Tamiya Vintage Porsche 959 Full Restoration 

Cheers buddy, and thanks for checking it out! 🙏 You bring up some very valid points there. I done the 959 and Celica restorations over 3 years!!! It took that long sourcing all the parts! They are not actually that rare, they had a long production run, and were a very popular model back in the day. And being an expensive toy, many survived in various conditions up in peoples lofts/attics. Now highly desirable, these old models are getting dug out and listed on ebay regularly..... either as 'project' cars, or broken down and sold as parts. The hard part is finding 'new old stock' parts! I sourced the new center chassis from Japan, new wheels and slicks /under skid plates from the USA, and various other new parts trees from France!! It was a very expensive restoration, totaling £1200 for the 959 (about 2 months rent!!) 🤑 The Celica came to about £700. But it was worth it,they are not perfect, but are now very nice examples. I also have the original boxes and manuals for them. As I said before, I built the runner 959 from all of the left over tatty parts I had left from restoring the other two cars! As for a re release? Hmmm..... I'm thinking it could happen, perhaps for Tamiyas 50th anniversary kit? 🤔 They do have a licencing agreement with Porshe still, and have been putting out special anniversary Porsche re releases to celebrate landmark birthdays over the last few decades! Public demand is there, everyone wants it re released, and the re re market is currently very strong and highly profitable...... who knows! Personally, I like it's scarcity, and would rather it wasnt re produced..... especially after spending so much on my ones! 😂 All I do know is that if they do re issue it, there's no way it would take the power of modern motors and lipos!! I use modern electronics in many of my re re kits, even brushless in some..... but the 959 would just fall to bits if you did it with that! 😂 Cheers for the great comment mate, always good to chat with fellow enthusiasts of certain models! Best wishes fella, and enjoy those models! 👍 👍 👍

@@greenhawksrc6806 Cheers mate. Love the channel too. Very true and love the fact people are digging them out of their slumber to at least attempt to get them running. Always a positive thing. Yeah 3 years is a while hunting parts but in the end...I'm sure, you're like me, The 959's and the Celica are front and centre in the collection. Absolutely adore mine. The Ninja was unobtainium here in Australia. Never saw one in the flesh till I bought one from the UK recently. My 959's came from Europe too. The runner from Belgium, the shelf queen from Germany. My shelfer was just over 1050Euro. No regrets at all...even with the crumbling parts lol. Imagine a Technigold motor that's never been run... The X-Maxx, XRT, Losi promoto etc are EPIC RC's and all, but there's something about tinkering with an RC car, that was a dream when we were little impressionable kids that really tug on the heart strings...At least it's for me. damn Avante started it for me. NOS parts...Be nice if people didn't want crazy money for them but hey...sellers market. My runners all have modern electronics too...Those 3 step MSC's are a worry lol. All the best mate looking forward to more of your vids...especially the vintage stuff!!

@@steveblackbird Cheers for your kind words mate! 🙏 And yes, the 959 and Celica are some of my favourites in my collection..... along with my TRF custom Top Force, 88 custom metal Clod Buster, fully restored Mud Blaster, and my fully restored original Astute. My collection is mainly vintage and re re's (over 30 of them!)..... I don't have many modern cars though, other than the RC10 B6. 2 racing buggy and a couple of Kyosho Fazers! You are very lucky to have found a never ran 959, worth every penny! The runner one looks great to, and the metal arms and wheel/tire upgrade should make it run reliably as well. And yes, a brand new technigold- Delightful!! I have a new in box technigold which is a display piece, and another 4 which are runners..... although replacement brushes are getting very hard to find now, and extremely expensive! As for the old mechanical speed controls, I love them now for the nostalgia on the shelf..... But back in the day they were awful to work with!! Dust sticking to the terminals in the switch lubricant, wear and slop on the servo arm, loose top nut loosing connection, sparks, burns from the ceramic resistor, dodgy connections, oh and of course 'run away' cars when the battery died and the car stuck in drive leaving you chasing the car before it collided with a Kurb or went under the wheels of a passing car! 😂 Happy days! Seeing your Avante sitting there makes me want to build mine, truth be known I just can't bring myself to cut into those blister packs! 😂 👍 👍 👍

Ah cheers Fil, means a lot. 🙏 And yeah, at around £1,200 in total it certainly hurt the bank balance! But, still way cheaper than the £3,500 that it would have cost to find a new in box kit.... that's how I justified it to myself! 😂 But, me being me, I then decided to do the same with the sister car the Celica GRB! Sourced a wreck, spent another fortune finding parts, and done a full 'as new' restoration on that one to! 🤷‍♂️ For a while I was happy seeing them on the shelf totally mint..... but I wanted to run them, and they are way too fragile for that..... So, yep, you guessed it..... I built a third car out of all the remaining parts to use as a runner! 😂 I built the third using aluminium arms and wishbones, and with modern electronics.. I run it regularly, and it's a joy to drive! I bet Tamiya will go and drop a re issue now knowing my luck! 😂 I really enjoy bringing these old cars back to life, and probably 25% of my fleet are original models that I have restored..... these all stay on the shelf, and I build re re's to run. Cheers for stopping by matey. 😊 👍 👍 👍

