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Found 34 results

  1. Hey Everyone! I'm new here and I am in possession of some classic Tamiya vehicles that require restoration. Not sure which to start first, so I'll let you guys decide! Once one of the cars wins, I'll document the restoration process for the group. I'll keep the poll open until Friday 9/22.
  2. A couple of days ago I decided to try rallying my M06, some tarmac slides and some light off-roading. Long story short I decided that I'd be better off with a buggy. I went on ebay looking for a used Grasshopper 2 and ended up with two Frogs. Frog A was the first one, this one came with a body, good back tires, and a controller. I didn't realise until later that it was short a dog bone! So I looked up dogbones, the Universal Driveshaft hop up, I decided to use vintage car restoration logic and buy Frog B which has shafts, posts, and a bumper. Frog B was the first to arrive, I must have spent 20 minutes looking it over un amusement, and not in a cynical "this is so bad" way, I was actually quite fascinated. The front suspension actually had halfway decent damping despite the lack of shocks, certainly better than the friction shocks on modern entry level kits. Unfortunately Frog Bs battery was misplaced I guess, but I did get a card for the sellers social media accounts (which I promptly pitched because I dont care). But I couldn't complain, you'll see why.
  3. If you know my collection you will know that I like Tamiya Nitro. Maybe an understatement with approx 250 Tamiya but what I love is the restoration challenge. During lockdown I decided to get a runner of all the major Tamiya off road nitro kits and the TGM-04 TNX 5.2r is the last one I need. With the TGM kits that I dont run this will be the 14th of these monsters to join my collection. Now, it would be fair to say that I also like a challenge! I find it really hard to look away from Tamiya nitro kits that are down on their luck....and this one really is. It's clear that the kit was used, probably abused and then sidelined for time to take its toll. So a little about the kit itself first. The TGM-04 chassis TNX 5.2r first hit the streets in Dec 2006 as kit number 43530. The last in a line of Monster truck iterations that would carry the TGM chassis designation it basically took all the Proline developed hop-ups from the TNX 3.0 and rolled them into one. Tamiya fitted the Force .32 engine badged as the FR-32FX and added the usual body, wheels and radio gear. These make great trucks but they really didn't get any further development and as we all known brushless power soon started to overtake. Tamiya released one extra kit with some bling in the 49460 Champagne Gold Version ( restored one here: https://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/88767-49460-tamiya-tnx-52r-champagne-gold-restoration/& ) and then the Nitrage came along. Since then nothing. Now, the one that I will be restoring popped up on Ebay and went on the watch list. First impressions aren't too bad are they! Wrong body, dirty, a little scruffy etc. But my oh my things get worse... Tyres are all dry rotted Steering parts are all rusty Underside is the same Engine is a bit rusty! and lastly a full chassis shot. As ever...the plan will be too restore as much as possible and make this into a runner.......Stay tuned she is on the way to my house and I paid £63.
  4. Hi all, As most of you know my collecting has mainly been Tamiya Nitro for some time. I have just picked up another car to restore and I thought it might be good to do a restoration thread. This will show how I select a car to restore, how I analyse what I need, restoration tips etc. So, I have just picked up this auction lot from Ebay UK. These are the auction pictures. I paid £42 for the car and £8 so £50 all in. Now that may seem a lot to some if you go by the pictures however I will explain why I think that's a fair price. On first glance the car appears to be whats left of 43512 the Ford Focus WRC XBG TGS kit. The body certainly would suggest that. It does however have a lot of ball bearings on show, that might suggest a TGS-R chassis as they were ballraced. So what else can we go by? The dampers are friction shocks so that would fit. The engine could either be an FS-12SS found in the TGS range or an FS-12SW found in the TGR-S range. The two engines are actually identical apart from the carb throttle linkage and idle screw. Lets have a look at that then. OK, so that is the early throttle arm and so its an FS-12SS engine and confirms the kit is probably 43512 and its been ballraced retrospectively. Obviously lots more could of been changed but for now i'm happy. So my thoughts on the pictures. The engine has its recoil starter and its not broken. These are now nearly £30 to buy if you can find one The fuel tank hasn't got its pump snapped or the fuel connection broken. Another £14 to replace All the Tamiya radio gear is still there.(untested but a fair cost for two servos and an RX). Body is scrap but it will be cut up for paint removal practice and the wing mirrors and rear spoiler removed, cleaned and stored. The rest of the car is pretty complete. Par for the course on TGS restorations is a centre tub replacement and the underguards. The rest I will attempt to restore. The only other issue with these is the shock mounts snap on the front and rear gearbox casing. No way to tell yet but I already have new ones. So there you are, the start of the project, more to come when I get the car but here are some more auction pictures.
