I'm addicted, got another one!

[Indetrucks 72]

I asked around locally who had anything vintage Tamiya.

Came across a guy who had an original Tamiya Toyota Hi-Lux Monster Racer. Said he only played with it a couple times after building it in the 90's, then put it away.

I picked it up for $100 shipped and it came with everything, including the radio still in the box.

Not a fan of the color, so think that's the first thing I should do (brake fluid?)

Also, not sure if they re-issued this and/or if there are stickers available for it (going to want to put new stickers on to match the new paint).

What else should I do other than grease the gears etc? I briefly read that the tranny's on these are not that durable and to not put in a motor lower than 20T.

Thoughts?

[pizzachaude 130]

Diff is the weak spot on these, the metal casing warps and the diff goes into meltdown.

This model has not been re-issued (yet...), so the only way to get decals is to get vintage originals. Brake fluid can be used to strip the paint but it tends to cloud up lexan, Tamiya makes a polycarbonate paint stripper that seems to work very well (I have never tried it yet).

If you plan on driving it then you should definately open up the gearbox just to make sure all is good. Also add bearings (I believe the tranny is already ball-raced), ditch the MSC, and save those tires if they're in good condition because they are very hard to get!

If you need parts for it, the Kingcab is the same truck with different body, easier to find on ebay

[pizzachaude 130]

Just noticed that the seller who is selling that Frog you put in your other thread is also selling a Kingcab, though he doesnt know what it is. Could be worth checking out especially if youre interested in the Frog, you could get combined shipping

[Klausen 983]

Great find and cheap. Got one myself recently, and it looks fantastic.

[hammerstien 187]

yep happens so fast you don't notice them filling a room

[sidewaysdave69 188]

if the diff goes I have seen them glued to make it solid, crude but it works.

doing it this way would let you run a faster motor.

but to be honest I would just run a sport tuned or similar as they really don't like the power.

also thorp done a diff which changed the pitch of the gears which suited the king cab better.

[GTodd 928]

REALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nice pick up bud. I just started to restore my child hood monster racer. Id love to get those rear tires of dont keep it.

[Madmuz77 19]

if the diff goes I have seen them glued to make it solid, crude but it works.

Although this works it will see you chewing out spur gears & gearsets are getting increasingly harder to find.

To rebuild the diff you need the bearings which can still be found in the Egress diff parts, the diff casings, plenty on Ebay & the right ball diff grease.

The problem is that this gearbox was designed for a buggy(Astute/Madcap)& not for the larger wheels of the MR/KC but a properly built diff will work fine

as long as you don't put a crazy motor in it.

There are plenty of threads in the forums about different solutions to this troublesome gearbox, most swap it out for another.

Nice find on that Monster racer very fun truck to drive.

You may want to swap the tires though if the're in good shape, especially the rear ones as they are like hens teeth to find.

As for decals this truck hasn't been re-re'd so originals are hard to find but do show up from time time.

I have seen people use Toyota Prerunner decals to good effect though as they are very similar.