Richie W

Hi Andreas, Thank you for your response. I cannot find where to plug the battery cable into. You say it should plug into the receiver? Where is the receiver please? Tha for your help.

Thanks for the advice. Very helpful. I hooked up the Hornet first. The Acoms stick controller battery needle went straight to green which was promising however it is not talking to the car..? On moving the speed controller on the car with my hand, the motor sprang into life although it is making a sort of screaming whining noise and smelt a little concerning! Not sure whether the screaming noise is from the motor or gearbox..? Regarding the Falcon, there is a cable from the battery holder which is not connected to anything. I have looked at the instructions but m still none the wiser as to where it goes. Any ideas please? Thank you!

Thank you for the info! I have just received a brand new GOLDEDT 7.2V 3300 mAh battery through the post! Quick question! Should I charge it before use or is it ready to connect? If I need to charge it, for how many hours? I was planning on using the original Acoms charger that came with my Hornet when new which if I recall, was the slow charger. Sorry for the daft questions but I don't want to ruin a brand new battery. Thanks, Richie.

Thank you naturbo2000. I don't recall ever doing any bearing upgrades back in the day. I will take a look and see what's there. Was the Falcom also sold with bearings which would have benefitted from an upgrade?

Thank you Willie! They are a little rustic, I agree but much enjoyed! Thanks for the advice.

Very kind mk4savage, thank you! They were never destined to be shelf huggers and were used and enjoyed. I was made-up to find them looking at me when i opened the loft hatch!

Hi Frog Jumper, Can I run a vintage Hornet / Falcon on a LiPo battery or should it be the NiMH? I take your point about about the charger. Are you saying that if we may only run my cars with a NiMH battery, then I am able to buy a charger that would also charge a LiPo battery should we go the Re Release route in the future? Thanks.

Useful advice Terry, thank you. I hadn't thought about the plastics becoming brittle over time until I read about it on this forum. I do want to see if they still run. Are you able to recommend the 7.2V battery pack that I should buy for these cars please as the originals have long since disappeared and I guess would probably have been useless now anyway. Many thanks.

They have indeed! They were well used. It'd be great to smarten them both up a little now, just for the sake of posterity!

Hi all, This is my first post. Pleased to be here. Back in the 80's, I owned the Hornet and my brother, the Falcon. Having just popped back to the UK for a week, I found them both in the loft at my folk's house. I have just flown them back to Spain, where I now live to show them to my children. Naturally the children are now pestering me on a minutely basis as to when we are going to get them up and running again! I think the last time these two bad boys were used must have been around 1988/89, ish. They are both completely original. I do not recall as to whether the cars were fully operational when placed in storage. Aside from buying loads of new batteries, is there anything I should do / know before powering them up? Do you have some recommendations as to which batteries I should now buy please? Do you think it's worth taking them apart and performing a complete rebuild or would you just power them up and use them, assuming they do actually work? Any advice will be gratefully received. I am by no means a Tamiya expert but loved these cars to bits when I was but a nipper! Thanks, Richie.