Where do you draw the line?

[Pablo68 1049]

Over the years I've been slowly and surely semi restoring/modding/getting running two cars I was gifted in about....1988/9.
I was given a box with basically a pile of RC car bits all stripped down.
I actually figured out most of which bits went where but back then there was no internet to find out what the cars actually were and no ebay to source and by needed bits.
Over the next few decades these parts gathered dust and I even passed them on to a cousin cause I figured I'd never do anything with them.
Cue the two thousands and I got back in to the hobby and used the internet to figure out what theses bits were.
One was an SRB chassis, a Super Champ and the other a Kyosho Assault nitro buggy (I never had the engine).

I've put threads up about these two cars over the last few years as I've slowly (very slowly) worked on them. The SRB is just waiting for electrics and the body to be painted (Sand Blaster body, I'm a bit scared to try it tbh).
The Kyosho, I recently bought a shirt load of parts I needed and got to work on it.
This is the car that's bothering me. I've pumped quite a bit of money into it, more than just buying a re-re Scorpion or Tomohawk, or even going out and buying another vintage Assault.
And it's fighting me every step of the way. I am doing an electric conversion frankenstein Assault/Scorpion. I was making decent progress and I just found out that at some time in the last thirty years someone not me has cut the chassis rails shorter by about 20mm or so, no problem other than it's more money and I'll most probably have to wait around another month till the parts get here, which is one of the things that has been holding this project back.

So yeah, have you got a project like this? Would you have chucked or sold it on or something?

I'm deep into sunk cost territory atm.

[Killajb 1546]

At some point.. the overall cost seems to cross a line with the sentimental value of a project.  I think once you get to a point where the experience of building a project that YOU admire for the work YOU put into it, or the time and effort it took for YOU to acquire all of the necessary parts then you've crossed that line.  

At which point, the project means more to you than it would anyone else.  Furthermore, simply buying a re-re or updated kit (as in the Kyosho kits) won't be as gratifying because everyone and their little brother can simply buy one and put it together without the rewarding efforts it took for you to build your cars.  I think you need to ask yourself, "Self, have we crossed that line?".

[catman79 346]

i'm in a similar boat, i think as mentioned above it depends on how emotionally attached you are to that model, it has to be a model that when finished that you desire, if its not then it can be hard to continously pump money in to it. 

and its always good at the end to sit back and admire the fruits of your labour. im in the pricess of restoring an old yokomo yz10, id imagine it would of cost me around £800 in total once done, so a few hundred quid more that i could of bought a tidy one for if i could of found one. But its knowing i've built it and enjoyed doing so that's makes the cost pretty irrelevant. 

 

[Butler 338]

What about the value of time spent in the hobby? For example I bought a kit that was much better value RTR, but I wanted the unassembled kit because of the time spent in the hobby is enjoyable. Hard to put a price on it.

If I swapped going to the pub with time in the hobby I could afford a new tamiya kit every month easily and chuck it away. Madness.

[Mad Ax 9325]

This is an interesting question and sort a counterpoint to the "when is it still the original car?" posts that we have from time to time.  If you have to replace the chassis tub, most of the gears, the body and a number of suspension arms then you've got most of a new car, and you've got almost enough broken bits to start again building a rough car.  Which of course will also be built up with new bits.

It really comes down to how comfortable you are continuing to throw money at it.  I often feel that once I'm invested for more than the value of a new car, it would be embarrassing to stop.  At that point I pretty much have to throw money at it until it's done, or shelve it until the pain goes away.

I was in a similar place a couple of months ago when I dug out a very old SRB chassis for a lockdown rebuild.  I discovered that most of the parts are damaged beyond repair and if I wanted to rebuild it as a conventional SRB (considering I was going for a battered but driveable restoration, now a showroom finish) then I'd have no choice but to find replacements.  Given it was supposed to be a budget build, I'd have to buy re-re parts.  Then I'd be back where I was with a number of rough-and-ready SRB parts that could be built into some kind of hybrid/rat runner but wouldn't ever have a conventional SRB body mounted on them.  But I would need new gear internals, and a new front axle...  And those might as well go in the runnable restoration project as on the hybrid/rat, because that already got a new gear case, and the old bits would go on the hybrid/rat...  So I might as well just buy a new re-re as the resto and just build a hybrid/rat from the parts I have, then find some way of attaching the original Sand Scorcher body without using the original roll hoop......  at which point I don't actually need to buy a re-re because all I wanted was to get that original battered SRB body back onto its original chassis...  Gah!

