Jump to content
dinorider

Vintage Bruiser full restoration

Recommended Posts

It's been more than a decade since I last posted here, but I've received a complete 100% vintage Bruiser that I've since fully restored, so thought that itbwould be nice to share the process here. This is the truck as I picked it up, after 3 decades of being left in a box. 

IMG_20211122_134312.jpg

  • Like 5

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Cool . I've restored one of these and it is very satisfying - look foreward to seeing the pics of the strip and build

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A whole suspension trailing arm is missing, and the chassis appears to be heavily driven and never cleaned, ever.

IMG_20220525_011242.jpg

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yikes. Plenty of hardware is missing, thankfully they are just screws and nuts. The important components are all there. 

The plan is to strip n repaint the body after repairs. An A-pillar is broken from some vintage crash, and the windscreen is cracked too. 

Dampers are dry, rubber parts have all hardened and disintegrated, treadlock is in weird places. One of the rear wheel bearings have been treadlocked to the axle! Thankfully the bearing still spins fine, but i got to get it off the axle. 

IMG_20211124_122905.jpg

IMG_20220525_011457.jpg

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Plenty of cleaning and rubber replacement etc will go a long way . The threadlock can be melted / softened with heat to remove the bearing  , a heat gun or similar should help but you need to move the bearing whilst it is hot

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@KEV THE REVyup spot on. Good thing it's all metal. I removed and heated the rear axle with an old soldering iron at the bearing. Then pulled it off with gloves.

It has original Sanwa (aka airtronics) servos and AM radio gear. It will all be replaced. I will use an older Futaba MC330CR speed controller that I have laying around, and a Flysky GT5 radio in their place.

This is a restore that wouldn't have been cheap to do if the Bruiser wasn't re-re'ed. But thankfully it was so I could source for new rubber parts and suspension trailing arms.

 

IMG_20211124_175658.jpg

IMG_20211124_174012.jpg

IMG_20211125_132050.jpg

IMG_20211124_174006.jpg

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The rock-hard tyre rubber compound in this case works to its advantage. They have held up amazingly well over 10s of years. Very cruddy and dirty but a good clean and soak in automotive vinyl/rubber restorer will bring them right back up. The weight of the car has been sitting on them for 30+ years, and only one tyre has a minimal, barely noticeable flat spot.

I could go nuts and order new rere Bruiser beadlock wheels, but these originals will do.

IMG_20211124_140800.jpg

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

IMG_20211125_132414.jpg

The truck slowly comes apart.

IMG_20211125_193304.jpg

Front axle here is mostly fine, but the gears on at the rear axle were quite worn. I polished, cleaned, and used molybdenum grease on the gears. I also replaced all the bushings I could access with 1150 bearings. Except the brass bushings on the front axle. Those I left alone because you need to push out the dogbone pins to free them and I didn't want to risk breaking anything.

IMG_20211126_163326.jpg

I opened both ends of the gearbox and fitted 4 1150 bearings in place of the brass bushings. I cleaned the exposed gears but the transmission appears quite OK so I didn't dig any deeper. Also started removing all that silicone sealant mess.

IMG_20211127_124352.jpg

Starting to slowly shine up, but this is the tropics and the tarnishing on the metal parts have gone very deep.

IMG_20211201_224813.jpg

IMG_20211223_132700.jpg

Thankfully or not, here's the only mechanical issue with this chassis. One of the steering pin halves is broken. We know these  are darn near impossible to find for decent prices so I attempted a fix.

IMG_20220104_154449.jpg

I used plumber's steel 2-part epoxy putty to try and shape a new pin as seen here (the left pin is really epoxy putty). Well, long story short, it didn't hold once the truck got moving. It broke off at the joining area, so the truck is back to half a hinge pin on one side. It'll be a shelf queen and lightly run indoors on flat, clean ground when done, so it'll do...

