1961 Tonka Sportsman Truck Restoration

I purchased this 1961 Tonka Sportsman Truck mid April of 2020 off eBay. When I received it I found that it was in pretty decent shape for its age. The biggest issue was that the tabs for sportsman topper were missing. The truck was also missing, one hubcap, the boat, and the straps. The tailgate was broken on one side, tires were extremely worn down, windshield was broken, whitewalls were dry rotted and the front bumper was dented in. Overall I was thrilled with the condition.

The biggest challenge of this restoration was repairing the topper. I cut replacement tabs from mild steel and shaped them with the grinder. Once welded onto the topper, each weld had to be filed down and smoothed out to match how factory would have been. I was very satisfied with 3 of the 4 replacement tabs and the last tab I will live with.

The only thing that I wasn't thrilled with on this restoration was the powder coat color. I really thought that it was going to be a better match. However, overall I really love how this truck came out.

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   • 1961 Tonka Sportsman Truck Restoration  

Total Restoration Cost:
Truck $89.23
White walls $13.00 (TK120B https://thomastoysantiquetoyparts.com/)
Tires $22.00 (TKP-071 https://www.gasolinealleytoys.com/)
Sportsman Decal $7.00 (TK74 https://thomastoysantiquetoyparts.com/)
Tonka Decal $5.00 (TK-001C https://www.gasolinealleytoys.com/)
Windshield $10.00 (TS01 https://thomastoysantiquetoyparts.com/)
Boat $25.00 (TKP-104W https://www.gasolinealleytoys.com/)
Boat Straps $8.49 (eBay.com)
Rivets $1.28 (RIV-1/8 https://www.gasolinealleytoys.com/)
Axle Nuts $.67 (TOP-3/16 https://www.gasolinealleytoys.com/)
Powder Coat $18.05 (RAL 1002 Sand Yellow Powderbuythepound.com)

Total Cost $199.72


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