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lucasan

TamTech Porsche 962 Rebuild

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So I recently came into a porsche 962 that was in a bit of disrepair. Fortunately, I have all of the parts to make it whole again. Everything shown here, plus all of the screws, and parts in blister packs.

I bought a TamTech radio and matching crystal, in case I decide to keep it period accurate. I may just do a modern esc, rx and servo conversion though.

The car came assembled and I should have photographed it in that state 1st, but didn't even think of posting this rebuild until today. Oh well. It came pretty filthy, one of the wheels is missing, but as far as I can tell the CPRU is working. I connected a battery to see whether or not it would show any signs of life. I need to solder new battery leads if I plan to run the original eq.

Anyhow, this might take a while. I have the original unpainted body as shown, with the decals. I wonder if the decals are any good, considering this kit is from the late 80's. Also, does anyone know whether I can paint this from the inside? The plastic shows a bit of yellowing...

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Sooo, I've run into a bit of a snafu: I tested the cpru with the TamTech transmitter I have. Unfortunately I got nothing in the way of response. Not sure if it's the transmitter or the cpru. One thing to note is that the battery connector has been severed. I wonder if an incomplete circuit could cause glitches. anyhow I'm now forced to get all new components to make this thing run. I just dropped $120 on a servo, esc, motor and receiver. 3x the amount that I spent on the car. Suddenly the $40 I bought the car kit is not looking like the bargain it was. I'm committed to seeing this through though. 

So does anyone know if I can paint the underside of the body? It's thick styrene I believe. 

IMG_0161 copy.jpg

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AWESOME!!!

 

On 2/20/2021 at 9:58 AM, lucasan said:

Sooo, I've run into a bit of a snafu: I tested the cpru with the TamTech transmitter I have. Unfortunately I got nothing in the way of response. Not sure if it's the transmitter or the cpru. One thing to note is that the battery connector has been severed. I wonder if an incomplete circuit could cause glitches. anyhow I'm now forced to get all new components to make this thing run. I just dropped $120 on a servo, esc, motor and receiver. 3x the amount that I spent on the car. Suddenly the $40 I bought the car kit is not looking like the bargain it was. I'm committed to seeing this through though. 

So does anyone know if I can paint the underside of the body? It's thick styrene I believe. 

IMG_0161 copy.jpg

Clear equals paint from the inside. 

Awesome project, excited to see this one!

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On 2/20/2021 at 5:58 PM, lucasan said:

Sooo, I've run into a bit of a snafu: I tested the cpru with the TamTech transmitter I have. Unfortunately I got nothing in the way of response. Not sure if it's the transmitter or the cpru. One thing to note is that the battery connector has been severed. I wonder if an incomplete circuit could cause glitches. anyhow I'm now forced to get all new components to make this thing run. I just dropped $120 on a servo, esc, motor and receiver. 3x the amount that I spent on the car. Suddenly the $40 I bought the car kit is not looking like the bargain it was. I'm committed to seeing this through though. 

So does anyone know if I can paint the underside of the body? It's thick styrene I believe. 

IMG_0161 copy.jpg

I think styrene is opaque. It’s probably a polycarbonate shell & if so you should use Tamiya PS paint not TS paint, the later will flake and drop off if applied to polycarbonate.

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11 hours ago, J@mes said:
On 2/20/2021 at 11:58 AM, lucasan said:

IMG_0161 copy.jpg

I think styrene is opaque. It’s probably a polycarbonate shell & if so you should use Tamiya PS paint not TS paint, the later will flake and drop off if applied to polycarbonate.

This is correct. Polycarbonate is clear like seen there. Tamiya PS paints are formulated to flex with polycarbonate and not flake off. 
I don’t know if you plan to go box art or some other Porsche 962 livery, but there are several other model and hobby manufacturers that make polycarbonate paints as well. 

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I've looked over the manual and it calls for TS paints. weird, I know. It also instructs to paint on the outside, also weird. I was inclined to paint the inside because I didn't want paint paint to chip off in the event that I hit something. I'm not sure why Tamiya made a clear body to paint the outside. I have seen the body molded in white though. So many questions.

