TOPIC:

No trouble. Good luck with the build. It's a great car.

Hey while I have your ear, I'm also in search of front tires for the car. Did they use these tires on any other cars besides the Astute? I found a pair but they are way expensive.

I far as I can see, it only shares the rear wheels with the Egress.
Not sure why the front rims have a different parts number...

TB off road wheels page

Edit - sorry, you said tyres. That's a better match actually...

- 58082 Madcap
- 58083 Saint Dragon
- 58093 Bear Hawk

Yeah I just realized they are the same tires I was looking for for my Saint Dragon lol. I used CRP striker tires for the dragon and they were an almost perfect match. I'll keep searching! Thanks!

Ok so I just pulled the Astute out of storage and I realized I need another part for this car. One of the C tree pieces, I believe the steering arm, is broken. I found this tree on eBay but it's over $50! Between the front tires and this C tree part and the mounts and the fact that I need a new body and a sticker sheet, It will be a really expensive restoration. I got the Astute in a lot with a Ranger XLT and an LP500S for 280 pounds which is close to $440. I know the Lambo and the Ranger are worth a good chuck of change fully restored but what about the Astute? If you divide the $440 by 3 you get close to $147 per vehicle. If you add all these parts together I'm prolly looking at a over $300 investment. If I sell the car, will I be able to make any money or should I just sell it as it is or keep it when it's done? Do any other Tamiya cars use this same steering part? Here's a link to the tree on eBay:


www.ebay.com/it...1438.l2649


Thanks in advance for your replies.

I don't think I would go for the $50 tree myself...
Maybe one will be available at a better price at a later point in time or you could find a used parts lot instead.
Most of the other trees don't seem to have this extreme price tag at least.

Looking at this (ended) auction, a $300 investment sounds like a lot :



I would make it a side project myself. Then keep looking around for a good deal on parts.
And maybe hope for a rerelease...

Btw - I'm quite sure you'd be able to wing it with the steering knuckle and install something from another model.
The Astute parts look specific though with these square front shafts.
But I'll look into it a bit more...

Edou wrote:

...
The Astute parts look specific though with these square front shafts.
But I'll look into it a bit more...

Just a thought, but if the Astute uprights (C1) are the same as the Super Astute uprights (part BX1), then the knuckles from the Super Astute would fit? ... There's a set of them on eBay for "only"

John is on the right track I think...
I'm not sure if unclemikey1978 needs the C-hub (C1/BX1) or steering block (C3/BR4-5)...
But a first glance seems to lead to the conclusion that a switcheroo can be done on either part.
Not a definite conclusion yet though...

The steering block from the Super Astute has a different look but I think it is a part that's used on more models.
So that should make it easier to find.
The original Astute part looks quite vulnerable - the new design much less.
Maybe that is why it's missing/broken...

Thanks guys for the replies. I need the steering block for the right side. I was worried about it not being worth fixing because of how expensive all the parts are. At this point I think your suggestion to make this a side project is the way to go. Maybe I can find a cheap parts car to canabilize in the future. This car is in great shape but the parts it needs are more expensive than I anticipated.

Could be hard to get your money back for the car when you try to sell it.
Then again - $300 for a shelfer Astute doesn't sound ridiculous either.
If Tamiya never issues a replica, you'd definitely have a collector's item.
Hard to calculate the chances if the parts will be produced again.
Patience and a good parts lot might indeed be the best approach...