Parksey78

The Thunder Shot is back up and running! Not gonna lie, the rebuild was more fiddly than I anticipated, but my sausage fingers aren't well suited to the tiny nuts and bolts involved... The more observant of you will notice the resistor, as I'm still running it with the original MSC and servo (and receiver). I just couldn't get it wired up properly with the Hobbywing ESC, such that the receiver didn't get really hot. May stick up a separate thread for this. But yeah, it works, and surprisingly well for a 35 year old car. Happy days.

The postman brought me the first of the replacement parts today; a new C part tree, and some shiny new bearings. This should allow me to start rebuilding the chassis, at least up to the point where I need the A5 part, which is on its way. Everything salvageable has otherwise had a good clean and degrease, and looking pretty much like new (well, as best it can for a 30 year old car). Once the ESC arrives as well, I'll hopefully be in a place to actually get it running.

Man, that looks incredible! The more I see of it, the more the Mk2 Escort will be my next build, but I'd also want a different livery. While I appreciate Tamiya have quite faithfully recreated the Hannu Mikkola livery, I do think it's a bit dull. I'd rather finish it to look more like the MST Escort...

I've started stripping down the Thunder Shot to assess what needs replacing/upgrading to get it going again. The body and wheels have all had a gone clean, at some point in the future I may replace the shell, but will leave it with the "patina" for now. I also found a second set of wheels/tyres too, with the tyres particularly still looking useable. I definitely need the A5 part, sounds like that's a known weak point on these original Thunder Shot kits, plus a few C parts. eBay sellers seem to have these available for a few quid, so all good. The shocks are in reasonably good shape, they'll get a good clean and I've got some spare oil from the Lunch Box shocks. I'd seemingly been running it as RWD when I'd last used it, as both front drive shafts were missing, but the parts were in a box of spare bits with the car. In taking out the front gearbox, my main concern is that the point where it screws in to the chassis on the left-hand side is on the brink of snapping off, so not currently sure what to do about sorting that? Replacement chassis seem to be rarer than hen's teeth! Minded to upgrade the MSC to the Hobbywing ESC that's been mentioned, which I think will enable me to run modern NiMH batteries too (please correct me if I'm wrong). For the sake of another few quid, I'll buy an upgraded bearing set too, as I was going to strip and clean both gearboxes anyway. Other than that, it's not looking too bad. I've got the original instructions too which was an unexpected bonus, and has certainly made dismantling and sorting the various parts much easier. Haha, 10/10, although you only win the pride. I have seen these bags sell on eBay for comparatively silly money though. Just been reading your thread on your Thunder Shot restoration from a year or so ago, plenty of useful tips there.

So I retrieved my original (1987 I think) Thunder Shot from my parents' loft today, and it's in a fairly sorry state. The plan is to restore it, it certainly needs some front end suspension parts, but I've got the original instructions and so hopefully eBay will come to the rescue. The motor and electrics don't look in too bad a state, but not sure how easy it is to upgrade to a modern ESC and receiver, so would appreciate any advice? I've got a spare 540 motor. The whole thing generally needs a good strip down and clean, but the body is in surprisingly good shape. It'll need new tyres all round too. And bonus points for anyone who can tell me where it was originally bought from?

Hi all, thanks all for the welcome and advice so far. 😊 Yep, stronger body mounts and something to brace the front suspension is on the list, and possibly the Ampro mod for the gearbox housing. Not sure if that stops it wheelying, or at least makes it less easy to wheelie? MattHill - I've been having some steering issues too, but noticed the longer of the two rods was a little bent out of shape (presumably from a meeting with the kerb...), but I've bent it back into shape and it seems OK again. Will probably look for an upgrade as it's an easy thing to do. The Thunder Shot has been retrieved from the loft too, will pop a pic in a new topic.

Hi all, been lurking for a few weeks and have now signed up. Seems like many on here, I'm rekindling a love for RC from childhood, now being in my 40s... Bought myself a Lunchbox a couple of weeks back and thoroughly enjoyed building it. It's just meant as a basher but has a few upgrades already - sport-tuned motor, Fastrax oil shocks, fully ball-raced, and some cosmetic bits like the chrome Pumpkin wheels, lighting kit, Tamiya Race Blue paint (although the job I did on it is shocking) and tyre stickers. It already wears quite a few battle scars on the body as it still flips and rolls like a Lunchbox should. Next job is to retrieve the original Thunder Shot I had in the late 80s from my parents' loft and "restore" that, it's got some suspension damage but hopefully fixable. From there, I fancy the Mk2 Escort or maybe the Subaru Brat, but understand the latter is a ****** to paint. Could probably do with brushing up my skills on other sets before trying that one. Anyway, hoping to pick up plenty of ideas and tips on here. Cheers James