TOPIC:

Hi all.
I have never fixed up, upgraded or modded a RC car before, but have been interested in doing it for a long time.
To get on the way, I ended up buying a fairly cheap, but slightly worn out Bearhawk off eBay.
Part of the reason I choose the Bearhawk, is that the only other car I own is actually also a Bearhawk that I built with my Dad many years ago. I love that car and I thought it could be fun to work on another, but this time with my son (who has already started planning the look of it and so far knows he wants a dark and aggressive look).

I haven't even received the 'new' car yet, so I'm probably jumping the gun a little by posting here, but I'm really excited to get going.
The seller has told me that it is fully working, has no structural damage and has an ESC and has 12x2 motor.
It has the original tyres, but they are quite worn out and the body some work and repainting.

As long as there are no nasty surprises, I sounds like a couple of the first jobs I may have to do is to replace the bearings and the shocks.

I love that this site has the parts database!
It looks lie I need the 1150 bearings like these www.rcbearings....ct_id=1119

At the moment, I'm still unsure which shocks I should use. It sounds like oil based ones would be good, but I guess I need to do more reading (when it's not so late).

If anyone got any thoughts on that or any other upgrade / mod suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
Cheers!

Welcome on board Simianosaurus. Tamiyabase is open to everybody. Experts like beginners.
For your restoration, before ordering the better is to dismantle all the car, cleaning and check all what is brocken.
Regrease the transmission and check the motor pinion to.
When you made that, you can order all what you need.
Begin with the bearings and oily shocks is a good thing.
rcbearings bearings are quite good. For your shocks, you have multiple choices. You can find black original stadium blitzer / Blitzer beetle.... originals black CVAs, or after market alloy ones. ( On mine I puted avante gold alloy shocks but only because I had a set in my mess). Take the length of your front and rear shocks and surf on the web (ebay and other sites) to find the same length shocks.
For me, the 12X2 motor is too big to begin especially for your child. But it is only my though. You could keep it in a box and try with a sport tuned black motor (better than the classic silvercan 540 but softer than your 12X2 and the autonomy will increase).
For your tires, rear are the same than the mantaray.
The Bearhawk is a nice 4X2 to begin the RC. Not too expensive, fiable and with a cool face.

some pictures of your bearhawk could be nice

Welcome buddy & I have moved for you look forward to some pic's when it arrives and updates of your rebuild

Thanks for moving the post Andyaus.

Yes, I'm planning on posting pictures and updates as the build progresses.
It may take a while to complete though as I haven't got a huge amount of free time at the moment. A lot of the work will probably take place on my work desk during my lunch breaks.

Thanks for the reply Stringray.

Yes, stripping it down does sound like a good idea. Just hope I don't end up with loads of bits that I can't figure out how to put back together.

How much quicker is a 12x2 to the stock motor? I think my son 'should' be ok. He is 10 and plays plenty of video games, so has good hand eye coordination. To be honest, he'll probably be better at driving them then me pretty quickly.

Cheers

The 12X2 is really quicker. But this chassis support the power.

Look forward to giving it a go.
I'll get my lad practising with my original car whilst I'm doing this one up.
He'll love the faster car, but if he can handle it, switching back to a less powerful motor shouldn't be a problem.

This motor give a lot of power and lower torque but the most important for the instant, is to receive it and RUN IT:evil:

12x2 is very fast for a bear hawk. Take care that the motor doesn’t get too hot. Reassemble shouldn’t be a problem. It’s a easy build and if you need a manual just ask.
Also recommend a steel pinion.

It's arrived!
Not had a chance to run it yet.
Doesn't look in too bad a condition (apart from the body shell which has a really bad paint job and some small cosmetic damage).
Esc. and Motor look good and diff feels smooth.
Suspension is a little squeaky, and there has been some work done with how the front wheels are attached.
Pretty happy with it so far.