Modifying/customising a vintage rc. Sacrilege or ok?

[richb77]

A general question really.

Many of us enjoy buying basket case Vintage RC cars and restoring them to there former (and sometimes greater) glory.

My question is, is it acceptable to customise and or modify these?

Not just a non box art colour but custom graphics, modifications to the drive system and electronics.

Point in question. I have a Wild Willy M38. The chassis is ok(ish) the body is a total basket with cracked tyres.

Is it better to restore fully to original or could I go for modern electronics, custom paint and decals?

My question applies to all vintage though including bruisers, blazing Blazers e,t,c.

[Gruntfuggly]

It's your stuff - do whatever you want. Short of setting it on fire, I'm pretty sure most people on here would be happy whatever you do. Personally, I'd rather see something original these days - once you've seen one box art original model there's not much point in seeing more...

[IBIFTKH]

As the man said, it's yours, go for it. There's no right or wrong, just different opinions.

Speaking personally, I've got 3 vintage cars. One is complete, the other 2 are in different stages of rebuilding. Two will be box art, the other won't. All have, or will have, modern electronics. My cars spend most of their time on the shelf but everything is ready to run. I don't want a run spoiled (and potentially a car damaged) because of radio interference or a glitching MSC, so everything has 2.4GHz gear and ESCs (with Deans connectors).

The Wild Willy M38 is a very cool little car. But if you want to use it as the basis to build something unique in your own style, who's to say you can't?

Looking forward to the build thread...

[richb77]

I'm not just talking my projects. It's a question to the wider scope of our hobby.

I already know my M38 isn't going to be standard

[Wez-li]

A few people are a bit funny about mods, or mixing re/re and vintage etc, but I think you should just do whatever you like mate.

The box art and instructions are just a guide to me, sometimes standard is perfect, sometimes not. If they were all supposed to look the same they'd be pre-built static kits

[markbt73]

I am glad that there are collectors out there who keep new-in-box kits. And I am glad that there are hobbyists that do 100% standard, box-art, down-to-the-last-screw-accurate restorations. They're interesting from a historical perpective, and if the display of such items is your thing, then that's cool. And they do serve as a useful guide to others as to what the thing was originally meant to look like.

But most of us aren't going to do that, and in most cases it just isn't practical, or even feasible, to restore a model to that standard, especially if you intend to run it. It's easier to substitute or make something for a part that can't be found than to scour ebay looking for the "correct" part. And frankly, if it broke once, it will break again, so why not improve on it so that it lasts longer? An "incorrect" model that you're enjoying is better than a broken one waiting for a part that might never come up for sale. And spending all your free time searching for obscure parts is really just glorified shopping, and to me that doesn't count as a hobby.

As for appearance, if I like the box-art paint scheme, then I'll do it, although I usually end up changing it later. But if not, I just do my own thing. And I like patina. Scratches, scrapes, worn tires: these aren't flaws; they're history. So even if I do a complete restoration, the end result is rougher around the edges than someone else's might be.

[Dojo Dave]

I personally have 3 wild willy m38s and they are each different. A runner a shelfer and ummm not quite sure.all my road cars ar equiped with after market bodies as I didnt buy new and have my own tastes, enjoy the hobby, be a hobbyist rather that a museum coordinator, I love my originals but im tempted to sell my shelfer and anuthing else Im scared to break and do all bashers..

[Yonez]

A few people are a bit funny about mods, or mixing re/re and vintage etc, but I think you should just do whatever you like mate.

The box art and instructions are just a guide to me, sometimes standard is perfect, sometimes not. If they were all supposed to look the same they'd be pre-built static kits

I'm one of those funny people

I personally like my cars to be original and will go for that.

That being said, much of the reason I come on Tamiyaclub is to see all the great mods done by others.

To each their own, diversity makes the world great

[Nobbi1977]

I think taking a mint original and modifying is a little silly but then so is getting a trashed one and replacing 99% of it with NOS bits. Each to their own but on a purely monetary basis do not do something non reversible that will devalue an asset when it could have been done to a cheaper rougher one in the first place

[Mad Zero]

It's your stuff - do whatever you want. Short of setting it on fire, I'm pretty sure most people on here would be happy whatever you do. Personally, I'd rather see something original these days - once you've seen one box art original model there's not much point in seeing more...

http://tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=99959&sid=22796

[Gruntfuggly]

OK, I take it back - setting on fire appears to be acceptable too!

[terragni]

Taking a craft saw to a new Blazing Blazer body had me wincing in this build :

http://scalebuildersguild.com/forum/showthread.php?19415-KJ-s-Fear-amp-Loathing-Cracking-the-seals-on-a-1982-Blazing-Blazer/page11

I liked the work done to this Hilux :

http://www.scale4x4rc.org/forums/showthread.php?t=77692

Go for it I say, how boring to have all vehicles indentical box art replicas

Terragni

[NWarty]

I have a Martini Porsche 935 with Deans connectors. I'm sure there's a TC member out there pacing back and forth cursing my name. I'm doing okay at this point and haven't received any hate mail because of it I also like to run it and my small lipo works great for the job.

