Tamiya Madcap barn find!

[K1W1]

OK, so not quite a barn find, but giving the condition it is in, I felt the title was appropriate!

I've owned this Madcap since new - I'm not sure of the year - but it was a Christmas present from my parents sometime in the early Nineties. After owning (and destroying) a multitude of RC cars, mum and dad finally caved and agreed to get me a real RC car. I still remember going to the model shop with dad, and picking out the Madcap. I was given the kit a few days before Christmas in order to allow me to build it up in time for Christmas day. As far as I can remember, 14 year old me built it mostly by myself. My memory is a little hazy as to when I got the first drive, but I remember it was a dark evening (possibly Christmas Eve), when I finally got to thrash it about until the battery went flat! Good times!
The paint was originally highlighter yellow (no idea why I chose that colour - it was the Nineties remember!), but I think I cheaped out on the paint, which is why the shell is now clear. Somewhere along the line I peeled off the decals (again, no idea why). The car received an absolute hiding in my hands - my weekends were spent building ramps and jumps and performing stunts and the odd bit of circle work - usually resulting in the car ending up on it's roof - which explains why I went through so many heat sinks - and why the rear spoiler has been fashioned out of an ice cream container. Any yes, those are teeth marks in it...
The car has sat untouched for years, and aside from the dodgy body mods, the only upgrade I ever did was to splash out on a fast charger - because waiting 12 hours between drives was never fun!
Now the time has come to restore the Madcap to it's former glory, but I'm a little unsure on where to start... I figure a strip down, clean and rebuild is in order, but I'd like also to upgrade to an electronic speed controller (I always wanted one - but they we're soooo expensive back in the day!). I also have a new bodyshell from TBG, which I intend to paint (along with the current shell) in the original colours, and add some repro decals.
I have no intention racing the car, just wanna relive the good old days and thrash it about. Any tips for the rebuild and update would be greatly appreciated!

[jeekelemental]

Looks dusty but not bad...

[tamiyadan]

.

[jkelm24]

Doesn't the A&L Lethal Weapon trans fit the Mad Cap too?

http://vintageteamaandl.com/

Maybe not a consideration if you're sticking with the stock can motor. But if you want more power, you'll want to give the transmission some attention.

[GoMachV]

It uses an adapter under the suspension mounts. Might fit with a little work. Bigger problem is I’m about out of em!

[Lonestar]

Childhood memories - awesome find

Should restore nicely! keep that wing... it's part of the DNA of that runner

[Coelacanth]

Childhood memories - awesome find

Should restore nicely! keep that wing... it's part of the DNA of that runner

And with the bite marks, the DNA is also part of the wing.

[jkelm24]

Raise your hand if you used your RC to torment your childhood dog. Comedy!

I remember my childhood wiener dog, Barkley, loosing his mind while chasing my Hornet, then Raider, then Blackfoot, then RC10, then Nitro Hawk as a kid. Poor guy hated those things! But they gave him great exercise in the yard!

[K1W1]

Thanks for the replies and tips. I will post some more pics once I crack into the teardown!

[K1W1]

Here's a quick video I made showing the teardown process.
https://youtu.be/uy5wN04CBis

[K1W1]

Update time!
So I've stripped the car down ready for a big clean - here's pics of the process...
Before:

Old shocks: yep, that is a piece of garden hose on there!

Old receiver - still works as far as I know!

First broken piece - not entirely sure what it is called - doesn't seem to be named in the instruction manual

Second broken bit - cracked chassis - hoping I can glue this up

Doh! another broken bit - luckily I don't think it's too bad, might just refit it and hope for the best...

All boxed up and awaiting another free evening!

Question time!
Any suggestions on glue to use on the chassis crack? I have some model cement, or should I try something stronger?

The broken front hub carrier - is it worth trying to hunt down an original piece - or is there any aftermarket stuff that will work? I have seen these on AliExpress, but I'm not sure if they will fit? bit.ly/2yJOwcr

[Lonestar]

that's a LOT of crud on these pictures... even hard to see the breakages sometimes

for the hub carriers, not sure you can adapt newer parts but why not, everything's possible. I'd stay away from anything alloy, though, as something else will have to give at the next hit otherwise.

chassis crack: if for display purposes only, as I believe it's abs, use uhu hart. otherwise, CA should do the trick. If for running: get a new chassis

[Incredible_Serious]

The broken front hub carrier - is it worth trying to hunt down an original piece - or is there any aftermarket stuff that will work? I have seen these on AliExpress, but I'm not sure if they will fit? bit.ly/2yJOwcr

When I rebuilt my MadCap, I had a bunch of Bear Hawk parts NIP, which included the C-Parts.... a quick check confirmed that, apart from the red colour, these were the same as the MadCap. (True story: My MadCap had heaps of red parts, and the friction shocks were alternating blue and red!).

As the Bear Hawk parts are the same apart from colour, and they're just a buggy-bodied Stadium Blitzer, any C-Parts to suit that range of models should work.

Some part numbers to look at:

0005364 / 10005364 / X10373
58082 MadCap
58083 Saint Dragon

0005431 / 10005431
58106 Stadium Blitzer
58122 Blitzer Beetle
58181 Stadium Thunder
58252 Blitzer Beetle Chrome Metallic Special
58482 Stadium Blitzer 2010
58502 Blitzer Beetle 2011
58524 Stadium Thunder

0005394 / 0005394 / X10506
58093 Bear Hawk


Good luck, hope that helps!

Alex

[jeekelemental]

Question time!
Any suggestions on glue to use on the chassis crack? I have some model cement, or should I try something stronger?

Back in the days (1990) I've used CA glue and it's still in place... I own a NIP chassis but until the glue will hold I keep it as spare.

The broken front hub carrier - is it worth trying to hunt down an original piece - or is there any aftermarket stuff that will work? I have seen these on AliExpress, but I'm not sure if they will fit? bit.ly/2yJOwcr

I agreee with Incredible_Serious ST 2010 hubcarrier will fit... the one showed by your pics is typical MC breakage

[K1W1]

Awesome - thanks heaps for those part numbers - I will hunt down some replacement parts.
In the meantime, here's another update:

All clean!

Front close up

Rear close up

More broken bits haven't yet tackled the gearbox strip down...

New parts! Just some cheapies off AliExpress - but they seem pretty well made - and will no doubt be an improvement on the originals...

Now I just need to order a few spares, and wait for my bearings to arrive before I can start on the rebuild.