IMG_20220112_112958.jpg

IMG_20220112_113917.jpg

Bearings going into the gearbox. My eventual transmission lubricant of choice was 3-in-1 oil. It's light, really resists fling-off, and sticks very well to metal gears.

I did polish the pot metal parts at a later stage with polishing compound and a dremel with a polishing head but didn't go too far. I'm in the tropics with 70% humidity all the time. Any shiny metal will dull within a year.

IMG_20220112_114326.jpg

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@KEV THE REV Yup, just chugging along, the body is where a lot of the work is at. Thankfully the chassis wasn't in a complete garbage condition, just very  filthy.

IMG_20211125_181639.jpg

The dampers came apart for cleaning. These are knackered and leaky, but new ones are kind of expensive too. After a complete clean and polish of the damper body, I half-filled them with heavy weight tamiya silicone shock oil, more for lubrication than actual damping. It's the seal on the damper bodies that have hardened, and on these shocks, which are the same units as the Hornet's rear shocks, there appears to be no way to replace the seals.

IMG_20211125_133047.jpg

The wobbly crank arm, the weakest point of the Bruiser's original steering setup. Here in situ with all the crud before disassembling, the original owner has put it on backwards.

IMG_20211218_131409.jpg

The gearbox polished and fitted back for a fitment and mechanics test, and you'll note the chunky motor wires with the deans plug. These are massive 12 gauge wires that I have left over from my touring car racing days, and I used them here because I do not foresee me ever using them elsewhere. The motor leads are so long that I made an extension with deans plugs for easy removal for servicing. The main drawback is that the wires are so fat that they no longer fit through the tiny hole in the vintage electronics tub where the motor wires used to exit.. So I routed it along the frame, and it enters the tub at the opening where the old MSC resistor (since removed) used to be located at. The battery wires are routed through the same hole.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bruiser trivia: the big hub bearings are the same size as skateboard wheel bearings. (I have Bones Reds in my Bruiser)

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@SupraChrgd82 Very cool to know. Now you got me thinking about bearing replacements. It'll only work for the rears though, since the vintage Bruiser uses one-way bearings at the front hubs to reduce strain on the front spool.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yikes. This is the condition of the brass bushing of the rear propshaft's bevel gear.It's gouged to bits and very knackered. I think it caused extra, unnecessary wear and tear on the rear driveshaft gears, as the shaft was just wobbling around with a lot of play.

IMG_20220526_124648.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Body work time. As it is, a full strip and repaint is in order. Windscreen has a massive crack from a rollover that also broke the A-pillar. The pillar will be glued with plastic strips and puttied. But the windscreen crack is as it is. I want to retain the vintage toyota visor sticker, so a replacement window isn't on the cards.

A side note, the body is PS. Polystyrene. Not ABS. Absolutely not. I hate how 1000s of articles on the internet talk about 'how to paint an ABS hard body shell'. Nice perpetuated piece of misinformation. ABS and PS really isn't the same. PS is the same material that model kits are made in. ABS is the tough stuff that often makes up Tamiya's plastic chassis tubs.

A well-meaning friend strongly suggested that I strip the paint with acetone/nail polish remover. No Way Jose. Acetone dissolves PS plastics on the spot. And those in the know, will know that the vintage Bruiser body is not the same as the mountaineer/mountain rider/ rere Bruiser body shell. Paint stripper of choice for this? Brake fluid.

IMG_20211128_235952.jpg

IMG_20211129_000001.jpg

IMG_20211129_000008.jpg

IMG_20211129_001935.jpg

IMG_20211129_174250.jpg

IMG_20211129_191800.jpg

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

IMG_20211202_001622.thumb.jpg.61e43cbb84201cbf80e3288e3b2b4e9d.jpg

Into the brake fluid bath it goes.

IMG_20211129_165248.jpg

The taillights as they were.

IMG_20211129_182719.jpg

Taillight lenses stripped of paint.

