RC project for 2015 #2: Orig. Avante

[mongoose1983 3335]

I'd like to thank TCer pizzachaude for helping me with a missing E-ring, the wing and the motor adapter, as well as with the battery & wing holders. Thank you Martin!

Here's some pictures of what's been done to the project car today:

Wing holder, and motor adapter aluminum part. The Technigold will now find its place in the car (thank you David!).

This is the only cone-head screw I had. This is what is now keeping the motor attached to the adapter. These type of bolts are not that easy to find. I wonder what was the reason for Tamiya to turn to these kind of screws for the Avante?

Wing and wing-holder:

With the Wing in its place. The decal is not original, but since I plan to repaint the whole body I think I'm going to remove it sometime later.

That's all for now. I am only missing the pinion, both rear dogbones, and the rear drivecups. When I get to find those I'm going to give it a good test run. Think it's going to look real nice when ready!

You all have a FANTASTIC Sunday!

[Cooltoys 129]

That's a nice buy for $50 an awesome deal Erich.. This will keep you pretty busy... That's nice a lot of people helped you on your project.. I don't think i have anything much for an Avante except for tires.. Srb stuff i might can help..

I found one for the same amount quite a while back for $50 too. I bought it without really knowing anything about it..

[mongoose1983 3335]

That's a nice buy for $50 an awesome deal Erich.. This will keep you pretty busy... That's nice a lot of people helped you on your project.. I don't think i have anything much for an Avante except for tires.. Srb stuff i might can help..

I found one for the same amount quite a while back for $50 too. I bought it without really knowing anything about it..

Oh, I have three or four ongoing RC projects as I write this, my friend (still not done with the Rough Rider!). And yeah, $50 was the only reason I had to buy this one. I heard about the Avante legend, but don't remember seeing one prior to this. At times I look at it and think "well, this is the buggy of the year 1988, can you believe it?". I guess I'll have to wait and see how it runs, cause otherwise I don't seem to feel what's legendary about it. I know I will keep this car in the collection, but I think I would have felt a bit more in my territory if it was a Bullhead instead, haha.

[pizzachaude 130]

Wow you finally got my parts, I had sent those ages ago. Nice to see this project moving forward again!! Too bad for the shocks though, I had measured that RC10 shock and it matched the one you were missing, why cant you use them?? Still looking for those other parts you need, good luck!!

[mongoose1983 3335]

Wow you finally got my parts, I had sent those ages ago. Nice to see this project moving forward again!! Too bad for the shocks though, I had measured that RC10 shock and it matched the one you were missing, why cant you use them?? Still looking for those other parts you need, good luck!!

Well, it took little compared to most of what's been sent to me from Canada. Actually I thought wow, that was fast. Living so far from the 1st world I have to have some patience, you now.

About the shock, it happened that both, the shock body and the rod are different measures than the one I have here. So I am starting anew with that. Hopefully someone will want these shocks in exchange for an old Frog shock so I can get that part of the rebuild solved.

I'm in no hurry, though. I know someday the car will be running. It's good to have a project this cool to think about for "some day". Thanks again Martin.

[mongoose1983 3335]

I haven't had time time to resume my RC projects, because of many reasons. Anyway, tonight I finally got to clean and find some springs for the Frog shocks so I decided to install them. Now the rear suspension of the Avante is ready! I have some vintage Airtronics radio gear waiting to be installed. Only three bits missing (rear drive cups, halfshafts, and the 22T pinion). Quite frankly I doubt I'd be able to have this car running this year. Hopefully 2016 will see me having a taste of what's all the fuzz about the 1988 Tamiya Avante...

You guys don't need to say it. This thing needs some cleaning and polishing.

In the meantime here's some pictures:

Getting the Frog shocks in place (thanks scapelnz!). I did not have the original coil springs, so I'm using what I had in my parts box.

They look alright and work fine (or so at least when pushing it down with the hand). I presume some of you guys will not like this. These shocks actually scream "FROG" but it was the only thing I could use as the original dampers are way out of picture.

Sideview:

A couple of pictures of the underside:

And here's the chassis that some TCers seem to be so fond of

And a look at the car as it is right now. The bodyshell needs to be all cleaned. There's still glue (from the removed decals) all over it. Some WD-40 will get it all off. I have some sponsors to try and make it look in order.

Well, that's about it for now. If I happen to come across something else I'll make some update. For now the Avante can sit and rest some more months over my shelf here.

You all have a good week!

[kontemax 1725]

I believe that re release Avante dampers are better that the wrong dampers to restore the model.

But this is only my opinion.

Max

[94eg! 834]

I think I still have an original set of 1988 dampers too if you want to keep it all oldschool...

[mongoose1983 3335]

I think I still have an original set of 1988 dampers too if you want to keep it all oldschool...

Thanks so much for the offer, 94eg! Unfortunately, that's a luxury I just can not afford.

[kontemax 1725]

Ask for the price before. Maybe it is not so high.

Avante is best with gold shocks

Max

Thanks so much for the offer, 94eg! Unfortunately, that's a luxury I just can not afford.

[Crash Cramer 617]

No matter what the cost, sometimes it is too much, sometimes the shipping kills everything, but still not afraid to ask I guess.

[kontemax 1725]

As we say in Italy "Chiedere è lecito, rispondere è cortesia" (Request is lawful, answering is good manners).

Max

No matter what the cost, sometimes it is too much, sometimes the shipping kills everything, but still not afraid to ask I guess.

[mongoose1983 3335]

I must thank our good friend @MICHAELs TopForce17 who sent me a quick link to an eBay sale early in December so I could finally get dogbones for my buggy!! Now these dogbones are HSP brand, a very cheap set that fit the axles alright. The deal was for a lil over 3 bucks shipped to my place in Chile, and took only a month to arrive! Thank you so much Michael!

Here's some pictures of the car and the dogbones in. I built it all quickly, so I will have to rebuild it all again later to install electronics and the motor pinion so I can finally run the buggy. After having lost the original set I got, and being screwed by @alexkidd selling us a set that was not for this buggy this is such a good new for me.

In case anybody is going through the same problem, here's the link to the sale and a picture of the dogbones:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/292727270438

So here it is the Avante on its way to hit the dirt... hopefully not long from today

Some pictures of the dogbones in place:

I really like them, they don't feel cheap. The only thing I can mention by now is I think the pins are a bit shorter than the ones in the original halfshafts.

[mongoose1983 3335]

And a few more pictures of the buggy as it sits over my bench right now. I plan to work on the body (and some driver) AFTER I get the chassis and electronics properly installed.

Chassis:

Body on:

Sideview:

If I had time tonight I'll cut some foam for the tires

You all have a good Thursday!

[Superluminal 3750]

Are you going to strip the paint off the old body or get a new one?

[mongoose1983 3335]

6 hours ago, Superluminal said:

Are you going to strip the paint off the old body or get a new one?

Absolutely no chance to change the body or getting new paint for it. Actually, I plan to remove all the sticker residue left by the previous owner, and if possible I will try to remove the paint off of the cab window so I can fit a driver in there. Also, I would like to get stickers for the car but I'm afraid that's out of the budget right now. I'm still excited about it, as working on these buggies isn't something that common.