NWarty

Thanks Mark! Still trying to figure out the glass pieces. Looking into bashing a lexan body and using templates to get the shapes correct. Shouldn't be too difficult. Also, need to find the graphics for the decals in order to print my own.

Hey guys, It's been almost 10 years since I last posted here at TC. I still have my Midnight Pumpkin and she's still running strong after many years, but something happened this past weekend that was just pure, dumb luck. Walking into the Hobby Shop, I needed a new battery for the Pumpkin and some foam-safe CA for my Parkzone Mosquito. In the corner of the shop was a cardboard box with a post-it note taped to it that said "Free donation to whoever wants it". I peeked inside. Inside in pieces was a 1/12 Tamiya Martini Porsche 935 Turbo. I asked the guy at the counter "Are you serious? Nobody's wanted this thing?". He says "Well, a lady dropped it off and we have one guy who said he'd pick it up next week if no one claimed it". I jumped on it like stink on you-know-what I gasped...I couldn't believe what I was looking at. The body was in shambles, but it had a Futaba two-stick radio from 1979 as confirmed by the serial number, all servos, but no battery. I took it home and began to tear apart the body and repair it. The right A-pillar was completely destroyed, there was no glass. Nose, body, tail, doors were all broken, but it was all fixable. I plopped in eight AA batteries into the transmitter and it fired right up. Put four batteries in the BEC at the rear of the car. Turned the radio on (it powered right up) and hit the off/on switch at the rear of the car. IT'S ALIVE!!!!! Steering servo and speed controller servo both work properly! There's no power to the motor yet, since I'll have to have CheapBatteryPacks.com build me a custom pack with a male connector. The entire body has been put back together and epoxied at the seams. Right A-pillar has been rebuilt with styrene sheet, rod and strip (I'm a scale model builder so this was easy). May have to scratch build a passenger mirror and windshield wiper. The front fog light cover on the right side is cracked, no biggie, but I'll coat them in Future floorwax to really bring them back to life. In all honesty, I can't believe the front tow hook has actually survived after 30+ years. The wheels have been painted, body primed. Puttied the A-pillar and got it looking fantastic. Honestly, you can't tell it was every broken. Front wheels done in chrome with gold mesh. Doing some final sanding tonight, then shooting the first coat of color. Spent three hours last night sanding and polishing the aluminum chassis. Turned out gorgeous Also zip-tied all the wires together neatly and tucked away. Repaired the antenna wire and heat-shrank the splice. Gotta source some new decals or make my own. Also, finding glass will be impossible some I'm going to go the polycarbonate/thermoforming route. My custom battery is en route from CheapBatteryPacks.com, so she should be moving under her own power by this weekend. Super excited to get this 34-year old vintage pan car back to life and on the road! Some photos from what she looked like when I bought her home to last night. Thanks for looking guys and any advice is greatly appreciated! - Blake Sorry for the crummy iphone photos

Thanks jozzo []

Hey y'all, Question here. I'm looking into oil dampeners to replace the stock springs on my Pumpkin and have a question. - On Tower Hobbies I saw that there is the CVA Short Shock Kit II. Is this the direct replacement for the old shock kit? The part number of the new set is 50520 compared to the old set which is 50305. Thanks for any advice or help NWarty

Sheesh. I just bought my Pumpkin a month and a half ago. Well, after almost 17 years, it was a good run. [] Does anyone know how long they (Tamiya) will make replacements and aftermarket parts for the Pumpkin?

Well, I finally received and finished my truck. Not the best color yellow, but given my location, it's the best I could get [8)] Pumpkins are just too darn fun to drive. []

Whoops, hehe [] Yep, those dogbones were meant for the Wild One. []

Hey guys, This is my first post after visiting this site numerous times in the last several days. I couldn't believe that these old cars had become so sought after and collectable! My first R/C car was a Tamiya Wild One I got back in April 1986 when I was 11 years old. My father encouraged me to build it myself and after a couple of evenings, had my very first car. I ran it almost into the ground and across several different states. I was amazed at its durability (my brother ran over it twice). My father, brother and I gradually got more involved in racing after we upgraded to RC10's in 1987. From there we competed in on-road comptetion, racing MRP and Bolink 10's in the Midwest. After moving back to Georgia, we dropped out of the hobby around 1990, due to the lack of on-road racing in our area. For 14 years I hadn't picked up a radio, let alone an R/C car. I am currently deployed in the Middle East with the military and stumbled across a flyer one day stating that there was R/C Monster Truck Racing every Sat. night and it was free through MWR (morale, welfare and recreation)! Holy Jackpot! So...I go down to the track and what do I see? Six Tamiya Midnight Pumpkins, lined up like ducks in a row. WOW! I haven't seen a Pumpkin since Junior High. "Okay, radio on first, then car on" "Use the trim wheel" "Wow! A cotter pin!" "Bent tie rods? I haven't fixed one of these in years!" "WOW! I hadn't said the word Dogbone since I was 14!" So, today I ordered myself my own Midnight Pumpkin. After 18 years I will finally own a Tamiya again and run it until the day it dies. Hopefully my newborn sons will be able to drive it too [] This is a wonderful site and I've spent hours here reliving my childhood spent in hobby shops and racetracks. Cars I haven't seen in years suddenly became so vivid again. "Man, I had forgotten that thing was so ugly!" "Dude, the Hornet rocked! Everybody had one" I guess you never forget the sweet smell of Tamiya Threadlock! [] P.S. Can anyone recommended a nice, rich yellow color spray for the Ford F-100 body?