jamham

So, quick update. Quicrun 1060 ESC arrived and this was the first thing I fitted. Very pleased, completely transforms the low speed manoeuvrability and control compared to the original MSC. Hardly any heat coming off it either after a good 10 min run which is great. The car absolutely flies and was very happy with the first run around, really fun. Not sure how much of it is that 23T motor I fitted during the later part of the 90s or how much is just not being used to RCs any more but was very impressed. Had another couple of runs, one in the ice yesterday and it was great to slide around and very controllable. Ordered some new wheels and tyres as the wheels have seen better days and the tyres are flat spotted. Accidentally got 2 instead of 4 so another order needed. Couple of mm bigger diameter than originals so better ground clearance. The bearings arrived so will fit those when I get chance. Now for the not so good news - let the other half have a quick go and she managed to plant it into a brick wall at almost full speed. There is a big crack across the bonnet of the car body shell and some smaller cracks in lower bumper of body shell. Argh. Anyway, fortunately managed to order another identical shell with all the sticker, albeit quite pricey. In terms of repairing the original, can anyone recommend any products? So will enjoy painting and assembling the new body when it arrives and have ordered some new mounting posts as I would like a bit higher ground clearance and originals are chopped to size. That's all for now!

Excellent, hopefully will come up nicely. Got the bearing set estimated arrival of start of next week and the Quikrun 1060 ESC middle of the week so might be able to go for a blast in a week's time. Then I can look at maybe getting some new wheels/tyres. The tyres are very flatspotted from storage although should be good for an hour or two of drifting action maybe! I have been looking at a slightly wider body shell (started another thread in vintage section on this) so on the lookout for some good looking offset wheels and probably some spacers to get to the 198mm I need to be at. Then I'll have 2 good bodyshells to alternate between.

Ha! I really want you to Actually SWMBO offered to clean it up with some cotton buds and such like last night. We will see if this actually happens though.. It's going to need a clean up before I fit the bearings set which is en route anyway, don't want to be getting dirt and grit in the moving parts.

A bit of googling last night and I found lots of interesting 1/10 scale body shells around, far more than when my TA01 was made and your choices were very limited. Currently have the official Tamiya Escort Cossie in average-ish condition and the Merc 190E in fairly good condition but as I'm going to be reinstating the car with lots of new parts I thought it might be fun to get another body shell. The one that appeals most currently is this Volvo 242GT made by Aplastics: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-APlastics-RC-Drift-car-touring-1-10-body-shell-Volvo-242-GT-coupe-style/272653672432?hash=item3f7b6cdff0:g:i8oAAOSw3utY54Il Says in the blurb it will fit TT01, any idea if this means it is likely to fit my old TA01? The wheelbase measurements look spot on and the length looks good, it's just the width I'm not sure about - says 198mm and my chassis width to the outside of wheels is 182mm with current wheels. Wondering if the wheels are going to be lost within the body?

Thanks very much, those links are very useful indeed. Have saved the PDF manual for the car and bearings set is the first thing I will order. Appreciate all the advice to a newbie, hadn't expected such a useful mine of info here when I signed up this morning. I will keep the thread updated and very kind of the offer of help with further qs. It's going to be very pleasing indeed to work on, use and upgrade this car. It's amazing that the parts availability is good and reasonably priced and so many things are backwards compatible. Working on a rolling resto of an actual early 80s car as well the real beauty of these models also is no rust, tax or insurance

Starting to realise I'm really in the "don't know what I don't know" category with these cars! A quick search tells me the bearings set upgrade is the first thing you should do on these cars and I haven't done it. I guess the only info I had at the time was from my small town model shop in the mid-1990s hence just replacing worn out parts with like for like on this (gear attached to the motor was always shredding itself for example). So I will order a bearings set. Haven't taken this car apart for years so fitting them may be a bit hit and miss assuming no guide provided with the parts. Have you come across a web how-to on this upgrade? Struggling to find anything detailed on search.

Thanks XV Pilot, some good options there. I think I'll pick up a Quikrun 1060 and use that until my Yokomo wears out. At which point I can then get one of the recommended brushless motors to pair with my TBLE-02. Or maybe I should jump straight to brushless setup. Hmmmmm, will have a think. One thing that looks interesting on the brushless motors is they seem to have a brake function which the ESCs support, guessing this should work even with my old Techniplus controller. Does the brake work well with these older models in terms of drivetrain stress etc? I never really used to slam it in reverse from full forward speed unless necessary to avoid hitting anything. Likewise is the increased output from the brushless likely to toast the transmissions?

Thanks chaps for the additional pointers and well spotted on the non original motor XV Pilot, I bought this for the final 6 months the car was used as I think the original was getting a bit tired. Appreciate the photo of your ESC setup too, looks neat. I just unbolted to check the type of motor I have, attached a photo below. It seems to be a 23T. Is it worth giving a go with the Tamiya ESC controller I ordered to see if it's tolerable or just returning unopened and sourcing a different controller. Any specific products in mind if I should go for another? Thanks for all the help.

Thanks Fly In My Soup for the speedy reply, this is just the info I needed. ESC ordered and looking forward to resurrecting the beast. I'd forgotten how satisfying these models are to work on, going to have a lot of fun with this. Will post an update when she is back up and running. We have just moved house which is what prompted the parents to force me to take lots of boxes of childhood things, glad I did now. Lots of interesting terrain in and around our new place too so should be good territory for running the car.

Hi folks, Came across this forum from an internet search looking for some help getting my old Tamiya model going again. She's from approx. 1993, bought as a Christmas present as a 4wd Escort Cossie kit. Later got the MB 190 body as I became a bit of a Merc fan boy. But digressing now. Car has had 100s of hours use, was my favourite thing and I have a big box of spares from all the repairs I used to carry out. The car has had a 20 year hibernation but is in great shape actually considering all the use so I bought a new big capacity battery pack, did some cleaning and checking and went for a blast, she flies. Or flew for about 5 mins, then there was some crackling around the MSC. Yellow wire which looks to have been previously soldered by yours truly not making proper contact and coming away. Reading about new fangled ESCs got me thinking should I just get one of these instead of shelling out for and messing around with a soldering kit. Would something like this work? The ad mentions that it needs to be a high turn motor. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tamiya-45057-TBLE-02S-Brushed-Brushless-ESC-Replaces-TEU105BK-TEU101BK/360827647623?epid=14003309372&hash=item540300f687:g:eu8AAOxyNo9SxVs- If it will work, does anyone have a pic of where it should be mounted or how it should be attached in the car. Not after complete originality, just want to have some fun with the car again. Apologies if this topic has been done to death. Look forward to getting involved in the hobby again and hopefully getting a modern car as well. Thanks, James