To restore or not? Supershot.

[quattroB5 1]

Hello ladies and gents! First post on here although I have been lurking on the background for a while. I've been dreaming of owning a Supershot and I found one on ebay which looked promising. I tried to make sure that it didn't have cracks and what was included etc. and after brief messaging with the seller I made a bid and won it. Well, now that I received it I'm having second thoughts whether it's reasonable to restore it or not. So far I've found cracked front and rear control arms, cracked wheel adapters, cracked mech box and front gearbox. Also there's all kind of (wrong) screws used in the assembly. I knew that there were some things missing like the front bumper stay, tie rods, servo saver and that the most expensive parts that I would need to source would be body, rims and tires. I'm not too fussed about using vintage parts and can happily use re re parts to make a decent runner but now when I did some shopping basket calculation, I'm already over 100€'s worth of parts on Timetunnel and that's without body and rims. Do you have any suggestions what would you do in my shoes? Go ahead with the restore or sell the car for parts and try to minimize the losses?

Then I have some questions which might make the decision easier. If I buy the re re front gearbox, do I need to buy also the re re outdrives? I know that I need to use e-clips with the re re gearbox, but can I use original Supershot outdrives with re re gearbox and e-clips? Super Hotshot doesn't seem to have screw bags available like the re re Hotshot does, is this correct?
Okay, that's it for tonight. Thank you if you made it this far!

 

[Tamiyabigstuff 832]

A new re-re Super Shot id £239 from Fusion Hobbies...

Don't know what you paid for the one you got from ebay but consider returning it to the seller for a full refund - item not as described - and either look for a better one or but a new kit ?

You will probably end up spending the same - or more - on restoring the one from ebay. 

[Hibernaculum 933]

My feeling is that if someone is going to buy an original Supershot (or any original car) to "restore" it, then they should consider restoring it with original parts. Because in it's purest sense, that's the definition of restoration.

If you're not worried at all about original parts, that's ok - maybe leave the original Supershot to one of us fanatics who do care about original restorations And grab yourself a nice, brand new remake kit, as @Tamiyabigstuff has said.

This works out better for everybody:

• One more original car is left original (and you don't go spending more money on it than you would for a remake kit).
• You will be happier with a brand new "Super Hotshot" kit (the remake) for less money, which will contain everything you need - and no restoration work required.

 

[Juggular 4964]

I got a beat-up Boomerang for about $55. 

I figured, "just a new shell and some extra parts."  As it happened, I ordered a bunch of stuff I didn't really need (but wanted).  It ended up being about $150 worth of stuff.  I could have gotten a new one for $210.  So, I'm about even (if I don't need anything more). 

Sometimes, these things end up in the trash.  I'd like to imagine that I'm breathing a new life into it, even if I'm using re-re parts.  

 

[Hibernaculum 933]

Yeah for sure  I mean - I'd much rather something be restored with remake parts, than thrown in the bin. Definitely, 100%. I hate seeing any Tamiya headed for the bin (and I've saved a few)

I guess personally when I'm in the market to buy something used, I find myself avoiding anything which is a mixture of original and remake. Maybe I am OCD fussy about this. But I'm either wanting an original I can keep original. Or I'm looking for a remake I can keep as a remake. Both are legit models. But also different model entries in the Tamiya canon. I'm never wanting to buy "original shelfers" that have been restored with remake bits, as it feels like the restorer took a short cut. Hurts my brain

[Juggular 4964]

I've heard that Yak-1 and/or Yak-9 Soviet planes don't have the accurate measurements.  Because they were never uniform to start with.  The factory workers would put together a mish-mash of parts to make one plane.  If a salvage crew chopped off a landing gear too short, they'd chop off a new landing gear to match.  

Kinda like T34 tanks with gaps in welding seams rolling off the factory to fight at the other end of the factory.  Crude beyond belief by German standard, but it won the war.  Maybe I'm getting sloppy as I age.  But I don't mind the Russian standard for my bashers.  That does not mean that I don't respect the exact German standard.  

My LWB M38 is rather common, I've got some 3D printed parts on it.  But if somebody says, "I've got a SWB, and I want to use only the original parts."  Oh, yeah, I get that.  Not only that, I would want him to use the original.  Imagine somebody gluing the horizontal grill of WW2 on a pristine M38 body.  That'd be a sacrilege!  I could not sleep for days, thinking about the blasphemy.  

Restorers are fighting a divine war against time, which decays everything.  Unless, of course, you've got one of these things... Since mere mortals don't get to play with TARDIS, we need more restorers carrying on with the good works.

[quattroB5 1]

Thank you all! Some good discussion and Tamiyabigstuff, your reply makes total sense and I'm going to follow your advice regarding returning. When you want something badly, it clouds your judgement and you need some voice of reason to set your thoughts straight.

Hibernaculum, I totally get what you're saying and I should've maybe word the topic better. Replace "to restore" with "to make a runner". I've been hunting for Supershot or a re re second hand for a while and actually haven't bumped into many re re that are for sale. Also usually vintage ones come without RC gear which suit me better.

Juggular, very good points also. To me maybe the biggest thrill is to make something work that is broken but this time it's not worth it.

