TOPIC:

Now that I got some ORV spares in huge part delivery, it's time to pull one of my Monster Beetle out of my cabinet.
I have never driven this and to be honest, I have actually never driven a ORV chassis before, beside the Brat I test drove many years ago.
A friend of my bestfriend in the 90s had a Monster Beetle, but he never let me drive it,
To top this my first time watching a Tamiya vehicle being driven was a Mud Blaster back in late 80s.
So I guess I have been waiting to drive one for many moons now, if I'm being honest.

Back to my said MB.
This has always had broken body mount tab at one of the side, and thus missing that side of the body mount.
Also missing the battery door pin.
So here it is.




Missing the broken body mount tab.


Oh, it's missing the driveshafts and the gearbox joint, no problem as I got plenty of those.


Plastic bits after cleaning.
I'd give the parts a light polish.
Also polished the aaluminium parts. Only the msc mount done here


Found a replacement chassis in the parts lot undamaged.
The chassis I has removed will likely end up hacking off the rear body mount tabs and run regular body post. Maybe a fun build with lexan?


Hardware came out great! Just soaked in WD40 in a jar and shaken now and then.
The axleshafts, radius rods and the black screws were treated with a rust remover bath and they also came out great!


Still needs to clean the gearbox, shocks and the msc.
That will happen when I get the chassis together.
 

Nice! And how are the bodies? Can't wait to see this resto. 

Nice project Richard, my personal fav is the Brat and I am enjoying this rebuild. 

Great WD-40 tip, never thought of that one.........

I only have run my rere brat and it was very fun with a sport tuned. I never ran other of my orv. 

Does the first mb have a white body or is it only early models? I saw one gone for 81€ shipped.

Thank you guys!

Flo, MB bodies has always been red. Sand Scorcher white.


Speaking of the body, here is the one that came with the chassis. Actually not damaged, only faided color and bad decals. Very saveable.








So far so good


At this point the only bit I'm missing is one black BB1 3x24 shoulder screw for the upper front arm. For now I'm using a 4mm bolt and nut.


Luckely I had all the missing parts in the parts bin so I could build the rear body mounts.


For the first time in my ownership the body can now be fitted...


When upon building the front suspension. it came clear it had two left side front spindle fitted.
One more time the parts bin came to the rescue!


This is how far I came today.
Gearbox was pulled apart and cleaned and the side plates were polished with Autosol.
To me the gearbox feels very gritty, even after been pulled apart seceral times to see if anything was wrong.
I might have new gear set in my parts bin, so might swap for those later.

Thanks Richard.  Fabulous body. 

Actually Richard early MB bodies were molded in white and later changed to red

becbec2572 wrote:

Actually Richard early MB bodies were molded in white and later changed to red

Nice to know! Learn something new every day 

A bit more progress.
First thing I did was to pull the transmission.
Turned out I had installed the diff gear backwards compared to the side gears. No wonder it got tighter as I was fitting bits!
Now it spins freely even with the old used gears 

Still has the MSC and the shocks to clean, hence the low rider stance haha!


Mine has always been missing the motor, motor spacer and the pinion.
In my parts bin I found all those bits. Installed a Sport Tuned for a bit more oomph


For the most parts the wheels is undamaged. But the gold has turned to chrome and at the deep end the yellow has come through.
Plan is to remove the chrome and repaint the wheels if I can find something that looks good enough.


The spikes is long gone so this needs new tires. They are also a bit like plastic now.
Dilemma is the new tires I bought not long ago is intended for my future Mud Blaster build if I can find a body.
Or should I use them on this build and get another set for the Mud Blaster later??
Mind I also has a second MB that also needs tires...


So far the only bits I'm missing is the 3x24 step screw and the drive shaft boots. I'm sure I have the latter somewhere as I have new Frog gear set laying around..