30YrsL8r

I wasn't exactly over the moon when my SS arrived but now, having put a some blood, sweat and tears into it, I wouldn't think of selling it - and it's not even half way finished yet. Take a deep breath and hang in there

Are you sure this is installed correctly? The torsion bars on my SS are 30+ years old and the rear end is as solid as a rock...

New Grasshopper II - I was a late starter

You've got me thinking, though....

That really does look cool but, if it were me, I would arrange the stars so that they are equidistant (even if one covers the hole) - but then I have mild OCD

Thanks - I'll get the ammeter on it and see what I have to play with under full load.

Bigger is better when it comes to photographs (even if you have to spread them over a couple of posts because of the size limit. Looks like yours is in better shape than mine was at the beginning of my restoration, which can only be a good thing! Good luck.

I'm pretty pleased with myself. I have repaired my mistake with the upright and the steering is now connected up, vintage style. I embedded the upright in a remnant of hard foam that I found in the bin, which held it at the appropriate angle to drill through the remains of the old ball pin's threaded shaft, and put a 0.95mm (photo from Blackberry phone below, it's designed for putting holes into PCBs) drill bit through it. Using that hole as the guide, I then put a 1.5mm bit through it, which took out the last of the shaft and just left the brass in the threads behind. Next, I picked out this brass with very sharp (as evidenced by the pain in my finger) tweezers. The replacement ball pin screwed in easily, but not so easily that I am concerned about the state of the threads. Whilst I had access to the correct equipment, I took the opportunity to drill out the grub holes in the lower training arms to 3.2mm and put in a new M4 0.7 pitch thread. The photo shows the result, although I clearly need to source the appropriate grub screws now! All in all, a great day

I don't have either at home, but I am off to our "local" fablab/hackspace in an hour and they have them both.... a 1mm drill bit might be a bit of a problem, but we'll see. Thanks for the advice.

Now THAT has got me thinking.... thanks

I was reading someone's blog about a 'plane build and paint the other day, and they used a masking liquid as well as a tape - that would fill the grooves....

With the front suspension on and the servo saver in better shape, I wanted to connect up the tie rods. Unfortunately, the ones I took off when stripping the car did not have the original ball pin arrangement on the upright ends. I sourced some vintage replacements and set up the right hand side just fine. Then I started on the left and, as I was screwing in the ball pin, the head snapped off. This has left the threaded shaft behind in the upright! Not a happy bunny, and left regretting being such a stickler for original parts

Thanks for the information, guys. It looks like mike_o gets to keep his Wild Willy after all! I guess there are no guarantees if I stick with the Acoms AM system, but the new ESC should improve my chances. I've looked at the new 2.4Ghz gear and, when my budget allows, I might consider getting a set. Cheers.

Thanks for the reply, but I haven't bought the ESC yet; I'm trying to make sure it's right for my application first.

I got a period Acoms setup with my vintage Sand Scorcher purchase, which all seems to work ok. I also go an original (and, as yet, untested) speed controller. I want to connect up and keep the period stuff for display purposes, but add in the Mtroniks Viper Auto Sport Tuned 20 ESC when I run it. To me, it seems a simple job of removing the AA battery pack (with the on/off switch) from the radio box and popping the ESC into the empty space. The Viper Auto Sport says it has a "built in failsafe to protect against complete loss of signal or when out of range (compatible with all manufacturers receivers)". It also has a Battery Eliminator Circuit (BEC) so it should supply 6v to the receiver. Is anyone able to confirm this ESC definitely works with the Acoms ARB-227? It might not be as good as other ESC units, but I'm not going to drop in a performance motor or need to tweak a lot of settings. Cheap but functional will suit me fine. Also, do these things come with a Tamiya battery connector and the snap connectors to the motor already fitted? Inquiring minds want to know...

All good points, folks - I will keep them in mind when I'm doing the shopping

Except now I've brought it to the attention of everyone on tamiyaclub. Doh!

Thanks for helping out, bromvw, but I think these are the N19 ones (they look like chess pawns with a thread on the bottom). I'm leaning more toward #50590, which seems to have the right profile, but the thread looks a little bit shorter than the ones in the build manual, and I have no idea if it's the right pitch to fit the hole.... Just found item #200695214103 on the bay - could solve my problems!

For whatever reason, the Sand Scorcher I bought does not have the standard ball pin for the steering linkage on either upright. The rods end in the setup in the picture, with a bolt running through the ball joint and then through the hole in the upright. It works, of course, but it's not original. I gather from another thread that the re-re Scorcher has 5mm ball pins rather than 4mm - Can anyone tell me if the pins I want (N20 in the build manual, with a smaller pitch thread than the N19) are still available, and which part bag do I need? Cheers.

Does anyone know why it is that it's cheaper to buy parts from the USA and have them shipped to the UK than it is to source them here? I got front and rear Sand Scorcher wheels and front tyres from the US over Christmas, and now I'm thinking about rear tyres I find that ebay item number 360420048624 saves me money again. What's that all about?

Here are some photos of the steps - sorry about the quality, but I only had the Blackberry to hand. There are actually two sections of foam in each tyre. Once one is inserted, it doesn't look like there's a chance that the second will go in, but it does (with a little massaging and patience). Because the foam is extremely light and quite soft, there is still some give in the tyre.

I spent some time on the wheels and tyres tonight - I'm going to try to restore the vintage Sand Scorcher wheels (I have already improved the state of the vintage tyres) and keep them for when the car is on the shelf. The spare Rough Rider rears that came with the car and the new, US-sourced front wheels and tyres will be for running. The Rough Rider wheels were in a pretty sorry state when they arrived. The tyres were showing their age and were cracked in places and had taken on an odd shape (probably from standing at an odd angle on the rear hubs for so long. I planned to insert something into the tyre and apply Gummi Pfledge in the hope that they would recover their shape but, when I found the length of foam pipe insulation I bought at B&Q (but haven't gotten around to fitting - typical of me), I thought it would be perfect to leave inside the tyres permanently. So, that's what I did. This is the result:

Is that the same clear coat I would use when i paint the shell? If so, I'll finish the build and revisit the chassis when I do the paintwork...

I don't think you have any showrooms, so I'm not sure what you already have, but if it were me I would rebuild it and run it; that's what they were made for! Of course, if you bought it as an investment then you need to restore it and keep it away from the sunlight. A shame, but money doesn't grow on trees!

Aren't they part of the plastic lid the items are sitting on??