Cheers Rob, very much appreciated fella. 🙏 The rally cars of this period were so special. Imagine how good this would look tearing up your woodland trail alongside your Audi quattro! 👌 Cheers for stopping by buddy. 😊 👍 👍 👍

Cheers my friend, much appreciated! Yes, the engineering on this chassis is actually very clever..... albeit structurally flawed when it comes to durability. Although extremely weak, the suspension ensures a great driving experience that is very life like in the way the car handles. The body is an absolute pig to finish though, all that detail has to be painted on inside out.... two tone paint, loads of curves and crevasses, and it's soooo thin it cracks just by holding it! As for those stripe decals, let's not go there! Sadly a lot of the photos were not great..... the bulk were taken before we had the channel for myself rather than in view of turning into a video. My phone is only 13 mega pixels, and my house is dark so shots never turn out well. But, thought it would make an interesting documentation of the project in video form regardless, especially as people get to see how the car goes together. Cheers for stopping by Mark, give Barbara's beaver a stroke for me bud! 😂 👍 👍 👍

Cheers Glenn! 👍 She came up nice in the end, especially the chassis. The painting and decals on this model though are a real challenge- all being brush painted inside out as it were, very fidly and time consuming.... but worth it in the end! Cheers for watching fella. 😊 👍 👍 👍

Hey Bob! How ya doing matey? Cheers fella..... we're a bit short on content at the moment as we can't get out to film anything! It hasn't stopped raining in this awful country for months now! So decided to put some of the photos together from the 959 restoration I done a few years back. Kinda nice to document this build as it's a quirky, and fairly rare car now. Cheers for stopping by matey. 😊 👍 👍 👍

Grace Jones dancing in the background!! 😂 😅 🤣 👍 He he, was trying to get that eighties Rally vibe! Yeah, Tamiya put a lot of effort into the cockpit detail on these models... right down to the precise scale dash and instrument cluster. I tried following the map on my original one in the eighties..... and unfortunately have been lost ever since! 😂 Cheers for watching fella, much appreciated! 🙏 👍 👍 👍

Cheers Addam! I know you aren't a huge fan of this model.... and it certainly has a lot of fundamental design issues to say the least! It's all about the nostalgia for me, I really enjoyed the one I had back in the late eighties, and was a huge fan of rallying back in the day! I done the best with what I had here, it's far from perfect.... and I can safely say the painting and decals are still to this day the most challenging I have ever come across ! I had a lot of photos from this project (most fairly poor quality) so I thought it would be nice to put them all together as a reminder of the build. Cheers for watching matey. 😊 👍 👍 👍

@@greenhawksrc6806 yeah I'm not a huge fan of it but I do appreciate it for what it is. You did a great job on it and the minor little bits that are not perfect just means it is and has been loved! I know it is a kit you love and it turned out great!!

@@AddamsPlayground Cheers Addam, much appreciated fella! 🙏 😊 👍 👍 👍

Many thanks buddy! Always a bit of a challenge trying to bring back a car that hasn't been made for over 30 years to 'as new'! Finding new parts is a mission, and the ABS is so fragile! But well worth it, especially as we have never seen a re re! Thanks for stopping by matey. 😊 👍 👍 👍

@@greenhawksrc6806 Yep. Looking forward to seeing the Project 959 by Need A Bigger Shed.

@@All_RC_Fun Oh yes mate.... I have seen the videos, and am very interested indeed! Unfortunately, lack of funds mean I won't be one of the lucky 100..... but I am following keenly along, it's a most intriguing project, and the chosen chassis should work a treat! 👍 👍 👍

Hey Pete! Cheers matey. Lol..... Unfortunately no large ramps or fireworks for this one I'm afraid buddy.,she lives firmly on the shelf. Took over two years to source all those 'new old stock' parts, and the full restoration totalled £1,200!😬 But, I do have a separate 'runner' 959 that I drive regularly.... which meant upgrading all of the wishbones, arms, and hubs to aluminium replacements sourced from America. It's a fun, and fairly reliable car now. But yeah, everyone wants a re re of this..... but I very much doubt Tamiya would rectify its inherent weaknesses, as they didn't on 'most' of the other re re's! (i have 6 ORV chassis re re's and am still suffering the same gearbox issues that I did with the originals back in the day! 🤷‍♂️) Who knows mate..... I've given up trying to work out Tamiyas strange psychology /business module! But, if they do re issue it, one things for sure, I'd love to see you wack a ridiculous brushless set up in one and send it flying over the Holmsley hump! Cheers for stopping by fella. 😊 👍 👍 👍

