Refurbished Radio Flyer Wooden Toy Horse

One of my best friends has a Radio Flyer Wooden Toy Horse that all three of her kids played with.  Her youngest, Taylor, absolutely LOVES this horse and uses it practically every day.  Over the years, since kid #1, the horse has taken its toll.  It lives most of its life outside and the weather has taken a beating on it.  When I asked little Taylor what color she wanted Auntie to paint her horse she said pink and white. Happily, I took home her horse for a couple days to refurbish it for her.

Here are the materials I used:

• WD-40
• Sanding block and 150 grit sand paper
• Clean cloth
• White spray paint for metal and outdoor use
• Pink paint
• Paint brush
• Screw driver
• Wrench

Here was the before.

I had difficulty taking off the old screws and nuts because of the rust, so I sprayed on WD-40 to loosen it.

It worked perfectly.  I had to use the wrench to secure the nut and use the screwdriver to unscrew each one.

Note: I soaked the screws and nuts in lime away and used an old toothbrush to scrub them clean of rust.  It worked great and I didn’t have to buy new ones!

Once the wood and metal were apart, I sanded the horse.

I looked online to find replacement caps for the wheels because from experience, they usually get ruined once you try to pop them off.  I couldn’t find the right size so I decided to keep them on and cover the wheels in plastic to protect them from the spray paint.  I sprayed the metal base with spray paint.

Meanwhile, I took off the rubber handles and painted the wooden horse pink. I also painted the rubber handles white with the spray paint.

Once all the paint was dry, my friend Jenny highlighted the groves with a light purple paint and small paintbrush.  Here are some before and after photos.

This project makes me want to look for more toys to refurbish the next time I go to an antique swap meet.  When I brought it back to Taylor she was so excited and rode it immediately.