rcarpen22

Man, this year has not gone like I planned. I built a TRX4 kit and was about to get on the Hotshot when the Covid hit. Still looking forward to building it.

The bearing kit and dirt tuned motor came in, so I really have no excuse for not getting started now. Hopefully I’ll get some time soon.

Ha ha, I better get started then! I assume both Hotshots count:-)

Thanks everyone! It seems like a lot of folks have a similar story of getting back into the hobby after a long time off. I am really looking forward to getting my old cars running and I'll definitely post the progress. I can't decide if I want to do a full restoration on the Hotshot or just fix the damage and use it lightly in original condition. Either way, it definitely needs to be cleaned up. I'm really looking forward to building the new Hotshot kit. I ordered the hopup bearing set and the dirt tuned motor. I'm still trying to figure out what batteries and electronics to use, but I've got a little time before the hopup parts come in. I'm guessing that after I build that, I'm going to want to buy all the rere kits to fulfill the dreams I had as a kid. I wanted an Egress so bad back in the day!! It looks like you can still get the kits, so I'll probably end up with one of those at least. Baddon, 18 cars!! Do you use all of them? That sounds like an impressive collection. The brushless setups look incredibly fun. I raced a Traxxas in the 90s. The new ones don't have the character of the Tamiya cars, but they do look like good fun bashers. Ok, well, I'll keep this thread updated as I do anything to the old Hotshot. Thanks again for the replies!

I located my vintage Hotshot this weekend and am excited to get it back in running condition. I hadn’t thought about it in years, but my son got a few RC cars for Christmas and I immediately realized how inferior they were to “real” ones. That got me wondering, so I started Googling and came across the rere kits. I was shocked that Tamiya was releasing the stuff I loved in the 80s so I ordered a Hotshot rere. But that got me wondering about my old one. Turns out, it was in a box in my grandfather’s work shop. A quick inspection revealed why I abandoned it and bought my subsequent Traxxas TRX 1. The right front lower ball cup wore out enough that the ball won’t stay in and the hub keeps falling apart. The exciting part about that is the rere kit has enough spares to rebuild the front suspension I think. At any rate, after I build the new one, I’ll see what I need and order the parts to lightly restore my old one. It will also need the original heat sinks replaced, new driving lights, and a few other things. The prop shaft and front axles were in the parts box, so I guess I took those out when I was trying to fix the ball joints, but I don’t remember. I think that was about 1991. After that, I suppose I will start using it again, but maybe in a more gentle manner:-) I am glad I found this site. I had no idea there was such a vibrant community for restoring and maintaining vintage Tamiyas.