  5. Hi all, A long introduction here so bear with me. Back in 2015 I purchased a 1/8 Mugen Super Sport Nitro Buggy to restore. I knew nothing about the brand at that time but it was cheap and it was nitro. The car looked like this when I first got it. They always make me shudder a bit when I first see them but I have some practice now at restoring things! Over a period of about 3 years I started to learn about the model, find parts, get instructions and restore the car. Parts are very hard to find and lots of bits had to be restored. I got lucky in finding a new clear bodyshell and pressed on with the restoration. Today the car looks like this: Loads of work, quite a lot of money and lots of searching for parts. Today the story changes a bit. I was aware that in 1990 Mugen won the IFMAR World Championship with Koji Sanada and Takashi Aizawa running a Mugen Super Sport. The idea came to me that I could build a replica of the winning car driven by Koji Sanada. A few pictures from the event in Thailand, first the winners podium and then the Mugen press photo with the cars that was done after the race. Koji Sanada's car is the one with the red nose and in the press photo wears number 7. There aren't many pictures of the cars (maybe 10) from the time and they used differeing numbers every race however it was this car I set out to replicate. Now, not many pictures means not much info so I set about asking Mugen for information. Why, well because Koji Sanada is the CEO of Mugen today. I actually got a reply and found out more info on the cars spec. They don't exist anymore but some important info on engine type etc was forthcoming. I already had the body so once again the excellent @jonboy1 has painted it ready. We deliberated for ages on the colour as the press photos and pictures from 1990 all look different. In the end we settled on Tamiya French Blue and I think it came out great. The spoiler actually isn't a Mugen part but a Kyosho Burns spoiler. Its the closest I can find and at a casual glance you will probably never notice. Once mounted and stickered it will be fine. I have the basic chassis but was missing some parts like the EFRA Exhaust, fuel filter, RX cover, black chassis plate (I didn't want to paint my nice alloy one) etc. Quite by chance a parts car appeared in Japan so I snapped it up. It will provide everything else I need. This car had all the bits I needed. Having confirmed with Sanada-san that the original engine was a Novarossi Nova 2000 fitted with a Mugen heatsink head I set about getting one and quickly found the bits I need. That restoration will be here soon. Lots more to come as the car comes together. I think I now have everything I need apart from a good decal set (anybody help make some for me?) the OS air filter and a few small bits. Just need to get the work done now. The plan will be to build up the parts car again and sell it off using a combination of the two cars parts so I plan to document both chassis builds here. Thanks for looking, stay tuned.
