Mugen Bulldog II

[Bullitt3577 35]

Got this Bulldog many years ago and started to clean her up. Kit was very lightly used, missing the front bumper and the tires are pretty much rotted. I also got a bunch of parts with this when I bought it and realized it was a whole kit still in the box! The condition of the car was pretty good except for the corrosion on the fasteners, the air shock and the rotted tires.

You can see the the corrosion with the body off!

Here's the shocks, the top one shows all the corrosion and the frozen pin in the shock end. The shocks were stuck when I got it and I was worried I wasn't going to be able to salvage them. I sanded and polished the shaft, body and luckily the shocks still work!

[Bullitt3577 35]

All the steel parts and fastners were pretty rusted.

Put the parts in a bottle with vinegar and let it soak shaking it occasionally.

Heres what they look like after about 5 hours.

[markbt73 5316]

Wow, that's about the rustiest 540 I've seen. I always thought the Bulldog was cool, though I like the earlier rollcage version better. Looks like it will clean up well... you going to run it?

[Bullitt3577 35]

Wow, that's about the rustiest 540 I've seen. I always thought the Bulldog was cool, though I like the earlier rollcage version better. Looks like it will clean up well... you going to run it?

Yeah, I never saw a 540 rust that bad either, it was not worth cleaning so it went in the trash! I'm more into restoring right now so I dont have plans on running it but if I did, I would need new tires or use modern wheels and tires.

[Hibernaculum 933]

Good work here. Nice to see you making the effort on this one.

The tyres for the Mugen Bulldogs (both 1 and 2 have the same tyres, and it's also the same tyre at all 4 wheels) are extremely hard to find... but not impossible to find. I used to think they were impossible to find, and even wondered if they were ever sold as spare parts.

But as with a lot of vintage R/C things that I thought I'd never find, it turned out they were out there.

They even came in a nice box (as did the roll cage of the Bulldog)...

The Bulldog did hail from 1986 (and the Bulldog II feels like it was released later the same year, as it appeared quite soon after), so they were still within the era when even spare parts were treated with some degree of reverence by manufacturers, and some were sold in nice boxes (Tamiya obviously being the main purveyor of this).

Mugen was also a strange company...

In my mind, as far as off-road cars went, only the Bulldog and Bulldog II were pure Mugen.

They later released cars like the "Manx" (a Hornet competitor) and "Mercury" (with it's bizarre 100% vertical shock towers) but these two buggies also appeared under other names by other brands, like Academy and Panda (with no attribution to Mugen)... which kinda makes them seem like they were designs for hire or something, or were just sold off for reprint.

But the Bulldogs were only ever Mugen products. I'm pretty sure the company president even traveled to the US to promote them in 1986. They were quite advanced buggies for their time, and even competitive.

In the 1990s, Mugen quit electric entirely and focused on 1/8 petrol buggies. They have survived and been successful in competition, but their old logo is gone, and their original 80s electric models are no longer, to my knowledge, even acknowledged on so much as an "about" page.

A shame that we didn't see more off-road models from them between 1980 - 1986, when electric buggy innovation was at it's peak. Because the Bulldogs were packed with ideas, and are super cool. The company's potential was never fulfilled during the vintage era, but at least it burned brightly for a couple of years.

[Saito2 6686]

I remember how unique the idea of air shocks on the Bulldog seemed to me as a kid. I also remember the Mugen Manx being a clone of the Panda Cyclone. So, the Mercury was somehow connected to Mugen? I only ever saw tiny pictures of it in the same ads with the World Products Rockbuster (Grasshopper clone) buggy.

[Bullitt3577 35]

Good work here. Nice to see you making the effort on this one.

The tyres for the Mugen Bulldogs (both 1 and 2 have the same tyres, and it's also the same tyre at all 4 wheels) are extremely hard to find... but not impossible to find. I used to think they were impossible to find, and even wondered if they were ever sold as spare parts.

But as with a lot of vintage R/C things that I thought I'd never find, it turned out they were out there.

They even came in a nice box (as did the roll cage of the Bulldog)...

The Bulldog did hail from 1986 (and the Bulldog II feels like it was released later the same year, as it appeared quite soon after), so they were still within the era when even spare parts were treated with some degree of reverence by manufacturers, and some were sold in nice boxes (Tamiya obviously being the main purveyor of this).

Mugen was also a strange company...

In my mind, as far as off-road cars went, only the Bulldog and Bulldog II were pure Mugen.

They later released cars like the "Manx" (a Hornet competitor) and "Mercury" (with it's bizarre 100% vertical shock towers) but these two buggies also appeared under other names by other brands, like Academy and Panda (with no attribution to Mugen)... which kinda makes them seem like they were designs for hire or something, or were just sold off for reprint.

