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Hello everyone, havent been on in a few years(several computers and lost logins ago). Anyways finally got back on and am in the process of restoring my old Wild Willy M38. Does anyone have any pics or can tell me if I have re-assembled the clutch gear properly? Its on page 8 step 17 in the manual and its a pre-assembled unit. But some how it looks to have been disassembled. The pic in the manual only shows a partial angle and I cant see if how its assembled completely. These are the pieces I assume are it And this is how I figure it should go back together. Can anyone confirm before I complete the gearbox?

Rims in very good condition, no kerbing and not yellowed Tyres flexible, have fine cracks when pushed - refer to 3rd pic Some writing has perished - refer 4th pic Original foams and inserts included Original hardware included No bearings $ 100 us + postage from Australia, paypal prefered terragni

Hi, First time poster here, so please be gentle I've been given (my son has, to be precise) a Wild Willy M38 which I've been told was first purchased in 1989. It's mostly built and painted (except for the driver) and is in remarkably good condition despite being 'run' with no scratches, scrapes or knocks. For example, the tyres still have the mould flashing on them so I doubt they've seen much use. As to me, I've got some experience with RC cars (Mardave, oval) as I raced them for a short time many years ago but I'm a total Tamiya/buggy novice (I did covet the Hornet back in the 80s, though!) I have some questions, if anyone can please help. 1. Gearbox. This felt a bit stiff when I first tried to turn it so I sprayed some 3 in 1 light oil into the hole which made things better. I eventually opened it up to check the teeth etc, which all appear to be fine and soaked the parts in synthetic car engine oil (it's what I had to hand) and put it all back together again. It now runs very smoothly indeed. Was that OK or should I have oiled/greased it with something different? 2. Diff This is my main area of concern. If I turn one wheel, or the other, it all feels very nice and smooth but if I turn both wheels forward or backwards (at the same time), it feels relatively smooth with a bit of resistance from 'stationary' that I think is a bit more than overcoming the motor magnets. I did try to split the diff but one of the two directly opposing screws doesn't release so I guessed something inside is broken? Otherwise, if I drive the car, it all works OK without any slipping or odd noises except for a clunk going off/on the throttle (or when changing direction) as there is about 1/8th of a turn of slack when changing direction if I watch the knuckle joint between the diff and gearbox. Should these be greased with Moly/graphite or is it OK to just use oil ? Any general advice here would be a great help since I don't want to destroy the diff. 3. Battery Unsurprisingly, the NiCds were not in great condition and held charge for about 30s. I've since purchased some 3700mAh VP racing tagged NiMHs (along with a charger) and soldered them up into a humpback set. As such, the car now runs! However, is there any shrinkwrap that can be obtained to package the humpback neatly or is it a case of taping them up? 4. Motor I presume the motor is original. It has a black end and grey shrinkwrap around it which is consistent with the instructions. I've read that this may be a RS540-SD which could make it 27T or 23T...can anyone tell me for sure? Also, is it worth getting inside this to clean it or is it best to leave it if it is working? 5. Radio set The radio set (receiver) doesn't have a BEC but I thought about making one out of a Schottky diode, a big cap and a 5V regulator (I presume it's 5V supply). In the end, I decided against it in case I blew something up or it all went horribly wrong. Any recommendations on how to get rid of the ob board 4x AA cells without changing the radio gear? 6. Speed control. Despite it being built to the instructions, the speed controller doesn't behave. On full throttle (stick pushed all the way forward), the motor cuts out so I suspect the servo/arm geometry is wrong and I can't adjust it out. Is this a known problem? Otherwise, I wouldn't mind fitting an electronic ESC to it for learning purposes (I may start RC racing again once the kids are old enough to go). Any recommendations for a cheap one to start with that would suit the motor? 7. Use It's a shame to use it but that's what it's intended for! In this case, I thought about getting a rough shell to put on it that doesn't matter if it gets knocked about + a perspex “bumper” to bolt to the original to protect it and the front wheels. Any recommendations on a shell, especially one that may give it a different look? 8. Fusing No fuse on this which I found surprising. Is it a good idea to have one in the main battery line? 9. Spares. Are spares readily available for this model? I see that it has some compatibility with some rally models and diff gears etc were in stock although some parts were out of stock (is this permanent?) Once again, thanks for any help and advice that people can spare and it's great to see such a great following for these old buggies. Thanks, D

I've finally setup a shop and added a couple of my custom Wild Willy M38 Hop-ups to Shapeways for anyone interested. I received several inquiries to make them available after my Resto-mod build, so here they are. https://www.shapeways.com/shops/s2g2 I have several more hop-up parts I am refining, but for the first batch, here are the 2-piece 1.9" wheels I designed, and a custom (grilled) front end to replace the stock unit on the M38. The cons: The wheels are pricey for a whole set. The pros: Once you have a set, you have multiple options for modern 1.9" rubber on your M38. You can even run stock M38 sand paddles on them. I've tested them extensively for GMade MT1902 tires. I also have some beefed-up suspension parts I am testing now too, so look for more in the future. Anyway, I hope these parts give people some options for tires, and help keep more classic Wild Willy M38s in use! New front-end with a new look for the M38. I completely destroyed an old brittle stock unit, and this one has been holding up nicely on my runner ever since. Front and Rear Willy M38 wheels designed for 1.9" rubber. Wheels are two-part - each with a front and rear face. The front traps the bearing inside the wheel just like the original unit. For more details on the wheels, please see my build thread here: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=77335

