Pimp My Ride

Is that title offensive? Can I say "pimp my ride" on a craft blog?
It's done, now. If it shocked you, please forgive me :)

My little boy (Asher) is turning 4 in just a couple of weeks. Recently, I asked him what he wanted for his Birthday. He said he wanted a black car. To ride in.
Now, since he already has a cozy coupe AND a power wheels jeep, there was absolutely no need to buy him a new ride in vehicle.
But I'm a sucker for this face.

I had to figure something out.

So I made over his old Cozy Coupe.
Are you aware that this is the best selling car in America? It's popularity is astounding. This review, about it's attributes, had me rolling on the floor.

Anyway, on to the makeover.
Ash has had this car for almost 3 years, now. It was his Birthday gift when he turned one. He was delighted with it then, and has played with it non-stop since.

It was actually a little beat up...
Here it is, before:

 

To start, I disassembled it. I scrubbed the whole thing down and removed all of the decals - didn't want to be painting over stickers!

 

The drivers door (the one that opens) was cracked at the bottom - a result of my daughter standing on it to climb on top of the coupe. My husband used some sandable plastic epoxy to repair it. It worked REALLY well, filling in the cracks completely.

 

Then I gave it several coats of this paint

Rustoleum Direct-to-Plastic Spray Paint. No sanding or priming required. In High Gloss Black.

When the entire thing (including the undercarriage!) had been painted, I rigged up a cover for the body using an old sheet that just allowed the seat to show through. Then I painted it white - using the same type of paint.

 

Once all the paint was on I gave the car a couple of good coats of a sealer - Rustoleums Clear Top Coat.

Then I reassembled and started on the detail work.
I considered purchasing another set of decals from Little Tykes - the cost is VERY reasonable...until you add in shipping. I always have a problem paying 4X the amount of the product for the mailing.
So I improvised.
Using paint pens I drew on a personalized license plate and filled in the tail lights.

Then I used a silver sharpie to give it a grill, some door handles and to outline the ignition.
I really wanted to give it a speedometer or a radio on the dash, but with the top of the car back on I just didn't have a good angle to draw it with.

 

Last, but not least, I gave the coupe white-wall tires. Ash requested them specifically. I actually used wall paint on this part - mostly because it was easiest!

After all the details were drawn on I gave one more coat of clear. And then a few more coats of clear.
I'm worried that my makeover won't "stick" - the paint scratched off quite easily in the beginning. I had to touch up quite a few spots...
However, the longer it's on there, the better it seems to be doing. Hopefully it will eventually become part of the plastic :)

My boy loves it - and it's much more to his taste now. A classy black coupe with white wall tires feels so much more grown up than the red, yellow and blue original! LOL
Here it is...all pimped out :)

   

Linking up to...
Transformation Thursday at the Shabby Chic Cottage
Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple
What Are Little Boys Made Of at Seven Thirty Three
Get Your Craft On at Life as Lori and
Look At Me at Fun to Craft