Vanessa's Lunch Box Resto!

[x-pack]

Hi

so i was looking in my garage when i came across my old Lunch Box RC truck. It's awesome but very battered as i bought it back in 1990 ..well my mum did

I'm going to give it a good going over and a repaint. Just ordered new windows and decals on Ebay. Going to stick with the original yellow theme.

Will keep the 'resto' updated on here with pics and everything!

[x-pack]

Looking a bit tattered and full of shitty stickers but ready for a strip down

[flick5848]

I have some decals i would have donated.

[boXXer]

i had one of these about 10 years ago, put a 12turn single wind motor in it, and blew the gearbox to bits

[Greenie]

awesome, they re released these a few years ago now, but an original ones is best,

i have 3 tamiya r/c cars, need to get them out at some point.

Paul.

[x-pack]

bought some new bits off good old fleebay - new screen and stickers. Respray tomorrow!

[x-pack]

oh and i think the motor i'm using is a Reedy 14 turn! Hasn't blown the box yet but it is all ball raced ..not the plastic jobbys that come with the kit. That wheely bar comes is handy

[x-pack]

Arrrgghhhh! had a major disaster with the spray job! Bought some paint from my local radio control car place and it went pear shaped. Just reacted and made a right mess. Decided just to buy a new shell rather than spend days cleaning up the fucked up paint job. While i was at it bought new chrome parts as well

[coswurv]

A few of us had these tamiya cars back in the 90's, what fun they were back then.

[Vxlgsi]

awsome old school tamiya RC stuff rocks.

I remember how badly i wanted one of these but when i was growing up my family was pretty much flat broke so a toy like this was out of the Question..

So when i finally got some spare cash i went on a spending spree and ended up with

still in the celophane wrapping



and this



and this



and a lancia which is the only one i built, stuck some drift tyres on it for a laugh

[Vxlgsi]

[bortaf]

I've got the same chassis but with a pickup on it, "bigfoot" it was called, had since i was 16 but it currently has a Mardec (sp?) Mk2 transit body on it

[x-pack]

Cool cars you got there. Love the Lancia.

Seen some wicked mods for the Lunchbox on Youtube like a third rear shock for the front of the rear axle. Another one is oil shocks all round with strut braces made out of knitting needles! Might have go if i can find some shocks going spare

[justaddmud]

i just bought an origanal lunchbox, never had one and love it to bits

can just about see it here in the pic

[Vxlgsi]

is that a general-lee RC car??

[x-pack]

That's quite a collection you got there.

Lunchbox is coming on nicely. Got the new shell and chrome bits. Just got to put on the decals and it's done. Photos uploaded shortly

[Greenie]

the lunch box and midnight pumpkin are couple of my favorite older tamiya cars

looks good.

[x-pack]

It's finished!

Put a few new parts on -

shell and paint
chrome
glass
stickers

Hasn't looked like this for twenty years! ...bit scared to use it and trash the paint job. Will take it out on the local golf course. Be alright on there

Who is this Vanessa woman???

[david_white]

Very nice resto,you need a midnight pumpkin to go with it though methinks.

i never had one of these as I had a monster beetle but I always liked them

[Trek]

My first ever RC car was a Midnight Pumpkin, so now 15 years on I decided to get my son a Lunch Box.



Shame hes only 4, looks like I'll just have to drive it until hes older

[Trek]

Warning, this hobbie is addictive.

Heres my shelf Cossie,



My car park basher to chill out will mates:



And then my indoor carpet car that I race ( when I can find time )

[x-pack]

Lunch Box looks cool in white. I take it you haven't painted the shell?

[Trek]

I bought the lunchbox second hand so the shell had already been sprayed white and stickers applied. Stangely the guy selling had built it but never got the electrics connected right and sold it because he couldn't get it to run. I bought it cheap and within 10mins of getting it home it was working

I also do like the white, I had a yellow lunchbox shell for my pumpkin so something different was quite nice.

