I have the 1951-52 series euclid scraper, red in color. Had it since I was a kid, and in retirement finally have time to restore it. Am looking for tips on stripping, paint prep, color choice and where to get parts(2 hubcaps & exhaust stack. Also how to remove tires to facilitate painting rims.

Hello and welcome to Toy Collector and the wonderful world of restoration. Do you have any pictures of your scraper? Knowing what kind of shape it is in will help send you in the right direction. For parts, I'm not sure who has replacements, you might try a search for parts on Google and see what pops up. When I did a Buddy L from back then, I ended up buying a junked truck for the parts I needed off eBay. You may be able to find the paint you need on eBay as well. There was a seller that had paint for Tonka and Buddy L toys on there, and he may have the color you are looking for. Check in the restoration section here in diecast toys for tips on restoration. Any of the topics by Nobleco will help with your restoration. Even though the toys are not the same, the information will still apply. Do some research before you start, and take your time, and lots of pictures before, during and after. Pictures will help when you start to put it back together. I have a book somewhere around here on restoring toys, and as soon as I can find it, I'll post the info on it for you. If you run into any problems along the way, ask and we'll get you sorted out. Thank you for joining us, and I hope we can help you out with your project. Rob

Welcome to the site from BC Canada. Anything you may need should be in the tips and hints section and there are some good pic by pic, step by step instructions I did at the top of the Restorations, Customs & Code 3's section of the forum pages. The models may be different to protect the innocent but the ideas carry through to other models, any make as long as they are diecast metal.

Thanks for the welcome guys! I will attempt to attach photos to this reply. The scraper appears worse than it actually is. Very dusty and dirty at the moment, some surface rust, but nothing serious. The tractor got hit with some blue spray paint at some point (probably painting a bicycle in my youth

I checked out your photos; you do nice work! Starting to get interested in the Dinky Toys after checking this site out. In the mean time, I need to connect with others working with the bigger steel\tin toys.

The caps you are missing, are they the snap on metal caps that fit the end of the axle shaft? As for the stack, it's a straight stack, and Nylint or Tonka parts might fit. Some of the Tonka Toys had straight stacks, and I think Nylint did as well. This was the biggest of the Doepke stamp steel toys, a big, heavy monster at about 14 pounds and almost 2 1/2 feet long. I'm not certain, I think that the red paint was International harvester red or Farm-All red. I think, not certain. Be careful when you start to take it apart. Stamped steel is sort of forgiving when you bend it, I would recommend heating the metal before you try and bend it back into shape or to bend any of the assembly tabs for dis-assembly. Work slowly on the bends, a little at a time. Heat the metal with a heat gun, not a torch, and just enough to help it bend without cracking or snapping the tabs off. Too much heat will distort the metal and cause it to warp. Use a metal stripper, a gel type furniture stripper will do the job. Brush it on and let it set for about 15 to 30 minutes and then have at it with a wire brush. Several coats of stripper will need to be applied to get all the paint off, and then a light sanding before you prime it. I would use a white bare metal primer instead of gray. Red is a very thin pigment color and will change color over gray or black primers. For the truest color I use white primer. Light coats of primer with sanding between each coat to fill in any low spots or pitting from the rust will give you the best finish.

The hubcaps I need are the actual HEIL  wheel covers not the keepers on the axles (although I should replace those as part of the restore). I did find two hubcaps but need two more. The exhaust stack is straight with an angled cut at the top, and a thicker section at the bottom. I attached photos I found on internet. I was thinking same as you for color, IH red or farm red. Before I strip it, I'll take a piece to the paint supplier. Thanks for the tip on the primer. If you can point me to suppliers for axle keepers, hubcaps, exhaust stack, would be much appreciated.

Not sure on the Heil hubcaps. The axle caps I used when I redid my Buddy L Mack dump truck I found at the hardware store in town. I don't think you'd find them at a home improvement center, you'd have to try a smaller hardware store. The Tonka and Nylint stacks will not work, they are close but the wider base for the muffler and beveled tip is too far off for your needs.

I just found a repair kit on eBay and can't copy the link, (another site issue or Java issue) Look for heiliner parts on eBay, the sellers store is Gramp's Relics. There is also a couple decal sets available.

The seller mentions that there are only hubcaps on the front wheels, which have the small retainers on them to hold the caps in place. He sells a kit with the axle caps, two hubcaps and rubber exhaust stack and the caps for the rear tires and center pivot axle.

I'll be darned if I can find the site or seller you mentioned. Ain't technology grand!

Would sure like to see this repair kit you mentioned.

The auction for the repair kit has ended without bids http://www.ebay.com/itm/Repair-Kit-Doepke-Heiliner-Scraper-Hubcaps-Stack-/330628500606?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cfafe8c7e but here it is (or should I say 'was').

Seller's name is toysearcher38 (just in case my link fails to work as well). Not very active with only 4 current auctions, so you may wish to contact him rather than wait for a relisting.

Good luck with your project. A daunting task indeed, but bringing life back into a favorite childhood toy is worth it all!

Thanks! I was able to send him a message, so here's hoping he still has the repair kit! Am starting to wonder now if there were only two hubcaps on the original units (all one ever sees in photos is hubcaps on the tractor part of the unit).

UPDATE: Ooops! In review, I see oldtruck56 indicates only hubcaps on the front wheels. Toysearcher provided some good info on tire direction and dimples for hubcaps on front wheels.

I dismantled the scraper today and used a heat gun to warm up areas that needed a little straightening. Ready for paint stripping, but I don't want to do that until I am comfortable with identifying the color match for the body(red) and the wheels(yellow). Am hoping someone out there will be familiar with the color name or code number. ??

If there is an area of the scraper that was protected from the effects of time, sun and play wear, you can have it paint matched at most paint and home improvement stores, at least here in the USA. The insides of the rims should be a good place to match the yellow, and inside of the hood of the tractor or where the scraper body fits on the tractor at the pivot point should be ok to match the red. As for finding the actual color code, I've not had any luck finding code numbers to match paint. I would suggest a search on eBay to see if the paint for "Doepke Heiliner paint" draws any matches. In the end, I'd try International Farm All red and see how it works for you.Let us know what you find and post some pics along the way.

Jpols, I know you sent me a PM, unfortunately, I'm one of the members who has a PM inbox that isn't working at the moment. Hopefully this will be fixed shortly and then I'll be able to read what everyone is sending me. Rob

No problem re the PM; I probably did it error when I was learning how to reply, etc.  Anyway, I did find a protected area and cleaned then waxed it.  Went to a large body shop supply firm in the city and looked through a gazillion paint chips to finally find one that is probably closest to matching the original color. They made me up a couple of aerosol spray cans so should be good to go. Will be stripping the unit next week and will post some more photos then.