A freebie, was given to me last night...

[JBcustoms]

Was given this by a friend last night. Trying to figure out what it is, I know its vintage Tamiya. Looks like one of the original HiLux vehicles from the old Tamiya commercial from the electronics tray. Its in rough shape, but almost complete. He is digging up the original receiver and servos for me as well.

[jrkilburn]

Hard to tell for sure but it's either a Hilux or a Blazer. It is pretty rough as you stated. Good parts truck or a good restoration project. Good luck


Sent from Apple headquarters

[MudHoncho]

Wow.....

[JBcustoms]

I have been doing some research into it. Found a website, Bruisin' Bruisers that has fairly clear pics of these rigs, the Toyota 4x4 pickup and Blazing Blazer, #s 5828 and 5829 respectively. It looks as though, if their info is correct, that the Toyota came with an early ESC system, and the Blazer came with the Tamiya 3-step mechanical speed control. Knowing this has been sitting on a shelf for 20 years or more I imagine it is still as it came out of the box. And if the previous statements about the speed controls is true, then I am going to say it was originally a Blazing Blazer.

[Lentsnh2012]

You, sir, have a Tamiya Blazing Blazer RC. What an awesome thing to be given!

[jrkilburn]

What it looked like at one point if it is.

[JBcustoms]

The one thing about it that confuses me is the tires, I do not recognize them. But looking at the paddle tires on the Blazer I imagine the previous owner wanted something else and swapped these on. Finding a body is probably going to be next to impossible, but I have the rest of my life to find one, this truck is staying with me for some time.

[jrkilburn]

Those tires are trashed and most likely old Imex or something. The paddles can be found on some of the re-re tamiya 2WD kits. Good luck on the body and its trimmings. Stick with it and you'll find one

[JBcustoms]

Well, I recently started pulling it apart to overhaul it and get it cleaned up. I am noticing a lot of worn out parts like the driveshafts and bushings in the trans. Searched a little, but does anyond have a link to an upgrade set of shafts for these? I am planning on rebuilding it and driving it so I am not too concerned about keeping it completely stock.





Plans include relocating steering servo to the front to eliminate the sloppy linkage, bearings in the transmission, chino mod to the springs, etc.

I have seen Blazer bodies on eBay recently but they are way out of budget for me, thinking of picking up a repro hilux body for it.

[redjones]

Looking good

[1BadJeepBruiser]

Ditch the original Hilux/BB leafs. They are wayyyyyyyy to stiff, even with a chino mod they are gonna be terrible for any sort of real use. Step up to a set of bruiser leafs and it'll be much better.

Depending on how hard your going to run it, some Pede shafts with steel yokes will work just fine and are easy to modify to the size you need. That is what I ran in all my vintage 3 speeds.

Pull the front hubs apart and see if you were lucky enough to obtain one with the steel inserts. If it's plastic you'll want to try and find the steel ones.

[JBcustoms]

Sweet, thanks for the input! I have not put it on the lift in a while, but the trans and axles are next to be overhauled, I will keep my eyes open for the steel inserts. I have downloaded the assembly manual already to help with the reassembly of the project. Also, I imagine the bruiser leafs will lift it a bit, not a problem in my eyes as more ground clearance is always a plus, but a lower c.o.g. helps too

[Goferrari28]

Any updates on this one?

[JBcustoms]

Unfortunately, no. Been wrenching on my Losi Mini Scaler lately trying to get it up and running. This is in a box waiting for me to get the ambition to clean/rebuild the axles and transmission. Thanks for reminding me to get off my butt and continue wrenching, might do some more this afternoon!

[JBcustoms]

Originally Posted by 1BadJeepBruiser

Pull the front hubs apart and see if you were lucky enough to obtain one with the steel inserts. If it's plastic you'll want to try and find the steel ones.

When you say "Steel Inserts" What exactly are you referring to. I have not pulled apart the axles yet, possibly this evening, but want to know what to look for. I have a manual on my computer for this rig, but am not seeing in the instructions anything about these "inserts". I am imagining a steel sleeve inside one of the locking hubs possibly?

[JBcustoms]

I have been wrenching I swear! Couple pics from the teardown and cleaning...



These things are so cute!






One of my favorite pics...


These transmissions are huge!


Trans mount is a little tweaked, should be easy to straighten...


Cleaning up well!




That's all I have for now, will snap some more pics this evening and continue on the rebuild. Axles are next I believe, started tearing into them the other night but dinner was being served

[JBcustoms]

Was able to get a little more work done last night. Mostly disassembly and cleaning, checking out whats worn out and/or missing. Got the chassis and suspension done, and started into the rear axle.

Some corrosion on the bumper


Electronics tray cleaned up well, but has some cracks at the rear.


Axles prior to cleaning


Found a homemade clip on one side of the rear axle




Lots of old grease!




Some wear on the ring gear




Just about finished cleaning and reassembled. Will be pulling them apart again to grease it all up after all the pieces have been cleaned.


During disassembly, I found three shims between the rear shaft and pinion, reassembled with one shim inside the axle housing on the pinion shaft to get a tighter mesh between the ring and pinion gears, seems to work fairly well! Will be tearing into the front axle soon, then the trans!

[A2ana]

Originally Posted by JBcustoms

I have been wrenching I swear! Couple pics from the teardown and cleaning...







These things are so cute!













One of my favorite pics...





These transmissions are huge!





Trans mount is a little tweaked, should be easy to straighten...





Cleaning up well!









That's all I have for now, will snap some more pics this evening and continue on the rebuild. Axles are next I believe, started tearing into them the other night but dinner was being served

Looking awesome. You sure were handed a gem.
Yes, these tranny are huge but they are so much fun to drive.
I locked one of mine and it's on all 4 wd on low/mid and high. Even better for my driving style.
A little rust! No, patina. Lol.
Waiting to see more.



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