TOPIC:

Tarjei, welcome to the life of an RC member and we all hope you enjoy it.
My SS turned up some time ago in a similer state and like you stripped it, cleaned every indervidual part and have now started to re-build it.
This like Louisebaby is great as you get to see the chasiss come back to life and as soon as a new set of rubber all round is installed it brings a huge smile to your face.
Best of luck findng the parts you require, try to keep vintage as best you can but the re-re parts do help.
Will be keeping an eye on this post for sure

GING

Questions in this post w regards to interchangeble parts:

Is the following parts from the 2010-reissue fit on the old vintage Sand Scorcher:

- Mech box
- Secure bolts & springs for Mec box top
- Rear Guard
- (M-28) Torsionbar spring
- Rod boot
- (M-54)Ballplates (the ones at the end of the steering rods)
- Other interchangeable parts?

WR

Tarjei

Tarjei wrote:

Questions in this post w regards to interchangeble parts:

Is the following parts from the 2010-reissue fit on the old vintage Sand Scorcher:

- Mech box
- Secure bolts & springs for Mec box top
- Rear Guard
- (M-28) Torsionbar spring
- Rod boot
- (M-54)Ballplates (the ones at the end of the steering rods)
- Other interchangeable parts?

WR

Tarjei

Rear Guard is certainly a straight swap, as are the clear gearbox covers (part #'s A1 & A2 in the old manual), Damper Bushing(s), Rubber Mount (N3), wheels (F + R parts), Front Axle Mount(s) (though they are a slightly different design), Wire Bushing (the seal that goes at the back of the mechanism box), the Switch Cover, Antenna Rod & Antenna Pin, Exhaust Pipe parts, and the body - as a set anyway... I'm pretty sure most other bits are compatible, but I can only comment directly on the bits I swapped myself

Welcome (albeit a bit late) on board, btw

If I could offer some words of caution about doing too much to your Scorcher ... if you look at the first picture below, that's what mine looked like in it's eBay listing - but apperances can be deceptive, the body was thick with paint (1/4" thick 2-pack in places) & was unusable, and had many broken bits on it ... if you look at the "after" photos, I think it's a well finished example of a Scorcher, _but_ it is practically indistinguishable from the re-release Scorcher every man & his whippet has now ...

If your Scorcher was mine, and bearing in mind everything I've learned, I wouldn't do too much at all in the way of restoration, just clean everything, replace only the bits that are truly broken or missing, sand out the worst of the gouges on the body, and put several thick coats of lacquer over it, decals and all - more preservation than restoration.

However, that's because I already have a Scorcher, so I've already got the "perfect" (near) box-art Scorcher I wanted on my shelf

Thanks, Jonny, for good advice! It's truely appreciated.

I totally aggree with you regarding keeping as much as possible from the original kit. That is my intention. However, it's been a tough life for my SS, and som parts really need to be replaced, and some are missing and gone for ever!

The body is in astonishingly good condition. Bodypaint, and sanding away creases wasn't a priority when it was built, obviously (and good for me, that is!)! Some bad spraypaint with bubbles needs to be sanded, as well as the creases, before priming and adding a nice layer of paint.

The mech part is more serious wr to parts that are subject to wear and tear. Ballplates needs to be replaced, due to the fact that the metalballs on the front suspension unit jumps out of place during driving : worn out ballplates, as far as I can understand.

Mech-box lacks a large portion on one side. That's the reason I want to change it, as well as the fact that the forward part is missing enirely.

I'd like to go for all-vintage parts, but it seems to me a rather expensive option, especially in regard to the wear- and tear parts. As for the total appearence, I will keep it as it was supposed to be on the original version. Being an "original"-freak on my 1:1 scale VW's, it's a tradition I fully intend to carry on as a novice () RC-driver.

Basically I'm looking at changing wear/tear-parts as well as mech-box. I cannot bypass the need for new rear-wheels, as they are missing entirely.

I like the paint-scheme on your SS. May I ask how you accomlished the masking to acchive such a good result?

WR

Tarjei

Fair enough - it sounds like your Scorcher looks better in the photos than in reality ... isn't that always the way...