Proper legend for sure mate, what a great period in rally history this was eh mate? Cheers for your kind words, Its not perfect..... but I done the best with what I could for a car that's not been made for over 30 years! This one was done over a long period before we had the channel.... A lot of the photos aren't great quality, but thought it would be nice to put them all together to document the rebuild! 👍 👍 👍

Cheers Joe! She's certainly a beautiful rc, and I'm very pleased to have a now mint one to go with the Celica GRB sister car on the shelf! Luckily, I had enough left over used parts to build a runner 959 to! These things drive so different from anything else, but need to be driven with empathy..... they are probably the most fragile rc car ever to be produced! Cheers for watching matey. 😊 👍 👍 👍

Ah cheers Dirk, means a lot mate. 😊 I've always had a lot of love for German cars, the styling on this body is gorgeous..... curves in all the right places! 👌 Mechanically, it was fairly straight forward (other than sourcing new parts for a model that's never been re released!).... I've built quite a few of these over the years, and know the chassis very well! It was the painting and decals that 'as always' pushed my ability to the limit.....everything has to be hand brush painted inside out, which is very hard with all the curves and crevices! Combine that with a wafer thin fragile 35 year old shell, and my arthritic fingers and ageing eyes.... it became very hard work! It's certainly not perfect, but really does look great on the shelf next to her sister car the Toyota Celica GRB! Cheers for watching buddy. 😊 👍 👍 👍

Cheers for watching Craig! Hmmm, there's certainly demand for a re re.... It would sell out instantly I think. They would probably do a non tobacco livery anniversary edition I'm guessing.... perhaps for the 50th anniversary? 🤔 As for the chassis, there's a reason it was only used on two models- It's fundamentally flawed, especially around the wishbones and hubs. But, if they could mould them in a stronger plastic perhaps.... though I'm guessing most would stay on people's shelves. Cheers for watching matey. 😊 👍 👍 👍

Haha i did have a laugh when I saw those eyes I must be honest! What happened to the tiny spec of black paint on the end of a cocktail stick? I actually got that from YOU!!! 😅😅👌👌👍👍

Exactly mate!!!! 🙄 OMG.... When we put the video up on the TV after editing it up both myself and Taylor nearly wet ourselves laughing! 😂 I can't repeat on here what Taylor said they looked like! Yep, this restoration was done a few years back.... and I have since started using the cocktail stick method that we spoke about. So, these chaps will be getting some cosmetic surgery soon as it let's the car down having a 'special' Frankenstein on speed driver and navigator! Kin funny though!! 😂 😅 🤣 👍

@@greenhawksrc6806 Oh yes I get it, we live and learn my friend! Actually, I thought it looked like the car was being piloted by Wallice and Grommit!! 🤣🤣👍👍

@@MarkBryanRC Oh Mark!!! How cruel..... Please don't give Taylor any more ammunition! 😂 😅 🤣 👍 👍 👍

@@yodadarksideGreenHawksRC 🤣🤣👊👊

Hey Fella, cheers for tuning in! 🙏 I can tell from this comment that you are very familiar with the perils of vintage Tamiya ABS in view of restorations..... and also appreciate the stress levels involved in sourcing, and installing new 'old stock' parts! Yep mate, you hit the nail on the head there! It was very hard(and expensive) sourcing new genuine plastic parts, especially the common problematic ones (central chassis, suspension arms and hubs), but I wanted this build to be as original as possible, so done my best to replace everything that wasn't perfect with new genuine components. I didn't learn my lesson.... and just to punish myself more I decided to fully restore a Celica GRB soon after, which was just as bad! 😂 Luckily, I had enough used, but decent parts left over from these two builds to produce a third car as a runner! On this car I used aluminium hubs and wishbones, and modern electronics..... and it's an absolute joy to drive, and fairly reliable to. If interested, you can see it in action in some of our back catalogue of videos..... It's even got 2nd place on our figure of eight time trials challenge! Thanks for your comment matey, much appreciated. 😊 👍 👍 👍

As for a re re?..... Tend to agree mate, 50th anniversary certainly has potential! They just need to use Kyosho blend plastics in the suspension arms/wishbones /hubs..... or even aluminium! 👍 👍 👍

Hey Dom! Im thinking we could well see an anniversary edition released at some stage.... no rally livery/tobacco sponsorship! It would be great if Tamiya improved the plastics on the really weak hubs and wishbones..... but knowing Tamiya most probably not! Which is a shame as these cars drive so different from anything else out there. Cheers for watching my friend. 🙏 👍 👍 👍

@@greenhawksrc6806 i would love it if they did 😊👍

@@rc-dom-uk Too right matey!! I would soooo love to see one of these kicking up the dust around sandy bottom! 😉 👍 👍 👍