trite

Hey, first time user here. I think I have a good story...

Probably 15-20 years ago, my dad bought a nice (at least at the time) RC car. It was a replica of a Porsche 959 rally car. He had only had it for a couple of days when he handed me the controls. Being a little kid I promptly put it into a curb, breaking the left rear suspension. It has been sitting in a box in the basement for the last umpteen years. The other day I decided that It would be cool if I fixed it up.

Are there parts for these things still around? I have a replacement part catalog for it, but its from 1987. The manufacturer (Tamiya?) is still around and has a website, but would they still use the same parts? One of the braces for the top of the left rear spring is broken, I super glued the other pieces back together, and it needs some oil for the dampers. It is also missing a rear spring. It would be cool if I could find a replacement body for it too as the front and back bumpers are a little dinged up (won't hold my breath there).

Does anyone have an old 959 that wouldn't mind sparing a few parts, or know where I could get some of these old parts? It would be really cool if I could give my dad a restored Porsche for his birthday!!

Smiff 24

Man that thing is vintage!
Got any pics of it ?
Is this it ?
http://classictamiyarc.com/tamcars09.html

trite

Yeah that's it! Wow, didn't know it was actually worth anything. Do you think this makes it more likely to find some parts for it?

trite

Here are some pics. You can see where we hit the curb (me or my brother, dad forgets which one of us did this). Original battery STILL works, and we have the old school "vintage" controller too lol! As you can see, I am missing the left rear spring. You can also see where I used super glue on one of the left rear spring support beams. The other support beam was missing, so I ground down a spare driveshaft and super glued that in its place.

All the electronics are tested and work, just need the spring and the damper oil.

Sorry for the poor picture quality, cellphone in my garage.

Druss

I can't post ebay links in here but if you go on ebay and do a search for "tamiya 959" you'll find the parts you need. You'll even find a new body or a brand new kit if you want.

Just as a note, if you want to keep it as a shelf queen that's great, rebuild it as is. BUT, if you're planning on driving it then I would suggest a new esc, motor and battery (and a radio if you can afford it).

trite

esc? and what would be wrong with the radio/motor?

Druss

An ESC is an electronic speed control, the one you have in there is mechanical, it's operated by the servo moving over that strip of metal. A lot less control and jerky compared to an electronic one.

As for the motor, it's a brushed motor that's been sitting around for how long? At a minimum I'd suggest you replace the bearings in it but if it's a silver can tamiya motor then it's not possible. The stick radio is nice for old times sake but I find them almost impossible to control compared to a pistol radio.

I'm not saying you can't get that to run but it's considered vintage for a reason and if you get it fixed up I wouldn't really consider it worth running. If nothing else the plastic is probably pretty brittle and will break easily.

If you want to get back into RC there are some very cheap kits (like the TB-02) which will run 400% better than your vintage one. If you fixed it up to look like new then it would be a great shelf queen though, and probably worth quite a bit in another 5-10 years.

Savage_Dias

I'm a collector by nature so if it were my car I'd restore it & carefully run a few batteries through it just for the trip down memory lane. The plastic is old & might be brittle so take it easy if you want to keep it. If you're getting back into R/Cs you'll find a lot has changed in 15 years. Thanks for sharing the pics & story.

ElectricGuy007

Good luck to restoring it. Wish I had one, but dont feel like paying 400 dollars on ebay or more for one.
I read on many sites that its the funnest car to drive ever that tamiya has ever made. And the only true rally car I have seen.

yahman1254

My Feedback: (1)

i agree that even a stock esc is a must over the mechanical one. also, a stock motor should be around 10 dollars. i think the radio is fine and you should keep it.

trite

I'm not getting back in, I was like 4 when I crashed the thing. I'm getting in now for the first time (guess I start with a good car!). I just decided it would be cool to try and fix it. I dunno, I think I'm gonna find a reproduction body to drive around in occasionally, and keep my eye out for the few replacements I need. Keep it stock (manual speed control and all). Now that my interest is perked however, about how much would a starter kit be that I could bring to a local race? Are the modern Tamiya's any good?

Druss

That's exactly what I said, if you're going to restore it in order to keep it vintage then just replace the necessary parts. they are all available on ebay if you look.

if you want something to actually run then look at something more modern, racing 1/10 electric is a whole other ball game though, it gets very competitive. like I said, the tb-02 is a decent starter car and it's around $80 shipped on ebay for the kit, add a radio, couple of batteries and a charger and you're looking at $200.

secretsg

Ebay/Yahoo Japan or Tamiyaclub are your best bet for parts. It is long discontinued and one of the most collected vintage Tamiyas. Be warned all parts are extremely expensive and hard to come by. You are looking $1000-2000 for new in box kit and 500-900 for a new built one.

There are reproduction bodies available ($40-70 instead of $400) If you are looking into racing at it is not allowed in any classes. It's a 1/12th scale on road car with dimensions not defined in any class. This is because when the car was made there were no touring cars as we know today. I would either restore it as a display or get used parts from ebay and put in a modern ESC (old MSC is unreliable and has about 3 speeds.)