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Hobgoblin

Surprise find!

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So its been a bit of a grey couple of months quite frankly, I'm sure its the same for many. My better half's car has been on the way out for a while and we finally found one that we could and afford ( it is a cat D but beggars can't be choosers) A family member kindly got it MOT'd after picking it up for us and we'd gone to collect it. After doing the pleasantries from 2 meters apart and a bit of light conversation I found my eyes wandering about the room in traditional nosey fashion and there was something immediately recognisable propped up in the corner....

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Slightly taken aback as I really wasn't expecting to see such a familiar item in this context! I nudged my wife and she clocked it too and we went and had a closer look. "oh that's come out of the loft a few weeks back, waiting to take it to the charity shop, have it if you want it"

Result! A brief pause out of social embarrassment before logic kicked in, heck yeah I want the toy car! 

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Chassis is in pretty good condition, wheels and tires are perfect. The body is a bit of a lost cause but it might do for a bashing/guilt free running shell. 

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I was never really sold on the TL01 chassis, till I had one in hand. It's still pretty ugly but its very functional and it all works really well!  This has an basic ACOMS servo, standard silvercan motor and a 1200mah Tamiya Nicad. They changed to a proper ESC too. The radio gear is standard 27mhz techniplus which is in really, really good condition save a slight kink in the aerial

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Also came with a little bag of bits, a couple of servos, the old MSC and another RX.

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One of the highlights for me was the fact it had a stack of original paperwork. There's manuals for the model, transmitter, charger and ESC alongside receipts and notes. There's the bill for aerial repair and for the ESC plus the labour to fit it. Very cool! 

The battery surprisingly charged and seems to work okay after a couple cycles. It's not staggering performance but its got to twiddle a basic servo and silver can. Close enough for government work at least! I have got it hooked up to my 2.4ghz transmitter because I have no romance for 27mhz. Next on the list is turnbuckles and some oil shocks - that seems like an expensive minefield atm!  Fairly soon I'll get a repro body from L&L models and get it back to box art! 

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Nice find ! 

I love when that happens...  finding an rc car in an incongruous place or situation. Only happened to me once before but it s a great feeling ! 

Have fun !

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Well done on your new acquisition! I think the TL-01 will grow on you. It is a very versatile chassis, and quite the performer too with a few hop-ups.

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Thanks guys! 
It was a really good feeling, my wife was equally surprised and happy too which was excellent.
I am going to see if I can track down the 1997 livery also, not that its hugely different its more for the novelty being that's the year I was born!

Any hop ups you can recommend  @TurnipJF ?

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Is this your wife's new daily driver??.

I've seen far worse CAT D's..

I often pretend that a mini chuck norris pilots my cars, but I'm open to any new justifications for playing with toys. 

Is there a real car involved in this story?

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1 hour ago, Hobgoblin said:

I am going to see if I can track down the 1997 livery

Nice score there H. . Try contacting Myles -  TC member tamiyoman , he reproduced lots of decals a few years back and also sells them on eBay and is producing decals again , well worth a message  ;)

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That's a great find.  There was a time when TL-01 chassis were ten-a-penny on ebay (well, less than £30 got you a roller without a shell) but over the last couple of years they've gone right up in value.  I guess people bought them up for parts when the TL-01B went out of production, and that was probably the last place you could find new chassis parts.  I've just had a look out of interest and although there are still some budget-end offerings there are some pretty crazy Buy It Now prices for complete but battered cars.

I love racing my TL-01LA, the long arm kit is really hard to find now but the basic chassis can be made to work around a track and its simplicity makes it very appealing for stress-free vintage racing.

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10 hours ago, wolfdogstinkus said:

Is this your wife's new daily driver??.

Haha, not quite although for the first time we've bought something with less than 80k on it and made within the last decade. 2013 Fabia - engine is fine, chassis is fine just the body panels above the drivers side rear wheel are totally caved in. Looks like someone reversed very purposefully into something solid. Oh well it's an anti theft feature and a relatively straightforward fix if and when next year. 

Aha sorry guys, I suppose I probably skew the age range down a little but there's more of us than you'd think! Tamiya will always appeal to kids so there's a fresh supply of modelers growing into the ranks. 

I'll have a look around for a long arm kit. I didn't realize that Manta Ray ball difs are the recommended hop ups -I have a few spare of those so that's good for spares if nothing else. ilIs there a better 2ay to try and revive Nicad batteries other than charging and discharging? 

Feel free to share your own good fortunes or Tamiya's in strange places

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13 hours ago, Hobgoblin said:

Thanks guys! 
It was a really good feeling, my wife was equally surprised and happy too which was excellent.
I am going to see if I can track down the 1997 livery also, not that its hugely different its more for the novelty being that's the year I was born!

Any hop ups you can recommend  @TurnipJF ?

Bearings, a steel pinion, oil dampers, alloy hexes, steering turnbuckles and a TL-01B kick up front bumper would be good starting points I'd say. 

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8 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

I love racing my TL-01LA, the long arm kit is really hard to find now but the basic chassis can be made to work around a track and its simplicity makes it very appealing for stress-free vintage racing.

The long arm kit is really easy to make up from seperate parts providing you know what your looking for.

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Free tamiya? I'd have to do something charitable in return to sleep at night :lol:

 

Nice score :)

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What is the wheel base on a TL-01? Its not a chassis I have had much to do with but from the photos, it looks fine to me. Are you going to bring it up to date or do a resto' job?

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I bought the wife a cat d mini cooper s back in 2004 like you it was all we could afford at the time and we got a inspection on it and it was spot on! We had that car for ages (about 10 years) definitely got our money's worth out of it until it bit the dust and we sold it for spares and some random give us £800 for it and took it away in the back of a pick up! then about 2 months later it overtook me when I was going to work!

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11 hours ago, DayRider said:

What is the wheel base on a TL-01? Its not a chassis I have had much to do with but from the photos, it looks fine to me. Are you going to bring it up to date or do a resto' job?

It is a 257mm wheelbase. Fairly standard from the looks of things. A tonne of bodies will fit. I've already got carried away down that rabbit hole... Maybe a modern race blob areodynamic body and a more rally style setup. Better reign in the brain before this freebie becomes expensive. 

I am planning to keep the ESC and silver can for now as I honestly don't feel it needs more. I'll neaten the wiring and put some xt60 connectors on, probably stick a NIMH pack in there too for runtimes. Radio gear has already gone and has been changed to 2.4ghz. 

I will be getting a reproduction body and doing that in the proper colours to being it back to glory. 

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