  6. Well… I must have gotten a bit of the TRF fever while building the FF-03evo in the past weeks. It got worse when @Juhunio and @lukej started their TRF415 build threads. And now here we are with another thread… What does this thread offer to the reader then? For the start, my 415 version will fit right in between Juhunios MS and Lukes MSXX MRE. So the reader can follow the late versions history of the 415 in close and all detail. Tamiya was a real race car manufacturer back then, updating their 415 platform every year, offering new parts regularly to keep the edge in the competition. And it shows. Juhunio had a hard time identifying his version and I would have the same problem just looking at the parts the chassis came with: I got a box that says 415MS upgrade set, I got upper bulkheads with different height, a front-one-way, a strange topdeck, hacked rear bulkheads (for the use of LiPo batteries I guess) and other strange parts like the rear suspension arms, that look like Evo3. And then there is the chassis. Undoubtedly an MRE, because you couldn’t buy an upgrade set and it got everything the MRE came with. So I guess the previous owner just added all TRF415 leftover parts he had. My build/restoration won’t get as beautiful as Juhunios or Lukes, but I still ordered some nice parts to give it back its bling. Next on comes the disassembly and cleaning… it is pretty dirty…
  7. So I have been collecting Tamiya for quite some time and predominantly Nitro. I moderate here and run 4 or 5 Facebook groups all linked to Tamiya Nitro. I like to think I help out where I can and get lots of questions and requests for help but this one is a first for me. A Facebook group member asked me If I would restore a car for them. As it was Nitro and a TGX I jumped at the chance and said yes. No discussions on what was involved, cost etc but today a parcel arrived. @MaheshIPatel01 it begins! Inside we basically have the car and lots of hop-ups that Mahesh has collected over about a year. Actually quite a costly parcel to replace with the parts he has amassed. The car is kit number 44019 the Subaru Impreza 99. Released originally on the 29/06/1999 its now coming up to being a little over 22 years old. Now Tamiya made three TGX kits that require building with the Rally chassis, this one, the Impreza 2001 and the Corolla WRC. Basically the same as the other TGX kits they have a sealed gearbox to avoid stones, a plastic underguard, silver chassis plates and a different enclosed air filter. This one came from Hamleys in the UK way back when and has been with the owner ever since. I can really relate to that. Extensively complete and it has been runnning Fitted with rear alloy uprights Front and rear stabilisers A nice TM-2 Exhaust and manifold. The parcel also includes some lovely hop-ups A new Carbon centre driveshaft A new TM-2 Manifold. I will try and rescue the old one first Upgraded brake disc and new 2 speed pinion. The car is already fitted with a 2 Speed and lightweight flywheel Front and rear alloy arms Hop-up universals Ball diff set A very lovely bearing set that will be hard to open! and a one way A used Carbon top deck Two pairs of dampers brand new New underguard and new aftermarket wheels and tyres. These will be painted with Subaru gold wheel paint a used FS-15LT engine with the optional heatsink head Lots to do, strip down is first to see whats damaged, broken, restorable etc. @jonboy1 we are looking to find someone who might be able to paint up the body?
  8. So my second restoration leading into 2022 will be this. The 1/8 scale 4281 Kyosho Porsche 959. This one was purchased from Yahoo Japan and finally (after some real help from a Japanese friend) arrived with me this week. I paid £111 for what you see below. In all its glory Kyosho teamed up with Hobao on this kit and it was a very limited and expensive issue. The chassis is basically a Hobao Pirate with Kyosho adding front and rear bumpers, exhaust system, wheels and the body. The other thing about them is that parts are almost impossible to find, they are very rare. Also, Kyosho never listed the kit in its product catalogs, I have them all for the period and it isn't listed. I have three in the collection including this black one and have been collecting any parts I have seen for about three years. I have the sum total of about 5 parts bags!! These are the other two So the eagle eyed will notice that the rear wing is missing on the black one. Originally the bumper and wing were cut out from lexan together as this photo from the manual shows. However, over time the rear wing has gone. Now Kyosho only issued the complete body set and as they are selling for approx £500 and are rare that's a non starter. The solution will be to try and 3D print a new one and affix it. I'm hopeful that I know a man that can help there! However, if anyone has one lying around please get in touch!! The other plus point is that the cars of this era generally use very generic hardware and lots of restorable metal parts. This means for example a 3mm cap screw can be replaced with generic hardware and I don't have to hunt out unobtainable Kyosho bags. That said I will have to restore as much as I can due to low availability of the parts. The chassis will be stripped and cleaned and then each piece restored to get me where I need to get to. The chassis plate and rear bumper being metal will probably be blasted and then repainted in matt black. Once this is done I can reassemble on the fly. The alloys on these are actually metal and thankfully the tyres dont appear to be glued. Once clean I will carefully assess them and see whats best. Blast, repaint etc etc. Lastly the car has no engine. No big deal as I can source something appropriate for her. The kit manual calls for an OS 21 size engine so should be able to get one. Maybe a long term one this but stay tuned. One last picture to give you an idea of the size of this thing!! Its big, that a 1/10 mini shell.