IMG_20211203_092839.jpg

After 3 days of soaking, followed by a wash and sandpapering, we're now getting somewhere. It appears that under the paint, the black windows on the cab were originally 'painted' with permanent marker pens!

IMG_20211205_141905.jpg

IMG_20211203_002943.jpg

Repairing the busted A-pillar. I cemented styrene strips to the back for proper bracing, or else it won't hold. This was followed up with 2-part epoxy putty to fill the cracks, and more sandpapering.

IMG_20211203_002950.jpg

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

IMG_20211212_010239.thumb.jpg.a16a979691140779594e7fb75bb30717.jpg

All right, on with the show. Planning out wire lengths, everything still a little messy at this stage. The rubber switch cover will not be replaced. The old one has crumbled to dust and the new ESC switch can't be fitted there anyway.

IMG_20211218_131926.thumb.jpg.29dd5abe1f467b55b2596b681452cbb6.jpg

Gearbox is shined up. The prop shafts are quite knackered with age and the rear especially has a lot of wear. I will keep these genuine items and replace them with telescopic propshafts from a present-day 1:10 crawler. The leaf springs still do their job but are not what they used to be after supporting the car's weight for 30+ years.

This car had  A LOT of missing screws and wonky, wrong length ones. I am guessing that they fell out with use, and those in important structural areas were replaced with whatever was on hand and those not structurally required were simply left out and never repaired/replaced.

IMG_20211203_210008.thumb.jpg.6faa5885c7149440228ff6e340d8f187.jpg

The single vintage very rusty rear suspension trailing arm, replaced with genuine rere Tamiya parts.

 

 

IMG_20211202_180241.jpg

Bodywork with the front intake grille, seen here stripped of paint and sandpapered and wash clean. To my disappointment, I realised that the turn signals in the bumper are missing. They appear to have never been fitted ever, because there weren't even glue marks in the recesses.

IMG_20211209_102236.jpg

A week later...headlight lenses are crooked because that's they way they were glued to the chrome sockets, and seemed impossible to pry apart. I polished the headlight lenses to a good shine but the glue stains inside, I could do nothing about it. Turn signal amber parts are just styrene sheet airbrushed orange and lightly glued from the back. The possibility of me scoring genuine vintage turn signals for this car is practically nil at this point, so I do the best I can manage. The 'pimple' visible on the left side in the grille here is the result of original owner using a too-long screw to connect the alum bracket behind it.

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

IMG_20211229_133545.jpg

Amazingly this is the single most expensive component I had to buy. But the fake sponsor stickers annoy me. I will need to dig up a Traxxas sticker sheet for real sponsor logos. I've seen a lot of repro sponsor stickers but they are either too costly when you factor in shipping, or the print quality is poor.

 

IMG_20211203_140308.jpg

The PS, definitely not ABS, interior painted.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great work. I think those small issues (the pimple on the grill, the wonky light etc) are part of its history and give it a unique personality. Seems a shame for a renovation to remove every blemish.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@AshRC yes i do agree with you. This Bruiser was well used, and should retain some of its patina. The chassis will be clean, but not chromed to look like a showcar. It's a hard balance. I cannot polish the zinc coating off completely because here in the tropics, the frame will rust. As it is, it's now clean and smooth, but some tarnishing and blenishes remain. The body will be painted and stickered, but some character like the wonky headlights and cracked windscreen will remain. 

And on with the show... 

IMG_20211220_135309~(1).jpg

Glitch free radio gear and ESC into the radio box. 

IMG_20211222_135259~(1).jpg

Just for better non wobbly movement, ball adjusters are getting replaced too. 

IMG_20211213_134134~(1).jpg

And.... Here's the body. 100% polystyrene, absolutely definity not ABS! I took around 5 weeks to get from no paint to this point. 2 cans of Mr Hobby bright blue was the body color of choice. I didn't want any metallic color because that wouldn't look properly vintage on a 1979 Hilux, and tamiya blue felt too dark. This has a brighter vibe. There's a thin layer of white primer under the paint, and the deep gouges in the plastic were puttied over and sanded smooth beneath the primer. 

