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lordgoata

Resurrecting my vintage Blackfoot

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Hi all,

I wasn’t 100% sure where to post this, but this seemed like the best place.

I recently rescued my original vintage Blackfoot from my parents attic. It’s been up there since I stacked it around 1991/1992 and broke some of the front end. Unfortunately being a naive kid, it was stored with all the batteries still in both the transmitter and the truck, and needless to say they have leaked everywhere :(

Still I decided I wanted to get it going again, so started doing some research on the interweb. This was the one and only RC vehicle I have ever owned or had experience with, and was purchased 2nd hand, so already assembled. Having sent some time researching, I appear to have suddenly fallen head first into a world I didn't know existed! I've been busy collecting parts from eBay and elsewhere to fix the broken parts and to strengthen and improve the remaining parts (oldfrogshoot mod etc).

I’m fairly happy with everything on the mechanical side, but the electronics just confuse the heck out of me! I currently have a Futaba FP-T2NBR transmitter, a stock silver motor, FP-S148 servos, the original MSC and a FP-R102GR receiver. It was wired up as a normal receiver, with the 4xAA batteries powering it - if I understand things correctly.

I’d like to upgrade the motor to the sports tuned black model, replace the MSC with an ESC, replace the main battery pack and change the wiring to use the BEC system - but I am pretty lost as to what I need.

I’d appreciate any advice on the electronics and battery, I probably need to replace the transmitter as well, cheaply if possible, as the batteries leaked in there too :angry:

Thanks in advance for any help/advice!

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ESC http://www.modelsport.co.uk/tamiya-teu-105-bk-with-bec/rc-car-products/369337

Motor http://www.modelsport.co.uk/tamiya-rs-540-sport-tuned-motor/rc-car-products/1474

Battery http://www.modelsport.co.uk/orion-sport-power-3300mah-stick-pack-7.2v/rc-car-products/33010

Transmitter, receiver & servo set http://www.modelsport.co.uk/futaba-3pl-3-channel-2.4g-fhss-combo/rc-car-products/372343

Thats pretty much all you need. Obviously you could find cheaper alternatives depending where youre looking, I just chose Modelsport as youre in the UK.

Good luck!

Steve

Edit: Just realised the servo isnt included in the Futaba Transmitter set, this one will do fine though:

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/acoms-as17-standard-servo/rc-car-products/28460

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Hi there, you posted in the right place, Blackfoot is a classic indeed

I'm pretty sure your receiver is already BEC compatible, just check the label and see if it is written on there, cant miss it. If it is BEC you can keep your radio/receiver and get rid of the 4 AA battery pack. If you still want to replace your radio, you can get a 2.4Ghz combo for pretty cheap.

There are 2 types of motors today: brushed and brushless. The vintage motors are all brushed and you should stick with those since the Blackfoot tranny is weak. All you'll need is an ESC for brushed motors that can handle the number of turns your motor has (the less turns there are, the more powerful the motor will be).

For batteries, you can get NimH batteries that will be compatible with your equipment and you'll get much longer run times. You will probably need to upgrade your charger since you probably used older NiCad batteries, those chargers are not compatible with NimH batteries

You can keep your Futaba servos, they are OK even today and compatible with newer receivers

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Be sure to post some photos of your blackfoot for everyone to see. :)

Love those blackfoots too..

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Welcome to the mad house - prepare for a wallet emptyig experience on here !

For an ESC I'd go with this one..

auto set-up so no calibration required, will handle the sport tuned motor and its waterproof too..

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/modelsport-uk-sniper-rv-20-auto/rc-car-products/31775

half the price of the Tamiya one too ;)

or this one as an alternative - again auto set-up and waterproof.. http://www.modelsport.co.uk/modelsport-uk-trident-xt-20/rc-car-products/374108

Good luck with the project and please do post photos - the eagle eyed here will spot anything amiss and help you out in the process

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Thank you all for the warm welcome!

ESC http://www.modelsport.co.uk/tamiya-teu-105-bk-with-bec/rc-car-products/369337

Motor http://www.modelsport.co.uk/tamiya-rs-540-sport-tuned-motor/rc-car-products/1474

Battery http://www.modelsport.co.uk/orion-sport-power-3300mah-stick-pack-7.2v/rc-car-products/33010

Transmitter, receiver & servo set http://www.modelsport.co.uk/futaba-3pl-3-channel-2.4g-fhss-combo/rc-car-products/372343

Thats pretty much all you need. Obviously you could find cheaper alternatives depending where youre looking, I just chose Modelsport as youre in the UK.

Good luck!

Steve

Edit: Just realised the servo isnt included in the Futaba Transmitter set, this one will do fine though:

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/acoms-as17-standard-servo/rc-car-products/28460

Thanks Steve, thats an excellent start, gives me a good basis to work from - I'll have a proper look over the weekend.