But the Bulldogs were only ever Mugen products. I'm pretty sure the company president even traveled to the US to promote them in 1986. They were quite advanced buggies for their time, and even competitive.

In the 1990s, Mugen quit electric entirely and focused on 1/8 petrol buggies. They have survived and been successful in competition, but their old logo is gone, and their original 80s electric models are no longer, to my knowledge, even acknowledged on so much as an "about" page.

A shame that we didn't see more off-road models from them between 1980 - 1986, when electric buggy innovation was at it's peak. Because the Bulldogs were packed with ideas, and are super cool. The company's potential was never fulfilled during the vintage era, but at least it burned brightly for a couple of years.

Thanks for the Mugen background. I did manage to salvage the tires, they'll be good enough for shelf duty but I'll still be on the lookout for new ones.

I remember how unique the idea of air shocks on the Bulldog seemed to me as a kid. I also remember the Mugen Manx being a clone of the Panda Cyclone. So, the Mercury was somehow connected to Mugen? I only ever saw tiny pictures of it in the same ads with the World Products Rockbuster (Grasshopper clone) buggy.

The air shocks are what drew me to this car when I was a kid and to this day.

[Bullitt3577 35]

Here's what the tires look like, rubber dry and brittle with multiple tears.

This is the tires glued and trying the paragon traction compound on one of the tires.

After 2 coats of traction compound applied soaking for about 2 hours each coat, then washing the tires with soap and water to get the oily residue off. Tires are softer and look so much better, the shiny glue marks are not that noticeable in person.

[Bullitt3577 35]

Radio gear and under tray off the car.

Side plate off showing the belt drive system.

Plastic parts scrubbed clean with soap and water waiting to be put back together.

[Bullitt3577 35]

Got the drivetrain back together, why does this look like some kind of sci fi spaceship? lol

Suspension and servos on and skid plate showing the battery mounting strap.

Electronics installed and crusty motor replaced with a new 540.

Pic of the underside.

[fristajlo 45]

Looking great! These cars are so cool. No spare rims for sale? My car didn't come with original wheels

[Bullitt3577 35]

Looking great! These cars are so cool. No spare rims for sale? My car didn't come with original wheels

Sorry, no spare wheels but there's listing on ebay that has some wheels and some other parts right now.

[fristajlo 45]

Sorry, no spare wheels but there's listing on ebay that has some wheels and some other parts right now.

Is it that guy from Taiwan selling?

[Bullitt3577 35]

Is it that guy from Taiwan selling?

Yeah, it's from Taiwan.

[fristajlo 45]

Yeah, it's from Taiwan.

Been in touch with that guy regarding other items, not to keen on doing business with him to be honest.

Some great restoring tips here, will try out the vinegar rust removal and the traction fluid! Tried citric acid in the past but I think the solution was to strong, messed things up

[Bullitt3577 35]

Been in touch with that guy regarding other items, not to keen on doing business with him to be honest.

Some great restoring tips here, will try out the vinegar rust removal and the traction fluid! Tried citric acid in the past but I think the solution was to strong, messed things up

Oh, ok. . . I'll let you know if I see any others pop up.

I used 5% white vinegar and it can be diluted with water if you don't want it as strong. Just be aware that it probably will remove any coating that might be on the metal parts.

[Bullitt3577 35]

I found a JG bumper on eBay and installed that to finish off the chassis.

Here it is, all cleaned up and back together.

I'm probably going to leave the body the way it is for now and probably get a repro body and decal set sometime in the future. I wish it wasn't painted on the outside but it's in pretty good shape. I might try to clean the tires again and put another coat of traction compound on since it looks like I didn't get all the crud off the tires the first time.

[fristajlo 45]

Great result! Kind of like the fugly body as well Recieved my wheels yesterday, and the rims are very, very yellow. They were supposed to be white originally?

Going to try the traction compound in the future too. I have to this date not found any substance that have any effect on dried out tires. Happy to try this out

[Bullitt3577 35]

Great result! Kind of like the fugly body as well Recieved my wheels yesterday, and the rims are very, very yellow. They were supposed to be white originally?

Going to try the traction compound in the future too. I have to this date not found any substance that have any effect on dried out tires. Happy to try this out

Thanks. I like the body when it's painted box art but will probably be time consuming to recreate. Lol. That's what I plan on doing when I get a repro body and decal set but I have several bodies for other kits that I want to finish first.

Hmmm, I just got a cox bandido that came with yellowed wheels and I heard submerging them in hydrogen peroxide and leaving it out in the sun works but I haven't tried that yet?

[Hibernaculum 933]

The body for the Bulldog II looks great when done "official" art.

However, note that there are 3 looks that I am aware that were released, in promo material for the car. One on the box, and two others in production/promotional images. The differences are not huge - all 3 are very similar. It just comes down to where you put some decals and how you paint some bits, depending on if you like one (or remember) a particular image of the car.

