Rockbuster Resto - Project "Why Not?"

[Pintopower]

So I know this section is for the first 150 Tamiya kits, but technically it a Tamiya Kit, made in Korea,

I love eBay and the Hornet. Not together but as independent entities. That said, when I learned that the Rockbuster (and Road Runner, and laser, and manx and cyclone and ...) are all clones, I thought I needed one. Enter eBay. I found this little guy for $30. No bids at all. Maybe I over paid but it was complete-ish and according to the seller, the body was in great shape. The images are of when I opened the box. It is dirty, smelly, the trans gears are shredded, its all gummed up and it has no front wheels. On a plus side, there chassis parts are in great shape and although not the best material, they do have unique touches which do set it apart from its non-K.O. cousins. The body, though soiled, is about as close to mint as one in a box. Nothing is really damaged and although there is corrosion on some of the metal bits, its nothing a nice cleaning wont fix. I am looking to fully restore it soon and have a happy little RockBuster to hang out with my Hornet and Grasshopper. I am changing the bumper though. I hate it. I just hate everything about the front bumper. I hate it. I hate it. That tell you how I really feel? The rest I love.

So when I got the car, It was pretty gross but rather complete::

There was considerable corrosion on the metal bits (fortunately there arent many on a Hornet in general):

This wire had no use. Maybe someone towed a trailer with it?:

Its hard to tell here but there is a type of retainer that restricts the flopping that a Hornet trans usually does. Though there is a spring here, it does not actually work the way a 3rd spring does on one of the hornet/pumpkin rear ends. It does still allow for chassis articulation:

What was very interesting to see were the unique molded features on the 'Buster:

Unfortunately the gear cover was missing but you can see the unique molds they used for the parts:

Crusty speed control and acid leaking batteries. What a nice blend:

The shell was in great shape minus what ever that stuff on it is:

Best wiring ever:

Can I ask what the heck happened to the servo?

Oddly the electronics worked!

You may be thinking that the antenna mount is bad or broken. Well you would be wrong.:

The next step is to take this mess apart, assess the parts condition and give this car a bath!

[Pintopower]

So, I am used to the Hornet/Grasshopper and thought, this is the same car. Well it's not. This car is weird. I mean it looks like a our Tamiya classics but all I can say is that in taking the thing apart, it doesn't FEEL like one. I mean that both metaphorically and physically. The fitment of the parts is weird. Not bad, just not Tamiya. There is flashing everywhere and the edges of all of the parts seem to try and slice you open at every turn. They even smell weird... yes... I smelled it. On a plus side, the disassembly was simple. I gave it a good bath and was amazed to see that this this was hardly used. The reason for that was that the transmission was missing the inner bushing on the counter gear. This caused all sorts of play in the trans but when I went to add a new ball bearing I quickly discovered that it wouldn't fit! The hole was to small and the counter gear shaft was too big. I will be taking care of that during the assembly. This is kind of an exciting build considering all the strange differences that I am finding.

Once the electronics were pulled, I was happy to see a very nice chassis:

The trans case was indeed in perfect shape and the rear shocks, though leaking, were nice units.

Made in Korea:

Notice the coarse thread on the axle shatfs. Same is true for the front knuckles:

Please note the LACK of bushing on the counter gear. It was missing and was causing the transmission to bind. This made the car un-driveable.:

Cool little design elements:

Black knuckles and ball ends:

All stripped and ready for a bath:

Next comes reassembly!

[MAD RACER]

Nice to see some thing a little different.

I like these and thought one day I will get the Road Runner.

Looking forward to the clean up phase.

[kontemax]

Maybe I have some nib spares for this car. I recognized the rear gearbox and the lower battery door. Do you need them?

Max

[Pintopower]

Thanks MAD RACER, I will post the remaining project pictures shortly.

