Rojie

Did you sell it ?

Hi, Nice to hear from you. Not much use now, but there is a tool to help put the diff bits back together ! Maybe next time eh? I've looked at some FG Baja. As I am sure you know, the 2WD ones are almost a Marder. So they get my vote, although I have never had one. I am considering buying a new off-road Beetle. But it's location is a secret. Good luck with the Baja. I visited a local paint shop today, hopeful they can help with spraying my bodies. They can't. There is place in Liverpool, Outlaw Graphics, that can do the job though (if they are still operating. I wrote to them earlier today). I have two new bodies for my Marder, one white, one clear, as well as the bashed original ABS body! I have two bodies for my Pajero that need refurbishing, two totally complete new bodies for it, and some other shell parts. I need a couple of rear shell bodies. I may have to get these made. Sounds like fun. I have a couple of Beetle bodies. One painted metallic black (looks great) and an untrimmed road shell that I hope to make as a fully-spoilered road racer. So much to do,

Hi All, Seems I'm back on these projects now after several delays. Returned early from Spain as our house was sold. Packed all the FG parts away, ready to move, and the sale fell through. Now I can't find anything !!!!

RC I don't think I can help here. I know nothing about diffs, so don't know what a step-up one is. I do know the diff in my Marder isn't even pluggable! I haven't looked at my Pajero (or tried to unplug the shafts). When I finally get to my RCG320 project, then I'll need a VERY strong diff ! Log onto rc-online.de (you don't need to register) and take a look at the FG diffs and drive-shafts. There is a tab where you can ask questions about each part; which is what I do quite a lot. You don't have to buy (but I do spend a far bit with them). Depends on your budget, I know, but I often buy new to avoid all the hassles with buying off ebay. Have you tried simonsfgspares on ebay ? Good for choice, and he answers questions, but he won't sell direct to you; you have to bid. Please send me your email. I have to photos of my radio plate. Regards Roger

Hi RC, Dave's Discount Motors, in Utah USA, is a very good source of parts. As many of the genuine FG parts have been discontinued Dave has been selling old parts off cheap. They are often a fraction of the ebay prices for used (and abused) parts. Just watch out for the dreaded VAT. Postage can be horrible on heavy items too. I believe the 'magic amount' for VAT free importation is (or was)

Hi RC, Really nice to hear from you. Good luck with your rebuild. I buy ALL my nuts, bolts and screws from RC on-line in Germany. They all fit first time. Service is excellent, delivery quick and they will answer ALL your questions without delay. Absolutely first class. More importantly, they have the original FG exploded views so can you check for part numbers and ensure you buy the correct parts. If I can give you any tip about ebay it is 'buyer beware'. Look at all photos very carefully. Save them to desktop and 'explode' them larger for closer inspection. Most ebayers don't lie, but hey don't tell the whole truth either. If in doubt, ask specific questions. If you don't like the answer, say they don't know or don't even answer at all; don't buy ! The most honest buyers will show photos of all defects, scratches etc. Talk with you soon. Best regards Rojie

Hi Luke, Good to hear from you. I have hundreds of photos and hope to upload a few soon. Best wishes Roger

Preferably new, but all conditions considered. Rojie

Back from my summer holidays now and spent a small fortune on Pajero Body parts ! Somehow I had blown the servos on my Marder, so need to replace those first ! Now have Pajero exhaust and have ordered new gaskets so hope to get both cars running again soon. Regards Rojie

Rojie, FG 2WD Marder, FG Marder 4WD, 2 x FG Pajero, FG Beetle, FG Lorry, FG 4WD Porsche, FG all alloy V8 special, Paignton, South Devon

I knew there were/are rare, but not this rare ! Rojie

I had an agreement with the FG factory to make some more FG Pajero body sets, including the tub, but it all fell apart when Franz announced the closure / sale of Fg. I doubt t2m will be interested ! Rojie

I haven't been able to run the engine much yet, and certainly not 'in anger'. Now car is mobile I have returned to looking at the ride height as Luke had reported issues. Fitting my Marder shockers restored front end suspension action. Comparison of Pajero to Marder shows front shockers are incorrect length, and so are the springs. New ordered. Same with the rear. Substitution shows although the shockers are correct length, the springs are not. New ordered. Waiting to fit when all bits arrive then can look at the body ride height and wheel and suspension bump clearance, especially with the Pajero tub fitted. I'm expecting a couple of issues here too. As I have removed the rear axle raiser and will have adjusted/replaced the shockers I expect the clearances will have changed. The model came with pretty worn Marder wheels fitted with knobbly tyres AND a set of FTX wheels and tyres. The FTX wheels look really good but I expect they will compromise bounce control etc., as they are larger diameter than FG and 80mm wide and there are rubbing marks on the rear wheel arches. I hope to make then fit, but have lots of FG wheel and tyre combinations I can try. All for now