I'm coming up with a new motto for RC projects - since I've had so much time stuck in the workshop deliberating recently - stop thinking, start doing.

[Mad Ax 9325]

1 minute ago, Butler said:

If I swapped going to the pub with time in the hobby I could afford a new tamiya kit every month easily and chuck it away. Madness.

Presumably you have swapped going to the pub with sometthing, right..?   

[Killajb 1546]

My wife asked me the other night, "You have what..  15 cars in that room?  Which one is your favorite car?"   My reply was of course a lengthy one, as each car has a story.  I actually took each one out and gave it a 0-100 rating.  I told her the rating was based on appearance, performance and finally cost. 

Each car was "drop-tested" to show how smooth the suspension was set up, the paint lines.. and clean wiring job.  She could see how much joy just describing each one of them meant to me.  As well, I could remember milestones in our lives that happened during the time of each build.  

Of all 15 cars, the highest one is a Yokomo B-4 Maxx (100) and the rest average between 98-88.  Which means I was highly pleased with the outcome.

My lowest rated car being a XB Rising Storm (70).  << That particular car is still being kept around because I am determined to make it right and not spend a fortune doing so.  By chance or circumstance, it's just give me bad luck.  NIB 3-Racing shocks came (front shock shaft was slightly scored and binds).  Cheap Brushless esc w/ program card (cogs upon start-up every time, no matter what programming adjustments I make) and some slop still in the front steering knuckles (the only steering part left which shiny Tamiya light blue alloy).  But I'll get there eventually.

Wifey gets it.  She was asking what it would take to sort out the Rising Storm and why I hadn't ordered parts yet.  I think this is why most of us are into this hobby, for the returns of personal joy we get for our time and money invested.

[ChrisRx718 4470]

26 minutes ago, Killajb said:

My lowest rated car being a XB Rising Storm (70).  << That particular car is still being kept around because I am determined to make it right and not spend a fortune doing so.  By chance or circumstance, it's just give me bad luck.  NIB 3-Racing shocks came (front shock shaft was slightly scored and binds).  Cheap Brushless esc w/ program card (cogs upon start-up every time, no matter what programming adjustments I make) and some slop still in the front steering knuckles (the only steering part left which shiny Tamiya light blue alloy).  But I'll get there eventually.

This really hits home 

My 'least favourite' Tamiya is also an XB DF02, but in my case a Gravel Hound. Similarly, I always seem to be fixing something on it and it also has a cheap brushless system in it!

It's a terrible runner offroad, but on-road where the tarmac isn't smooth enough for a touring car, this thing is at home (I guess at-heart it's a TT01), so I've recently ordered new on-road wheels and tyres and treated it to a new body.

Of course in return for my ££ one of the rear uprights just decided to snap (I was only moving it from the shelf at the time). Blasted thing!! 

[jonboy1 2943]

i like to think I've been doing my best to support the global economy with my purchasing of Tamiya parts. 

No question my enjoyment from the hobby comes from restoring and building and tracking down those all important rare parts. Hence why I'm starting to sell off some of my collection, as once they are built and sat on the shelf the thrill subsides somewhat. (yes, I know, I really should run some of them!) But that's why I'm happy to do resto's and paint for others, as that helps scratch my itch (not the scabby kind) but reduces my otherwise large expenditure.

There are some that I've spent a small fortune on and would do again, but those are the ones I have a real emotional attachment to. So the way I see it, if it's really special to me, and there's no way I'd sell it, then I don't care how much it costs. If I'm a bit "meh" then I'm a lot more strict (haha) with my spending. That's the theory anyhow.  

[Butler 338]

2 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

Presumably you have swapped going to the pub with sometthing, right..?   

Yes 2 new kits and i'm still better off.

[Falcon#5 594]

I would have to say it comes down to money invested versus reward.

You can pour a lot of money into a resto, and no one will ever pay the same amount to buy the car from you once finished.

But was the expense of doing the resto worth the enjoyment and reward of the experience?

You could spend X amount of money on a sky dive. There is nothing physical to show for it at the end. You have paid for the enjoyment and reward of the experience...

[Pablo68 1049]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Yeah this is an odd situation, bit of a combination of the ship of Theseus and wondering about the sunk cost et al.
I probably ranted a bit too much in my OP, but I was feeling frustrated. My aim was to use as much of the original car as possible, and the two chassis rails being too short was a bit of a blow.
Anyhoo, I'll continue on with it.

[SuperChamp82 743]

Gosh - where to start reassuring you’re not alone @Pablo68 ... 😂

Every project (vs classic build or resto) probably goes through where you’re currently at sir ?