KONTEMAX - Mine are in good shape but I may be interested

[Pintopower]

So I filled a tub with hot water and a generous helping of dish washing detergent and let them simmer. Then out came ye 'ole toothbrush and got scrubbing. The results were shocking. Save for a few blemishes, the car is in great shape. I doubt it was run for more that 6 batteries. I installed ball bearings during the assembly only to discover that the counter gear shaft is WAY too large a diameter. I took an old Pumpkin front axle and cut it down to fit. That took care of that. Then the rest of the chassis was reassembled. It was a strange build. The part quality is garbage. They are sharp, the flashing is abundant and they don't fit together properly. The front springs are a bit stiff and the rear floating axle isn't as smooth as the Hornet. Does that make it bad? Well when new it was $39.99. So, you do get what you pay for. I did repair many of the problems with the car so it went together very nicely. I installed a Futaba receiver, Tamiya TEU-105BK and a Futaba FP-S148 servo. Nothing crazy. Then i gave the stock 540 a bath. I have everything for the car but the wheels and tires which I just ordered. Then I took it for a spin. It is very Hornet like. No suprise there but it does sound odd. The gears are not as nice as the Tamiya ones, nor does the trans assemble as nice as the real one. Still, it was a happy car to drive and the rear shocks do work as well as the Hornet ones. You will notice that the front bumper is a stock Hornet one. I hate that other stupid bumper so much...so much hatred for an inanimate plastic object. So overall the car is great. Cheap yes, but who says cheap cant be cheerful? Well Jeremy Clarkson said they cant, but he also hasn't driven a knock off Hornet before. The next step is the body. I ordered decals from a guy in the UK. I still don't know what color it will be but I'm in no rush.

After a scrubbing:

Still made in Korea:

The counter gear shaft was way too big for the bearing to fit and since i didnt have a tamiya one on had I just cut down on old pumpkin front axle:

Transmission coming together nicely:

Trans all finished:

Here is the transmission retainer. Is this unique to the rockbuster?

Rebuilt the rear shocks. These are not bad units.:

Front sway bar installed.

Love that JunFac rear support. I think I bought 7 of them for all of my hornet/hoppers:

All assembled with electronics installed. Sorry, but I will never use the mechanical units ever again in any of my cars. My poor Monster Beetle was nearly killed due to a malfunction

In the middle of its Tamiya cousins:

Next: The Body and Wheels.

[Pintopower]

Well I’m getting there! I decided to go away from the box are colors. The reason for this decision is that I hated that red pin stripe that is supposed to flank the main tricolor band. I felt that this car has the ingredients to look like a Tamiya, but for some reason it just didn’t. I have decided that the reason this car tends to look cheap is the terrible conglomeration of colors. They are all over the place. Tamiya has an ability to make box art look like art. World engines obviously didn’t spend much time on the color scheme. I have tried to make it look more like a Tamiya while trying to keep the reality check... after all this is still a cheap clone.

The shell was in great shape to start off with. Just a light dusting of baby blue was applied to it when new. I gave it a bath and applied a coat of primer. Color sanded it and applied a coat of Testors Red. This is just the base coat so it went on with several light coats. This included the spoiler which is normally yellow. I painted the roll cage argent as opposed to the crap way it shows on the box. Then I applied the stickers. I got them from [removed] Repro in England. They are very well made and the colors are vibrant. I add the tri color band and it complemented the red just as I had envisioned. Then the task of adding sponsor logos came up. I think that most of the logos on the Rockbuster are out of place and normally mismatching the cars main color scheme. Tamiya cars don’t have that issue. Therefore, I went to my left over Tamiya decals and added the ones that I thought would complement the cars scheme. Thusly, I took some artistic creativity with the cars looks.

I installed some chrome wheels I got for it. Rockbuster’s came with the Hornet wheels in chrome. Then I felt that the car needed more bling. I added some Panda Cyclone nerf bars and just ordered the blue Cyclone/Manx rear sway bar. I picked up an old Hornet with these awesome front shocks in blue also so I felt that they looked killer on this guy.

