[Dan Fruzzetti's] daughter was delighted to get a motorized vehicle from her Grandparents, but [Dan] was unimpressed with the stock features. The lead-acid battery supplied remarkable life between charges, but the vehicle only had one feature: a go button that routed juice to the bipolar motor. After the break we’ll look at his improvements to the drive train, steering, and cosmetics.
After cracking open the top hatch he wired in a double-pole double-throw switch that reverses the polarity of the motor. This way the switch to the left of the steering wheel can be toggled to shift from forward to reverse. The little red button above that switch controls the horn he added into the mix. Although not pictured here, he did some work on the steering column to increase the rotational limit of the steering wheel, which improved the ability to turn and steer.
The finishing touches were more cosmetic. The photo above shows the addition of two red LEDs for tail lights and at the top you can see the LEDs added to the decals of headlights. [Dan's] improvements cost pennies but they make this Power Wheels knock-off so much more fun for his daughter.