 @Killajb @Mad Ax are also both spot on re it actually being about what the end result will mean to you personally ... because (I’ll be honest) you’re never going to get the net cost back + making money (or even breaking even) is rarely what the hobby is about !

I don’t regret any of my projects - pics attached - but I def do fewer these days ... largely because it’s a moment of inspiration / loss of sanity thing 😂

And I can afford to build / run more if flipping a well built / hopped up classic doesn’t cost me a fortune 🙄

[Pablo68 1049]

11 hours ago, SuperChamp82 said:

Gosh - where to start reassuring you’re not alone @Pablo68 ... 😂

Every project (vs classic build or resto) probably goes through where you’re currently at sir ?

 @Killajb @Mad Ax are also both spot on re it actually being about what the end result will mean to you personally ... because (I’ll be honest) you’re never going to get the net cost back + making money (or even breaking even) is rarely what the hobby is about !

I don’t regret any of my projects - pics attached - but I def do fewer these days ... largely because it’s a moment of inspiration / loss of sanity thing 😂

And I can afford to build / run more if flipping a well built / hopped up classic doesn’t cost me a fortune 🙄

Thx, interesting cars there Superchamp

[Falcon#5 594]

8 hours ago, Pablo68 said:

Thx, interesting cars there Superchamp

+1

I can pick all of them except the ute with the white stripe down the side...?

[yogi-bear 2321]

7 hours ago, Falcon#5 said:

+1

I can pick all of them except the ute with the white stripe down the side...?

Blackfoot Extreme is my guess.

[SuperChamp82 743]

Your guys crack me up 😂 

Yes - from top left to bottom right:

Vintage Sand Scorcher

TT02B

Blizter Beetle 

Vintage Blackfoot Extreme 

CC01 - wheelbase vs ride height mistake 🙄

Anyway, is there a guess the project chassis game here ?

I’ll def play 😬

[kotaman 22]

I've been down this road a few times, and similar to what others have mentioned, it's a matter of what enjoyment you will get versus the cost.  There's a satisfaction that comes with the cleaning and wrenching, the aggravation of finding parts in some cases, and almost always, the rewarding final result after your work is complete.  If it's a vehicle I know I can't easily replace as a whole, I'm more likely to not feel any remorse when it gets expensive.  I feel much less guilt spending the money on parts than I would tearing open a scarce NIB kit, so I'm usually hunting for parts trees and clean donor vehicles.  Most of the time I end up with a fair amount invested but satisfied with the completed vehicle for the purpose it was resurrected for.  If you know what your expectations are from the start and you have an idea what you're willing to spend, you're less likely to not finish it or be disappointed when it's done. 

[Falcon#5 594]

23 hours ago, Falcon#5 said:

+1

I can pick all of them except the ute with the white stripe down the side...?

 

15 hours ago, yogi-bear said:

Blackfoot Extreme is my guess.

 

13 hours ago, SuperChamp82 said:

Your guys crack me up 😂 

Yes - from top left to bottom right:

Vintage Sand Scorcher

TT02B

Blizter Beetle 

Vintage Blackfoot Extreme 

CC01 - wheelbase vs ride height mistake 🙄

Anyway, is there a guess the project chassis game here ?

I’ll def play 😬

They are all from films and my question should be more to the point of, what film is the ute with the white stripe from?

Herbie, Smoky & The Bandit, Dukes of Hazzard, Back To The Future, Starsky & Hutch are the others.

[SuperChamp82 743]

Spot on @Falcon#5

The white stripe is actually gold, lined with aluminium over a dark brown base ...

And there’s a stuntman eagle logo on the bonnet ?

[moffman 5752]

18 minutes ago, SuperChamp82 said:

Spot on @Falcon#5

The white stripe is actually gold, lined with aluminium over a dark brown base ...

And there’s a stuntman eagle logo on the bonnet ?

The fall guy? I'm thinking 

[SuperChamp82 743]

Yup - bang on @moffman 

One of the finest TV series (and theme tunes) ever 😇

[SuperChamp82 743]

Sorry @Pablo68 - this sort of derailed the thread 

Hopefully it proves you won’t be disappointed by finishing your project 👍

[moffman 5752]

30 minutes ago, SuperChamp82 said:

Yup - bang on @moffman 

One of the finest TV series (and theme tunes) ever 😇

Excellent .............right what have I won?

[SuperChamp82 743]

Stuntman’s reward @moffman 

You can jump an open drawbridge ? 

Or Tarzan from a vine ?

😇