Hi there, you posted in the right place, Blackfoot is a classic indeed

I'm pretty sure your receiver is already BEC compatible, just check the label and see if it is written on there, cant miss it. If it is BEC you can keep your radio/receiver and get rid of the 4 AA battery pack. If you still want to replace your radio, you can get a 2.4Ghz combo for pretty cheap.

There are 2 types of motors today: brushed and brushless. The vintage motors are all brushed and you should stick with those since the Blackfoot tranny is weak. All you'll need is an ESC for brushed motors that can handle the number of turns your motor has (the less turns there are, the more powerful the motor will be).

For batteries, you can get NimH batteries that will be compatible with your equipment and you'll get much longer run times. You will probably need to upgrade your charger since you probably used older NiCad batteries, those chargers are not compatible with NimH batteries

You can keep your Futaba servos, they are OK even today and compatible with newer receivers

The receiver does indeed have a big large BEC logo on the top, so that sounds like a good start :D I think I will have to replace the radio, unless I can rescue it - I haven't stripped it down properly yet, but the battery compartment is a mess :( Good point about the charger, forgot all about that! Not even sure I have the old one anyway! Nice to hear I should be able to reuse some equipment too.

Be sure to post some photos of your blackfoot for everyone to see. :)

Love those blackfoots too..

I unfortunately stripped it down before I took any at the start, but I will for sure take some during the rebuild process. I have a nice bag of parts from all around the world to fix/enhance the original, so fingers crossed it will be worth it!

Welcome to the mad house - prepare for a wallet emptyig experience on here !

For an ESC I'd go with this one..

auto set-up so no calibration required, will handle the sport tuned motor and its waterproof too..

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/modelsport-uk-sniper-rv-20-auto/rc-car-products/31775

half the price of the Tamiya one too ;)

or this one as an alternative - again auto set-up and waterproof.. http://www.modelsport.co.uk/modelsport-uk-trident-xt-20/rc-car-products/374108

Good luck with the project and please do post photos - the eagle eyed here will spot anything amiss and help you out in the process

Er yes, wallet is already a bit lighter ;) That said I'm just fascinated that there are parts still available after all these years, even if some are clones. The 3D printer market is really going to make things exciting for the future, thats for sure. I'll take a look at those ESCs as well - thank you!

STOP! Don't do it, get out while you can!! :lol:

LOL :lol:

Thanks again everyone!

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Do yourself a favor and search on here for "oldfrogshot diff mod." The diff was always the Blackfoot's Achilles heel, but 25 years of tinkering have yielded an excellent solution to the problem.

In fact, spend some time searching for Blackfoot rebuild threads on here - I have one, as do many other people. The wisdom we have gained from the mistakes we have made, we bequeath to you - as long as you promise to post some pictures.

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Do yourself a favor and search on here for "oldfrogshot diff mod." The diff was always the Blackfoot's Achilles heel, but 25 years of tinkering have yielded an excellent solution to the problem.

In fact, spend some time searching for Blackfoot rebuild threads on here - I have one, as do many other people. The wisdom we have gained from the mistakes we have made, we bequeath to you - as long as you promise to post some pictures.

Thanks Mark, I have already done a lot of reading and research and have plenty of threads bookmarked and printed for references!

Hi and welcome, not sure if you've already found this thread but you could do a lot worse than read it through and pick out some of the things it suggests (if not all of them): http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=40416&page=1entry308362

Thanks Steve, that was one of the first pages I found :) I have managed to source most of the items listed, just waiting on the shocks I think.

I've ordered the motor and ESC now, battery and charger will be next. Once I have that I'll see if the receiver and servos are all working, otherwise I'll get them as well. While I am waiting I'll see what I can do with the transmitter....

Regarding the charger, could I ask for some advice on these, I see them ranging from £6.99 to £200+ on Modelsport!

Whats the difference between eg:

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/orion-advantage-iq801-1a-delta-peak-charger/rc-car-products/369437

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/orion-one-405-ac-dc-charger/rc-car-products/372831

Would the former be adequate ? I'm not planning on doing anything fancy, but £6.99 seems a bit cheap to me?!

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Re the charger, if you absolutely promise not to get too involved with the hobby then you could do a lot worse than this: http://www.modelsport.co.uk/fusion-vector-nx85-delta-peak-ac-dc-charger/rc-car-products/37637 I have one and use it regularly for my NiCad and NiMh batteries.

However, I found myself moving onto LiPo batteries and ended up buying a LiPo charger similar to the second one you posted. It all depends where you see yourself in 6 months but £50 is more than enough on a charger unless you start racing etc..

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Thanks Mark, I have already done a lot of reading and research and have plenty of threads bookmarked and printed for references!

Thanks Steve, that was one of the first pages I found :) I have managed to source most of the items listed, just waiting on the shocks I think.

I've ordered the motor and ESC now, battery and charger will be next. Once I have that I'll see if the receiver and servos are all working, otherwise I'll get them as well. While I am waiting I'll see what I can do with the transmitter....