Tarjei wrote:

...
I like the paint-scheme on your SS. May I ask how you accomlished the masking to acchive such a good result?
...

I cheated - the edges between the white & red have had Kyosho Micron 0.7mm line tape applied over them, then several coats of clear - that's why the edges look sharp.

After painting they didn't look so hot - some of the curves weren't what they should have been, and there was some bleed through ... what i did was rub down, prime, rub down, spray the white, mask, spray the red ....

what I _should_ have done was to respray the white after masking - there's always going to be some paint bleed under masking, when you respray the same colour first any bleed is the same colour, i.e. white bleed on white paint, this second spraying seals the masking edges so there's no bleed from the second colour ... well, you live & learn - I'd do a better job now I'm sure.

Dont cut the guards off this one... I personally would restore the original body and put it aside. Then buy a reissue body set and cut off the guards or do whatever mods you like, decorate it as a baja etc and use the car with that body fitted, it wont hurt too much if you scratch it and crash it. At the end of the day, put the restored original body back on and put it back on the shelf. Best of both worlds that way. Just my opinion.

Sjh70: i've no intention of cutting the body, or else damaging original parts .
Your advice on using an extra body for driving is interesting, though!

The original body will be carefully restored. I haven't decided on paintscheme yet, that can wait until the body is primed.

Last weekend I shopped like mad on e-bay.
- new wheels w/rims & tires
- new mech box w springs and bolts
- P-parts: driver, sun roof etc
- universal joints
- ballbearings
-
There is still more shopping to do. I need filler for the body, paint, and to dig up my old polysterene sheets for new mirrors.

I still haven't decided if I'm to open the gearbox, but having looked at some of the other rebuild treads, my impression is that this is done by most of you, so I guess that's the way it goes.


The disappointing bit was that new ballrace plates for the forward suspension didn't fit. Vendor on e-bay obviously don't answer questions, and even though the print on the plastic says 1979 - 2009, they don't fit. Looking closely, the sockets for the bolts is bigger on the 2009/10 edition.

Any one know where I can get new ballplates for the original SS for a reasonable price? This is rater important, as I plan to drive the thing, and the balljoints tend to jump out of the socket.s

If you dont find any, you could always put a thin white cable tie around both top and bottom arms like the way it is illustrated in the Superchamp manual. Kept popping out on my Superchamp also and then I noticed the manual says to tie them together with the cable ties so I did and it works perfectly now.

Progress has been a little slow the last few days, awiting parts from around the world. Received Abec 9 ballbearings from the UK yesterday, so I started dismantling the gearbox immideately. It will be soaked in WD 40 and treated w toothbrush later today. I'm a little at loss of what to do with the exterior of the gearbox w regards to the patinated aluminium. Som other parts from the car I treated w Dremel and brass brush, which seems to remove som of the patina, but I think I may keep the grey patina for the time beeing, just getting it clean.

Body has been stripped of paint, and hopefully I'be able to remove the rest of it today. I started sanding w very finegrained paper and water, but some of the layers are quite thick. By coincidence I discovered it would peel off, so that's what I ended up with: peeling and scraping carefully off all old paint. The look is rather ratty now, carrying an "eastern front - worn winter camo" - look. Only today, though I hope. Tamiya primer is ready, and I hope to get the first layer on today.

Pics later today.

Question:
Battery pack: does any of you have any good solution wr to fitting a battery pack in the mech box, carriyng the original servos, receiver and receiver batterybox (4x1,5 v)? I got hold of to nice rechargable batteries, but for newer cars (and definitely not SS), but I'd like the battery to be kept insde the mechbox. Answers and pics will be greatly appreciated.

Tarjei wrote:

....

Question:
Battery pack: does any of you have any good solution wr to fitting a battery pack in the mech box, carriyng the original servos, receiver and receiver batterybox (4x1,5 v)? I got hold of to nice rechargable batteries, but for newer cars (and definitely not SS), but I'd like the battery to be kept insde the mechbox. Answers and pics will be greatly appreciated.

You need a "hump" pack - take a look here & scroll down to "7.2V 3700mAh SC NiMH HUMP Battery Pack" for example