  9. One thing I simply can't do when browsing Ebay is overlook Tamiya Nitro that is down on its luck! Over the Christmas period I had been reviewing Ebay more than once a day as I know that loft and attic finds appear at this time of year. Up popped this TR-15t on Ebay and it instantly went on the watch list. Roll on to the last few seconds of the auction and it was mine for £132. Three days later it was delivered to my house. Now the TR-15t was first released in 1993 making this one nearly 29 years old. Kit number 44001 was Tamiya's first nitro, first nitro engine (FS-15) and a foray into something other than electric power. Nowadays a real collectors piece and good ones change hands for around £450. So what did £132 buy me? Today I inspected the car and it;s probably 99% complete. The only things missing from the kit are the servo mounts and when fitted the servos. Thats a really good starting point. The body has held up well and apart from a good clean, another clean and then another clean coupled with some new decals it should scrub up well. The chassis is a little dirty! The tyres are all perished Underside isnt too bad The FS-15 engine is seized. No surprise looking at it but in my experience its unlikely it is locked due to damage. it will be old fuel. The plan will be to strip, clean and rebuild the old girl and assess compression etc. The recoil starter will be rebuilt and I already produce and sell new labels for these. Overall a dirty but dooable (is that a word) project So the plan is simple. Get her stripped down into metal and plastic. Get everything through the ultrasonic and then start assessing each part for the bin, restoration or replacement. The chassis plate will be replaced for a new red (pink) original hop up set. Everything else we shall see as we go!! Wish me luck
  10. Nikko85 inspired me to take a similar approach to restoring my own Hot Machine: I received mine as a childhood gift & determined about a year ago that I would upgrade it to work with a modern MCU. I'm planning on installing an F405-WSE & using Ardupilot, or similar. Nikko found that a standard metal servo made a great replacement for the stock micromotor which acted as a servo arm. I've received my replacement servo today. The replacement came with a servo saver, but it's going to be too big. I have access to 3D printing hardware & plan to use the old arm with a new plate to adapt it to the replacement servo. The next challenge will be finding a solid way to secure the servo to the top gear housing. Not sure if I'll use tape or create a bracket to secure it.
  11. So as ever I usually have around 8 or 9 projects on the go. As the David Jun TNX and the Kyosho Turbo Burns near completion I have been wondering which kits to do next. I picked this up from Japan recently and thought it would be good to do next. The Pajero along with the Citroen ZX is one of the rarer nitro cars from this family. Most people would of heard about the RS200 and the Peugeot 405. I have an RS200 to restore and I have already done the 405. The Citroen ZX body I have just needs a chassis. So the Pajero has a badly cracked body, to bad for me to want to use it so I have used some body tape to hold it together and it will get sold off. The Pajero does look good though The chassis is pretty much complete but needs some love Having looked it over there are a few plastic parts missing and I have already ordered them, mainly some mounts, the aerial holder etc. The parts aren't too rusty and I am hoping I can recover the tyres and wheels with some care. A few plastic parts are bent (body mounts) but they should straighten up. Most parts from these chassis are still available in the Kyosho FD- range. I already have a new body so that will be painted for this restoration by @jonboy1 The engine on this is the Kyosho GS-11R and it is seized solid. Its also missing the carb but that was easy enough to find. The rest of the engine restoration will be documented. Next steps will be to strip the car down, time to get dirty again!
