After 25 years, my bruiser is getting rebuilt.

[my94lightning]

The story,
My Dad got me into RC very early on,(age 5? @ 1979) seems he would get a new kit to build, and I would inherit or earn his old car to carefully use.
If you don't think it was long ago, how many of you have ever heard of the Tamiya Cheetah. His/our first car, featuring 4 torsion bar suspension and a Heath-kit single joystick transmitter that he built. LOL.

Next up came the sand scorcher (new at the time), rough rider, Subaru brat, wild-willys, kyosho front end loader (truly bad azz). Somewhere early on he got a bruiser, it was just awesome, of course he kept ownership of that one, I worked a paper route and saved and got to buy a used bruiser at a rc swap meet years later, was fun, but sadly my bruiser let me down after only a year or two. it started having popping noises in third, then also second, then first till it would barely move.
trans was completely shot, (so I thought).
We had other cars to run so not the end of the world, couldn't afford the high dollar new trans replacement ( when they were available on my paper money.) so it sat on the shelf.

A year later I actually kid rigged the sand scorcher's gearbox into it for a month just to drive it again, obviously that didn't work well, and think it was 2wd only.
so back on the shelf it went.
Dad's bruiser suffered the same trans failure a year after mine died, so we had 2 dead bruisers with shot transmissions.

I tried to take my trans apart a time or two when I was young, and really never could figure out how, and gave up. I allway's assumed from the noises that the brass gears were ground up.
I never knew about the slipper mechanism and didn't "see" it when I had partially taken it apart, none of the cars we owned had slipper clutch set ups till many years later,

I have had a kit honcho last 2 years, the kid has the RTR version, with all the stuff made now, I decided to retrofit the bruiser and get it running again, after reading stuff here, and the trans info links, I ran upstairs grabbed the trans and said, I cant believe that could be all that is broken.
took the motor out, saw the snap ring, and said, you lil bastard,
if only I had caught that 20 years ago.

It was only the "slipper mechanism that striped out"

So now I will be using the trans again, as far as I can tell so far.
Dad, also finally gave me his old bruiser 10 years ago when he moved.
it needs a front axle housing, (got dropped from a high shelf) and will get it running next.

I am so dam excited, to get it up again, out of the 30+ RC boats, heli's ,cars etc. The bruiser(s) was allways my childhood favorite.

[ZippoMan]

Can't wait to see pics!! That is a great story!!

I have a 2012 Bruiser and am trying to get upgrade parts before I build it. I have had the kit for over a year now and not opened any parts bags yet.

[ski]

Corey, is that you?

[my94lightning]

Yup, Hi Ron.
pm me, here or on NLOC.

[fixy]

Awesome story. I remember the Tamiya Cheeta and my first radio was a heathkit. The days of charge for an hour and drive for 6 minutes lol. Thanks for sharing

[T I N Y]

please tell me you're going to leave it old school.....