bakauata

Hey, thanks, Mouc-RC, for the tip. I had not considered gear ratios as a compatibility issue. Will look into this and compare manuals for hardware compatibility. Thanks again.

Hi, I'm considering buying a vintage bruiser which is missing the front axle case "B" (the front facing half). I've always wanted a Bruiser, and this one is within my price range. I'm wondering what my options would be to fix the axle problem. From what I gather, the actual part will be difficult to source since the re-release Bruiser (58519) has different shafts. So one option would be to buy a re-release axle case. My first question is if the vintage axle shaft, diffs and other parts will fit a and work in the re-release case? If not I would have to buy all the additional parts and the cost would be more than I'm willing to spend. A second option would be to by from Ali Express an HG P407 replacement axle which I gather is a clone of the re-release bruiser but comes complete with shaft, differential, knuckles, etc. It also costs less than the Tamiya case. Here's the AliExpress item: https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005005913899344.html?src=google&aff_fcid=2b284c8280dd4bfd99290e85c9ee13a7-1705164257312-02973-UneMJZVf&aff_fsk=UneMJZVf&aff_platform=aaf&sk=UneMJZVf&aff_trace_key=2b284c8280dd4bfd99290e85c9ee13a7-1705164257312-02973-UneMJZVf&terminal_id=6faafc52faa74ac980ef0c56b29d0bb1&afSmartRedirect=y&gatewayAdapt=glo2esp Will the complete HG P407 shaft assembly fit the vintage Bruiser using the existing Bruiser hardware, or would I need new brackets and U Bolts? I've discarded fabricating a replacement for the case (maybe 3d printed or something) because I noticed the steering pin is integral to the two case halves coming together. Any help or suggestions welcome. Best, Chris A photo for reference:

Great info OCD! Thanks. When I said propeller shaft I meant propeller joint, which I'm assuming, from your message, is the same as the TA-01 and DF-01. The shaft is amongst the parts I have , luckily! I also have all the axles, drive shafts, steering knuckles, and front and rear lower arms; so I should be good to go with the Manta Ray. Now to see if I can negotiate a good price. He's already asking for less than US$100, but I may be able to get it down to US$75 or maybe even US$50. It really depends on the exchange rate each one is considering. Yeah, we're silly that way here.

So I looked up (on ebay and other sellers) for a few of the parts I'm missing to complete the TA-02 Mercedes, and this route is definitely not going to be cost effective. No one seller has everything I need, so I'd have to source from different sellers and pay international shipping for each. So back to the Manta Ray option: I noticed the Manta Ray does not have the ball diff in the rear. Would the gear diff and out drives from the Manta Ray drop right into the TA-02 gear case? Also, would all the suspension pins, gear box shafts, propeller shaft and screws from the Manta Ray be direct drop-ins into the TA-02? Most of the screw and pin dimensions coincide, but some part numbers differ. I'm basically asking if all the metal parts (except wheel axles, drive shafts and shocks, which I have) are replaceable from one model to the other. Any help appreciated.

Hi. Thanks for the reply and for the info on Tony's Tamiya. I had checked a few prices online (not very rigorously), but importing anything to Argentina is a hassle (and more so under the current Covid lockdown, which isn't going away for now), and this put me off. But I haven't inventoried the parts I'm missing and costed them. So I will start with that. I'll have to weight the price price of each option against the hassle and delay. Thanks again.

Hi, I'm new to Tamiya Club. My first RC car was a Kyosho Stinger MKII, when I was around 14 or 15. I never had another until recently when I decided to restore the old Stinger and that started me interested in all the cars I never had as a kid. I have since, over the last few years, collected a few cars which I mostly buy used with the hopes of restoring them. As for Tamiyas, I have a Re re Hornet and re re Hot Shot which I haven't developed a liking for and will be moving them on. But! I recently acquired a lot of cars which included a never assembled, but partial, AMG Mercedes-Benz C-Class DTM D2 kit (58139 ) along with a used but complete Michelin Pilot Ford Escort RS (58125). This Escort really struck a chord with me. I really love the scale aspect of it, the details, and (not least) the design of the chassis itself. I would really like to assemble the Mercedes as well, but I am missing most of the metal hardware. Most importantly the rear outdrives ("gearbox joints"), and various pins, shafts, bolts, ballheads, etc . All the plastics are there though, still on their sprues (including the body and body parts). Also the drive shafts, axles and front and rear differentials are complete. Oh, also missing the shock springs, but I figured I should be able to fit some from my parts bin. So here is my question: There is a vintage Manta Ray on sale locally which, I understand, shares quite a few parts with these TA-01 and TA-02 chassis. Would I be right in assuming that i could source all my missing parts from here? My second question is how would Tamiya fans see this? Would I be sacrificing a more valuable/historically significant car to get a lesser one built? My other options are to hold on to the TA-02 parts for spares for the TA-01 Escort or, sell them off as spares. Any helpful insight would be much appreciated. Here are some photos of the Escort and the Mercedes parts lot. There were two Escort bodies in the lot. All very dusty as you can see.