In my opinion you can take your pick between the options and still consider it an "'official" original look for the car.

My favourite of the 3 is this production/promo image...

This was a production photo. (The rest of the page comes from an Australian retail catalogue).

Then we have the box art....This is quite similar, but not identical. e.g. the embossed "Mugen" on the bonnet is done in yellow (hard to see in this pic, but trust me). Also the side panels of the car use large red decals. (It's odd that the suspension is lowered in this photo, the car is not normally this low). I scanned this from the side of one of my kits...

Last but not least, here is another production/promo photo, where you can see things are a little different again - e.g. the embossed "Mugen" on the bonnet is not painted this time...

My preference of these is the first one - I really think the white embossed "Mugen" on the asymmetrical bonnet feature looks great and the "Racing Magician" above the cockpit, is essential Too cool. This car had great decals (except for the one with a spelling error!)

Regarding bodies... given you cannot remove the paint on the body you have, I'd just paint over it (on the outside) and see how close I could get to one of these looks. I'd preserve the few original decals still left on it by peeling them off and regluing later. Nothing to lose with those, so may as well save them if you can.

Keep an eye out for original bodies and parts though. Go for repro and other parts if you like, but original items do come up as this car had a retail spare parts line. Anytime someone puts in a lot of effort to restore something vintage, I just think they should never give up the hunt for the last few original pieces needed to complete it as 100% original. The harder a project is to complete, it only becomes more satisfying if you ultimately do.

cheers,

H.

[Hibernaculum 933]

I remember how unique the idea of air shocks on the Bulldog seemed to me as a kid. I also remember the Mugen Manx being a clone of the Panda Cyclone. So, the Mercury was somehow connected to Mugen? I only ever saw tiny pictures of it in the same ads with the World Products Rockbuster (Grasshopper clone) buggy.

Sorry Saito, I missed this earlier question from you.

Yes the Mercury was sold under Mugen branding, as well as Academy branding (Academy was I believe, a Korean plastic model company).

It's hard to know exactly what happened, but Mugen went from making exclusively their own products - the two Bulldogs plus several on-road 1/12 cars, to making a couple of buggies that were sold under other brands as well as their own. And then finally, they quit electric R/C altogether.

The company was founded in 1982, and was originally called Mugen Engineering Co.

Around 1990 it changed to Mugen Seiki. This was also around the time they quit electric R/C and became exclusively a 1/8 petrol of-road manufacturer. The beginning of the 90s was when numerous R/C companies either closed down, or quit electric R/C, as the market seemed to be overloaded with products while sales were also slowing.

[Bullitt3577 35]

The body for the Bulldog II looks great when done "official" art.

However, note that there are 3 looks that I am aware that were released, in promo material for the car. One on the box, and two others in production/promotional images. The differences are not huge - all 3 are very similar. It just comes down to where you put some decals and how you paint some bits, depending on if you like one (or remember) a particular image of the car.

In my opinion you can take your pick between the options and still consider it an "'official" original look for the car.

My favourite of the 3 is this production/promo image...

This was a production photo. (The rest of the page comes from an Australian retail catalogue).

Then we have the box art....This is quite similar, but not identical. e.g. the embossed "Mugen" on the bonnet is done in yellow (hard to see in this pic, but trust me). Also the side panels of the car use large red decals. (It's odd that the suspension is lowered in this photo, the car is not normally this low). I scanned this from the side of one of my kits...

Last but not least, here is another production/promo photo, where you can see things are a little different again - e.g. the embossed "Mugen" on the bonnet is not painted this time...

My preference of these is the first one - I really think the white embossed "Mugen" on the asymmetrical bonnet feature looks great and the "Racing Magician" above the cockpit, is essential Too cool. This car had great decals (except for the one with a spelling error!)

Regarding bodies... given you cannot remove the paint on the body you have, I'd just paint over it (on the outside) and see how close I could get to one of these looks. I'd preserve the few original decals still left on it by peeling them off and regluing later. Nothing to lose with those, so may as well save them if you can.

Keep an eye out for original bodies and parts though. Go for repro and other parts if you like, but original items do come up as this car had a retail spare parts line. Anytime someone puts in a lot of effort to restore something vintage, I just think they should never give up the hunt for the last few original pieces needed to complete it as 100% original. The harder a project is to complete, it only becomes more satisfying if you ultimately do.

cheers,

H.

Thanks, I wasn't aware of the slight differences in the promo pics, I was just going to reference my NIB Bulldog II that I have for reference even tho the box is kinda water damaged.

Yeah, I would prefer original parts but I'll settle for repro parts if I have too. I'm not in a huge hurry to complete this but I might try stripping the paint off and see how that goes?