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NWarty

Screech! Falcon!

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On this next installment of "The Tamiya Story: The Unloved", I decide that Grasshopper II's aren't weird enough and take a break and I go restore it's Avian dork friend, The Falcon. This ginormous, plastic, red-headed stepchild is so ugly, only its mother could love it.

So today I end up with this Tamiya First 100 outcast. Only the Striker would get picked last in a game of Tamiya Kickball as it's cousin, the Sonic Fighter is off somewhere licking windows. This little guy came from TC member "Mtn Bkr" and I'm happy to give it a good home. It's not a complete basket case at this point, but it's going to need a lot of TLC. The basic bones are there. It's got its original MSC with the orange and white resistor wires, original dog bones and drives, the front shock towers and and complete front are in great shape, transmission turns nicely. The MSC mounts are from a Bearhawk as is the battery stay. One body is pretty thrashed (red one), the blue and pink one will make for a good runner body. Hey, and I got the original box too! This will be a long restore as Falcon parts are getting tougher to come by. This one makes my GHII restores look like a walk in the park.

Tonight I began the teardown and worked on cleaning the left wheels which look great. The rear wheels are wearing my Stock GHII old tires and I have a set of vintage NOS Wild One tires if I feel like throwing them on. The right wheels will need a brake fluid bath tomorrow. The front suspension is currently sitting in a soapy warm bath waiting to be cleaned. The MSC works great as does the steering servo and everything powers up. I'll need to solder the battery connection on permanently this week.

The plan...I know, I know, it's always a moving target and changes constantly. I'd like to get a ***** body and repro decals to run with, a Sport Tuned motor, full bearings and eventually the correct MSC mounts.

Stay Tuned

-Blake

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Nice looking start. I remember back when I was 14 I traded a Frog for a Falcon. Not sure what the deal was but that car flew compared to my Frog. The only problem I had with the Falcon was the front suspension assembly would crack where it met the main chassis. I'm pretty sure everyone had that problem also. Good luck on the refurb.

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Falcons are actually really good runners. Some weak spots (as they all have), but it's fun to drive and basically pretty tough. I sold one about a year or two ago, but I kind of wish I hadn't...

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Mark,
Everything I've read about them indicate that they really are great runners and quick too (other than the notorious nose section). I'm impressed with just how solid the car feels and was a little surprised how big it is compared to my other buggies. But a couple of items I do want to get is the CRP front brace, Dirt Burner rear drive cups and dogbones.

Completely tore it down last night, scrubbed it, and put it back together. I'll post some photos later after I get the battery leads soldered on. I also did find the original MSC mount in the spares box and installed it, but will have to source the battery tie down posts and cover. I do also have the clear lexan MSC cover, so that's cool :P

She cleaned up pretty well but need to pick at a couple spots, especially the CVA's. Onto the right side wheels!
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I'll be watching this with interest Blake as I too have just purchased a Falcon project (thanks Berman) Unfortunately mine has to join the queue as there's a few projects that need finishing first :wacko: Great start

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Amazing what a little brake fluid and a hour out in the sun can do

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Well ****...

Wash them off and this is the result. Gonna have to spray the wheels (bang head) . Bright yellow to light flat tangerine. WTH?

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Well, they still look better than they did... and there's always re-re Fox wheels, if you want something shiny.

Quick tip on the rear suspension: use the lightest oil you can in the shocks, use the pistons with the 4 huge holes (if you have access to them, or else drill out the holes in the pistons), and put a small down-travel limiter in each rear shock (10mm or so). Otherwise it will be way too stiff and your dogbones will dislodge over jumps.

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Well ****...

Wash them off and this is the result. Gonna have to spray the wheels (bang head) . Bright yellow to light flat tangerine. WTH?

Its a problem Ive also encountered in the past, sucking all the color out of old plastic parts. Very early on I used to used mineral turpentine to clean parts but soon stopped that practice as it was discoloring the plastic as well :(

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Yeah, I'm bummed Andy, but at least she can run without looking like a Harlequin :)

I'm going to strip the runner body tonight and shoot Tamiya Black

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I would be concerned that it had weakened the plastic too :( I used brake fluid to remove paint from a hard body years ago and it went really brittle and ultimately unusable!

