Mountaineer Restoration

[Mad4Rnr]

Since I was thirteen or fourteen I've always wanted a Tamiya Bruiser or Mountaineer. Unfortunately back then I couldn't afford one on my paper route paycheck and ended up with a Grasshopper instead... Now being a bit older, well OK - a lot older, I was finally able to get one. Just my luck I recently found a decent but incomplete Mounty on ebay for a moderate price.

The truck has been run before so it has a small amount of rock rash on the axles and front skid but in general it's in real good shape. The body is solid with only one small crack at the top of the right front fender well which I think happened during shipping. The paint is decent with a few patches of light orange peel and the stickers are crooked.

The transmission and a bunch of small parts are missing including the front body mount, servo tray cover, shift linkage, rear drive shaft and all the electronics. There is no rust on the chassis and the tires as well as the rubber boots on the shocks are still soft and pliable.

Since the paint is not too bad I think I'll just clean it, detail the body and find the missing parts to make a runner out of it.

 

[ctrwannabe]

nice man one of these is on my want to build one day list, what are your plans for it?

 

[1BadJeepBruiser]

Very nice "thumbsup" gotta love them OG mountaineers

 

[jhtoy]

Thats a real nice Mounty ya got there.I happen to have a rear driveshaft from a Bruiser if you need it.Pm sent."thumbsup"

 

[INFERNAL]

Always wanted one myself . Your's looks sweet "thumbsup"

 

[Mad4Rnr]

Thanks guys, can't wait to get this one running to get back to the OG scaler roots"thumbsup". I need some motivation and this will hopefully get the juices flowing again!

nice man one of these is on my want to build one day list, what are your plans for it?

So glad you asked about my plans, just got a box today in the mail with a bunch of goodies and will explain more my philosophy behind this restoration...

First off I'm not going to do a full restoration and turn this one into a shelf queen, there are enough of those in the world, I want an OG Mounty runner! I also will not use any new or reproduction parts, I will only use original period specific parts from Tamiya.

Since the paint is decent I'll leave it and the decals "as-is" and only add detail paint to the grill, drip rails, window trim, tail lights, marker lights, etc... I will strip and repaint the bumpers and nerf bars white per the instruction manual.

I also want to use radio gear that is specific to the era in which this rig was born so after a couple weeks scouring ebay I found a nice Futaba Attack-4 for $25. Luckily it is the ground based frequency of 75MHz (you don't know how hard it was to find, everything on ebay is for RC air planes and frequency of 72MHz).

Also recently got a care package from a memeber of RCC with a bunch of goodies including a NIB motor mount bracket, transmission, front body mount, drive shafts, shift linkage and a Bruiser battery tray:

Originally the battery tray for a mounty is different than the bruiser so I'm still on the hunt for a original for a mounty battery tray, steering wheel, and servo tray lid:

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212730

 

[venomous98]

Good to see those parts will be put to good use.

 

[Mad4Rnr]

Good to see those parts will be put to good use.

Thanks Erik! I hope to get the trans and other parts installed here quick!

 

[Mad4Rnr]

I got a little time yesterday to start pulling the Mounty apart and noticed a few things that needed some attention. I noticed that the front turn signals were missing and the rear tail lights were painted with solid blue and red paint:shock:. Also there were three-four non-tamiya stickers that needed removing. I also might respray the tail gate so I can repaint the raised "TOYOTA".

After rummaging through my ever growing pile of RC parts...a.k.a. the MadDog bone yard...I found a bunch of Bruiser stuff I had bought a couple years back when I built the Bruiser Hybrid. The best parts of this find was a complete bag of OG hardware with all the OG rubber grommets plus a set of nicely painted tail lights and turn signals.

When I was looking for the tail lights I also ran into a bunch of old Futaba radio gear from the Grasshopper and now have a complete set of 4 vintage servos all the same model. Also go my shift gate from Bruiserbuilder yesterday.

 

[Mad4Rnr]

It's been quite a few months since I've thought about this truck, let alone do any work to it. Things are finally about to change...

I've had a heck of a time finding a servo lid and seriously bid on 40 different servo box's always loosing out to lame a$$ ebay snipers set to $65 (I don't believe in snipers I think they are unfair and didn't feel like paying $65 for a damn servo lid:roll::ror .

Well finally last week someone posted a pristine servo box with lid, switch cover, bruiser battery tray and speed controller for $25, BUY IT NOW, no sniper needed biotch!!!. Also over the last few months I colleted some other vintage parts including a painted driver, NIP rubber switch cover and motor mount, bearings and a brand new mirror. Holly crap the mirror was insainly over priced, damn ebay!

 

[skinner]

yea i know the $ get nuts.....i always wanted a bruiser also and still plan for one before a few years.
keep this updated as i wanna see final of your truck finished "thumbsup"

 

[etc1006]

Cool! I was like you as a kid, too. Not enough $ for one of these... Was always drooling at the "golden truck" the LHS had built sitting up high on the shelf!:roll:

 

[roots]

Any updates?

 

[Ronin8451]

I know this is old, but how did the resto turn out ? I have loved these trucks for over 30 years ( I'm 42 now) ! I finally got a mint NIB Mountaineer , but it's so perfect and un-opened I can't bring myself to play with it. I guess I need to sell it and just get the new Bruiser . I still remember Chris Chianelli using a Hilux to pull himself around on a skateboard at Santa Monica Pier in '80 or '81.

 

[Mad4Rnr]

I know this is old, but how did the resto turn out ? I have loved these trucks for over 30 years ( I'm 42 now) ! I finally got a mint NIB Mountaineer , but it's so perfect and un-opened I can't bring myself to play with it. I guess I need to sell it and just get the new Bruiser . I still remember Chris Chianelli using a Hilux to pull himself around on a skateboard at Santa Monica Pier in '80 or '81.

Haven't finished the resto yet, wife and I had a baby recently and I started a new job so I just haven't had the time. I do have all the parts I need so I hope to get started again and get it finished over the next few months. Stay tuned...

 

[iguana102602]

Took you a few years to get the truck you wanted but at least you have it now.

 

[mcleveland1969]

Do you still have this project?