Vintage Brat rebuild, London UK

[deangaffney]

Hey folks,

Early Brat has been lurking in my attic for a couple of years and lockdown here in the UK has given me an excuse to drag it out. This is my first ORV having been a Kyosho Scorpion/Beetle kid. The car is very original and likely quite low miles. It has the 380 motor, setup to take a 6v battery and thread lock as per instructons too! The car came with radio gear ad transmitter all of which work though I've not tested motor as car as 6v connector and I don't. Tires in great condition, no cracking at all, no body but signs it once had one painted red!
My to-do list is roughly as follows:
-Screws/bushes for front tie rods (arrived with them tight down with rubber on screws so there was very little movement in suspension)
-Strip/paint rear wheels and obtain new screws/bolts (heads stripped).
- Obtain lexan body, decals and mounts (yet to fork out for this)
- Choose ESC (help please!)
- Obtain BEC receiver (decide whether to use old servo for steering
- Replace front bumper mounting piece (repaired in ancient times, see photo)
- Antenna mount solution

c.1983 Tamiya Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr

c.1983 Tamiya Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr

[deangaffney]

As I say, suggestions on affordable second hand receiver and ESC would be most welcome. I've been ahead and stripped the car right now so I can get to know the ORV design better. Yet to delve into the gearbox though. I'm thinking I'll run it with the 380 at first (never seen one in action) then swap to standard silver can. Will likely leave it with the fixed drive (rather than diff) but may convert to Frog shocks.
Blown away by how tiny the front springs are!

'83 Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr
'83 Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr
Note 6v connector (I assume).
'83 Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr
Anyone know why there are two sets of holes in the aluminium plate by the battery door clip?
'83 Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr
There are no plug sockets in the receiver, they're all connected in this bundle inside the car.
'83 Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr
All tested and working.
'83 Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr
Tiny springs!
'83 Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr
Cheeky polish of front suspension mount.
'83 Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr
Battery stays in 6v configuration.
'83 Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr
Baby 380'83 Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr
Good news is no sign of cracking around rear damper mounts.
'83 Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr
All good, just the gearbox to inspect and parts to order.
'83 Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr

[deangaffney]

The buggy came with this fully working but very dirty Tamiya transmitter. I can't find a lot about it online apart from it appears to have been supplied with the little Tamtech models in the eighties. I really like the look of this unit. Info very welcome, thanks.

c.1983 Tamiya Brat by Daniel Kelly, on Flickr

[Dadio]

Looking like a good survivor and an excellent base for restoration . One of my friends had a Brat back in the 80's and one thing it suffered from was the rear hex drive shafts (dog bones ) rounding off , no matter what he did or how well lubed and sealed they just wore out , the Re-Re has regular dog bones that might be better for a runner , maybe put the originals aside for safekeeping , we have speculated that it may have been the lack of diff that wore them out so fast ? anyway looking forward to your progress .

[deangaffney]

Looking like a good survivor and an excellent base for restoration . One of my friends had a Brat back in the 80's and one thing it suffered from was the rear hex drive shafts (dog bones ) rounding off , no matter what he did or how well lubed and sealed they just wore out , the Re-Re has regular dog bones that might be better for a runner , maybe put the originals aside for safekeeping , we have speculated that it may have been the lack of diff that wore them out so fast ? anyway looking forward to your progress .

Appreciate the response, thanks. I wonder if swapping to dogbones would require fitting the re-re diff?