Regarding the charger, could I ask for some advice on these, I see them ranging from £6.99 to £200+ on Modelsport!

Whats the difference between eg:

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/orion-advantage-iq801-1a-delta-peak-charger/rc-car-products/369437

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/orion-one-405-ac-dc-charger/rc-car-products/372831

Would the former be adequate ? I'm not planning on doing anything fancy, but £6.99 seems a bit cheap to me?!

IMO spend a little more on a decent charger . Something like the Imax B6 digital charger is only around £30 with the 240volt power supply . It with charge your packs way faster then the ones you linked to plus if you want to go over to lipo in the future it can handle those as well

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IMO spend a little more on a decent charger . Something like the Imax B6 digital charger is only around £30 with the 240volt power supply . It with charge your packs way faster then the ones you linked to plus if you want to go over to lipo in the future it can handle those as well

Those cheap and nasty plug in jobs really are old tech - AVOID . Their toy grade at best .

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Hi All,

Snap : I also rescued my vintage Blackfoot from my Parent's attic. And as a 10 yr old Nephew of mine just got a Grasshopper, I dug out it out to see if I could get it running.

Here it is, complete with Original Box, Techniplus/Acoms radio kit, racing packs, chargers (fast and slow), Instructions, some spare parts and even the original Molyboenum grease and switch lubricant....ahh the memories !

image1_zps8e9b1d5a.jpeg

8189F00E-C856-4BDF-80A3-BA8D01DCE088_zps

Now, a trip to my local model store and some 'net research confirmed that the the world isn't stuck in 1986 (sadly) and that battery and motor technology had move on. Reading the Blackfoot recommendations on here, I bought some new differential bevel gears, a new NiMh 4500 battery, installed new AA's in the transmitter/receiver pack and lubed the mechanical speed controller.

After stripping the gearbox, fitting the new diff parts and adding some grease I fired her up.....and the 1/10 Monster F-150 worked first time !

I was expecting various parts to be worn out, esp the connections on the rear drive axle, but amazingly everything seems to be fine (esp as it got flung into reverse at speed with abandon in the late 80's....)

So that's great news. Now....the questions....

Do you think I should keep the Mechanical speed controller and receiver pack, or go all modern and get an ESC ? One issue I have is that I have a 'hot' (at least it was miles quicker than the stock RS-540 at the time) Parma K Stock motor in it and I have no idea how many turns that has and whether it will melt a cheapo ESC. Any knowledge of this motor very welcome.

image_zps305a2bc6.jpeg

Guess I'll need to buy a modern battery charger also.

Then there's the question of dampers....was thinking of getting some Monster Beetle ones as a direct replacement, but should I consider non-Tamiya ? One part of me wants to keep it OEM, but another part wants to tune it the way I would have as a kid if i had the money !

There seems it be a lot of slack in the wheels/steering, might be normal, but I think I will definitely ballrace it.

So anyway, a fun weekend playing with a kit which provided so much entertainment back in the day. Any thoughts welcome.

If the Grasshopper is quicker I'l have to either hop it up or do what i always used to do with the Blackfoot, drive over the opposition...

Cheers

Mark

PS vid of the old-school servos in action

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Have you replaced the plastic bushings ( bearings ) with metal sealed ball bearings ? That is the very first thing I would do before even considering adding modern electronics ? Give it a full strip down . Examine every part for cracks / damage and replace as needed . Rebuild and then think about what hop ups you want to do .

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No, not done that yet, but good idea. Now I have confirmed it's a viable runner, I'll strip it and replace all the bearings with sealed ball bearings.

As all the existing electronics are fine, I am tempted to leave them.

I also need to stop looking at Hotshots on ebay...

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Started stripping it.

One bit I can't figure out is how the wheel hubs (C11, SA8 and BD6 on the below pic) on the rear axle come off, not sure if they pulll off and are stuck, or if I am missing something. Any tips appreciated.

Edited to add - sorted it, they were just stuck. Found my first broken bits too :-(

D2E94604-AB47-4827-B6AC-461C6F5C91B5_zps

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I have a pile of chassis parts for one of these if you need any spares i might be able to help.

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Which bits are broken?

This part :

8E5BEC9C-DF3F-4F9A-8ECA-74E7236B452E_zps

It's quite an important bit from Parts Tree B, connects the Diff Bevel gear through to the Joint shaft through the side of the gearbox plate, in step no. 19 in the instructions.

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JK-RC uk on ebay have the B parts tree in stock for £4.99 buy it now mate :D. Hope that helps

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It does help thanks. Was missing a couple of screws also. Ebay is my friend :D

I remember driving it around without the body on most if the time, as it was heavy, badly aero and easily damaged.

Now I've just seen these....this could get expensive...

e.g. here :

bf005_zps949fd18c.jpg

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