Lifecycle of the vintage cars in my collection

[markbt73]

I seem to be falling into a pattern with vintage models, and I was wondering if this is at all how others do it...

I generally only go for cars that are more or less complete, often still run-able on their old electronics and MSCs. So step one is to stick a battery in it and see how it goes, without any work at all. Usually the result is dreadful; noisy gears, wobbly wheels on worn bushings, jerky acceleration, and a funny smell from a 20+ year old resistor passing current for the first time in ages.

Which leads me to step two: the refresh. Usually the quick test run is enough to whet my appetite to see what the car can really do, so I plop it on the bench and clean it up. This may involve a complete teardown, but more often, it's just a quick once-over to replace or substitute broken parts, tape up cracks in the body, stick some ball bearings in the hubs, and swap in a more trustworthy modern receiver and ESC. And possibly some less rare/valuable tires, depending on the car.

I run it like this for a while, and start looking into finding the parts it really needs to shine, like a new body shell, or a parts tree that has that one cracked piece on it, or a less-sloppy steering linkage. Sometimes this means another of the same car, which later becomes a runner built from the leftovers.

Often, by the time I source these parts, I've moved on to another project, at least temporarily, and the car stays in this quasi-restored runner state for a while, but just sitting there. Sometimes I leave cars like this on purpose, because I like the patina of them. One of my Blackfoots, for example, will never be properly restored, because it's scratched and beat-up in exactly the right way.

But others, I realize, are not great runners, or too similar to another car that I really do like running, and then I decide I want it clean and shiny, and it gets taken apart again, and out comes the repro body and the new-old-stock tires and the cleaned-up vintage radio gear, and it gets a proper retirement to the shelf. Still capable of being run at a moment's notice, but mostly just looking cool.

I find that this cycle really lets me enjoy a car in several different ways, and spreads the cost of a restoration out over several months or more.

Just curious; how do you guys do it?

[MadInventor]

Whenever I buy anything, it always gets a strip down before I run it, even if it looks brand new, cos you never know what someone else has botched. For example, my TXT I bought had a loose pinion grub screw on one of the motors, which had dropped out and was floating around in the transfer case. if I'd run, I could have quite easily damaged the gears in the gearbox. I think it always pays to find out what you've bought before you run it.

After I know what's wrong with it, I will either repair or replace so that the car is serviceable before I use it, and then proceed to give it stick for a few runs. I then usually take an interest in something else, and the half finished project gets shelved.

[Percymon]

I strip down on it's arrival too, and then wonder whether it worked in the first place lol!

Mine get refurbed with new or cleaned up parts, normally fresh paint on hard bodies and a new shell if lexan. Then I look at them because they're too nice to run

[njmlondon]

Mine get refurbed with new or cleaned up parts, normally fresh paint on hard bodies and a new shell if lexan. Then I look at them because they're too nice to run

Good to know I am not the only one who has that affliction!

[Daves956]

Most of mine go though the phases too but some are shelf queens from the moment they get here. I tend to have a plan for them right away, or before I buy them. A few have gotten sidetracked but for the most part I pick ones that don't start out as complete basket cases and pay a bit more for ones with bodies that can be saved.

[djmcnz]

Whenever I buy anything, it always gets a strip down before I run it, even if it looks brand new, cos you never know what someone else has botched.

This.

I have absolutely nothing more to add...

[pizzachaude]

To me the rebuild is the reason why I got back into the hobby, I enjoy cleaning up every little nut and bolt, then hunting down those damaged parts, and then the rebuild. Usually they end up with a repro shell, and I got lucky with original decals at a decent price. I usually end up with enough spares to make a runner. I've never tried running the cars I bought, always the rebuild first.

[markbt73]

Most of the ones I get are the type that were stuck in a closet after little Johnny lost interest in 1988 because of girls/real car/football/whatever. I figure if the tires are worn and dirty, and everything is hooked up, it must have run at some point, so why not try it?

Also keep in mind that when I say "run", in that case I mean put a battery in, go down the driveway, come back up, get nervous about it running away on me, and say, "OK that was fun, now let's work on it..."

[Champ85]

Like MadInventor and djmcnz, I always tear everything down to the individual parts first thing after taking the "before" pictures. I never try to drive the vehicle as received. Usually it has some old transmitter/receiver combo with MSC and I have no interest in using those. Or it came with no radio equipment at all. Or it's missing the motor.

Before I do anything, everything gets cleaned. Screws, nuts and all metal parts get a motor spray bath, soak and toothbrush scrub (sometimes more than one) to remove all old oil, dirt and grease until runoff is mostly clear. Plastic parts may get hit with motor spray (plastic safe) if they have grease on them, especially gearbox parts and gears where old grease has hardened into thick gunk. A flat-head screwdriver can work wonders for removing the big chunks before the spray is used. After using the motor spray on all plastic parts that needed it, they all get a dishwashing liquid soap scrub and warm water bath and soak. Each piece is cleaned individually by hand. An old toothbrush (the soft plastic bristles don't scratch) is used to clean the last of the stubborn grime. Then the plastic parts get a warm water rinse and are left to dry on a dish towel, sometimes helped with paper towels to help dry and clean everything to look like new. Meanwhile the metal parts are put onto paper towels to air dry while I investigate every piece to make sure it isn't too worn or broken to be re-used. The same is then done for the larger pieces like the chassis, suspension components, etc. once they are all dry. Anything deemed unworthy to participate in the rebuild ceremony is mentally noted for a search on eBay for replacement if I don't have it in my own inventory.

