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Tudorp

Vintage Futaba

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I scored today on Ebay. Some that have seen some of my posts, know I am a huge Wild Willy fan boy. I scored an original Wild Willy M38 today on ebay. It needs restoration, but "almost" complete. It just needs a few parts that I happen to have in my parts bin anyway. The chassis is complete, and actually looks like it has very little run time on it. Just a "Closet find". I really don't need it as I still have my original one I bought back in 1982 (SWB), but got this because I got a great deal on it because it was listed wrong, so got it Un-opposed. So, I will restore this one and sell it to help fund other builds. or upgrades (keep an eye in the For Sale area if you are wanting an original WW) . The bonus for me is in the package, I got this vintage Futaba also. Including the receiver. I always wanted one of these, just for nostalgia sake. I may, or may not actually use it, but if not, it will make a cool display piece. 

Futaba.jpg

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When I raced in the late 80s there was an older guy named Wayne who had one of those transmitters. It looked ancient to my eyes even then.

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I think those are late 1960s? early 70s. Not sure tho but going to find out. 

 

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I love the metal cased rc stuff. I think they were mostly for the USA market, as i dont recall ever seeing them for sale here in the UK. I have had a few of the metal Fleet sets, but those small sets with the push button throttle are hard to get here.

J

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Also, does anyone know anything about this big ugly monster? It is also with the score. It is so big, does not fit in the chassis, and the guy has it mounted on back of the WW. This will go away, but want to learn more about it. 

 

 

ESC1.png

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On 9/28/2020 at 6:16 AM, Tudorp said:

I scored today on Ebay. Some that have seen some of my posts, know I am a huge Wild Willy fan boy. I scored an original Wild Willy M38 today on ebay. It needs restoration, but "almost" complete. It just needs a few parts that I happen to have in my parts bin anyway. The chassis is complete, and actually looks like it has very little run time on it. Just a "Closet find". I really don't need it as I still have my original one I bought back in 1982 (SWB), but got this because I got a great deal on it because it was listed wrong, so got it Un-opposed. So, I will restore this one and sell it to help fund other builds. or upgrades (keep an eye in the For Sale area if you are wanting an original WW) . The bonus for me is in the package, I got this vintage Futaba also. Including the receiver. I always wanted one of these, just for nostalgia sake. I may, or may not actually use it, but if not, it will make a cool display piece. 

Futaba.jpg

Nice find - I would love to get one of these old metal Futaba units.

Here is an early spec sheet Futaba showing this model 

Futaba_037.JPG

Futaba_036.JPG

Futaba_039.JPG

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The vintage FP-2F wheelie set is frankly superb - being way ahead of its time in terms of functionality with classic Futaba quality  ... both of which meant it was produced for longer than just about any other early Futaba set before the Attack range.

Best guess - late 1977 to mid 1984 ?

Yours is a later model - noting the battery power indicator changed from a solid blue band to the colour coded version around 1979, with its precise date better anchored in the accompanying RX and servos ... both of which kept pace with later models whilst the TX looked largely the same 👍

Lovely score sir !

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On 9/28/2020 at 12:40 PM, Tudorp said:

Also, does anyone know anything about this big ugly monster? It is also with the score. It is so big, does not fit in the chassis, and the guy has it mounted on back of the WW. This will go away, but want to learn more about it. 

 

 

ESC1.png

That’s a v rare late 70s speed control - originally built for large scale boats that needed twin props / two synchronised motors 

The amp rating gives away the heavier load 👍

Lord only knows what it was doing on the back of an M38 - it’s doesn’t need more weight to wheelie !!

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The M38 along with the vintage Futaba is scheduled to arrive to me today. The first thing I will do is remove the huge ESC. Not sure what I will do with that. Might sell it, or might just keep it as part of ESC history. The Xmitter, I plan to keep also as part of the cool Futaba history, might even use it with my original SWB Wild Willy. As soon as I receive it, and open it up, I will post pics of the Rx and servos that is with it. 

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Ok.. here is what I got via UPS today. It was put all together, and I didn't think about taking pics until I had already started the tear down process. But, the electronics I have that monster ESC and it's components, separate, as is the Xmitter, and TXmitter & servo in  separate photo. I had to remove that ESC thing like removing a cancer, because it had wires running all over through and around everything. You can see some bogus cuts in the body, and chassis to accommodate that beast. Overall, I got a great deal on this thing because the listing was in the wrong area on ebay and the guy didn't know how to describe it, so it had very little traffic, and visibility. So, I went un-opposed. VERY please with it, even though one of the front spindles is cracked, but I think that was damaged in shipping. And, I do have a spare in my parts bin, so no big deal. I really do not think this thing was run much at all due to the clean chassis. It just looks too clean other than the *******ization of the whole build with the crazy ESC thing. You can see where he had it mounted and sanded the details down on the fuel tank in the bed. That sucks, and the extra holes put in for the wiring etc. I was VERY surprised that the original M38 grill is in PRETINE condition with no cracks or busted out pieces. Another reason I don't think it was ran much, because those grills were the very first thing that busted on these Jeeps. That, and the winch was never installed (and of course missing). The body has a crappy, but fortunately thin paint job, so that shouldn't be too hard to clean. All the wrong decals on it in weird places ( I already removed those). So, the body isn't going to be difficult to restore. The chassis will be an easy restore also as clean as it is. I have a good tub that isn't cut up I think I will use though. The driver was never panted at all, but missing an arm (typical), and the original windshield is missing. I have all those parts to complete it, except the aluminum windshield hinges. But I will work that out. Is there a collector community of electronics that might be interested in the ESC? I would trade it for other parts etc. The Radio equipment, I think I will keep and use with my original SWB WW just for posterity. 

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Oh yeah, and the original tires other than dirty are in very nice condition with no checking with the exception of one of them. 3 out of 4 are in very good condition. Fortunately, I have a good replacement for the one bad one. 

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FP2GS receivers normally drove FP-S33 servos - although my eyes aren’t quite good enough to make out that detail from your pics ? 

If they are S33s that puts your set at the later end of the FP2F run so around 1983 / 84 - which pretty much matches shipping of the original M38 LWB 👍

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