  12. The Kyosho Icarus is a 2WD entry-level RC car from the year 1985/1986. It has the same chassis as the Pegasus, Cosmo and Cox Bandido. The original motor is the 360ST, size 550, 22 turns - 22,000 rpm and it has independent suspension on four wheels with oil dampers. This buggy is the version that Graupner distributed in Germany. I bought it disassembled and there were parts that were not from this car: I have the original rims and the new front tires; I don't have the rear tires. There were other front rims and rear rims on the Tamiya Hornet. The chassis was strongly marked by scratches on the bottom but no broken parts. The shock absorbers were new as if they had changed. The most important thing was to have all the transmission parts because they are expensive, hard to find and there are no alternatives. I disassemble the gearbox because there is a strange noise. The gearbox is fine and had a loose bushing. It is cleaned and oiled. The motor pinion has 18 teeth and a 0.8M module. The gearbox has a ratio 18/52 * 18/52 ---> 8.35: 1 The wheel axle is worn in the rolling area. This also occurs in the Cosmo and the Pegasus. TThe previous owner did not do the maintenance and there was no grease in the bushings. It is better to use 10x6 mm flanged ball bearings A new wheel axle is quite expensive and difficult to obtain; I placed a needle roller bearing 10x6 mm and 10 mm wide. The transmission parts have strange measures and shapes and are not compatible with other spare parts: The LeMans 360ST motor has interchangeable brushes but cannot be opened. I put the very fine sandpaper in a screwdriver and put it in the hole of the brushes to polish the collector. I use a drill to turn the rotor. Video: https://youtu.be/sMPhT_h9Wl8 Complete transmission test and measure the motor speed (sound level meter): https://youtu.be/LEozlwM9lzs The chassis is clean and the transmission mounted. The battery is placed by opening a cover under the car The double wishbone front suspension is made up of flexible plastic arms: there is no axle. Suspension clearance is repaired with an o-ring. I made two polyethylene holders for the servo. I did not have the original holders. I have new chrome rims and a rear wheel adapter; I also have new front tires. I mount 4x8x3 bearings in the front wheels. The rear rims are 1.55" size and I can choose between the Tamiya Hornet or Marui tires that I have. I paint the white letters on the tires. I also mounted the ESC and the receiver in the car. The Icarus buggy looks like this: In action (video): https://youtu.be/PN9w7e1kkTs Translated from: https://reparar-cochesrc.blogspot.com/2020/03/restauracion-reparacion-de-kyosho-icarus.html (sorry for the translation errors) https://classicrccars.wordpress.com/2021/01/15/kyosho-icarus-restoration/
  13. Hi everyone, Firstly thank you for adding me 😊 Due to recent events, having time I cleared out my garage (not used for car but storage) and found these. It has been over 30yrs since I last used them. Now I would like to restore them both however parts are not the same price 😳 as I remembered 🤣 After scouring, waiting, bidding....losing I found these upgrades 🤔 If I was to fit these to my car and keep all parts removed and eventually source the original replacement parts, I would be able to run her (not just shelve her) and not worry AS MUCH 😱 Would this kit add value or would I be better to spend the funds on genuine parts only and shelve her? Last question anyone in the UK have this? If so did you source it here or from abroad? Sorry for such a long 😴 post. Thank you to the ones who made it this far 🤣😘
  14. Hi all, My next documented restoration thread takes me away from Tamiya. As you all probably know I mainly collect Tamiya nitro however now and again I tend to drift towards other makes. In this instance Kyosho. The Turbo Burns came to me from Ebay UK. I paid £46 for it delivered in this condition: Obviously missing a body, it has the wrong wing (its not an Inferno either) and covered in muck. First thing I have done with it is to jetwash the whole thing. Now that seems harsh but in actual fact it will be fully stripped, the RC gear will be scrapped anyway and the motor will be fully serviced. Other than that there is nothing that will get damaged. So jet wash done I am left with this to look over: She is complete all bar the body, wing and air filter pretty much. Bodies are available as repro items along with the wing and decal set and the filter I think I already have. Wheels and tyres will be a challenge but we will see what happens. The car is fitted with a nice period Mondial motor and I will try and restore that. It isn't seized so that's a good start. Some of the metal components are showing signs of rust and that awful jubilee clip exhaust tube will be going. It has some nice aftermarket shocks fitted, hopefully these will clean up well. The rear arm threaded bars I already have new. Chassis plate has a few marks but confident these should sand/polish out. I may replace it if I find a new one because I'm not a fan of extra drilled holes and this has a couple. All in all though a good starting basis. More to follow soon when I strip her down.
