Resurrect an old RC car?

[_Al_]

Hi all,

Just wondering if the Tamiya TA02 chassis in my loft is beyond saving?





It's nothing special, and there's a lot of issues. The batteries are gone, the servos are a decade old, the ESC is made by a manufacturer that no longer exists and there's no radio.

Is it worth buying a new motor / battery / servos / TX or is it all old hat now and I may as well buy something new?

It's just for playing about with and to see if RC cars can in any way make up for my real car obsession which is currently on hold pending a house purchase..

Thanks in advance..

Al

Edited by _Al_ on Monday 6th April 01:08

[Shuvi McTupya]

My first thought would be to buy something new and maybe use that shell and those wheels, and have some spare bits left over for the R/C parts box.

You are probably looking at a little over £100 to buy new...

Edited by Shuvi McTupya on Monday 6th April 06:39

[defblade]

I'd expect the servos to be fine. Buy a new transmitter/receiver combo and a couple of new batteries. If you've got a mechanical speed controller of any sort in there, buy an new electric one instead.

Be very wary of uprating the motor... that way breakages and then more upgrades lie

Modelsport will stock all that you need if there's nowhere local to you.


ETA: here's me doing much the same

[The_Jackal]

Nothing wrong with that.
These days RC parts are dirt cheap like servos and radio sets.
I would just buy the parts you need, they will come to far less than £100.
HobbyKing have a UK side now and do things like servos, esc etc dirt cheap.

[cslwannabe]

My Alfa 155 based on a TA02 chassis is going fine - I replaced the mechanical speed controller with an entry level Tamiya electronic one and had to buy some new tyres (with foam inserts which I never had previously) and it's fine. Despite loads of upgrade bits the latest tamiya models can run rings around it but that doesn't really bother me. Battery performance has moved on massively - even just NiMH batteries never mind LiPos...

[_Al_]

I did wonder about a LiPo upgrade for it (the setup that powers my trex 250 is mind blowing) but I expect it'd last a few seconds then detonate like a top fuel dragster..

I think a 2.4GHz pistol setup and some meaty NiMh batteries will do me.. It's only for running around outside.

I guess the question is - are there any reasonably durable off road buggies that would be around £100 which could share a TX / RX with this car...? Not that defblade has rekindled my childhood wish for a buggy at all... Always preferred off road but all my mates had touring cars so had to buy one to race with them!

eBay is full of RC these days but I've been out of it so long that I have no idea which brands to trust. I'd just want it to deal with mud and fields rather than BMX track conditions..

[SlipStream77]

You could go for a Tamiya TT02, they use that chassis for touring cars and buggies.

I went for a Delta Integrale, I do recommend upgrading the shocks to oil filled units though.

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/tamiya-lancia-delta-in...

[_Al_]

This seems to be the same chassis but comes with oil filled dampers...?

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/tamiya-dual-ridge-bugg...

[SlipStream77]

Yes, it looks like the buggy version has oil filled dampers as standard.

[_Al_]

My inner child won the "spares or buy a new one" argument - backed by my wife, who thinks it looks awesome and wants to help build it.

Multi-win!

Thanks for your help gents - will let you know how it works out!

[cslwannabe]

I can thoroughly recommend a Tamiya drift car...

[IroningMan]

I have a TA02, originally built as a Mustang Cobra R; some spring collars, Mud Terrain tyres and a Chevvy S10 shell and it's a much more useable garden basher truck.

I must have bought it 16 or 17 years ago, and I've just ordered a bunch of replacement parts for it from Tamico.de, who seemed to have the most comprehensive selection actually in stock.

[_Al_]

The wife is so keen on the buggy that I may have to do that... Or order another.

[SWH]

Shouldn't be too tricky to get that up and running again I'd hope.

When time allows, I'll treat this one to a new battery... should in theory then just work:


Not been run for 20+ years so likely to need a significant fettle possibly. Not investigated whether you can get parts/spares or if I'd have to make them from scratch...!

Tamiya Hot Shot 2, with Bigwig front suspension... even has the old three speed mechanical speed control in it

[IroningMan]

Quick - and poor - pics of the TA02 Chevvy S10 and the TL01B Baja Champ that I got shortly afterwards:





I've only just got round to painting the Champ - and used that as an excuse to give them both a birthday; the Chevvy needs new gearbox cases, steering linkage motor mount and body pins, and both have had new bearings throughout.

[_Al_]

Nice models! Judging by the tyres I'd say the Hot Shot has some miles on it... Hard to believe the Chevy is on the same ground-hugging chassis my Nissan is.

I'd forgotten about the joys of uprated bearings.. I remember the first time I did that upgrade - it was really impressive how much difference it made to acceleration and battery life.

Oh dear - the buggy hasn't arrived yet but I'm already planning upgrades....

Edited by _Al_ on Wednesday 8th April 07:44

[IroningMan]

'Hop-ups', dude, not 'upgrades'...

[papercup]

The truck above is a TA02T, which is a TA02 with TA01 suspension.

I have one of the F150 Baja trucks on the same chassis and found it rolled constantly. So I followed this guide:

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopi...

and wide-tracked it. With brushless and lipo its ridiculously amusing, and does big skids and drifts instead of falling over like it used to.

The above is meant to show that there's nothing wrong with the TA02 chassis, and its still widely used in many models. Chuck an ESC and decent motor in it. Even the new standard Tamiya ESC will run big power engines without LIPO.

A friend's son recently got a standard Hornet and put a decent motor in it and it flies; far more power than control, with its awful basic no-damping suspension and plastic 'bearings'. We expect it not to last long

[SWH]

Yes the Hot Shot tyres have certainly seen better days, as have the wheels to be fair. Rest of it is pretty good condition really, fully ballraced of course, and yes I recall much improved acceleration and battery life (we're talking 7.2V Ni-Cads here too).

Suppose I should wake up this beasty as well really:


1/10th scale Top Fueler... made pretty much every part bar the batteries, motor, controller and servo

[Shuvi McTupya]

This thread has reminded me..I still have my old shelf queen T-maxx gathering dust, literally!

I didn't actually build it, I bought it like this with all the original parts too, so essentially two complete trucks and a shed load of other tools and spares. I got it on ebay about ten yrs ago from American kid who obviously had more money than sense, I paid $400 for the whole lot and calculated at the time that the alloy truck would have cost me over £1k to build in the UK .