks on each rivet...

Then, once I have a spot to place the tip of the drill, I go to a larger bit to start really removing rivet metal. 

Once the rivet heads are gone, the car pops apart easily! (The wheels pop off and on easily too)

And here is the problem with that front wheel! You can see the wire on the right has come out of the guide pin. The wire on the left is what its supposed to look like. Fortunately, a little spot of CA glue fixes it right up!

Here we have the parts of the car (sans glass).

So, I'll set the glass in the body...

Next, the chrome plastic engine and side pipes go in...

...followed by the interior...

Here's a good shot of the fixed right front wheel. CA glue (commonly just called "super glue") works great! Especially when you hit it with a little accelerator ("Zip Kick")

The body and chassis are put back together. A dot of CA is placed on each rivet hole and hit with Zip Kick...

And then you wait a few seconds for everything to set! This is a good shot of all the tools used on this project. The funny shaped metal object on the bottom right is a special wheel straightener. The bottle on the top right is the Zip Kick. The CA glue is on the bottom left.

And here we have the finished car! 

Now, it must be noted that since this is now a "restored" car, it's worth about half of what an untouched car in the same condition would be worth. Still, I like making them like new again, and it displays pretty well!

So, there you have it! Now you can fix a Hot Wheels Redline! Or at least you know how it's done!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!