Jump to content
nowinaminute

Finally got a Nikko Dandy Dash but it's a bit of a dog!

Recommended Posts

I've been trying to get a hold of one of these for years but there just never seems to be one in the right condition at the right price. My attempts to get a mint Super Sprint (same thing but with some hopups) last year was thwarted by the sellers complete refusal to post the item. It ended up selling for £25 along with a mint Falcon and another Nikko! I still have a sick feeling after all this time!

So anyway, I saw this Dandy Dash a about a month ago and although rough, it seemed to be pretty much complete "no major damage" it said in the listing "Just needs a rebuild and repaint". I nearly bid on it but coudlnt justify the price really so I let it go.

Then a few weeks later it popped up on ebay again, apparently the high bidder last time was foreign and the guy wasn't willing to ship internationally. So I took that as a sign of fate and bid on it. I ended up winning it for just shy of £100. More than I wanted to spend really although by no means more than it's necessarily worth, they have gone up in value an awful lot on the past decade or so. Long gone are the days when shops were clearing old kits for £50!

So anyways, it turns up and I excitedly open the box and at first it seems to be as described, rough around the edges but mostly intact:

X1wpsDs.jpg

hTnzO8P.jpg

But within mere minutes it's clear all is not quite what it seems. The seller took the bumper off to fit it in the box which meant I immediately saw some extensive damage to the front gearbox housing and also two the the attachment points between the gearbox and chassis:

dXsb3Yc.jpg
syRQLNp.jpg
etR4uRW.jpg

Then to add salt to the wound, I find one of the front wheels is shatters too:

fDNsYXR.jpg

No major damage? Is he having a laugh?

So I immediately message the seller to express my concerns, I wouldn't have bid that much if the damage had been disclosed. After several days I get this message:

"Sorry only just seen your messages. I did not know about damage on the car..
As I didn't take the car apart to check before advertising it for sale... It was working fine when last used without issues.
It's not been used for many until I had a clearout recently."

This guy should be in politics, what a complete and utter cop out and non-answer! Who said it needed to be taken apart to see the damage? Who's responsibility would it be even if that were true? Who described it as "no major damage?" When it worked fine the last time you drove it, did you happen to drive it off the cargo ramp of an airborne c130 Hercules??? I asked all these questions and more but the seller simply ceased responding.

This left me with a bit of a dilemma. The car has some serious damage but on the other hand it's rare and I think I can make it usable again even if it will never be a shelf queen. I only really had two options now that it was clear any kind of partial refun was out of the question: keep it or return it for a refund. I decided to keep it, after waiting so long and finally getting my hands on one im reluctant to let go of it again so i left him a darn good negging on ebay and got to work!

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ouch! Id have been livid!

I had one of these about 10 years ago, there are some pics on the site somewhere. I remember being impressed with the quality of it. I didnt even know what it was, it came with an ultima.

 

How long before it came back on ebay, long enough for previous buyer to have returned it? Or maybe gone to collect and seen the damage?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, graemevw said:

Ouch! Id have been livid!

I had one of these about 10 years ago, there are some pics on the site somewhere. I remember being impressed with the quality of it. I didnt even know what it was, it came with an ultima.

 

How long before it came back on ebay, long enough for previous buyer to have returned it? Or maybe gone to collect and seen the damage?

The quality really is very good, probably how it managed to survive what must have been a massive collision and still be in one piece (mostly) it really is very similar to Tamiya in terms of material quality and engineering, I'd say probably on par with a Hotshot or maybe a teeny bit higher still considering some of the design elements.

Considering the guys attitude and responses, I'm pretty sure it was relisted because the previous buyer returned it!

The thing is though, they are so hard to get these days that I just decided it was better to keep it. I saw a damaged one sell for £60 last year and it had no body, no wheels, suspension arms, shocks etc. It was basically just the central chassis and it still fetched 60 so although I feel angry that the guy mislead me, I have to look at the bigger picture. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow, i think thats what i sold mine for on here, was a while ago though and everything has gone up since then!

I guess parts availability is errr, low?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
30 minutes ago, graemevw said:

Wow, i think thats what i sold mine for on here, was a while ago though and everything has gone up since then!

I guess parts availability is errr, low?

Very thin on the ground!

I brought a job lot of Nikko parts last year but desperate to make some of my money back, I sold a gear bag and anti roll bar set. I regret that now!

I still have:

3x drive belts 

2x sets of shock absorbers

About 7x nut bags

2x screw bags

4x MSC parts bags

4x 11t and 12t pinion bags

2x ceramic resistors.

Guess how many of those I actually need for this car? You guessed it, none! Typical!

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

First order of business was to return the buggy to it's kit form and clean everything. My beaten up Lidl ultrasonic cleaner proving invaluable once again!

It had definitely picked up some dirt over the years!

xD3FlM9.jpg
JTuHDT3.jpg

qVWg4UJ.jpg

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I couldn't resist cleaning and rebuilding one shock first, just so I had something as inspiration for the rest. The original o rings looked identical to the red/orange Tamiya ones so I used some of those along with some yellow Tamiya oil. The result was a silky smooth shock that looked and worked great! I re-used the bladder and it seemed to be fine. The o rings might have been ok too but I decided to change them anyway because I had plenty on hand.