[Backlash]

For me it is a case of drawing a line in the sand (so to speak) in regards to cost effectively restoring a vehicle to a running condition, or just having 90% of a car which is nothing more than a pile of unusable parts because some hard to get / impossible to get pieces that break on all cars..

A case in point was when I recently went through and "restored" several SRB's to a shelf worthy, but running condition.. I know that I will never run these cars, so spares for them are not really required... What I did have left after restoring these SRB's was a pile of parts, some of which had minor damage that otherwise meant that they would never be used again..

As most SRB fans would know, one particular wear point on an SRB are the plastic ball races/pivot points that hold the steering knuckle on the front end.. I gave up long ago trying to find originals, but when I bought my Buggy Champ runner, I did buy extra ball races as spares for it, but they don't fit the original SRB arms without modifying the arm.. After much deliberation, I decided to drill out the 4 remaining original SRB arms that I had and fit the Buggy Champ ball races to them.. This simple modification, together with the shortening of an original SRB chassis (cringe), that when fitted with a Meyers Manx buggy using a body that I received with my Buggy Champ allowed me to build a short wheel base SRB runner like I used to have as a kid.....

[Flerbizky]

Taking a craft saw to a new Blazing Blazer body had me wincing in this build :

http://scalebuildersguild.com/forum/showthread.php?19415-KJ-s-Fear-amp-Loathing-Cracking-the-seals-on-a-1982-Blazing-Blazer/page11

I absolutely HATE when threads end like that.

[/rant over]

[jeekelemental]

Built not Bought!

[StrokerBoy]

Do whatever you like with your own car. It'll make you happy, inspire others on here, and if someone else gets stressed at the sight of your modified classic, well, that's just a bonus.

The only time stuff like this is 'wrong' (and this is taken from my other hobby of old motorbikes) is when what you're modifying has some proper historical significance, eg. it's the last original one left on the planet, or it won some major race or something. If that's not the case (and it hardly ever is), crack on.

[DCCWildOne]

If it's yours you can do what you want with it. Anybody who has raced a vintage RC will understand that not everything works when kept as standard. For re-sale value you should leave it in the blister packing, but they were made to run. I retired my vintage Wild One after the last race of a season, it was years before the RE-RE, it was quite beaten up and I'd lost some of the original parts. It's almost been on fire once (my homemade ESC fried all the wiring to the motor). It still has the mud on it from that last race.

[emory70]

I avoid vintage originals. I'm not one to jump houses with my rides, but I'm not kind to them either.

I hate box art. Nothing against anyone who enjoys it, it's just not my thing.

Like with real cars, quality work can make cutting up a valuable vehicle acceptable.

[Wooders28]

If its going to get used,or at least out on show,it's being enjoyed,It doesn't matter.Just as long as it's not stuffed in a box in the loft!

[IBIFTKH]

Coming back to this, it's an interesting question and really shows the range of approaches to our hobby. Of course there is no right or wrong, just different opinions. It's your hobby and your model so do what you want.

The Wild Willy M38 is one of my favourites. I always wanted one when I was a kid but it didn't happen. I bought one a few years ago and restored it. It takes pride of place in my display cabinet.



But it has modern electronics installed so I can (and do) run it from time to time.



Then again, this also started life as a Wild Willy M38...



I really enjoyed building both of them, and they're both great to own and run. Neither will appeal to everyone but they make me happy. And that's the point...

[richb77]

Then again, this also started life as a Wild Willy M38...

That is brilliant.mis there a build thread or can you share any information on it?

[IBIFTKH]

Thanks, there's a build thread here - http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=67940&hl=

It's not a full build because I bought someone else's incomplete project and it got damaged in transit, so it's partly build, partly rebuild.

[emory70]

It does little to calm my rc ocd, but I try to remember that most people I'll ever see know practically nothing about vintage rc. Only folks in places like this are privy to our inadequacies

[Grastens]

Sometimes, vintage cars will inspire me to make them look original:

Invariably, though, they end up with upgrades in the interest of making them better runners. I have little conscience when it comes to reproduction parts; my cars are almost always runners because I cannot afford to have a collection of shelf queens.

A look around the forums can prove I am having a fantastic time with my Lancia Rally So I am personally all right with modifying/customizing vintage cars, even if others are not.

Such was the case when I took a craft saw to a Lancia Rally shell... It was beat-up, but still a vintage shell that only needed moderate restoration at the most. Yet I had inspiration, and crazy things can happen:

In the end: the way I see it, I am living a childhood I never had with cars that were before my time, and enjoying them as I would have if I were born in the 1970s. If I was not so keen on the classics, I would be doing much the same thing with modern buggies and touring cars, a few of which have made it into my collection. Hence, one should be free to do whatever one chooses with vintage RC cars - bring one into a new era with your modifications and ideas!