Buggy Boy69

I am still interested as well. I live on the northside not far from Boondall so I can meet you up there or on the Southside when you decide where and when. Like many of you guys I have kids and they take up a lot of my weekend time so I rarely go to Boondall now days but I do have free time sometimes. I have been building the re release Tamiya off road as they come out and I am keen to give them a run. The kids have taken an interest and I want to build them a re release each in time for Christmas, probably a Hornet and Grasshopper. Cheers. Ian.

Thankyou for a lovely Autumn morning at running buggies at Boondall. Good to catch up with the old faces and meet some new ones. Here are some photos. There are also some videos from today at http://www.youtube.com/user/BondallBuggy/ http://www.youtube.com/user/BondallBuggy/videos?view=0

My 1984 Hornet which I have had since new has a replacement chassis from the 1990's when I broke the original. Under where the steering servo goes & inside the chassis there is RCC Grasshopper and above this in a circle is Made in Japan. I presume the original 1984 chassis would be the same? The Re Release has RCC Grasshopper and above this in the circle is a part number. This would confirm that the differences in the cut out for the battery hump pack mentioned by others earlier mean the chassis at least is the Re Release Hornet. The motor as well as the body as others have said is also from the Re Release. That doesn't mean that the buggy isn't a hybrid of new and old but my bet it is a Re Release Hornet. If so an ESC is apropriate and a much more reliable and controllable speed controller than the MSC.

Hi Thomas I have the Tamiya 84258 aluminum Damper on my FAV 2011 and they seem to be great. I must admit I did not try the FAV with the pogo stick springs on it before mounting the damper/shocks but I would imagine the improvement is significant. The damper/shocks seemed to go together well and were easily installed on the FAV. The rear springs are very stiff, a bit like the Re release Frog shocks, but seem to work well as I run a heavy 4400mh Ni Mh 7.2volt battery.

Hi Mark This buggy looks like it will be a rare beauty. Looking foward to seeing it being built. Is the Killer the buggy that killed off the potential re release of the Tamiya Fox? Happy New Year to you and all those on Tamiya club around the world. Buggy Boy

I disagree with the peak of the Tamiya buggy value being now. There is a lot of interest at the moment as the re releases by Tamiya bring back memories of 20 to 30 years ago. The age group that Tamiya are targeting is around the late thirties early forties as I suspect many of the members on this forum are, which I call the buggy boomers. This the age group that lived through the original buggy boom in the 1980's. The age group now looks for a distraction from their own children or enjoy buggies with their own children/nieces/nephews and some may be entering the age of the mid life chrisis. The age group will no doubt be earning their peak earning power as they near retirement in whatever occupation they undertake. This is when the price of vintage Tamiya and the re releases will earn their peak in money value. Some will also be looking for a hobby once they reach retirement. This will be around 20 to 30 years time. There is the chance that Tamiya will also do a 2nd re release of the vintage buggy range around this time, which would be great as it will make spare parts available again but possibly effect values of vintage buggies as is happening now. Another 10 to 20 years after the peak as the original buggy boomers start to end up in retirement homes and pass away the price of vintage buggies will slowly drop as the generation dissappears. No doubt some of these will end up in the musems, garbage tips and antiques roadshow or equivalent of that time. Meanwhile collect what you collect, build what you build, run what you run now and enjoy the wonderful hobby of Tamiya as it isn't all about investing for the future.

G'day I easily get 1/2 an hour with my re release Hornet running a stock re release speed controller and silver can motor. The battery I use is a 4600 Ni Mh. The battery is a little heavy for the buggy but not greatly different handling from a 1500 Ni Cad which is a lot lighter. The Hornet has a distinctive noise on the track as the rear wheels spend so much time in the air spinning. I am suprised no one on Tamiya club has taken sound bites on Tamiya club and had a forum game like who can guess the vintage Tamiya buggy noise eg The Hornet, The Frog etc? Thanks Ian

Hi I would get the Boomerang as a runner for all the reasons Mad Racer says. He loves his Boomerang and as I also own one with a brushless motor. Also the re release Boomerang according to this website is discontinued. http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=58418 So get the re release Boomerang first and get the re release Hotshot at a later stage as the Hotshot should be around for a while. Thanks Ian

I remember you could get carbon fibre which was also called a graphite chassis for a Hotshot. That was a little later around 1985. I also remember graphite tennis rackets which were very expensive in the 1980s. Ian

Hi Grasshopper 1 The Hornet shocks will fit on the original Grasshopper. If you are using re release parts you will need plastic sprue D parts from the Hornet - part number 9005156, Hornet screw bag A - part number 9465639 and Hornet damper parts bag - part number 9400273. With the screw bag A and the damper parts bag you will have parts left over you might want to use as spares. These parts will also allow you to modify the Grasshopper front springs to Hornet friction dampers. Hornet kit assembly instruction books can be found on the net if you need help. If you need more help please let me know Have fun Buggy Boy in Australia