IHBemBz.jpg

iHfBmGQ.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Looking good . As you say , get some positive inspiration my friend  , all is not lost and I'm sure it can be turned around. The memory of the deal will pass and the finished model will be worth all the effort just to own one now.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
11 hours ago, KEV THE REV said:

Looking good . As you say , get some positive inspiration my friend  , all is not lost and I'm sure it can be turned around. The memory of the deal will pass and the finished model will be worth all the effort just to own one now.

 

It has some rough parts but I think I can fix them. I can try and plastic weld the wheel with a soldering iron, even if that doesn't work I can just borrow the wheels from my Boomerang.

The upside of it being so well used is that I won't be afraid to drive it, I can always wait for another one to come along eventually for looking pretty. This one will be used!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have had good results with a product called plastex. Its a powder and a solvent. You V out the crack, pour in the powder, then drip on the solvent. It melts the powder and the host plastic creating one solid piece again. There are different types for different plastics but the normal one bonds most stuff. I even managed to use it on lexan!

You can even use it for rebuilding missing sections, just need to make a form (tape will do) to hold the powder in place while you add the solvent.

Its not that cheap, but on the right plastics its great.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, graemevw said:

I have had good results with a product called plastex. Its a powder and a solvent. You V out the crack, pour in the powder, then drip on the solvent. It melts the powder and the host plastic creating one solid piece again. There are different types for different plastics but the normal one bonds most stuff. I even managed to use it on lexan!

You can even use it for rebuilding missing sections, just need to make a form (tape will do) to hold the powder in place while you add the solvent.

Its not that cheap, but on the right plastics its great.

I've seen this stuff before, someone used it to shorten a TL-01 maybe it was you? Looks really good. I will keep it in mind.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've got and used plastic to good effect on Tamiya plastics (split falcon arms and striker chassis)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Had a pretty bent suspension arm, heated it up with a lighter and got it back into a reasonably close approximation of what it should look like.

0Mn5ra6.jpg

LYEsBhG.jpg

I've used this technique quite a few times before and it seems to work like a charm, you just need to keep moving to avoid melting the plastic.

The rear shock tower is bent too, I will try a wind proof lighter with that one, hopefully it will minimise any soot getting into the plastic. I'm surprised the plastic managed to bend so much without snapping, the shock tower in particular is very distorted. It must have had some pretty dramatic impacts in it's time!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The gears were mostly in reasonable shape but there was some dirt ingress because the previous owner hadn't fitted the dust cover to the motor. This has resulted in some of the gears being a little chewed but not too catastrophic. I de-greased them and got all the dirt off that I could. Some of them still have some black discoloration, I could sit there with wet and dry paper and try and gently get it off but I really haven't got the patience or will power.

ukx2kOJ.jpg

So I got thinking about a way to try and at least get some of it off without losing the will to live in the process and then it hit me, what's the best thing for cleaning teeth?

TbtlK3M.jpg

It worked quite well! :lol:

W8V5zXS.jpg

I might give it another go with my electric toothbrush too!

  • Haha 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It should work as it is for cleaning teeth ;) . I've used Jif (Cif) in the past , that works well too .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
55 minutes ago, nowinaminute said:

I've used this technique quite a few times before and it seems to work like a charm, you just need to keep moving to avoid melting the plastic.

The rear shock tower is bent too, I will try a wind proof lighter with that one, hopefully it will minimise any soot getting into the plastic. I'm surprised the plastic managed to bend so much without snapping, the shock tower in particular is very distorted. It must have had some pretty dramatic impacts in it's time!

Good work there . I've used a heat gun with a premade former / cramp made of wood to reform plastic like that , heat up in vice between the wood former and gradually clamp up as it heats up and leave to cool , I sometimes over compensate the cramp slightly to allow for flexing back as it cools .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, KEV THE REV said:

It should work as it is for cleaning teeth ;) . I've used Jif (Cif) in the past , that works well too .

And they do say when advertising the Oral B that you can't possibly brush as well using an old fashioned tooth brush as you can with their electric one so it makes sense to try it that too. Time to break out a spare tip.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

On hold for a while. Despite having millions of bearings, I was missing the 4x 8x14x4mm ones. Ordered a set, they arrived today but I could instantly see they were the wrong size. They sent me 8x16x5mm instead!

I'm going away next week so unlikely to be able to make a start till a week Saturday now.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Does anyone know how tricky/easy it is to make anti roll/sway bars? I stupidly sold the set I had (and a gear set, doh!) last year in a bout of not thinking forward. I wonder if I could use something like the DT03 set as a starting point and maybe just get some piano wire to make the wire parts?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Depending on the set up it should be quite easy . I've made up some anti roll bars on my LB's . I've just made one for my LB Ultima conversion out of Tamiya TRF sway bar ends (red) Tamiya 5mm rod ends and 3mm threaded rod  , Tamiya 5mm ball connectors can be used too . The rods I made from 2mm rod from eBay

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for your help on my Super Sprint thread Nowinaminute. Good to see you making some progress after getting a bum deal. How cool are these Nikkos? :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Finally under way!

Rear diff, pulley and split gear assembled. There is a square plastic tubular part inside the split gear that can be replaced by a stack of alternate square and round washers, the square ones are fixed and the round ones can move. In combination with some grease it all acts as a viscous coupling for front/rear torque splitting. The splitter comes stock in the Super Sprint but is a hopup for the Dash. Perhaps if I can find suitable washers I'll be able to recreate it.

KvMboUp.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...