Cars that last a lifetime

[Saito2]

Decades ago when I was kid, there was a mindset that toys made from metal were of higher, longer lasting quality. There is some truth to this I suppose as I still have all my Tonka trucks but their plastic knockoff counterparts have long since turned to dust. I think a lot of this may be due to the gradual influx of plastic toys in my youth and adults were taking note of this.

While restoring some older 80's Tamiyas, one commonly runs across models where the ABS plastic basically begins to crumble away. Where the model was stored, temp, UV rays, etc. all plays a part in how it survived through time. Still, it got me thinking, which models, if cared for, could last a lifetime? Models where the main makeup is metal would be a place to start. The Bruiser, the SRBs, a Scrorpion etc. don't have many wear or impact components that aren't metal. Assuming the gears are nylon-type composition, that could be heated up in some water every once in a while to re-hydrate them. Along that line of thinking, the RC10 could be long lived as well with its majority nylon parts makeup. Any others ideas on models the would stand up for a lifetime of use?

[MadInventor]

My steel king tiger. All metal construction and the hull is dovetailed and TIG welded together. Thinnest hull plate is 5mm steel ;). That will still be around when the last cockroach has died 

 

Front upper glacis plate is 10mm thick steel.....

 

 

[Juggular]

3 hours ago, Saito2 said:

Assuming the gears are nylon-type composition, that could be heated up in some water every once in a while to re-hydrate them. 

 

I sense some knowledge I'm missing... Saito 2, do nylons shrink after years?  I know tires could shrink like 15%, bud did not know nylons did that.  You could fix nylon by heating up in water?  

[Saito2]

Basically, nylons dry out and become brittle with age (which ABS does in a way too I suppose). Nylon parts can be dropped into boiling water, or soaked for longer periods in less hot water. This re-hydrates them and makes them more resilient again. Its questionable if this technique does any help for things like Tamiya ABS however. For starters, ABS begins to deform in boiling water. I'm also not sure if ABS is as near as porous as nylon to be able to reabsorb the moisture. I do soak old ABS in warm water for several hours from time to time however, but the process might be futile (or any benefit might all in my head, lol) 

[TurnipJF]

Nylon can be revitalised with water, but ABS needs to be soaked in something containing a replasticising agent. I gather that many of the sprays used to protect and revitalise car dashboards contain such agents. Armor All is generally regarded as one of the best for this.

[speedy_w_beans]

10 hours ago, Saito2 said:

Decades ago when I was kid, there was a mindset that toys made from metal were of higher, longer lasting quality. There is some truth to this I suppose as I still have all my Tonka trucks but their plastic knockoff counterparts have long since turned to dust. I think a lot of this may be due to the gradual influx of plastic toys in my youth and adults were taking note of this.

While restoring some older 80's Tamiyas, one commonly runs across models where the ABS plastic basically begins to crumble away. Where the model was stored, temp, UV rays, etc. all plays a part in how it survived through time. Still, it got me thinking, which models, if cared for, could last a lifetime? Models where the main makeup is metal would be a place to start. The Bruiser, the SRBs, a Scrorpion etc. don't have many wear or impact components that aren't metal. Assuming the gears are nylon-type composition, that could be heated up in some water every once in a while to re-hydrate them. Along that line of thinking, the RC10 could be long lived as well with its majority nylon parts makeup. Any others ideas on models the would stand up for a lifetime of use?

 

I keep thinking pan cars are perfect long-life models.  Most of the plastic is in the FRP/carbon fiber plates, which can be recreated in new sheet material using the old parts as templates.  The rest of the hardware either lives forever or can be replaced easily from a general merchant like McMaster-Carr.

The simplicity is beauty itself:

[rc_ox]

I have just started "restoring" my old Calsonic TA02 since returning to the hobby last year. I noticed some cracks around the gearbox screw holes so I don't have much hope of it holding together for long if I start driving it again....  

I too wondered what model would last a lifetime - at least long enough to hand over to my kids in later years. The Bruiser comes to mind but I can't justify the price at this stage

 

[nde63h]

35 minutes ago, rc_ox said:

I have just started "restoring" my old Calsonic TA02 since returning to the hobby last year. I noticed some cracks around the gearbox screw holes so I don't have much hope of it holding together for long if I start driving it again....  

I too wondered what model would last a lifetime - at least long enough to hand over to my kids in later years. The Bruiser comes to mind but I can't justify the price at this stage

 

bruiser have plastic parts too. the body shell, the radio box, the battery holder, etc. i don't know what they would become after several tens of years...^^

[waterbok]

The metal used for the bruiser axles and SRB gearboxes etc wont live forever either, this is a cast alloy and can also corrode easily and fall apart, seen this happen with several Willy M38 axles.