Enjoying the thread so far, it's always good to read something well written.

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Wait, am I seeing that right? The right-side wheels were painted but the left-side were not? Dern kids...

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Well Mark, it's not Ron's fault (Mtn Bkr). It's going to take another set of wheels though. Dang...(wallet bursts into flames) why couldn't it have just one axle????

Got to have a Runner Body though. Painted the lexan on the outside but ordering a new body tomorrow.

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Unfortunately, the person that owned it before me had painted all 4 wheels and shocks. First red, then blue. I stripped the shocks, but the left front wheel melted while being stripped. I had a spare front wheel from a parts Falcon that I replaced it with and then I partially stripped the left rear wheel before I lost interest and sold it to Blake.

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Yep , had that happen to me as well on Blackfoot wheels. It doesnt seem to weeken the plastic though, it probably depends on the type of plastic as some parts have been destroyed by brake fluid (Monster Beetle body comes to mind). I ended up painting the Blackfoot wheels but I wish I had been able to save them. Will have to try that Dettol nodtec recommended.

Very nice Falcon BTW, but you mentionned you eventually want to put Dirt Burners cups and dogbones. You may want to look at this first:

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=73597&hl=%2Buniversals

Havent tried it but it looks cool!!

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Thanks Andy.

Mark,

I did get a lot of spares from Ron, to include shock parts with the holed-piston tops and spacers, so I'll crack open the rear CVA's and get them tidied up. Thanks!

It almost appears like there's a very chalky but tough film covering the right wheels. I was able to scratch off some of the white residue with my thumbnail. So...I may try to use some Simple Green and a REALLY stiff brush and have my way with them :P I hate to drop the $ on a set of front and back wheels, when all is needed is maybe A LOT of elbow grease.

With the runner body nearly complete, the focus is on getting her up and running. Will have to get a Rod Bag and a new motor or at least go digging for the bullet connector.

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Scrub, scrape, scrub, scrape. Fingers...about....to....fall....off. But AH HA! A remarkable improvement to say the least. Now, onto the back right wheel (which isn't as bad). She's a two-footer, but I'm happy with the results and will keep on going and nitpick.

Ran the antenna wires today and tidied up the wiring, polished the lexan MSC cover, fixed the blue paint around the windows and painted the lights. Amazing how much better lights look when they're painted :P

Now to deal with these shocks and get them nice and sparkly clean

EDIT: I think my Dog drooled on my rear tire. Blech...
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Andy, I've got about half a dozen or so original decals on the beat up red body that I'll use for this black one. "Hey Honey?! Need to borrow your hair dryer!" Lol

I'll be using a ***** body and repro decals for her shelf body. Just ordered a MSC servo rod from the UK. Better at $3 shipped than an entire Rod Bag at $17 USD. The servo rod is shared with the Boomer and Wild One.

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Pulled the old decals off the trashed red body with the hair dryer and slapped the six original decals on. My wife's Hair Dryer was manufactured somewhere between Hades and the River Styx; the glue shivered and melted before I even plugged the dang thing in. The decals are holding up like a champ, or they're quivering at the thought of being heated up to lava-like temperatures again. Cleaned up the shocks and added the 10mm spacer per Mark's suggestion.

Now to paint this driver while I'm awaiting parts :)

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Tore apart the gear box and cleaned/lubed up everything and realized just how bad cars without bearings are. Good lord, the tolerances are akin to the Grand Canyon with bushings and the amount of slop in the drive cups stinks. But it's better than before. Bought the "B Tree" today also (yellow bits) as the nerf bars were scuffed up and I was missing the transmission skid plate.

I'm really starting to like this car and can't wait to finally get to run her. Tamiya really did well with this entry level booger :)

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B Tree came in today and slapped it on. Much nicer looking too with the transmission cover :)

Now to wait for the MSC rod and then we're in business to give her tires a spin on asphalt. The battery cover and mount are on separate trees. Those two purchases are gonna sting

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