Beep, Beep Mommy!: How I turned an old Barbie Power Wheels Jeep from dirty curb-side disaster, into
I was taking out the trash one evening, when I noticed an obnoxiously pink and purple, Barbie Power Wheels Jeep on our neighbor’s curb with the rest of their trash. Trash, I questioned to myself, as any self-respecting refurb queen with an ounce of artistic vision might do. You know what they say about trash; one man’s trash is an artistic woman’s challenge! Well, actually that’s my interpretation, but you get where I’m going with this. I marched over to that pink disaster and grabbed it by its purple roll bar, said a little prayer that no large spiders would leap onto my arm, though I found it hard to believe anything other than rainbows might spring from this bubble-gum colored nightmare, and began dragging it to my garage. It was much heavier than I anticipated. The floorboards were covered with damp, dried leaves and pine needles. I “popped” the hood and quickly sprung back as a large wolf spider hung over the battery. Thankfully he was already dead. I decided to leave the jeep in the garage until morning, when I would be able to actually see what I was getting my hands into, both literally and figuratively. That night I lay awake in bed, planning my approach to dismantling and refurb-ing the “broken” toy I had confiscated from the neighbor’s trash pile.
When morning came, I ran to the garage like a kid running to the tree at Christmas. Only my present was a disgusting pink jeep, covered in flaking glitter stickers and filled with dried foliage and dead spiders. You have to be an artist hunting a challenge to understand. I cleaned the jeep top to bottom, cautiously. There were no more spiders in it, thankfully. I then began, carefully peeling off all of the factory stickers (speedometer, air vents, gas gauge, etc.) and placing them on plastic sandwich bags so that I could peel them off and re-apply after the jeep was painted. Then there was the excruciating process of removing all of the “aftermarket” stickers. The glitter stars, rainbows, kittens… this girl was no amateur, and clearly knew the correct way to apply stickers in order to make them last.
Once the last of the sticker “gunk” was removed with rubbing alcohol, I began taking the entire jeep apart, screw by screw, part by part. Note: It's a good idea to place all screws, bolts, nuts and washers in Ziploc sandwich bags and label them with a Sharpie marker (i.e. 'front bumper,' 'roll bar', etc.) so that you can easily reassemble later. At this point I began searching jeep paint jobs online, until one color scheme stood out; "Gunmetal" grey and copper! I then made a trip to my local home improvement store to buy supplies. I purchased blue 3M painter’s tape, though I’m sure if I looked, I probably had ten or more partial rolls scattered about my garage and art studio. Of coarse, a painter can never have too much 3M painter’s tape on-hand. I purchased some plastic drop cloths, then the fun stuff; PAINT! Lots of Rust-Oleum and Valspar spray paint, plastic primer and sealant! I purchased paint with the intent of layering it on good, keeping in mind that this jeep would be played with (abused) by my three year old son.
When I got home, I draped my pool deck with plastic and began lightly sanding, cleaning and laying out all of the parts, grouping them by the color they would be painted. I coated the entire body and all the parts, including the tires, with three coats of Krylon matte black plastic primer. After allowing the primer to dry, I masked parts accordingly with the 3M painter’s tape. I painted the roll bar lights bright yellow, and the tail lights bright red. The headlights were translucent, frosted so I left them be. I painted the headlight cages matte black so that they would stand out against the clear headlights. I began spraying on the grey with long, sweeping passes, just like painting a real car. It’s best, when spray painting, to use several light coats otherwise your paint will run. I used a high-gloss black by Rust-Oleum for the interior and many coats of a black Plasti-Dip spray paint to coat the floor board and each tire, knowing that these would be subjected to the most wear and tear. I used some of the left over red paint from the taillights, to paint the “engine compartment” red. Lastly, I painted the wheels and grill copper, then sealed all of the parts (minus the floorboard and tires) with Rust-Oleum clear, matte sealant. When I was sure that the sealant had time to thoroughly dry, I reassembled the jeep.
Now for the details! For me, the magic (and fun) are in the details. Once painting was complete, I applied the factory stickers in the proper places using ‘before’ photos I had taken. I then went Amazon.com and ordered “accents,” including large, reflective smiley face stickers for the two roll bar “lights,” chrome ‘4X4’ and ‘JEEP’ emblems, an American flag sticker to replace the original front license plate sticker, and a Minion decal for the back. I purchased 3M chrome tape in the 'air conditioning supplies' area of my local home improvement store, to adhere to the mirrors for a "mirrored effect." I also used the chrome tape to accent the false diamond-plate running boards on either side, as well as the back bumper. As a final touch, I dyed the nylon seatbelts blue by pouring a small bottle of blue acrylic fabric paint (I used Apple Barrel brand) in a Glad freezer bag with some water, mixing it up and letting the belts soak in the mixture for a few hours. Note: You can also achieve this by using Rit fabric dye, which can be purchased at Wal-Mart or Target. I then dried the belts on a drop cloth, in the sun. Lastly, I decided to go a step further with the detailing and purchase a string of blue, battery operated mini lights from my local Dollar Tree. I used UL electrical tape to secure the lights behind the headlight lenses, through the engine compartment, and under the dash. I covered the battery box with some chrome tape and mounted it on the dash with hot glue. My three year old can easily turn the lights off and on from this location.
Tip: If you are tackling a similar project and you find that the vehicle’s battery is no longer holding a charge, or is all together missing, take note of the voltage needed and then properly dispose of it. You can purchase a new battery, as well as a new charging dock at any big chain toy store such as Toys R' Us, or you can also purchase one from a battery store like Interstate Batteries. When purchasing from Interstate you will receive a warranty.
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