GrassHopper rebuild

[racer1]

Hey guys,

Just starting a restoration of an very nice, what I believe to be original Grasshopper project. Yes I will be doing my first ever "builds" here in TC starting tomorrow and I must say that i'm looking forward to it.

I recently acquired the car from a bulk buy on Ebay.  The car appears to be 100% original and even came with the original body without the decals installed.  The original decals where included and the only issue I can find is that the car appears to have over heated the MSC at some point as the balloon is melted into a glob of rubber mess that will require that the MSC be replaced......  Lucky I have a couple of MSC's laying around from previous builds so replacing that part seems to be an easy fix. 

Now for the question. The car I took apart has black bushings in the front wheels. Are these correct or have they been replaced at some point in the past?  Looking at the wheels and tires it appears as if the car has been run very little as there is virtually NO wear on either set of tires. Just questioning if the black bushings are correct for an original early Grasshopper. 

Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. 

 

[mongoose1983]

1 hour ago, racer1 said:

Now for the question. The car I took apart has black bushings in the front wheels. Are these correct or have they been replaced at some point in the past?  Looking at the wheels and tires it appears as if the car has been run very little as there is virtually NO wear on either set of tires. Just questioning if the black bushings are correct for an original early Grasshopper.

The plastic black bushings on the front wheels are 100% original. You can keep them as long as they're not too worn, or replace them with inexpensive ball-bearings. Good luck with the restoration, these things are awesome!!

Oh, by the way, if you're wondering if your Grasshopper is really one of the very first ones (1984), you have to look for the "Off-Roader" mark on the front. You have to remove the body to see if the writing is there. If it is, you can be 100% sure it is one of the ones released in 1984.

[racer1]

Thanks for the reply. Looks like the black bushings are n good enough shape to reuse.  Just need to start rummaging through my parts bins downstairs as I'm in need of a front bumper, MSC and rear springs. Thankfully I should have all of these as all of the runners I'v built over the yeas ran ESC and Oil shocks from the Hornet. Hopefully there is a good original bumper down there somewhere as well.

This car is going to be a shelf queen so I want it to be 100% correct and accurate. Unfortunately mine is not early enough to have the Off-Roader Mark on the front.  Honestly I don't think I have ever seen on that does.