TOPIC:

Hi, Martin here. Forty-something from the UK was prompted to revisit Tamiya stuff after my stepson brought home a vintage Tamiya Frog that he had built with his Dad (his Dad's car from when he was a teenager). The box also contained a nearly complete Subaru Brat with a broken chassis, so not to be outdone I thought I might get it going for my younger son (10 years old).
I also dug out a box of old RC bits from my youth from the shed as spares, including a very modified (read mullered) Sand Scorcher/Rough Rider that was mine. So now I have two projects (not to mention the Mardave Stockmaster and Marauder that were also in the box!).
My first priority will be to get the Brat going for my son, so he can thrash about in the garden with his brother and to this end I have bought a replacement chassis off ebay for about

Welcome on board Martin

Well hellooo there!
Is the Rough Rider resto in view of making it look nice or to run? - just be warned that the SRB chassis really isn't the ideal car to "play" with & if running it, you're likely to experience all sorts of breakages & bits falling off, which even with re-release replacement parts will get really expensive really quickly! Might I suggest a more resilient model to run, & keep the SRB as memorabilia?
Same goes for the Marauder if you plan to run it. I don't know how you got on with yours back in the day, but I had 2 of them & they were both near uncontrollable & had an appetite for the plastic spur gear, which although only pence back then, are near impossible to source nowadays, unless you have the ability to make them.
The Brat/Frog will be fine for running though, weakest link I found with those were gearboxes, but even then it's only really rough use that destroys them, & there's re-re parts out there to fix them with

The RR resto (if it happens) will be to make a runner. I hacked it about far too much as a kid to make it worth restoring properly. I think I would have to replace virtually all of it.
The radio box is long gone, the gearbox has been extensively "lightened", the rear cage is missing, torsion bars gone (replaced by coil-overs) and is currently fitted with a complete front suspension from a Mardave Meteor! However I do still have the original front suspension so can put that back.
I know what you mean about it being fragile, but I didn't manage to break too much of it irrepairably when I was a kid and I like to think I would have a little more control now!

The Marauder was given to me by a friend of mine after he got sick of it so I never ran it. And yes, the spur gear is stripped. I drove it a couple of times when my mate had it running and I do remember it being "challenging" (far too much power, crap foam tyres and crude suspension, oh and no brakes).

We used to race IC stock cars together at the Chessington Radio Car Club back in the early 80's. Happy Days. The Stockmaster is a much more realistic proposition to get running than the Marauder, but electric is much easier.

How attached are you to the SRB? - it might be worth selling for parts & using the proceeds to get something newer or more usable? SRB parts make a hilarious amount of money on Ebay, & there's not a huge difference if they're vintage or re-re, from what I've seen (I keep checking prices, as a future plan is to build a more to-scale Beetle - the front suspension is more or less identical to the real thing, the rear is nothing like).

Foam tyres? Yellow wheels & no back shocks? - if so, it'll be the early version Marauder. The later one had rubber tyres & rear oil dampers & was a tiny bit easier to drive. Yes they're massively overpowered & take some serious skill to drive. It's possible, but takes a huge amount of concentration, making it not so much fun. Trick is to be REALLY gentle on the throttle. Any over throttling will cause spin-outs, wheelspin, or if from standstill will stand it up on the back wheels & spin to destruction, like Taz the cartoon tasmanian devil! (It'll also spit the foam rears off if the glue aint so good).

Never had a go at the IC stock cars, or even seen them driven, but I'd imagine it would be some pretty realistic racing with the weight involved.

Not a fan of nitro stuff, dirty stinky pain in the backside things! Much prefer electric!

eddrick wrote:

How attached are you to the SRB? - it might be worth selling for parts & using the proceeds to get something newer or more usable?

Hmmm, I'll think about that. I do like the weight of the SRB with the metal parts though.
From reading other posts on here I think it was originally a Mk 1 Sand Scorcher. I then fitted a RR body and wheels when the silly ribbed tyres wore out! I guess that might make it worth something. I still have the Scorcher body but it is in very poor condition.

eddrick wrote:

Foam tyres? Yellow wheels & no back shocks? - if so, it'll be the early version Marauder.

Yes, it's an early one. I'll post some pictures of my motley collection when I get a minute.

eddrick wrote:

Never had a go at the IC stock cars, or even seen them driven, but I'd imagine it would be some pretty realistic racing with the weight involved.

Not a fan of nitro stuff, dirty stinky pain in the backside things! Much prefer electric!

Yeah it was good fun and I didn't do too badly at it considering I was only about 14. Technique was important - it was supposed to be "non-contact", but that didn't stop you leaning on the back bumper of the car in front and punting him into the barriers

Welcome, Martin.

I've forwarded your Facebook question to Lars.

Thing to remember with SRBs is that IF you decide to get-shot, it can be difficult/expensive to replace. Have a wander around & see what other people class as "not worth restoring or too far gone" & see how yours compares. Of course, at the end of the day, it'll be down to what you're comfortable doing/spending.
The Mk1 version is less common & will make slightly more money, relatively regardless of condition - check yours to see if the front suspension has screws as spring stops on the uprights, or moulded bosses (Screws means mk1), also look for a black bumper (vs beige for later ones), rear wishbones have an extra recess for an inboard bearing, the gearbox lower has 2x separate lugs to hold the rear cage (vs 1x thick moulding). Another giveaway (If it's original & unmolested) is the use of slotted M2 screws, instead of the phillips/slotted pattern screws that were used later on. Tatty Sand Scorchers make more than tidy Rough Riders too

Martin wrote:

A final note on a different topic for the Mods of this forum: When I tried to register the first time, I attempted to do so using my Facebook details (nice and easy, I thought). This just resulted in a pop up window appearing every 5 seconds say "You have logged in with your Facebook credentials" and not allowing you to do anything else. I have just realised that it might be necessary to register first - perhaps a note on the front page for noobs like me would prevent similar frustration for other users.

Hi Martin, and welcome to TamiyaBase.
I see what you mean with the Login/Register with Facebook. As you found out, you have to register "without Facebook" first, then you can connect your TB account to your Facebook account for automatic login, etc.
I'll see if I can make this clearer on the front page.

-Lars

Now you've done it Eddrick! I've been browsing eBay and I can see that SRB bits fetch silly money.
Mine is defo MK I - Screws for springs, narrow tabs on gearbox casing for rear cage (although one of them is broken off), extra bearing space on rear swing arms (although I have a feeling that I replaced one of them when it broke and it may be a later one - I'm going on memory as it is back in the shed now).
I've also got a Tamiya "Black" motor - is that worth anything these days?
There is also a bunch of other stuff in the box that I might sell to finance a new project, including a Mamod steam engine and a couple of unidentified RC cars.

I've had (full size) classic cars in the past and my attitude to the models is the same - if they are too precious to be driven, then there is not much point having them. I am full of awe at some of the restorations I have seen on this site, but I simply don't have the time or patience to do that myself.
Having said that, I think I would like something a bit "old skool". I've seen a few possibilies on eBay. I'm not interested in ultimate performance, just fun, so a 2WD buggy will be fine. Any suggestions?