I decided to use liquid mask to do the windshield, windows and side of the body. The masks that came with the kit felt very dry and crackly. 

So far I've gotten the receiver and servo in. Unfortunately I have to return the servo. It's actually too micro and doesn't fit into the compartment correctly. The motor and esc should be here in a couple of weeks. 

More to come

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You’ve been given a bit of misinformation on how to paint these bodies.  The 962 came with this opaque clear body because it shared bodies with a version of their 962 static model. It’s painted on the outside with Model paints just like you would paint any hard body.  Only the 962 and Lancia LC2 came in this type of plastic. The BMW GTP, Ford Probe, Porsche 961 and Countach came molded in white. The Testarossa came molded in red 
 

The Tamtech CPR units were very finicky and often failed. Back in the day this was the only thing you could use. The servo and receiver esc combo are a specific shape to fit into the chassis. Now a days there is plenty of micro stuff to choose from you may be able to get it running again. 
 

I have a few of these so if you have questions, ask. img34_01052002205324_4.jpg

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Wow that is quite the impressive collection! Where did you source those wheels on the 1st 962? I was planning to paint mine but if I can get ones like these, even better. Have you updated any of these to modern electronics?

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I have not updated their electronics.  I'm still using the CPR unit and 500 mah packs. 

The wheels on my 962 are from a static GT2 model. I fitted them over the stock wheels similar to how the wheels for the HPi RS4 micro fit.  I shimmed them to a point that their a press fit on.  The rubber tires are super grippy.

Went out and looked at my Tamtech boxes. These cars are one of my all time favorites and I’ve been buying cars and parts for the last 30 years. I counted 14 built cars and enough new parts to refresh all of their plastics.  

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I take it that they no longer make/release Tamtech kits? I’m quite keen on the much smaller scale cars that can be used in smaller areas. 

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Hi Ewant, These kits are long out of print. The newer TamTech kits are hard to find as well, and if you do find one, they are stupid expensive. the only one I see on Tamiya USA's site is a Lamborghini Countach and it's sold out. I submitted my email to notify me when they're back in stock, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm really not sure why Tamiya has discontinued this line. It's clear by the resale prices and scarcity that they are in demand. I have 5 of the RTR buggies NIB that I've been holding onto for a while and I've seen their value climb considerably since I bought them around 15 yrs ago. If you're really keen on getting your hands on an rtr or kit, keep your eyes peeled on ebay. There are still tons of hop ups for these kits out there.

 

So an update on this project: I have received almost all of the electronics for this kit. Should be getting the servo tomorrow, as the 1st servo I bought was too small. Unfortunately, I tried to mount the new micro motor to the motor plate today and no dice. The screws for the original motor are too big. I have been searching for 1.86mm by 4mm machine screws and have turned up nothing. Such a weird size. I did manage to find some odd screws in a dish I have on my desk, but I will need to modify the motor plate so that I can mount it. motor is so small that the holes don't match up.

If anyone knows where to source tiny machine screws, please share. Pics of the progress this weekend

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Got the servo in and it is too big! The micro was too small, the mini is too big, unless I cut away some of the chassis, and I'd rather avoid that. The space for the servo is just over 34mm. I've found some mini servos that that are just over 32mm. I will have to cut off the mounts though and come up with another solution to secure the servo. Since it's not high torque, I may be able to use some strong double sided tape and shim it.

I can't really do much assembly until I solve the servo problem...

I've liquid masked the body but it needs some cleaning up. Here is a shot of the electronics. You can see just how tiny the motor, esc and rx are. I did find some screws to secure the motor to the motor plate, so that was a small victory.

I'm wondering if I might be able to update the wiring on the old oem servo. It has 4 wires, as opposed to 3. This would be the best solution. I also have to solder the motor wires.

 

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So I have all of the electronics. Everything fits into the battery compartment. Now I'm tasked with fitting the servo in. I'll have to cut off the servo mounts and then what? I've also repositioned the servo wires to the bottom, rather than the side, which should help with fitment.  Would shimming it and taping it down work? the other option I've thought of is to drill holes and use a zip tie. Thoughts, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

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