About three years ago, I decided to get back into r/c cars. I’ve always been a fan of 1/10 scale Tamiya, on-road, electric cars. I find that Tamiya makes a quality product, with excellent instructions, so I decided to purchase a Tamiya car.
The problem was that I was light on funds at the time due to my daughter being born. So, instead of buying a new Tamiya kit, I decided on buying an old, broken one on eBay and rebuilding/restoring it. I first searched for a JACCS Accord, as this was the kit I sold and regretted. I found two, but both were at least $225. They were new-in-box, and probably worth it, but I just couldn’t justify spending that much on a kit without electrics when I had a little mouth to feed.
After a couple of days of searching and bidding, I won a TA02 rolling chassis. I was missing its prop shaft and was very, very dirty. It also had a broken shock tower. But, the seller still had the manual. I ended up paying about $26 plus shipping, which brought the total to nearly $39.
The seller sent it via USPS, and sent me a tracking number. After a couple of days of checking the USPS site, I saw that the car was delivered, but when I got home, there was no package or slip indicating a package was in and that I could pick it up. I called my apartment office, and they did not receive a package for me either.
The next morning, my ex-girlfriend found the package on the balcony. We lived on the second floor, so I assume the mail carrier threw it up onto the balcony. Fortunately, it was packaged well and was not harmed by this.
As soon as I got the car, I inspected it to make sure nothing else was broken. Turns out it was an Opel Calibra V6 DTM kit. After leaving positive feedback for the seller, I began tearing down the TA02, making a list of what I needed to replace.
Next: Tear Down