If the vehicle didn't come with a manual, it is sourced and either purchased (if cheap enough or model "desiredness" is worth it) or printed.

With all of the parts laid out on the workbench and the manual opened to page one, a parts count and inventory check is performed to make sure nothing is missing for any step down to the last screw, nut, and washer. Required ball bearings are noted and taken from inventory. I always replace any and all bushings with ball bearings. Missing parts and parts that are getting low in inventory are added to the list of "need to buy". Reproduction body parts are ordered unless an OEM body can be found for cheap (unlikely) or the car came with a usable one (also unlikely, but it has happened a couple times). Decals are the same story.

Finally, once all parts have arrived, or all parts check out OK, I either put everything into bags to build later or build it right then, depending on what else I have going on at the time and how I feel about working on that particular car.

If this all sounds ridiculous, well, maybe it is. But like pizzachaude said, I enjoy cleaning the parts and making everything as new-looking as possible. I almost enjoy it more than driving the vehicle when it's finished.

[pizzachaude]

Exactly Champ85!! Call me insane, I do enjoy the intricate clean-up process, though you seem to take it one step further..... I would enjoy running them more if I had more friends in my neighborhood who are also into the vintage buggies. My neighbours look at me funny when I'm ''playing'' with my toys! At least my kids are growing up now, so I wont be alone for too long.

[30YrsL8r]

At least my kids are growing up now, so I wont be alone for too long.

You hope

[dynakaos]

I strip down on it's arrival too, and then wonder whether it worked in the first place lol!

Mine get refurbed with new or cleaned up parts, normally fresh paint on hard bodies and a new shell if lexan. Then I look at them because they're too nice to run

I do the same...I enjoy hunting down the parts and building the car more than driving... When i wanna drive i'm usually taking a newer model out instead of old ones. Like tamiya ta02 v2 or Kyosho v-one rrr wc team edt...

[Daves956]

There's a sort of phase I go through that hasn't been mentioned, After it's all clean and pretty and run about enough to see how it acts. I sit and stare at it trying to decide what's next. Is it a keeper as a runner or shelf queen or a pass along model. This is usually the hardest part and takes the most time. There are a few that just stay in limbo because they look great but run horrid or look bad but run great with no good way to make them a winner on all counts. Examples are the pumpkin I keep trying to make a runner out of and the hotshot I've given up on making pretty.

[BadWagon]

I always say I'm gonna tear them down and inspect them, but I never do. I take a quick look, and if anything is broken, I'll replace it and then throw a pack in it and see what's it's got.

If it runs sweet, if it doesn't or it sounds like I dropped a fork in the disposal, oh well.

For example, I picked up a hornet parts car and simply bolted all the parts I could see it needed on it and ran it for about a month until Wyatt hit it with the Hopper and shattered the gearbox. (total carnage)...

Think it'll buff out? lol.

Now it's completely torn down and getting ready for the wash and rebuild.

I love restoring the old war dogs that have been forgotten or broke and never repaired. Then I want to run them hard. I'm just not very good at leaving cars as Shelf Queens... I always want to run them.

I kinda see Shelf Queens as a way to store parts.... really nice cherry parts, that at some point I'll snag when I break something..

[markbt73]

Oh good, at least I have one kindred spirit.

[Daves956]

I kinda see Shelf Queens as a way to store parts.... really nice cherry parts, that at some point I'll snag when I break something..

Don't feel alone, there's a reason a lot of my customs use 956 parts. It makes finding the spares really easy. With the exceptions of the BT and JPS, the shelf queens are more of a rotating stock. When i get bored with the current batch of runners, I just switch them up.

I figured the short span of time between getting them and being run was normal. The street devil needed a complete diff, tires, bearings and all the electrical done...2 hours. You can't tell everything they need just by looking so you might as well run them. You can always take them back apart later.

[BadWagon]

Yep, I've come to the conclusion that my mint fox, which I picked locally, would be my first shelf queen, but that changed last night. I'm gonna get a different set of tires, motor, esc and body to run it with. Ill keep those hard to find/expensive/cheery parts in good shape. The car though will be a runner.

I mean, I can't let this just sit and look pretty....

[Daves956]

I think I see the issue here. It's in pretty much all the posts in some way or another.

How long can you hold out before running it? Extensive cleaning or making a shelf queen seem to be just a stalling tactic.

For me personally it depends on how bad off it is. Some have taken 20 minutes where others took months, but the goal was the same.