  15. Higrades

    ANY IDEAS?

    Optima Mid survived 30+ years. What are my options?
  16. Hi all, a long-awaited dream has come true. Finally I have the opportunity to restore a Wild Willy M38, which I found on the bay. The base is in relative good condition, but it definitely needs a good cleaning. Hence I would also like to disassemble the gear box. Can someone please give me a good advice on how to take the spring splints out of the hex wheel hub. I have no clue how to and in order to avoid damage I’d need some instruction. Thanks a lot !
  17. Hi, I own an old Vanquish I plan to restore. Unfortunately I have some problems with the front tower - the holes in the chassis to fix that are broken. Any advise on what to do? Thanks a lot
  18. I picked up this Bear Hawk chassis today. Looks like it has had a hard life but under all that dirt and grime it's not too bad. It will get a full strip, thorough clean and a fine tooth comb inspection. If parts are ok and not cracked or threads not striped then they will stay, but it does have a broken nose so those parts will be replaced and the usual strengthening braces will be added. A new body set and wheels & tyres are already on the way with a new set of shocks at the top of the list of things to get. Not sure what the body and wing is from and I don't care either as they are not staying. It's not a restoration project, as it's not getting rebuilt to box stock, it's a rebuild project I looking forward to sinking my teeth into.
  19. I've owned this Super Astute since I was 13. It was given to me for Christmas in 1992, and was my first 'race grade' RC car, following on from a Madcap. It's been in bits in various boxes since the mid 90s, and other than a previous failed attempt to race it back in 2002 - the gears couldn't handle a reasonably powerful brushed motor - it's sat idle for all this time. Back in 2009 I bought a Kamtec repro shell which I never took out of the packaging... I'll be prepping that later this week Now I have more money than sense, I've decided I'll have a crack at getting it back up and running. Not just for street bashing, but for 'serious' vintage racing. To this end, I intend to fit the 3d printed parts from ORB racing (on their way to me as I type ), the full suite of Fibre-Lyte carbon fibre parts, Egress / Avante hi-caps that I found on the japanese auction site for 30 quid, and I'm also considering either the A&L lethal weapon transmission, or reverse engineering the existing gear set & having them 3d printed in super-strong plastic. Electrics wise, I think a 17.5 in either blinky or boosted would probably be enough, unless I upgrade the transmission. I'm also opting for a super shorty lipo pack & plan to design my own battery holder or adapt the existing one so I can mount the ESC and reciever in line behind the pack, keeping everything neat and compact. Unfortunately the diff 'holder' or access hatch is cracked around the counter sinks. I might have to re-design that part too. I'd be grateful for suggestions on turnbuckle options. The originals were always slop-tastic & I partly swapped it out for schumacher CAT turnbuckles and rod ends. The madcap kick up plate is pictured. I do have madcap uprights I could swap the original parts for, to get rid of the ridiculous bushings. Annoyingly I'm missing one hinge pin from the front inboard wishbone mountings, and I'm having to use the madcap pin-screws to keep the wishbones attached. Sorting through the bits: The piece that failed last time out - a definite weak link: Stripping the superglue (what was I thinking?!) from the spur gear / slipper plate): gearbox back on: lots of work to do still: I'll be replacing all the original screws with hex hardware: I've already emailed a 3d printing firm regarding the gear set. I intend to get the main shaft reduction gear, hex 'washer' plate, idler gear and diff casing re-engineered in modern high strength plastic.
