TOPIC:

I will start with the backstory of my Bigwig Obsession

My Bigwig obsession is directly inter-mixed with my Blackfoot and in a greater scheme, everything from the Tamiya Catalog from '85 to early '87.

I'd purchased a Blackfoot from a friends older brother. My friend, Jeff, had a gold pan RC10. I was pretty sure that was about as cool as it could get until one day, while pouring over Tamiya catalogs I saw the Bigwig. I mentioned to jeff that I'd LOVE to have one of those. Almost offhand, he says, "oh, my dad has the Bigwig..."

Since my Blackfoot still had no radio system, Jeff let me drive his RC10 and he drove the Bigwig. I'd seen jeff's car lay waste to any and all comers in our schoolyard races and was just shocked when the Bigwig absolutely destroyed that gold pan.

Now understand, I was about 11. This was back when you painted your car like the one on the box and bearings were considered a big modification From that day onward I lusted after a bigwig (and the venerable 959, but that is another obsession left unspoken until I get one).

So I got one a few weeks ago. It's not perfect and it needs some parts, but it's mine. My Bigwig.





In the pics here you can see the Technigold motor. I'd removed it yesterday while giving the car my first good once-over. The motor is in AMAZING shape. I needed a set of wheelhubs and those arrived yesterday. The upper front suspension arm on the Left has a small crack near the screw so I'd like to replace those eventually, but my limited use of the car should preclude it from being a MUST HAVE. I have a bigwig body on it's way from TBG and some ebay decals.

The NEED list;
Bumper
Tires

The WANT list
Springs
Screws
Arms

The car is completely functional drivetrain-wise and things look and sound good from the inside. These tires are a bit cracked so a new set is on the list. The springs are a bit oxidized and I think a set of CRP springs will do just fine. I've found a bumper for it on Ebay in the UK, I just need to commit and hit Buy It Now

This will be a fun driver, nothing crazy. Be using a basic ESC and an older Futaba Servo and the Technigold. As an aside, I picked up a Grasshopper on ebay that had subtly listed a new in box Technigold in the description, but not in the Main title, thus the auction had very few bidders. I won the Grasshopper, motor etc and a bunch of spares for the GH/hornet for $58. The whole bid was based on the possibility of this Bigwig arriving without the correct motor. Now I have Two

So if anyone has any parts on my lists, please drop me a line...I have quite a few Interesting spares I could trade (those pesky Monster Beetle and blackfoot bodt mounts, switch holders etc )

That's a nice looking 'Wig - sounds like you had a bit of luck on your buys too

I don't know how much of a purist you are, but the re-re Boomerang can be quite a good donor - wheel hubs & front knuckles aren't quite the same shade of blue, but are better than red or black; tyres (also the Hotshot re-re), the bumper too - although it does have an extra rectangular hole in it, and a recycling symbol ...

Re the springs, a couple of cycles in a cheap ultrasonic tank with water & washing up detergent will take off a surprising amount of rust & restore quite a bit of shine ... an anti-rust treatment will stop it coming back, but will change the colour; my current favourite - Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80 - turns bare metal black/brown (& puts a faint brown tint on plating), which is ok on antennas, but not so much on springs ... I guess a long CVA shock kit might be the answer if you want the chrome?

Screws - I tend to look at switching to stainless as an upgrade, so is permissible on restorations - but as you can see from this, I'm not really a purist

Great info, thanks!

The re-re hotshot is where I got the hubs, but since the hubs are hidden by the solid mooncraft wheels I'm OK with the color

I'm really looking to have some fun with this so no huge worry about 100% original

Very nice thread and great background info. Looking forward to the rest of the build.

TBG body is painted. Waiting for my decals Didn't go crazy on my paint lines because they're covered by the stripes (good move on Tamiya's part with that )

I have the original Technigold motor as well as new or near new one in box...May be putting the New one up on the block to help finish this project. Still need some tires.

Bumper and decals arrived. Just need to man up and buy some tires so I can run it The front suspension arms are showing some stress cracks but are fairly solid. Sourcing some new ones now.