Today I bought my Holy Grail. (Marui Big Bear restomod)

[addiemonster]

Over the weekend, I asked a friend of mine if I could borrow his clippers to give myself a haircut. I'd been to this guy's house a zillion times over the years, and he knows I love old school RC stuff. This will be relevant later.

So we decide to hang out and chop my mane off, and afterward his grandfather comes by. He's storing a hot rod in the basement garage and wants to show it to me (I'm also a 1:1 car guy). So we head downstairs and he shows me his old Buick project and we shoot the shiz for a little bit. As I'm turning to leave, something on top of the workbench cabinets catches the corner of my eye - a goddamned Marui Big Bear, 80% complete with radio gear and box.

After collecting myself, I turn to my friend and ask him why the upside-down hell he never told me that was there. He tells me he forgot it was there for like, a decade. His grandfather pipes up and mentions it's his, had no idea it was even down there, thought he sold it off decades ago.

I ask what he wants for it. He asks what they're worth. I pull up eBay on my phone and show him the handful of examples I can find, in various states of completion and a range of prices.

His example is unpainted, except for the lettering on the tailgate and the bumpers. There are two cracks in the whole body, and the rollbar is entirely missing. The tires, as with all Big Bears, are dust. One is altogether missing. He has a complete and functional Hitec Aristocraft twinstick AM system in it, as well as the original Marui 540. The manual and all documentation is present and mint. The box is in very rough shape but I don't care.

I ask him if $100 is a slap in the face. He says as long as he gets to drive it when I finish it, it's a deal.

So here we are. I can't wait to get started.

[Brake Weight]

Nice. That’d be an equivalent of a 1:1 barn find.

[House]

Nice, even the box!
The Big Bear was my first “real” RC. After breaking the rear diff gears and
not being able to find any replacements for a few years (pre internet), I threw
it in the trash can one day...
I now have a NOS one built and painted for display and an NOS one in the box.

[addiemonster]

Originally Posted by Brake Weight

Nice. That’d be an equivalent of a 1:1 barn find.

It really was! I couldn't believe my luck.

Originally Posted by House

Nice, even the box!
The Big Bear was my first “real” RC. After breaking the rear diff gears and
not being able to find any replacements for a few years (pre internet), I threw
it in the trash can one day...
I now have a NOS one built and painted for display and an NOS one in the box.

I am utterly seething with jealousy! But yeah, I know the feeling of throwing away stuff when you're younger and having no idea what it will be worth or mean to you later. The amount of GI Joes I blew up, melted, shot at with BB guns, etc...

So progress will be a little slow for now as I have a few other projects I want to hammer out beforehand so I can really focus on this restomod. I call it a restomod because I fully intend to run this truck (no major jumps, etc as the plastics are a bit on the brittle side) and as such I won't be buying expensive NOS parts unless I can find really stellar deals on them.

As of now, what's broken or missing:

Rollbar
Tires
Front body mount tab
Both rear body mount posts are cracked in half
Missing one rear body pin nub
Cracks in the chassis

For the rollbar and body tab, I'm just going to buy 3D printed replacements. The transmission and differential gears seem strong, but I will eventually replace them with 3D printed ones as well once they inevitably grenade. As for wheels and tires, I will be again be ordering a 3D printed solution in the form of Tamiya wheel adapters to run ORV/CW01 wheels and tires. Eventually, I would like to find the original tires for very light running but mostly for display. I will repair and reinforce the hairline cracks and weak points of the chassis, but am looking for a replacement and perhaps a 3D printed one if such a thing exists. For now, I think this will survive regular running with minimal jumping.

I've also ordered a set of MCI repop decals, and have decided to do a box art paint scheme. I'm still deciding if I want a metallic blue or a regular gloss. I'm also debating opening up the headlights and installing lexan lenses and LED for them and the spotlights.

Here are the 3D printing resources I have found so far. I'm very happy to report that there's a lot of support out there for this thing!

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/alie...i+Big+Bear&s=0

https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q...&sort=relevant