Tamiya BigWig!

[11110111]

(this didnt seem to popular in the Tamiya forum...)

hey hey folks!

some (most) of you might have (not) read my avante 2001 post I was looking to buy it as a restorer project...

...well it got me thinking and it didnt really seem to need much work hence didnt think it would be much of a project and i wasnt likely to add much value to it by simply sorting out the paintwork, and sorting out the paintwork isnt really much of a resto ...

...so i found this bigwig on ebay WITH box (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=320358620632) the buggy itself is a bit shoddy, missing some important (read costly - and why it was sold on ) parts the box is in pretty good shape (though in need of a good spit & polish) and the whole things definately needs a resto!

so first things first is to take the thing apart and get a list made of all the parts i need, followed by sorting the shell out (box art as always hehe)

not looking to make loadsa money or anything from this, just saw a boxed buggy and thought it needed some love and attention! it might stay on the shelf or may be eventually sold to fund other projects!

let us know what you think, as soon as i get it cleaned up I will post some more pics, also (and i knew this was going to be a hassle) anyone know where i can find the rack and pinion style stearing parts? from what i understand these were unique to this buggy (as well as a few other parts) any other advice on these buggies

Thanks

Pradley

(tho a bit of me still wants that avante 2001, someone tell me its a bad idea!!)

[peetbee]

Interesting and not a bad price for the two cars.
The other one's a Mardave Apache, I would have thought that it's pretty rare in it's own right, although that means that spares are even rarer!

For the Bigwig, at least the transmission and suspension are readily available now thanks to the Boomerang re-release. Have fun!

[purpletimbo]

Mardave apache bits come up occasionally, been a couple of sets of NOS tyres on ebay this week,
i have 2 rollers somewhere

[GRIFF55]

love that bargain bigwig, i missed that one on the bay. one of my fave cars with a technigold and 8.4v

[terry.sc]

Originally Posted by 11110111

anyone know where i can find the rack and pinion style stearing parts? from what i understand these were unique to this buggy (as well as a few other parts) any other advice on these buggies

You're in luck, the rerelease Boomerang C parts sprue includes the Bigwig rack and pinion, as well as the Bigwig front shock mounts. Part number is 0005257.

As well as plenty of old spares still being available on ebay, teambluegroove on ebay is selling repro Bigwig bodies.

[Rich D]

ive got a genuine Bigwig body in box art thats spare - not looking to give it away though ! Feel free to make me an offer. Its in 9/10 condition

[11110111]

hey, thanks for the replies and which parts to get the r&p steering!

Anyone want to buy the Mardave off me, i really don't have much interest for it, i think it comes with two shells, can stick up more pics if you want...?

As for the original box art body, thanks for the offer but i think i am going to try and sort out the body that came with it. Its not in bad shape, no cracks, very light scratching... Needs paint stripping (any suggestions on what to use) decals stuck on and should be as good as new!

Any ideas for not extotionately priced decals?

Will get some pics on here soon, just need to get them off the camera!

[11110111]

Needs a lot of cleaning to start with, but has potential

dusty shell







bad hand painted job




needs new wheels!


and de-greasing!








how'd this get in here?

[11110111]

well the gf is getting that way

any way an update of pics of what has happened so far...

elbow grease (hard work, was tempted to use brake fluid but was advised it'd mark the lexan)...










New yellow bits, love the exhaust (was missing before) and also the receiver holder bit!


slightly scratched tub but not enough to warrent the ebay premiums imo


also got lots of the blue bits new to replace..
need some new wheels on this, sub chassis & technigold and then i am done, cant wait, then move on to the next project

as soon as i get some time, i wanna find a local club and get involved with some vintage racing, nothing too competitive, jsut have a bit of a laugh, the yoko might come in handy here

for the moment, loving getting back into rc's after having not really thought about them for 15 or so years, dunno what made me look agian!

any way - let us konw what you think of the BW, i gotta go - time to pay the gf a little more attention

[Rich D]

Coming on well mate - you were right not to use brake fluid on lexan - you would of written the shell off.

you can use Nitro fuel to remove paint from lexan. Try a small area first though as i have heard reports that it can turn some lexan cloudy. Its never happened to me though and it certainly removes paint ( higher the nitro methane content the better )

HTH