IMG_20211213_134154~(1).jpg

Painting gloss in a climate with 70% humidity all the time has its challenges. Gloss paint will often cure slightly cloudy. You do need to polish it, and also to knock back the orange peel anyway. All the details like the window rubber edges and door handles were also masked and spray painted. 

IMG_20211213_144051~(1).jpg

Some detail. I didn't polish this area too hard because the stickers will go right over the minor orange peel surface left on the paint here. I only attacked with a mild abrasive polish (Meguiars Swirl X, long out of production now) only after letting the paint cure for a week after the final coat. 

IMG_20211213_021716~(1).jpg

Sucker for punishment. The rere sticker sheet has this part as a sticker, but I went full vintage style and painted it. Freehand brushing straight lines is always a disaster for me so masking and spraying was the only way to go. Just cutting and sticking the tape took around 30 minutes. 

 

 That moment of truth where you are going to remove the tape and hope nothing bled under.1945011260_IMG_20211213_095303(1).thumb.jpg.290d3808b51000c4b47a59a960a7a9b6.jpg

The other patience-testing moment. Here I am masking to paint the silver frames, a detail often missed on painted Bruisers. There was a lot of risk because the 'windows' were already painted gloss black, then masked over. I hoped that the paint wouldn't lift when I  removed the tape. IMG_20211206_175005~(1).jpg

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That's some impressive masking!! Everything looks pretty good to me B)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

DSC_5198.jpg

We're now in the zone. Chassis is kind of complete as it is.

tamiya bruiser (2).jpg
A
fitting with the painted, 100% PS, not ABS, body attached. The tyres shined up real nice. The bumpers are cleaned but original, so as you can see from the scratches all along the front this was a heavily used truck. The Toyota windscreen visor is the only vintage sticker that is still on the truck.

 

2046241317_tamiyabruiser(7).thumb.jpg.dc32b8ae1cca86006cf402a1d43a347c.jpg

The taillights are a small but important detail. I took 3 days to paint them, letting each color properly dry for a day before applying the next. Tamiya's instructions consistently get the black border area wrong, even on the rere. The reverse light is a small oval shape, not the rectangle depicted in the instructions. All the space around it must be blacked out, as seen here. The small ESC switch is still dangling under the car here. And the rear cab louvers were a pain to glue into place without smearing or smudging the white paint.

 

The rear license plate was not on the body. i.e. lost ages ago. Sheet styrene to the rescue once again. I cut this from 1mm thick sheet. sprayed it gloss white, and put the sticker on.

IMG_20211229_222455.jpg

 

Under the truck, the big change is the use of new, non-Tamiya telescopic propshafts. The originals will be stored safely aside but they really are very worn down. 

IMG_20220525_210944.jpg

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A fantastic save and I really like the colour as well.

Great that you used some much of the original truck and used sensible modern up grades to make it a reliable runner 👍

  • Thanks 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Grumpy pants thanks, the blue color is kind of odd in a good way, as you can see it shifts hues by quite alot depending on the ambient lighting.

This truck feels a way too fragile to drive offroad, or even properly, anymore. The steering pins especially, feel very brittle and a break will be irreparable and immediately cripple the car. As it was, the vintage bruiser, when new, already had very floppy steering because of the loose tolerances in the steering components. 

It will just be trotted about indoors, in clean places. 

Meanwhile, the epic stickering work begins. Lots have been written about stickers on the bruiser being hard to apply because of the curves. 

Experience has taught me that in the tropics, stickers will curl and peel off with humidity and heat over time. This always starts at thin, pointy parts of the stickers so i cut them now with a compromise. No thin pointy ends on the stickers, the vinyl needs as much area to stick on as possible. 

IMG_20220201_000807_253.jpg

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...