[Scott_B]

Very nice that lunch box,
As for it being addictive your damn right there, a few years ago after i found my old broken Porsche 959 that got run over after 2 weeks in 1987 i decided to get a new toy, i bought the focus wrc, ball raced, it hot motor,oil dampers, etc, and smashed it round the workshop for a few weeks before i decided it wasnt half as much fun as the old off roaders, so i asked a few mates if they had their old ones left and if they wanted to sell to me, they did and my way came,,,,
1. 1988 A boxed Hornet (battered but the most fun car ever)
2. 1987 Hornet (almost new, still in the box)
3. 1985 Frog (always wanted on as a kid)
4. 1994 mondeo bttc (FWD,boring)
then i saw an ad in the local rag for tamiya spares being sold off, i went round the fellas and hed been buying stuff from closing shops, along with buying all the local kids broken cars for years, there were boxes of what looked mostly junk but i got it all home (two trips in an escort estate) and went through it all.
There was loads of crap Stripped gears, burnt out motors etc but i did find three almost complete motors...
1. a Mugen Bulldog in VGC, Sold it on ebay for £80 as it didn intrest me not being Tamiya.
2. A almost complete Ford Ranger
3. A almost complete Porsche 959
4. A monster beetle in its box (complete)
5. a lunch box (complete)
then after sorting the junk and throwing it out i found there must have been another 20 cars in bits at least, out of them i recon theres around 5 monster beetle chassis, an Avanti chassis,Another Porsche 959 (rebuilt my old one this did), a Celica GRb, clod buster, mad cap, escort cosworth Tiger striped (boxed),thundershot (boxed), couple of hornets, plus more i cannot think of,
I have restored the celica, one of the 959s, hornet, The monster beetle with mostly new parts except the wheels from the stock of bits and had to buy a new body and decals.
Then theres the parts i got with it all, Two storage boxes full of NOS tyres for the likes of the Hot Shot (sold most now on ebay), New alloy parts for the beetle/blackfoot chassis, Again either sold or used most of them, tons of wheels, some NOS tyres for the lancia monte carlo, tons of old skool acoms 1,2,and 3 transmitters and radio gear, some BEC and some pre BEC, then theres the new boxed futaba attack radio gear, and some used.
CVA shocks of all different lengths and colours.
Then the motors, 3 palmer cyclones, techni golds, loads of std ones, and some i cannot even remember what they are...
Theres also some Tamiya build manuals, and some of the product range books from the 80s
A new body set for the escort cos that had been painted and decals fitted but it was new none the less, decal sets for, the porker (inc the rare Rothmans decals), hornet,and others.
TBH i got bored with it all years ago and it has mostly all sat in the loft wit the exception of the lunch box i got out a while ago to toy with and a Frog my mate brough round for me to fix up for his nephew.
I know there are about 5 or 6 other complete cars there aswell but im buggered if i can remember what they are now.
I recon i may sell a few more bits off and keep some of the rarer cars and a couple of hornets for fun, they were and still are my favorite with a set of ball races and a hot motor theres not much that can beat it, and it bounces around with out breaking bits off.
I up loaded some pics years ago to the tamiya club site and ive just found it again after being inspired by this thread.
http://www.tamiyaclub.com/advancesearch.asp search user id c9osy

[dangerousdave]

I might have to get in touch scott, sounds like a hell of a collection and a load of nice ones in the pics i need a cossie shell for my one as i ruined it in my younger days! Also need some radio gear as i think the reciever pack is dead as it doesnt respond to the controller but the motor goes if you move the speed thing! Oh and some tyres, and a rear gear set to fit that 4wd chassis (although thats available on ebay)

[Scott_B]

Sorry dave but if you have looked at the pics you would see the escort shell went to a very good chassis to restore a battered car, as for the radio gear, make sure the crystals are ok, iv had some go bad over time,(try another good set in place) to be sure the receiver is really shot,if it is let me know what one it is and il have a look in the loft one day, same with the gears, but TBH if you saw the pics i have so much stuff that is unidentifiable without something to match it up to as it is mostly second hand stuff with no markings.

[dangerousdave]

Yea no worries scott thought it was worth asking, will have a try like you say and let you know as and when As for the gears il just buy the ones on ebay if i can get the electrics working properly again

[Vxlgsi]

whats the btcc modeo like, wanna sell it?

[RetroNick]

The lunch box was my first RC Car/Truck too. wish I still had it. You have meade me want to buy another now. relive the early 90's hehe