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Toolmaker72

Original Grasshopper 2 (triggers broom version)

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Recently bought this as an original runner. The wheels were kurbed super grasshopper versions with a set of front black cva damper and red rear pogo sticks on the rear. Granted it did run but poorly.

Pictures below are with its triggers broom parts fitted.  Namely a new chassis and front wishbones. Replaced the front black cva dampers with yellow and a cobbled set of rear yellow cva dampers in conjunction with super hornet fittings.  Rear axle I’ve fitted my own design of bracket to stop axle tramp when powered forwards and enables the rear axle to roll properly.  Body is good original, obviously needs to be restored.  Wheels are good originals I’ve had for an age.  Notice the same shade of off white matching the body.  That will be a problem if I spray paint the body in glacier white.  Might do it old English white so as to keep the wheels paint free. 
I’ll update as and when if anybody is interested 🙂👍

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Body clean and keyed ready for first primer coat.  It usually highlights digs and marks.  Then a fine body filler can be used with more rubbing down.  Takes a few days to do for  paint and filler to cure properly before a nice gloss coat is applied 

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So gave the body a couple of coats of white plastic primer, rubbing down between them then a top coat yesterday and most of the scratches and digs had vanished.  So another wet rub down and pictures below show the second top coat.  I’m pleased with the finish. Not too immaculate but much much better.  I’ll leave the paint to harden for a couple more days before applying grasshopper 2 decals. A top clear coat to seal them onto the body and stops the annoying corners lifting when dusted.  Last picture I’ve tried to show the slightly creamy colour of white used

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Finally had a chance today to sit down for a couple of hours to carefully cut out the decal stickers and finish the body.  I’m not normally a box art modeller but with its fresh coat of white paint I’m impressed with the finish 🙂

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Well I thought the new white body had a better finish than the silver version so swapped bodies on the chassis I have.  The white version is now a box art super G version of which I have the original box for so perfect for that.  Triggers broom version now has the silver body.  Noticeable sits lower with the super hornet rear suspension set up and standard falcon sized wheels.

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Nice work!

And a hat tip for the Trigger's broom reference. I had to google it and ended up down a philosophy rabbit hole (the ship of Theseus). An enjoyable education!

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14 minutes ago, El Gecko said:

Nice work!

And a hat tip for the Trigger's broom reference. I had to google it and ended up down a philosophy rabbit hole (the ship of Theseus). An enjoyable education!

Lol just a quote from one of Del Trotters mates 😉.  Same broom for 30 years, only changed the brush 5 times and the handle 3 times 😁

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Complete now with radio gear, nice motor and fresh tyres.   Hard to factor a precise cost as some parts I’ve owned for a long time other parts I’ve found on eBay over the past 2 or three years and some parts bought recently.   Man maths says it’s cheaper this way rather than buying a new complete kit each time.  I just prefer building from bits and pieces as I find them.  Hope the pictures give a bit of interest and inspiration 😊.  

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33 minutes ago, Toolmaker72 said:

Complete now with radio gear, nice motor and fresh tyres.   Hard to factor a precise cost as some parts I’ve owned for a long time other parts I’ve found on eBay over the past 2 or three years and some parts bought recently.   Man maths says it’s cheaper this way rather than buying a new complete kit each time.  I just prefer building from bits and pieces as I find them.  Hope the pictures give a bit of interest and inspiration 😊.  

Looks great!  The GH has to be one of my top 3 favorite Tamiya vehicles.  Not even sure why, I just love them.

I'm the same as far as building. I usually end up spending more getting something together anyway, but I convince my self it was cheaper :)  

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Thank you 😊, i think the grasshopper love is it’s ability to run like a howling banshee. Totally unpredictable handling makes it a hoot to wizz around and if it breaks it doesn’t cost a fortune to repair.  Way back I had an original grasshopper running 8.4v on its original springs and a kyosho gold motor. Bought an optima mid 4wd as the upgrade and that car was boring to drive as it was so much better lol.  In the end I removed its front drive shafts to make it more tail happy as a rwd buggy. But still too nice and stable.  Grasshopper going fast really hones the reflex’s and makes driving any 4wd a breeze lol........oh and that original optima motor is now in this.  😊

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Great to see this restoration. I have a G2 and a Super G is on its way (because of the yellow mini cva's and the fluo wheel rimms).

What diffetence did you experience between the black and the yellow mini shocks?

 

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1 hour ago, Running Fox said:

Great to see this restoration. I have a G2 and a Super G is on its way (because of the yellow mini cva's and the fluo wheel rimms).

What diffetence did you experience between the black and the yellow mini shocks?

 

Handling wise?

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8 minutes ago, Running Fox said:

Handling wise indeed.

Well hard to say tbh.  It’s not the greatest anyway.  I’ve modified the rear axle to stop it slapping up and locking under power together  with the super hornet spacer fitted.  The front is less bouncy with oil filled dampers.  Although original super g didn’t have oil just a couple of rubber o rings inside to damp.   I do have another with adjustable springs and shortened damper stroke to lower the front but I haven’t run that yet to see if it actually makes any difference

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Thanks!

Received my Super G today and the front supension 'feels' better at the front with those yellow CVA's but the car isn't ready to be driven yet.

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14 hours ago, Running Fox said:

Thanks!

Received my Super G today and the front supension 'feels' better at the front with those yellow CVA's but the car isn't ready to be driven yet.

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That looks in good condition 👍. The wheels especially don’t seem to have any stress marks or splits around the centres. 😊

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A few pictures of a blue version I put together last year.  Haven’t had a chance to run it hence the body is still perfect and tyres still have all the spikes. The damper units are something I found on eBay.  The fronts were the shortest to match the rears but were a tad too long.  I shortened the piston shaft to get the front ride height I was happy with.  I think the key with these simple chassis are soft springs.  The rear axle has my usual bracket to stop it slapping up and down, an aluminium version in this case.  The rear axle uses hex wheel adapters for those wheels.  The rear track is a little narrower but still matches the front track.   Motor is a vintage brushed 27 turn stock. So should wizz around noticeable quicker than a standard brushed 540.   Speed control is still the original mechanical 🙂

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