[mongoose1983]

With the years I developed a taste for dismantling the cars I've found/got to the last screw, wash and clean the parts thoroughly, and then rebuild the car & lubricate a bit the rotating parts. Also, I'm not a fan of modifying the mechanics of the cars, but sometimes I know I don't follow completely the original paintschemes.

I sure like to run the cars, but -sadly- I take them outside less and less. Next month I hope to change that!

[berman]

Similar with me, to the other's posted above. I love the tear down and rebuild making sure every nut and bolt is correct. accounted for, and looking brand new. It is suprising how much stuff previous owners get backwards, in the wrong place or forget all together. My MAN truck was a prime example

I just replaced the chrome multi link arms on my bullhead because they weren't shiny enough like the chrome body parts, and I had a black clod spacer in the battery holder, and that should be chrome and it has been bugging me for ages

Good news is, apart from a pair of locked diffs (which I will need to buy two gear sets for) and an esc, I think I have enough parts to build a runner Clod

[Champ85]

I think I have enough parts to build a runner Clod

See now that's something that's never happened to me: I have yet to experience the joy of being able to build another car or truck from just the leftovers/spares from restoring previous vehicles. I guess I just don't collect enough parts (that belong to the same chassis) or restore the same chassis over and over enough to ever have it happen to me. <sniff> I feel left out.

[kontemax]

I usually know what cars I want to drive and which of them will be a shelfer forever.

The runner cars are double. One model for the shelf and the other one for the track.

Max

[markbt73]

See now that's something that's never happened to me: I have yet to experience the joy of being able to build another car or truck from just the leftovers/spares from restoring previous vehicles. I guess I just don't collect enough parts (that belong to the same chassis) or restore the same chassis over and over enough to ever have it happen to me. <sniff> I feel left out.

I seem to find them in pairs, or shortly after I acquire one, another one of the same car comes along. And in the case of Kyosho Raiders, I've never actually gone looking for one, but I now have almost three of them, because they keep getting "thrown in" with other cars.

Also, I don't know how you guys can restore an old car "faults and all." If something is known to be an issue, and there's an available fix, why not do it? And I can't imagine ever building a car that is incapable of running. I know some people build shelfers with no oil in the shocks, and dead-but-period-correct electronics. I can't do it. I'm too young to curate a museum.

[berman]

See now that's something that's never happened to me: I have yet to experience the joy of being able to build another car or truck from just the leftovers/spares from restoring previous vehicles. I guess I just don't collect enough parts (that belong to the same chassis) or restore the same chassis over and over enough to ever have it happen to me. <sniff> I feel left out.

It is not so much a case of building so many that I have so many spares, I've only restored one Clod and one Bullhead, but I guess they were either in such a state so much required replacing, or * I am bordering on OCD that anything deemed not new looking got replaced. Apart from a couple of gear shafts and the tyres, pretty much everything on either truck has been replaced with new items. so that has left me with a lot of spares, and a friend swapped me some ground down clod axles with wheels and tyres for a nearly complete wild dagger/twin detonator chassis.

And this is where I am at with assembling the spares into a runner, still have shocks etc to do, fit motors, the rest of the chassis parts, and I have two complete runner clod bodies and a bullhead body to chuck on top

Also, I don't know how you guys can restore an old car "faults and all." If something is known to be an issue, and there's an available fix, why not do it? And I can't imagine ever building a car that is incapable of running. I know some people build shelfers with no oil in the shocks, and dead-but-period-correct electronics. I can't do it. I'm too young to curate a museum.

I guess it's the same as people who cant paint a body as per the manual, or who have to run an esc, own NIB's, mod the bejesus out of something etc etc. We are all just different. I don't dislike anybody who does anything different to me, I think it's cool that we all have our own scope on things, it makes us who we are

For me, (on vintage items) I love period correct radio gear and MSC's or vintage ESC's. Every nut, bolt and screw has to be new and in it's place, all correct items on the car have to be original or a genuine hop-up. It s more of a nostalgia trip for me. I want it to run exactly how Tamiya intended back in the day. Deviating from this changes the cars character, and I love the quirkiness, faults n all.

Oh and I do run them, I just don't need to find their limitations after I've restored them

As far as Rereleases and Modern RC's, anything goes, absolutely anything, they are build to be used and abused

* I am not admitting to OCD, denial is the first sign, but I am in no way denying it either lol

Here we go, just the window surrounds and cleaner pipes to paint satin black and I can call it finished

[Tamiya1/10]

I don't have a work shop and i don't have the talent or energy to buy old vintage stuff to do a tear down, rebuild like some very talented tc members, you guys know who they are...is like putting back humpty dumpty back together after it has fallen off the wall and got run over by a steam roller...my hat off to you guys. So i tend to get vintage stuff that are in good shape with minimal work. I haven't ran any of my rc for over a year now and won't run them any time soon either:-( I tend to get the re release though not 100% vintage but is good enough for me. I would say i am just a generalist and not a diehard.