Joel's G1 Transformer Restorations: Long Haul

[Murdoch]

Growing up I had a reasonable collection of G1 Transformers I was very fond of. I gave them away to a family friend for their kids to play with when I was a teenager and never thought much of them for years. Over the last few years, nostalgia has bitten me hard. I have rewatched the old cartoon, it is so entertainingly bad and yet oddly charming. I have picked up the odd G1 Transformer here and there for cheap, mostly focusing on ones I had when I was a kid. I got a rough condition Optimus Prime which I did a restoration on that I am quite proud of, will post the pics when I get time. A few months ago I was doing work for the family friend and suddenly she says they still have some of my old Transformers lying around. She very kindly collected them up and gave them back to me. There were not many, about 8 or 9 from a collection which might have once totaled around 25 if my fuzzy memory serves. I have started a restoration on Hoist, which was the third one I ever got, but nothing really solid to show yet. I originally had the full set of Constructicons. I got Mixmaster first, and the other five for either Christmas or Birthday some time later. I still remember the thrill as I opened one package, then the other, the truth of what I would soon have dawning on me. She was able to give me back four of my original guys. Well... three and a half. That brings me to poor Long Haul.

 

 

As you can see, the poor chap was rather worse for wear. Browsing an auction site I found this ghastly thing.

 

 

Presenting G2 Long Haul. G2 in the early 90s saw some new toys but also a lot of old G1 guys re-released, often with quite terrible recolours. Hasbro obviously looked at them and went "Hmm, needs more 90s." The main G2 Constructicons were yellow, but a set was also released in this horrific shade of orange that I like to call "Radioactive Orange Juice". Fortunately though, the purple parts appear to be closer to the original shade than those on the yellow set based on photos online. As ghastly as he was, I felt bad pillaging an intact figure. But I felt better about using him for parts when I saw he was not without his own battle scars. The pin providing the pivot for the legs during transformation was badly bent, and one of the joints on one of the legs was a bit munged so the leg swivel was troublesome. Quite how the pin got as bent as it was without

destroying the legs entirely is a mystery. There's also some damage to the plastic part of legs.

 

 

Dismantling the top was easy.

 

 

Now the legs proved slightly more challenging. I tried to push the main pin out but it didn't work even on my one which was straight. I soon noticed a screw in the side which, once the crotch sticker was sliced, enabled the two legs to be split apart. I tried to do the same on the donor figure but rust on the pin connecting the legs to the body base and the bend on the main leg pivot pin made this impossible. So I cut the pin, and this made splitting them easy. The plan was to use the intact left leg of my one with the pivot pin still in it, and use the right one from the donor figure. However, that was the one that had the damaged pivot. I also realised that the damage to the right leg of my one is actually barely visible in robot mode. As my philosophy with restorations is to only replace and paint what is absolutely necessary to keep as much original as possible, I decided to stick with both my guy's original legs. It makes transformation slightly dodgy but since I display them in robot mode anyway, it does not really bother me.

 

So, behold, my old G1 Long Haul, intact once again!

 

 

Eventually I will give him a proper clean, repaint the chrome, and get some fresh stickers for him. I will also see if I can paint the truck roof to try and match the rest of the green best as I can. But that's for another time.

 

Edited May 26, 2022 by Murdoch

[Biodegradable]

Murdoch, upload the pictures to an image-sharing site like Imgur and then embed the images. It'll make the OP look way better. Really nice work by the way!

[Thelokk]

Really like unusual restoration projects. Good stuff!

[Murdoch]

Replaced the links with embedded images as requested. One more to add. Reunited with his teammates at last.

 

Sidenote: let us marvel at the miracle that is Mixmaster still having his head missile after over 35 years and passing through three generations of hands - mine, the family friend's kids, and their kids.

 

Edited May 26, 2022 by Murdoch