The motor is a freshly cleaned and lubed Johnson 540 that came with the car. I added the Tamiya 104BK speed control, a Futaba FP-R102JE receiver, and a Futaba FP-S148 servo. I use an Airtronics Avenger radio to run it. It runs like a champ, weirdly. I was surprised at how well it drove, like a Hornet. I assumed that it would be different but other than a unique noise in the transmission (has to do with a lack of drive gear and axle concentricity on the fantastically molded transaxle housing). I also noticed that the rear end has more articulation one way than the other. Turns out, the transaxle housing is warped! To top that off, the rear end, I kid you not, has positive camber. Oh the quality of parts on the Rockbuster.

My next step is to dye the factory bumper black and to clear coat the complete shell. It is getting cold now so I may need to wait a few months. Other than that it is a fun car to (carefully) drive about.

Started by a nice bath and primer on the body. This is Testors flat white:

I thought about the stock color (white) but decided to go for a brighter approach, RED:

Then these guys came in:

Then a parts hornet came in with these attached to it. I think they are You-G. They were in poor shape but a little resto and they looked great:

Just a reference. The Parma units are on the bottom. The You-G works like a normal shock but the Parma unit actually has the entire shock body that translates over the entire shock shaft, just like the stock friction units. Very interesting setup.

Chassis end result:

Body test fit:

Beautiful Decals:

Worst logo ever:

Main stripes applied:

Decals all done:

Our cat came to visit:

Something missing?

Not in love with the number logo.

I like the little world engines logo:

Next step, clear coat the entire shell when it warms up!

[Madmat]

Very nice job you have done. I don't think you need to worry about the brand issue with this

[Quandry]

Great job and very intriguing write up! I think you lifted the quality of the end product with your subtle touches. At the risk of upsetting the worlds Rockbuster fans (??) you may have the best example in the world there..

[biggamehunter]

great job on a forgotten hero !!!!!

[Tamiya1/10]

what a transfermation, from the bottom of the barrel to a shelve queen. BTW your cat has a unique coat pattern...wearing elbow length white gloves with matching booties.

[Pintopower]

Thanks all.

Quandry - The best Rockbuster? Well im sure there are perfect NIB ones out there but I think mine is the most expensive one! When it costs more than its worth, you know you did it right!

Madmat - I agree, I was worried at first!

biggamehunter - Thanks, I wanted to show off something that is completely overlooked.

Tamiya1/10 - Thanks, it was a fun build. I am really amazed at how non-Hornet like it is. I know that sounds weird considering they are the same car. And yes, she has a great coat, almost like shes wearing a mink jacket. Shes a good cat and completely tolerant of the RC cars but she does like the antennas WAY too much!

[Pintopower]

Well, the tinkering continues. I was going through a drawer I have that is completely full of MSC. Let me start by saying i hate those f*&$ing pieces of S$@. Those @(*%# %$#*@ and shove one @(*$@$@( when a @(*$&@( !@!#@ and a goat! There, sorry I had to say it. Any way, despite my hatred of their useability, they look cool. On top of that, the notches in the Rockbuster body and the fact that the Rockbuster unit is unique got me thinking, why not install it for show? Well, I polished it up and installed it. I had a few broken servos that I was going to toss but instead put it int he 'Buster. For me the added weight helps these cars out. On top of that, this is just a car I plan to putt around. I installed it and I think it looks great. I will make another thread about the installs in my Hornet and my ReRe hopper.

The MSC taken apart and polished.

Here it is installed right above the ESC:

Showing wiring. This was the first install. I cut off the plugs from the MSC since they are not needed. They are then wedged on the side of the battery holder area.

Note wire placement. My Hornet came out better. This was beta testing.

With the shell on:

Resistor plugged in and installed:

Servo in place. It is frozen so what a better use for it?

Enjoy!

[Quandry]

Nice addition - keeps it super retro!