Im not sure if this is really classed as a restoration or just a rebuild, either way, please feel free to comment as I waffle my way through this little project, and please bare in mind that Im a total n00b to buggies and Nitro in general, so whilst I may say some daft stuff, its all in the spirit of learning
So Ive aquired an 1/8th scale buggy from eBay. This time it was a second chance offer after the original winner decided he didnt want it.
The ad stated the that the buggy was a non-runner after its last clean up and had a few parts missing "namely the clutch and pull start". Quite how you manage to lose these parts is beyond me, but for £35 for a buggy with some spares and a transmitter, it was too good-a-deal to turn down. The guy wanted £20 postage, which frankly is extortion!! I told him I would buy it off him as long as he let me use my own courier. He agreed so I arranged
Parcel 2 Go to collect it for me at the much more reasonable cost of £8.
The ad did not say what model or who the manufacturer was, so whilst waiting for the buggy to arrive I did some research from what I could see in the ad images. I hunted around and decided with about 80% certainty that the buggy was in fact a
Schumacher Swift 2.
Searching around my regular RC forums I was really struggeling to find any info at all about the Schuey Swift. The Schuey site was ok to a point, certainly the spares availability is pretty good, but the other info is a bit lacking tbh, and dont even mention the forums
I did however find a great thread on RC Nitrotalk which referred to the
PRP Swift and was started back in 2003. It took a few hours to read through the whole thread but most of the info was well worth the read.
So the buggy finally arrived and out of the box, I was initially pleased with how it looked. As for spares, there was a complete chassis plate with steering assembly, rear end minus the shocks, new fuel tank, 4 profile wheels with some fairly worn tires, a couple of shock bodies and a pair of front steering knuckles and suspension upper/lower arms. Thankfully the research I had done wasnt in vain, as this buggy did indeed appear to be a Schumacher Swift 2.
This is the condition of the buggy as it came: (click the thumbnail to see a larger image)
As you can see it doesnt look too bad, although the fact there is still fuel in the tank worries me a little......
On closer inspection Ive found that there are several screws missing and a few which have been changed out for odd ones as well as a good few which are rusty. The list of parts Im gonna need to get it running (so far...) is as follows:
- Pull or roto start
- Exhaust
- Air Filter
- Throttle linkage
- Flywheel
- Clutch bell and shoes
- Fuel line
- Body clips
- Front and Rear sway bars
Hopefully that should be enough to get the thing running, but Im in two minds whether I should give it a complete strip down and re-build or just buy the bits and give it a run........
