Lego Technic 8880

Intro

When I was a kid I wanted the biggest and most complex Legos. I only got small and cheap ones. The series I liked the most were the Technics.

Last winter I was dragged into a kids store. I saw a large box with "Lego Technic" on it. It was a crane with motors and everything. It was quite expensive.

When I got home I couldn't stop thinking about it. Google quickly returned all the results for "the best lego technic ever". Unanimously the answer was Technic 8880:

 

This was the most complex lego ever. It had a REAL gear box with four gears, independent suspension, 4x4 with three open differentials, V8 engine with cylinders and everything. 4-wheel turning. One could study car internals from this toy.

It was said to be the most complex to assemble, due to the scarce instructions. Even though the instructions were 51 pages. Here's a video:

The problem

was that this was a 1994 model and was discontinued. So I had to buy a second hand from ebay/amazon. Unopened boxes went as high as $1000.

After 3 months of searching and bidding I found a 14-year-old kid from Germany, that didn't speak a word English. After a lot of trouble with paypal (the kid didn't know how to use it) I finally got it.

Assembly

It took me 14 hours, even though it said 7 on the box. I had to wear knee pads so that my knees wouldn't hurt so much.

Pictures

Preparations
Preparations
The beginning, page 1
The beginning, page 1
The beginning
The beginning
The suspension
The suspension
The chassis
The chassis
The gearbox can be seen, 1 differential also, front cv joints
The gearbox can be seen, 1 differential also, front cv joints
The knee pads
The knee pads
Suspension attached to cv joints
Suspension attached to cv joints
Testing the tires
Testing the tires
The engine block
The engine block
The car is functional now
The car is functional now
After 14 hours, it's like 6 in the morning
After 14 hours, it's like 6 in the morning

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