It’s like 38 odd degrees yesterday so instead of turning on the A/C and staying inside my wife and I retreated to the garage and I started to clean up the wreck properly. (OK I cleaned and she read a book while laying in a hammock)
After the initial wash down the other evening it’s already nicer to work with.
The rear end really looks to be a real worry though. That crud looked like it had come from a swamp.
Front end is a bit trashed as well, shocks look like they’re completely ruined etc.
Maybe it’s not going to be economically restorable?
The knuckles (plastic) are in perfect condition, the “C” uprights not so much. I know these are available still, they’re a common part with quite a few early Kyosho cars.
It blew apart pretty quick in the end. By the time I hit this stage the required parts include a missing OT19 alloy drive hub, the front upright, a lower shock mount and spring platform.
Two of the belts looked bad and the bearings throughout are a mixed bag of rough.
On the plus side the chassis isn’t tweaked and even if a lot of screws are in poor condition nothing broke on disassembly.
The front diff felt notchy, while the rear was seized solid, along with the outdrives being quite rusty.
The dog bones are in terrible condition, one looks bent but all the swamp muck may be causing an optical illusion.
The rear diff had literally fused together with some kind of oxidisation of the pot metal used on the gears. The front diff grease had dried up but will be fine.
At this point the thing is looking like it will be worth saving so time to embark on cleaning things up.
Cleaning is tedious but somewhat satisfying.
I have a couple of plastic (throw away) drink cups on the work bench. One has about 1” depth of WD40, the other Orange Agent.
Screws, gears, shafts etc all go into the Orange Agent to soak.
Bearings, steel shafts, bushes and so on go into the WD40.
In general the screw come up nicely with just a decent soak and a rattling around every now and then. When they come out of that cup they get dried and put in a zip-lock bag with a squirt of wd40.
The belt pullies get washed and the they get what all the plastic will ultimately get, a soak in a non-silicone plastic/trim restorer which improves the surface finish, helps break down stuff and acts as a lube in the screw holes.
Lastly the rest of the plastics soak in a bowl of water with a little Orange Agent. They get individually cleaned last, dried, then soaked in the protectant for an hour or two at least.
So that’s my process.
While they’re soaking I’ve helped clear the inventory of the Aussie hobby shops with orders for all the missing/busted parts.
The dog bones cleaned up really nice after a soak, then a scrub with (stainless) steel wool soaked with WD40. Only one is bent, the others are roughed up so I’ll polished their ball ends a touch before reassembly. I have a single spare dog bone thanks to the other Spider also having a bent one (replacements are 2-per-pack).
The Jizz bag of belt pulleys and spur gear
Shocks being rebuilt. If I get two working correctly that’d be ok. I can improvise another pair, or worst case the entire set by raiding my Mini-Inferno parts stash.
Turns out they were falling apart but except for a broken lower ball-end and a missing spring platform complete. The Mini-Inferno spring platforms and ball-ends are compatible so next step was to build a pair, see if the seals worked etc.
Built up two, no leaks or drama, so built the other two. They cleaned up ok, although the alloy caps are a bit beaten.
After the initial wash down the other evening it’s already nicer to work with.
The rear end really looks to be a real worry though. That crud looked like it had come from a swamp.
Front end is a bit trashed as well, shocks look like they’re completely ruined etc.
Maybe it’s not going to be economically restorable?
The knuckles (plastic) are in perfect condition, the “C” uprights not so much. I know these are available still, they’re a common part with quite a few early Kyosho cars.
It blew apart pretty quick in the end. By the time I hit this stage the required parts include a missing OT19 alloy drive hub, the front upright, a lower shock mount and spring platform.
Two of the belts looked bad and the bearings throughout are a mixed bag of rough.
On the plus side the chassis isn’t tweaked and even if a lot of screws are in poor condition nothing broke on disassembly.
The front diff felt notchy, while the rear was seized solid, along with the outdrives being quite rusty.
The dog bones are in terrible condition, one looks bent but all the swamp muck may be causing an optical illusion.
The rear diff had literally fused together with some kind of oxidisation of the pot metal used on the gears. The front diff grease had dried up but will be fine.
At this point the thing is looking like it will be worth saving so time to embark on cleaning things up.
Cleaning is tedious but somewhat satisfying.
I have a couple of plastic (throw away) drink cups on the work bench. One has about 1” depth of WD40, the other Orange Agent.
Screws, gears, shafts etc all go into the Orange Agent to soak.
Bearings, steel shafts, bushes and so on go into the WD40.
In general the screw come up nicely with just a decent soak and a rattling around every now and then. When they come out of that cup they get dried and put in a zip-lock bag with a squirt of wd40.
The belt pullies get washed and the they get what all the plastic will ultimately get, a soak in a non-silicone plastic/trim restorer which improves the surface finish, helps break down stuff and acts as a lube in the screw holes.
Lastly the rest of the plastics soak in a bowl of water with a little Orange Agent. They get individually cleaned last, dried, then soaked in the protectant for an hour or two at least.
So that’s my process.
While they’re soaking I’ve helped clear the inventory of the Aussie hobby shops with orders for all the missing/busted parts.
The dog bones cleaned up really nice after a soak, then a scrub with (stainless) steel wool soaked with WD40. Only one is bent, the others are roughed up so I’ll polished their ball ends a touch before reassembly. I have a single spare dog bone thanks to the other Spider also having a bent one (replacements are 2-per-pack).
The Jizz bag of belt pulleys and spur gear
Shocks being rebuilt. If I get two working correctly that’d be ok. I can improvise another pair, or worst case the entire set by raiding my Mini-Inferno parts stash.
Turns out they were falling apart but except for a broken lower ball-end and a missing spring platform complete. The Mini-Inferno spring platforms and ball-ends are compatible so next step was to build a pair, see if the seals worked etc.
Built up two, no leaks or drama, so built the other two. They cleaned up ok, although the alloy caps are a bit beaten.