While rummaging through the boxes of surprise goodies back in December, I found four Co-Hog Porsche bodies from early 1980. They were complete but in pretty sad shape.
The happy realization that I could restore them to better than new felt great. I could also do something I've wanted to do for a long time - try replacing the wooden tires with the wheels and tires from the Co-Hog 956/962 series with aluminum rims and etched brass centers.
Game on!
First, each one was carefully hand-sanded to true up the surfaces and remove the pine pitch which had risen to the surface after 40+ years. Filler was added and sanded to fix the low areas. Because of the pine pitch problem, I later switched to using poplar. It doesn't have pitch, is more dense and takes paint much more smoothly.
I also took the opportunity to square up the bottom of the wheel wells to give them a better profile. All four have the early angled front corners that I changed to square later in 1980.
Preliminary Martini Racing graphics are being developed on this still-in-primer piece. Of the four; one will be the Martini car, two will be white and the last will be black.
This is a little earlier in the livery development process. The #38 car is being done for a unique collector. For preliminary graphics I'm doing the stripes and numbers in Photoshop and printing them to be able to make quick and easy changes. The blue #5 piece to the right is from later in 1980.
I also ended up reducing the front and rear tire diameters by 0.10 in (2.5 mm) as well as adjusting the axle hole sizes for a better stance.
The front and rear details are being improved and reprofiling of the side windows and rear window. Finished graphics on all of them will be done in vinyl.
Same development situation, but from the rear. The iconic twin turbo exhausts are an improvement.
All four are in primer here. The one in front has gone through its first spotting and sanding cycle.
It looks pretty rough here, but cleaning up the tiny imperfections makes a big difference in the end.
It's easier here to see how the wheel wells have been squared up at the bottom.
After all-over sanding they were all resealed with shellac and this one has its first coats of primer.
Those wheels and tires are super! Wheel centers will be added as well.
Initial sanding and filling took a fair bit of time. The wheel wells are still rounded here.
You can see the round end of the dowel pins used to strengthen the front and rear fender connections with the main body.
Everything was painted with a brush in the earliest days, so there are no holes in the bottoms for spray painting supports.
When these are finished I'll be sure to post again showing the results!
To find out more about the original line of Co-Hog Toys click the link.
To find out more about the Co-Hog Porsche 956/962 Edition click the link.