This started out as a wheel thing. Then it evolved. So... I'm going to take a shot at detailing my first custom build. I absolutely love the old Wild Willy model - so I decided to restore an M38, and add some custom touches along the way. Last year I picked up an M38 in fair shape at auction. It was missing a few parts, but the body was in good shape and the chassis seemed OK in the eBay pics. Willy himself looked to have had an unfortunate meeting with an axe-murderer... I took the rig completely apart and thoroughly cleaned everything. I didn't take any pictures of that process - other than to document the parts it looks like Willy shot holes in... I didn't know about those until dismantle time... Must've been one heck of a ride... I patched the holes with Milliput, sanded them smooth and painted them with gloss black. Then I reassembled the rig completely - replacing stripped or broken hardware where needed - and I was pretty happy with the results. ... Now, for the wheel part. I love the size, and look of the classic WW1 tires. Unfortunately, I don't have many of those, and - as you know - replacements get pretty pricey when they pop up on eBay. So, I started looking for a tire that was close in size to the original Willy rubber. My plan was to custom design some rims so I could run the modern tires. Something 1.9 was the goal so I would have the option of different rubber in the future. They're not an exact match to the Willy tires, but I found some Gmade MT1902s that I thought might work, so I ordered a set. Willy did the comparison to the originals... They were close enough for what I wanted to accomplish. For my first stab at this, I designed a 3-piece wheel just like the original: a front, a back, and an inner-ring to hold the tire in place. I put things together in FreeCAD. I sent my designs off to Shapeways. I only did one wheel at a time to start, because I wasn't sure how things would turn out. Next up - getting, painting, testing, and refining wheels. Then, the other mods start coming together...

Does anyone have a Wild Willy M38 SWD or LWD that's looking for a new home?

I've had a Wild Willy since I was a kid about 11 years old, and I recently brought it out of storage to fix it up. So then I'm looking for parts and restoration tips, and I discover an entire community of people with similar projects! I thought I'd join you guys and share a picture... I learned from this board that I've got the short wheelbase version. As you can see the tires are in awful shape and the wheels need a good cleaning. The rear tires I'm trying are the closest 1.9 tire my local hobby shop carried but it's not a great fit on the rims and doesn't look so hot either. I hope I can source some authentic replacements. The good news is the body is in excellent shape, with no cracks or missing bits. (The only reason it looks so good is that I broke the original body so badly my dad bought me a new one to replace it. Thanks Dad! I still have the first body too, with no grill and a one-armed driver and lots of glue holding it together...) So far I've cleaned out the gearbox and differential, putting in bearings where it takes them. It runs great with the original electronics, a Kraft KP2K radio. There is some surface rust on the front bumper springs and body mounts. The rear wheelie springs were worn almost to the point of breaking, so the weird colored plastic circles you can kind of see are some plastic covers that are made to snap on your keys to identify them - I'm using them to protect the last pits of metal and it doesn't interfere with the wheelie ability!

I haven't posted in a long time, but seeing all these WW thread going on atm, it inspired me to make a project thread on some WW work I have been doing. After restoring and building several WW M38 over the last few years, one with a soft top - I have planned a hardtop one for a long time. Late last year I finally got around to actually designing one, based on some pics found on the net, and had it printed on Shapeways. I made it as 4 parts that screw together, with frames ready on the inside for fitting clear lexan for windows (not in the pics yet). I didn't want to have doors, as I want to see Willy himself, as he is such an important part of this model. The hardtop clips onto the rollbar (just flip the spot lights backwards) and fits both the WW1 and WW2 bodies. I've been busy with several multirotor projects over the last year, but dedicate some more time for the Tamiya collection again. I've orimed and painted the HT, installed windows and have planned on weathering the whole car now. Original hardtop CAD dumps Test fitting on a WW2 WW1 I will take more pics as the works continue in the upcoming days.

Hi All. After much searching and what seems never ending encounters with bidding bots on fleabay i have a Wild Willy M38. I didnt pay much in the end as its a little rougher than i had hoped to get. The chassis is good but the body is a little worse for wear. The grille is smashed as is the "passenger" side corner and wheel guard. So. Quick question. Is it worth trying to patch it up (Styrene welded in and shaped) or a new shell. I imagine i could be paying as much for a replacement shell as i did for this whole model. so whats the difference between a WW and WW2 body? I admit the thought of a WW2 body on M38 isnt thrilling me. But a broken body doesnt appeal much either Your thoughts and advice are welcome. Cheers