  20. So I have been restoring my 30 year old fox these last few months (new chasis, ESC, wheels, tires, a couple of suspension arms) and I finally thought I got it going. I have a 30 year old brushed Le Mans 240st (nothing fancy) and today when I took it out for a run it sounded like the gears were stripping. Sounded like someone driving a bad stick shift. How do I know if it’s the gears or drive shaft? When I turn the rear wheel there is about a 45 degree slack before the other wheel kicks in and turns the opposite way. Just bumped about the new issue!!
  21. Hello While moving piles of modelkits from the attic to my new 'mancave' I dug up my old Tamiya Fox. I bought it om my 12th birthday (1988) and it was my first and only RC car. It seemed in good shape, the radio still works even after a drop from the first floor (they did make things of quality these days did'nt they?). So i decided to buy new battery (Lipo? Nimh? whaaw things have changed since then) and it ran as 30 years ago. Time to take it apart and see in what shape it really is. The inside looks clean. The MSC needed lubrification badly The dogbones needed claening (dust) and grease Aaawch. Splits in the rear upper and lower arms Time to order Novafox parts and take a break
  22. Hi, Just got my hands on my Blazing Blazer (pics below) from when I was a kid. It hasn't been used in 20+ years where it's been sat in my parents garage. Needs some TLC and I haven't yet attempted to get it running. I also have the original manual. How much do people think it would be worth?, as it's not something I'm really into? Thanks
  23. 1987 was a landmark year for Cats. While Schumacher's Cat XLS was winning the IFMAR 4WD OR title, Traxxas was launching the first hobby grade RTR in the form of the Tom Cat, or just simply the Cat. It is a car heavily influenced by Tamiya - a Grasshopper style chassis & trailing transmission, a body shell reminiscent of the Fox and Yellow CVA style dampers, albeit with a unique way of adjusting spring rates. Inspired by an article on URC, I plan to restore and gently modify this car to race at next years Iconic Revival - 30 years after the Cat was released. This is what I purchased on eBay recently vs. what I would like to create...
  24. ** If you wish to see the photos in one place, here is a link to the album on Imgur - http://imgur.com/a/fNZKP ** Originally, I wasn't going to post this restoration/refurb on here, but I eventually decided otherwise. Basically, I purchased a 1980s (1987 I think) Hornet from a seller on eBay, as a partial restoration project the guy never finished. I've been on the hunt for a Hornet restoration project for some time, and this one was just right, The seller had already replaced the chassis, gearbox, wheels, tyres and servos with new ones. This was a shame in a way, as it meant I had less work to do, but on the flip side, it probably helped my wallet as well. He also included a brand new, un-painted body. The current body, which I've recently removed all the stickers, wasn't in a bad condition. Just a few cracks here and there, and a lot of paint chipping off. Once the Hornet has been restored, I'll have a go at saving the old body, if I can. Anyway, the car needed an speed controller to replace the mechanical one, a new receiver and a motor. Thankfully, I have a spare 17x2 motor I can use, and have recently purchased a new speed controller and receiver, which should be here soon. I've also purchased the paint for the body. Above photos show the chassis and the original bodyshell. Hopefully I can save that shell with a nice coat of paint on the inside and the outside. The spoiler couldn't be saved, but I have an idea how to obtain a new one. As mentioned, the old mechanical speed controller will get replaced with a new one. Once the new items arrive (hopefully by Monday) I'll upload some new photos, before starting the re-build and painting the new shell. And these one show the new shell, ready for painting. I wanted to paint it Metallic Red, but the site I usually get my paints from had none in stock. I tried to get all the parts in one place, but that failed. So I opted for a different colour. You'll see once I upload the photo. I'm sure this restoration.... I use the term loosely... won't be all that exciting, as most of the work was already done. So it'll most likely be a short one. Anyway... feel free to follow the build... or don't, I won't blame you
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