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Hi everyone, I’m Dave and I'm new to TamiyaBase and getting back into vintage RC after a long break. I still have some of my original cars from years ago, including an original Tamiya Frog, and I’ve recently been working on bringing a few older RC cars back to life.

Outside of the hobby, I’m a professional 3D CAD designer/engineer with experience in CATIA V5 and Fusion 360. I’ve started combining that background with RC restoration by modeling and 3D printing some replacement and custom parts.

My first serious project has been a set of direct-fit 1:10 touring car wheels for my vintage HPI RS4 Sport. I measured the original wheel with digital calipers and modeled the replacement around the original functional dimensions, including the hub offset, tire bead grooves, and tire fit. The spoke design is updated, but the fitment geometry is based on the original wheel.I

know this is a Tamiya-focused community, so I’m mainly here to learn, share projects, and get more familiar with the vintage Tamiya side of the hobby again.

Looking forward to learning from everyone and seeing what people are restoring.

Welcome on board dave. We like picts of your rc here. 

Here are a few pics of my Frog.  It's been used and abused, so it's not in the best shape, but I think it could run with some fresh batteries and a minor repair to the antenna bracket on the side.  It's probably been close to 30 years since it last saw action. The holes in the front tires were from when I put sheet metal screws in there to run it on the ice.  I had a similar set of rear tires, but with the screws inserted from the inside and the point tips sticking out.  Unfortunately, the car didn't have enough weight to really dig into the ice.  So I took the screws out and put some new tires on it and went back to my on-road setup.

Hello Dave

Here are a few pics of my Frog.  It's been used and abused, so it's not in the best shape, but I think it could run with some fresh batteries and a minor repair to the antenna bracket on the side.  It's probably been close to 30 years since it last saw action. The holes in the front tires were from when I put sheet metal screws in there to run it on the ice.  I had a similar set of rear tires, but with the screws inserted from the inside and the point tips sticking out.  Unfortunately, the car didn't have enough weight to really dig into the ice.  So I took the screws out and put some new tires on it and went back to my on-road setup.

it looks very nice. I bought and saved worser rc. 

Welcome Dave. Looks like a well loved and used RC, just as it should be. Ready for a refresh....

So what do you guys do for a “refresh”? I got my old HPI RS4 Sport (OG) running with literally new AAs for the controller and new NiMH for the car.

Typically a refresh means, take it apart, clean it, fit new bearings, new grease, new o rings and shock oil and replace parts that is broken, fractured or worn out.
Not a fully resto job, but service it so it`s roadworthy again...

Nothing better than get a new grubby purchase and bring it to life again, or bring back one that you used a lot many moons ago.
Myself can`t stand grubby cars so mine has to be cleaned after use. I rarely run on dusty gravel road or worse, muddy tracks. I prefer, asphalt, grass or gravel roads that is not that dusty.
My driveway is all gravel and when it`s dry it`s a nightmare to run on regarding clean ness of the vehicle afterwards.
I recently got my 3 nitro vehicles up and running again after at least 7 years on the shelf. Wanted to test them at home on the gravel road and they was very dusty afterwards, and nitro makes dirt stick very well.
For my nitro vehicles I prefer to run on grass fields, even when wet as there is very little cleanup afterwards, mayby a quick wipe with a rag...

Wow, that sounds like a lot of work. I'm not sure I have the time or the parts to do a full refresh on any of my cars.

I gave up on off-road probably after the first few NiCad battery packs. When the Frog drained the battery in 2-3 minutes in the grass vs 5-6 minutes on the road, I quit trying to drive off-road. I would do hard-packed dirt, and I did run my original JRx2 on Daytona Beach, but that's about it. Off-road was just too hard on the motor and batteries. Hence the road tires on all my R/C cars. I even lowered the JRx2 and RC10 with rubber hose inside the shocks under the pistons to prevent them from extending all the way for an indoor carpet oval track. The problem with running on the road with the cars lowered was the front suspension (A-arms specifically) would take the occasional rock and I broke at least one of the A-arms.

Now with 5000mah packs you will drive for 30-40min depending on motor spec.
My Lunchbox with 4000mah pack will do abaout 30min so long gone is the short driving time.
Actually in the 90s I had a bone stock Lunchbox with a 1200 pack. It still had bushings but I greased them regularly. I got 14min out of that pack with full speed almost the entire time.
Drove mostly on asphalth / hard packed driveway.
Had a AA battery box up front to power the front light bulbs as well.
I used my old mans battery charger till my battery was toasty hot and charger no longer gave amps output.

So there is no point of not driving off road vehicles at these times.
My battery is a Gens Ace 2s lipo 4000mah which is a tight fit in a Lunchbox.
But 136mm is genrally the max length of a round pack that will fit any given Tamiya vehicle.