My first (RC) love - Got a Marui Hunter Today!

[GJW]

hi buddy! nice hunter you have there, what's planned for her? it was my first hobby grade rc and also have very fond memories of it! i entered my first race with the buggy and won the race

[Zipster]

Thanks! The plan right now is to clean it up, fix/replace the broken bits, upgrade the suspension & tires and make it an occasional runner.

I'm hoping to take it to the vintage nationals this fall and run it in the Classics class.

I too have very fond memories, although they are more of fixing things than winning any races

[maruirc]

I have lotsof Hunters and Galaxys. I have rextored them back to origional. I have lots of spares to keep them going.

[Coelacanth]

I have lotsof Hunters and Galaxys. I have rextored them back to origional. I have lots of spares to keep them going.

Good for you. Here we go again...Zipster, if you decide to mod anything on your Hunter, be prepared for maruirc to hate on you.

[Zipster]

I work in advertising - I live for the hate! I once built an early Ford hotrod powered by a Chevy 350 - talk about hate!

hey maruirc, have an parts that you might be willing to let go? say a driver, a chassis (& front lower hinge pin), rear guard, rear body mount? The more original parts I can find, the less modding I have to do

[maruirc]

I like people who like origional. The models couldn't handle much more.

[Zipster]

Thought I'd post an update today, as I've reached a point where it's going to have to wait for some parts & fabrication.

I took both chassis apart to see what I had, and for the most part, I ended up with one complete car and handful of spare parts. The more complete car was really corroded, and the nasty looking one was mostly thrashed, but what was there was pretty clean!

To get a feel for it, I reassembled most of the car, including the gearbox & the suspension (except for the rear shock - I have two and they are both in need of serious work). At that point, I was reminded of the two areas where the Hunter was really deficient. I think Coelacanth has pretty clearly highlighted the basic design flaws in his Galaxy build, so I won't get into that, but what struck me was the shocking amount of friction - you would think that the rear suspension would droop without shocks/springs to hold it up, but it actually just stays wherever you let go of it

So right now I'm working on a solution to update the shocks to a more effective system, and sorting out wheels & tire for running (saving the originals for shelf duty), and then I'll get around to getting a body & some electrics into it.

Here are some updated pics:

[Zipster]

Hey all, nothing like resurrecting a decade old project and chain, but after largely stepping away from RC due to life (new jobs, long commutes, travel soccer, etc..) I finally used the lockdown to get back on track, and "completed this one. Ok, complete is relative, as it could definitely use some less worn/dry rotted tires, lights and a driver, but at least I got it painted - a better version of what I tried to do as a kid. I do have the original rear shock and bumper, but like it this way better. I had originally wanted to race it, but decided for now to bring it back to original.

[Dadio]

Well done its looking good ! , there's no rush , its not like the wife cares how long it takes

[Coelacanth]

Nice resto, Zipster. It's great any time a Marui car survives the decades and comes back to life looking as clean as that! They sure didn't make them to take much abuse...

[Zipster]

Thanks guys! I'm really excited how it came out. I'll eventually track down the last bits, but for now, I'm happy. I am thinking of putting in some electronics and getting it out for for a gentle final run before it goes on the shelf permanently, but I have to find an appropriate place around here.

[Dadio]

I don't think I could resist running it just once lightly !

[Zipster]

Oh, I'll definitely run it at least once. I just picked up some new front tires/wheels for it, so I'm not even worried about the current dry-rotted ones disintegrating on me! The backs are not even correct, so I'm not worried about those - I can burn them up!

[HiTec]

Hunter was my first RC car also! Great to see others resurrecting it as well!

I have 3D printed Hunter parts available for "beater" versions of Hunters if needed. Battery straps, front/rear wheels etc. I even have "stealth" repair kits avail for the weak rear shock system.