Looky what I found

[RedScampi]

I think this a Marui Samurai. Found at a swam meet in pouring rain. Got it cheap. It is missing one dogbone and has some interesting bondo work as well as a home made skid plate. Probably missing a bunch of other stuff. I know nothing about these but I always wanted one. I know parts are hard to find. What else can you tell me?

[civilguy]

I have found a perfect modern match for the Samurai dogbones. Redcat Racing 61mm dogbones #02003 (search for tbrbumpers as the seller) have the same crosspin size, the same ball ends and the same pin-to-pin dimension. Wheels and tires are htf and expensive when you do. I am going to try to find some hex adapters that may work.
My Samurai is in parts awaiting a rebuild-- same as you I got a nice deal (off craigslist) and don't know a ton about them. I got some parts from a seller in Australia last year but haven't done anything with the buggy except tear it down. I am hoping to find some time this winter.

[RedScampi]

I'm afraid this one needs a chassis. I see a seller has a chassis on ebay for $68 bin. I don't like this car THAT much!

[civilguy]

ygpm sir.

[Brandon G]

OE wheels and tires and body sets are the hardest find. The other parts show up all the time on ebay. About a week before winning my Samurai, I saw a chassis BIN for $15. Should have got it, but oh well. Hard to buy parts for cars I don't even have yet. The chassis on the car I won is mechanically perfect, but there is a bit of discoloring in places. Nothing a little Krylon Fusion won't fix.

[Bormac]

Good news on the body sets. After spending some pretty darn serious coin on an origibal new in packet bodyset I sent it to Thomas (BUGLE) for reproduction. He has the mold for both the body panel and the rear wing.

[RedScampi]

Good info guys, thanks. This car is already on it's way to it's new owner though.

[civilguy]

But I'm still reading this topic, so any new info fire away.
@Brandon- I wanted to get a runner together for the VONAts, but was missing one wheel/tire. Gary's will do just fine so I can get something together this winter. All I need to do is find rubber that I can make work, but that shouldn't be a problem.
@bormac- keep us posted on the re-pop.

[Bormac]

The Samurai realy is a brilliant car to drive. I dont know if its the centre diff, the weight distribution of just the varying tyre diameters but this car is quite easy to get around the race track at a reasonable pace. My car is totaly stock (which includes the tyres) but have fitted the entire drive train with bearings and the car runs a Tamiya Sports Tuned motor. Aside from its performance this beast just looks a million bucks running around the race track.

After buying the nip bodyset I gave it to BUGLE to make a mold from the shell and wing. Im not sure where he's up to but I can assure you he has told me its in the works at some point.

Another thing I found admirable with this car is its very free drivetrain. Fitted with a sports tuned this car seems to have ample 'roll on'. The drivetrain is very free when the chain tension is set right which makes this thing damn fast. A couple of years ago I ran this car (with sports tuned) in with the vintage OPEN class and the car was actualy quite competitive. With its nuetral handling characteristics I also found it very very easy to drive.

The rear gearbox housing and the chassis rails (where the two meet) tend to be the cars weekest point but with an alloy underguard I think this car could clock up plenty of miles with little hassles.

I guess the determining factor may be just what sort of condition the car is in when you get one. Some of the white nylon steering pivots in the front end were a bit loose on my first incarnation but after these were replaced I never lost another driveshaft again. Im sure yours will bring you alot of fun.

[matthew john]

is this kyosho? like the cox bandido is cox,but same a kyosho?

[civilguy]

Matt- It's a Marui. Some info on the company on wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Marui R/C info is near the bottom of the page.
Darryn has a nice collection here: http://www.darrynsretrorc.rtox.com/maruimainpage.htm