A re release Fox would be wonderful please Mr Tamiya. With 2011 being the 25th anniversary of the 1986 Fox release next year would be ideal. A 2012 re release of the Superchamp's on the 30th anniversary of the original 1982 release would also be fab. Surely a re release of a Sand rover on the DT 02 chassis is not too far away either? The photos of your Fox are foxxy Mark! Ian

Hi vintage tyre preservers To avoid cracking take the weight off the tyres. If they are on the model please put it up on blocks with the tyres off the ground when not in use just like storing a 1:1 car. This is better than taking the tyres off and storing them on their sides or leaving the tyres on the car and distorting under the models weight. Apart from that avoid sunlight as others have said. Thanks

Hi Martin Thanks for you advice. I have swapped the Thundershot uni driveshafts for the Tamiya DF-02 uni driveshafts on the front and it appears to have fixed the vibration. I will put the Thundershot driveshafts in the back of the Boomerang re release when I get time and give it a test run. Ian

Hi I have the very similar Tamiya re release Boomerang with an Ezi run 9 turn and coincidently enough I spent yesterday evening pulling apart the front gearbox to find out the source of some vibration in the front wheels. I have replaced the front drive cups but not sure if this has fixed the problem. I also have uni joints on the front from a Thundershot which don't appear to have bent shafts so still trying to figure out what the problem is. Interestingly the front gearboxes gears are still in suprisingly good condition; I was think I would have to replace the gears after 6 months of use but they are Ok for now. The 9 turn Ezi Run is running a 13 tooth pinion as 15 tooth is too fast for my driving ability. I have also programmed the Ezi run to have the timing retarded and the punch off the line is very soft with hard braking. The hard braking is what is wearing the drive cups on the rear of the slots and I suspect this is what is causing the vibration. These cups are made from black metal, does this wear quicker than the chrome/silver coloured axle drive cups? The Thundershot front uni joints appear not to be sloppy so I don't think this is the problem. Anyway I find the Ezi run 9 turn is a bit overpowered but you can always gear it down and programme the esc to minimise punishment on the Hotshot drivetrain or try a 13 turn Ezi run. Bear in mind impact speeds are higher with a brushless 9 turn if your Hotshot has an accident so make sure you have a good supply of spare parts or access to spare parts from the web or your local hobby store etc. Interestingly I have heard the lates Hotshot its are made in the Phillipnes. Is this correct/has anyone seen the non Japanese made rerelease Hotshot kits? Thankyou Ian

Here are some Hi Definition videos on U tube of a Tamiya Super Champ and a Super Shot in action at Boondall on 19th June 2010. http://www.youtube.com/user/BondallBuggy#p/u/1/smOFPbqhbTo http://www.youtube.com/user/BondallBuggy#p/u/0/fPMOIRHg_BU Thankyou Ian

Hi Here is a photo of HPI shocks on my Buggy Champ as a small file. A guy at my local buggy track told me that he had read on a forum that these HPI Cup Racer shocks fit the Buggy Champ, so thanks dude, you know who you are. The rear shocks were cleaned last night so they are more pristine than the Buggy Champ. I have had rear shocks on buggy for a couple of months but front shocks were only fitted last night. On the rear they work well and together with a ball diff installed a few weeks ago they transform the handling of the buggy into a great handling vintage buggy on tar and hard dirt. The HPI front shocks I am sure will help as well. Thanks Ian in Australia.

Hi I have HPI Cup racer shocks fitted to my re release Buggy Champ, but they would fit just as well on a S Scorcher. They have coil springs but the gold ones supplied in the shock kit are too hard for an off road buggy, but softer ones are available. I run my Buggy Champ without the springs using only the Tamiya rear torsion bars and front spring that came with the kit. I hope this helps. Ian in Australia.

I have fitted the Tamiya ball diff to my re release Buggy Champ and it works well. It needs to be adjusted fairly tightly by rotating the rear wheel as explained in the instructions but once set up the limited slip function works. It makes a hard to drive car like the Buggy Champ/S Scorcher without a diff into a great handling vintage buggy. I have also replaced the standard Tamiya shocks with HPI Cup racer shocks and this helps handling and the shocks don't leak oil. The Tamiya Ball Diff is a must for the Buggy Champ/S Scorcher if you want to drive it on anything other than sand or other low traction surfaces. Thanks Ian

Hi Hopefully the track is OK and no wash outs after that rain. If anyobody who goe to Boondall running days has any 1980's Tamiya RC Guide Books they want to swap please let me know. I have duplicate RC Guide books from the 1990's and 2000's to swap along with Tamiya catalogues from the 1980's, 90's and 2000's. Wanting to add variety to my collection. Thanks Ian

Hi Here are some photos from today at Boondall. Thanks for a great morning running buggies. Ian

Thankyou for the information. It sounds like great fun sharing an interest in Vintage Tamiya - and running some old style buggy's as well! I will try to get there. Ian aka Buggy boy

Hi, I have only just joined Tamiya Club and live in SE Qld. I am very interested in your running of vintage Tamiya at Boondall. Could you please tell me next run date time please? I am sorry I missed the run day on the 16th January. I look forward to some photos of the run day on the 16th, if anybody took some, being on this forum. Thanks Ian aka Buggy Boy