Is it worth properly restoring - Mk1 Sand Scorcher

[Madmat]

So I find myself in a bit of a bind at the moment with my SS. I was looking it recently and noticed that the rear suspension arms didn't sit at the same angle, with the LHS Arm sitting closer to horizontal than the RHS arm. I looked at it for a while and even took the rear end off until I finally noticed that the suspension arm on the LHS is actually a RHS arm, hence the odd angle (How I did not notice this in the 8 years I have owned it I do not know )

So now I need to find a rear suspension for the RHS, at first I was going to get new re-re arm to put on, but through my searching to check if there would be any issues with re-re arms I came across threads showing how to tell if you had a Mk1 or Mk2 SRB, as it turns out mine is a Mk1 which I further came across people considering special.

Now, finally to my point, when I first got the SS it was in a pretty nasty state and I only gave it a light cleaning. I finally want to sort it out properly, I think it deserves it after so long. The thing is, with restoring it, should I go as far as using all the correct Mk1 parts (Okay maybe not an original 1978 Mk1 black bumper) and paintwork. or should I just get re-re parts where required if they fit, such as the rear arms? Do people care as much for a well done restoration ever since the scorcher was re-re'd?

Let me know your opinions

Sorry for the long winded post that probably makes no sense

[mongoose1983]

Well, I guess it all comes down to a personal feeling. Keeping that in mind, I personally would say it is 100% worth the trouble of.

[Tamiya1/10]

To further set your decision tree. Do you have the money, desire and time? If you have the money than that would be easy. If you have the desire, you'll find a way and time is less important of the 3.

For me I would source the necessay parts and put them away until when “time” shows up. Your personal assessment of you decision should make the decision for you.

[Shodog]

If it's going to be a shelf queen then you'll want to do it right. If you plan to run it, dump the torsion bars get a set of coil overs and it won't matter that you have both of the same arms on it.

[Madmat]

Thanks for the replies guys, Thinking about it, I am not the kind of person that does things half-assed (Hard body painting has just never been my forté). I feel that I will do this right, I have spent so long saving up for models in the past that I can manage collecting the right parts over time. It wouldn't be a complete shelf queen though. I always wanted to race along sand dunes just like in the original commercial and that will definitely happen.

The only question from here now, is the the paintwork. I have plenty of time to figure that out though I'm sure

Thanks again for the input guys, any further input is also very welcome

[KEV THE REV]

The rear arms are the same (N13), just one is flipped over , the odd angle is probably from the torsion spring being bent differently from one side to the other - or a bent arm .A restoration of a MK1 is worth doing if you have good parts to start with - otherwise it could get lengthy and expensive

[mongoose1983]

Could also be that the odd angle has something to do with the condition/height of the tip of the stopper bit of each arm. I have had differences with arms that have different heights of that stopper bit.

[SteveU30]

The rear arms are the same (N13), just one is flipped over , the odd angle is probably from the torsion spring being bent differently from one side to the other  - or a bent arm .A restoration of a MK1 is worth doing if you have good parts to start with - otherwise it could get lengthy and expensive

This!

My personal opinion is that ALL Mk.1 Scorchers should be kept alive and where possible, restored to within an inch of their lives. Just saying

[Madmat]

The rear arms are the same (N13), just one is flipped over , the odd angle is probably from the torsion spring being bent differently from one side to the other - or a bent arm .A restoration of a MK1 is worth doing if you have good parts to start with - otherwise it could get lengthy and expensive

I didn't realise that Tamiya used the same part for both sides. I'll check out the torsion spring after dinner and see what the score is but I have a feeling that you are right. I will be relieved if you are right as I didn't really want to have the arm laying about if it was for just one side.

As far as the resto is concerned. Atleast 75% of the parts are in excellent condition and just need a clean up although there are some parts that would need replacing such as one of the tubes for the front suspension, the rear cage, the exhaust, the bushings, and the the motor cover. So it wouldn't be a huge money draw, where the major work would be in the shell and getting the parts for that.

To be honest, my SS is a bit of a diamond in the rough. I think you guys have convinced me to go with the proper resto. Sure there are NIB re-re's for driving

I will measure up the parts in a bit and let you all know what the cause was

Thanks guys

[SteveU30]

That's exactly what I'm doing, I'm currently (slowly) restoring my Mk2 back to original condition which will then just sit on my display shelf. I then intend to get a re-re and run that (albeit with some performance improvements).

[Madmat]

So I had a good gander at the SS earlier and in particular the rear suspension arms and looked at all the suggestions. So far, no luck, although I can't say anything for certain yet until I have the rear end fully stripped of its suspension parts and have had a good look at the arms. I couldn't this evening as I can't seem to locate my hex wrenches which prevented me removing the arms. I think in doing this I have somewhat ruined my soon to come project thread as I will have no good 'Before' pics and only ones of a pile of parts haha. Oh well

[matman]

Need pic's of this problem & i'm one for the restore to vintage quality . Remember this is the 1st SS

& should have it's style & sole back .

These are great cars .

I know where your coming from , I have a hotshot 2 & i had it for 6 or more years , loved it & rubbed it in

to a m8 i had one & he didn't . Till i came onto TC & was looking around . Shock and horror

when i noticed that the car was hacked up , painted shocks . The rear shock tower , was super sabre

& the roll cage was hacked to make it fit . I don't know how i did see it ?. I had Never had a HS2 .

Payed big money in the OLD days on Evilbay . So i have that too fix & all i need it the shocks & shock

bottoms that holed the springs on .

Good luck .

[Madmat]

Need pic's of this problem & i'm one for the restore to vintage quality . Remember this is the 1st SS

& should have it's style & sole back .

I will put a decent picture up tomorrow, the only one I took earlier doesn't properly show the problem.

[Madmat]

Okay for those interested in the answer to my mystery of the uneven arms, here is a picture that describes shows the rear arms and gearbox. It isn't perfectly clear to see the indifference because of the angle that the gearbox is lying at.

So looking at this you should have an idea now of what I am trying to solve. I took the whole lot apart early and sat the arms side by side and compared and inspected them in every way I could, but nothing was really showing up the cause. The only thing I could think of was the quality of the moldings having an effect but I wouldn't think that would cause this probably. I think the theory that there is a bend or twist in the arms may be a cause but it would have to be extremely subtle to be so unnoticeable.

Here are some more photos for everyone to have a look at and maybe see something I didn't. Apologies for the bad quality of the pictures, The only lenses I had with me were not the most suited for this task

Matt

[mongoose1983]

You checked the stopper bits, mate?

[Madmat]

You checked the stopper bits, mate?

Yeah I had the calipers out, straight edge and everything I could think of, couldn't find my large protractor though so I will look at them some more as I really do feel they are cause an issue

[SteveU30]

Do these bits both rest on the metal at full droop?

[Madmat]

Do these bits both rest on the metal at full droop?

They did yes as far as I remember. That would indicate them being bent I would assume

[SteveU30]

Basically yes

[mongoose1983]

It would have been great if Tamiya would have included some sort of bolt there so you could adjust the height of the vehicle to whatever you wanted to.

I have found suspension arms that have that tip modified or with different height one from another, so you always have to make sure you have a pair that matches the stoppers. If not, the car will look kinda odd.