Ok. Fitted old throttle and brake rods with new collets, and reverse fitted (to what they had been) the rods at the servo. The throttle rod is now outermost and just clears the engine cooling cowling/shroud at all throttle positions. So far so good. What next ? Get a new carb ? Not cheap, and they come 'free' with a new engine ! No, I decide, persevere with what you have. Not completely convinced so I switch my attention to the radio. Luke had reported servos operating in the wrong direction, but the car didn't come with a radio manual. Thanks to the internet I now have a manual. Most of it seems very easy to understand, especially the paragraphs I don't need to understand. Reversing servos. do these actions and wait 2 to 3 minutes ! What ? I decide to select one of the 10 set-ups that hasn't been messed with. Not many hobbyists have ten cars, so I go with channel 10. I do what the manual says, crazy that it is, wait three minutes which seems like 30, and hey presto, the servo direction reverses. Yippee ! Now I am on high. Enough success for one day. "Pride comes before a fall". Next day, today, I decide to mow the lawn before working on starting the Pajero. I have a motorised Honda 4 stroke lawn mower. They NEVER fail. It did ! The good news is I have already mowed the back lawn. The bad news is the front lawn needs mowing the most ! After an hour or so, much of which was 'discussing' (cursing) the situation with the 'boss'; I get the mower fixed. I get the front lawn mowed. It's a large lawn and I am exhausted by the time I have finished. I decide on an afternoon nap. I am retired after all. I'm just dozing off when the door bell rings. No matter ! It's the Police ! "Just another interview, please, about the physical assault you intervened in and stopped a few weeks ago". "It's going to court and you are the main witness". Great. 90 minutes later, and wide awake, it's time for me to assault the Pajero and get it started ! Luke had it running. I haven't ! Don't assume anything !!! Could be the carb, could be the fuel. There is a spark. Is it strong enough ? According to the tell-tale black deposits on the carb, the engine (that the carb had been in) was running rich. Good news really, as running these engines lean is not good news. Which reminds me, I still don't know what the engine is ! Initially thought it was CY, but now believe it to be a Zenoah. All the parts I have fitted, so far, have been Marder/Zenoah, and they all seem to fit. Back to starting. I start pulling the pull cord as hard as I can. The new one, only a cheapy from ebay, doesn't break ! Engine doesn't start either, doesn't even try ! What now ? Got spark, got fuel ! Start adjusting the carb ? That should do it. Set it to the factory original settings ? No No NO. What else ? The car came (through the mail) with half a tank of fuel. Naughty Luke ! Ditch the fuel, who knows what mix it is, or how old it is ? I decide to fill-up with the fuel I use on the Huskavana I have. Husky, never fails to start ! By the by, Husky now owns Zenoah, which must be good. Before I fill the tank I decide to inspect the in-tank fuel filter. It's on the black fuel line, the wrong one. It should be on the yellow ! But, as I mentioned earlier, the black and yellow lines to the carb are reversed; so the two 'errors' should cancel out !!! But do they ? Don't assume anything, but it's only hoping for the best, isn't it ? And then the penny drops. How can Luke start the car, and I cannot ? You won't guess. I am not a betting person, otherwise I would bet you (big time) that you wouldn't guess. I never fill the tank. I assume Luke does. Got it yet ? Someone has tidied the fuel pipes, and strapped them with cable-ties to the roll-cage. The Pajero shouldn't have a roll cage ! The black pipe, which is carrying the fuel, has had an extra inch or two pulled from the tank. Got it yet ? Black pipe only goes half way down the tank. Full tank, works OK until tank half-full then carb sucks air. Cannot be. It's too unlikely and too simple. So I push the black pipe fully to the bottom of the tank. pull the cord, and she almost fires. Yes YeS YES. One pull and the wheel-less chassis is purring away. I felt elated. So, more to do, but I cannot see any other problems, unless the engine............ Bye for now, I'm off the listen to that engine again. The Zenoah, not the Huskavana.

So the day came to start her ! I didn't expect her to start, and she didn't ! Lots of pulling, no go ! Checked for a spark, looked good. One more pull, and the pull start gave out ! No recoil ! Took it to bits and the recoil spring had broken. Was OK, then it wasn't. C'est la vie. While waiting for a new one I noticed that the throttle rod was binding against the plastic cylinder cooling shroud. Not good. After much thinking I concluded the throttle rod and brake rod were fitted to the servo incorrectly. Easy to fix ? NO. Collets seized, but not really a surprise ! Bought new rods, and although they are definitely the correct ones, they're too short ! Conclusion ? Servo is fitted wrong way round; back to front !. Easy ? Even the most simple is never easy. So.......... Decided to take the simple approach, don't switch the servo or move the servo closer to the carb and brake, just change the collets and use the existing rods. Hope the approach works; should do ! Collets really difficult to remove. Think I got there in the end. Whilst doing all this I have stuffed paper under the carb to catch the screws that I will surely drop ! Screws etc., haven't yet disappeared into differential but I did notice the carb is leaking fuel ! Just a bit. Probably OK. I had previously noticed that the yellow fuel line goes to the bottom of the carb, and the black to the top. Should be the other way around ! But does it make any difference ? Probably not, except that the black line has a fuel filter in it. If the fuel filter is omni-directional I have another issue to deal with. I never did like the fuel tank ! Someone painted it with what (I guess) is not fuel tolerant paint !. Removed the tank and underneath is very yukky. Cleaned it all up but.... I had noticed some paint staining on the extremely rare underbody/tray. Now I know where it come from ! Luke had reported some issues with the fuel seal on top of the tank so, complete new tank and fuel tubes have been ordered. So what else ? Well, still haven't tried to start her again ! I am suspicious of the carb. Have no idea about the engine yet !!!!!!!!!!! Clutch is somewhat worn but should be OK and fan looks OK. Haven't tried to sort the radio yet, but the radio tray needed some attention as the steering servo linkage looked iffy. Made some adjustments and removed some unnecessary spacers so all aligns much better now. Servo arm on steering servo is not wide enough so holes in chassis don't line up with the 'connections' on the steering servo linkages. A cheap fix. What else ? Well tuned pipe is incorrect, but I happen to have the correct exhaust pipe (not tuned) and Pajero's were not fitted with a full roll cage. I may keep the roll cage as it helps me to lift the car. After the body has been restored, as they are so rare, I doubt I'll run the car with the body on. Shelf Queen ? All, this for what will only be my project tow car ! What next ? What surprises are in store ? It's been (and continues to be an adventure) FUN !