[Wixy1260 4]

I have an unused vintage and an unused 2012 in my showroom. Both are for sale if interested. 

[Wixy1260 4]

$450

Edited March 15, 2020 by Wixy1260

[S-PCS 568]

On 9/8/2018 at 7:41 AM, Juggular said:

Kinda like T34 tanks with gaps in welding seams rolling off the factory to fight at the other end of the factory.  Crude beyond belief by German standard, but it won the war.  Maybe I'm getting sloppy as I age.  But I don't mind the Russian standard for my bashers.  That does not mean that I don't respect the exact German standard.

This is going off topic, sorry, but I just have to add two more "winning the war" examples: Invincible German state-of-the-art engineering miracle Tiger II tanks in France getting pack-attacked and overrun by vastly inferior American Shermans, while the Air Force's outdated P-51 Mustangs simply swarmed the high-tech Luftwaffe Strahljäger fighters. Numbers, sheer industrial output, triumphed over technology. 20 years later Ford named a car after the P-51, and that car line is still in production today and happens to be the top-selling 2-door coupe in Europe. Economies of Scale made it possible. 

Ok, done. Sorry. But really, it had to be said. 

[GTodd 1350]

1. File a case against the seller with eBay, receive compensation.

2. Restore it.

3. I see nothing wrong with using re-re parts for a restoration. The molds are EXACTLY the same , 99.9 percent of the time the original date is on the spruce and the parts are impossible to tell the difference from.  Yes some metal parts and supporting hardware maybe different (screws, decals, etc). The snobbery get annoying.

4. Enjoy the heck out of it!

[jonboy1 2943]

On 9/8/2018 at 3:06 AM, Juggular said:

I got a beat-up Boomerang for about $55. 

I figured, "just a new shell and some extra parts."  As it happened, I ordered a bunch of stuff I didn't really need (but wanted).  It ended up being about $150 worth of stuff.  I could have gotten a new one for $210.  So, I'm about even (if I don't need anything more). 

Sometimes, these things end up in the trash.  I'd like to imagine that I'm breathing a new life into it, even if I'm using re-re parts.  

 

same here. £40 boomer that needed a few new parts and a new shell, quick easy and cheap resto. Several hundred £'s later......

Pick your restoration projects carefully and really be thorough with working out exactly what you need and how much those parts cost. You'd be amaaaazed ho quickly they add up. A brand new re-relaease can work out a lot cheaper.

[didcos 37]

I also fell into the "bad boomerang trap". Overall it cost me more than a re-re kit ;-) At least it was fun bringing it back to life.

Back to the subject: I have yet to see a vintage used hotshot-based car without any split arms or geabox. But an hairline crack doesn't mean you have to change the part. Sometimes it will last a while before being broken. Most of my geabox have splits in the screw pits but none of them have given up yet. Same cannot be said about the arms. If you intend to run it, do so until you really breake something. Usually the rear arms will go first. 10£ later it runs again. Or, as other people said, sell it and buy a rere. It really depends if you want the real deal or if you're not that bothered.

I'm aso restoring a vintage supershot. I maybe shouldn't say restore because I put some rere rear arms on it! I understand collectors willing to keep their vintage models 100% original but personnaly, when the part looks exactly the same (even if the material itself is not), I'm not too bothered. It's all about bringing the car back to life, with whatever is available. Rere, 3D printed or whatever.

 

 

 

[Juggular 4964]

2 hours ago, didcos said:

hairline crack doesn't mean you have to change the part. Sometimes it will last a while before being broken.

I can vouch for that.  If you are not jumping or rock racing, the stress on the arms are gentle.  They might last years if you are running it on flat tarmac or on carpet.  

I wonder if 3D printed arms made out of nylon would be stronger than brittle ABS arms...

 

[markbt73 5316]

If it already has some missing parts and incorrect hardware, it's probably not a great candidate for a nut-and-bolt-correct restoration anyway. I understand H's mindset of wanting originality, but it sounds (like me) like you would rather build and drive than shop, so (like me) the search for new-old-stock or good used parts, solely for the sake of their date of manufacture, would bore or infuriate you, or both.

It's an ongoing battle, sometimes, between the resto-modders and the rivet-counters, but personally I think there is a continuum between the two extremes, and (for now anyway) plenty of cars for both to go around. To me, this one sounds like it's in "fix it with new parts of any age, but keep it stockish, and go enjoy it" condition.

[Jonathon Gillham 4606]

14 hours ago, didcos said:

I also fell into the "bad boomerang trap". Overall it cost me more than a re-re kit ;-) At least it was fun bringing it back to life.

Umm, how can there be a bad boomerang trap when there is no such thing as a bad boomerang? Is there a car any better than the boomerang?

[jonboy1 2943]

2 hours ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

Umm, how can there be a bad boomerang trap when there is no such thing as a bad boomerang? Is there a car any better than the boomerang?

Falcon.

 

Boom

[Jonathon Gillham 4606]

10 minutes ago, jonboy1 said:

Falcon.

 

Boom

See how everyone is laughing 🤣

[jonboy1 2943]

32 minutes ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

See how everyone is laughing 🤣

they're too busy laughing to respond