Tamiya or not Tamiya

[threesheds]

or maybe 'A Bodge Too Far'. an ebay purchase from France that I might have paid too much for but I see hours of tinkering ahead of me.

A Grasshopper transmission, Holiday Buggy body, and 'customised' chasis by someone pretty good at sheet metal work.


replaced the receiver with one I know works with an acoms tx and replaced the manual speed control with an early ESC.
So at least the transmission works.
Tyres a bit knackered and I don't think they are 'holiday' wheels? maybe someone knows what they are but so far I cant see suitable replacement tyres for the hubs so looking down the 12mm hex adapter route.
The front suspension/steering is a home made hop up or maybe hop down. it works but no shock absorbtion
I've stripped the body down, removed customizations and stickers and a wet sand to reveal any surprises, plus the rear mudguard additions werent an improvement.
I can see the original blue plastic but that's a naff colour so a respray is due.

[Dadio]

What an extraordinary ...... contraption ? intrigued to see where you go with it .

[threesheds]

Watch this space...

[threesheds]

Stripped down the gearbox today as I wondered why the differential was seized. Turns out a previous owner had put bolts through disabling any diff movement probably to ensure more traction? Anyone else seen that as a mod?
The wheels are not grasshopper but I think I have wheels in the spares box but no tyres. I'm reluctant to buy tyres unless I know they'll fit the wheels.
Waiting for hex adapters as an optional mod

[threesheds]

A happy accident with the rear wheels, two wheels in the spares box turn out to be tamiya compatible and some mardave Apache tyres also in stock fit those wheels. So a test drive due when it's warmer. I'm curious about the performance of the drive train, steering geometry might be strange with the one steering rod from the servo saver setup. Also pondering how to get some springs onto the front axle arrangement.
This might as well be a complete mongrel, just for fun...stock car or hot rod ?

[Biz73]

I'm pretty sure those are original Holiday Buggy wheels and tires. When I got my Sand Scorcher roller it had those wheels/tires so I looked them up.
http://www.tamiya101.com/model_info.asp?id=23

[threesheds]

Thanks, thought as much, they've got a strange profile where the tyres fit the rims. A pretty good design if only new tyres were available....Not compatible with grasshopper etc methinks. They leave a lot of axle exposed for the locknut on the rear which is probably grasshopper gearbox. If anyone made reasonable exchange offer for the 4 wheels I'd probably do it. Tyres are a bit knackered but 3 rims pretty good and one 'servicable' .
Has anyone got a database of vintage wheels and tyres that are compatible?

[Biz73]

I got the Holiday Buggy wheels/tires on a Sand Scorcher which uses the same wheels/tires as the grasshopper so I would think the Grasshopper wheels would work on your Holiday Buggy.

[threesheds]

I appreciate the advice but this buggy is a collection of salvaged parts and a home made chassis. I'm pretty sure the gearbox and axle is grasshopper. I'm going for a 12mm hex conversation with adapters, I'll post some pics if it works. Meantime I've cobbled together some rear wheels with better tread.
It was an impulse buy on eBay but giving me some fun and experience tinkering with parts.

[RCveteran]

To answer the title, the answer is ALWAYS Tamiya