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Frog Jumper

Noob Alert: I'm the new guy with the old skool Frog

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Here is a list of things I have done to my Original Frog.  [updated August 28, 2019]

I've only kept a few of the Original pieces.  Most of it has been replaced with Re-Re, NOS, or new DIY pieces...

[based on the Re-Release instruction manual]:

(1)
1.  OG King Blackfoot A-2 and A-6 Chassis and A-5 battery door [dark grey color - similar to Brat Blue Edition chassis]
2.  Original C-3 and MR-3 parts
3.  "Custom Metal Creations" center servo mount plate  [replaced A-8] {THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL HOP-UP, IMO}
4.  Original MSC plate  [saved from my Original Frog - one of the few Original parts I have left on my Jumper]

(2)
1.  Re-re metal parts [MP-2, MP-3]  [MP3 third hole drilled out w/ 5/32" bit and needle-filed for 4mm screw]


(3)
1.  Original MD-7 and MD-8
2.  CRP #1607 suspension arms
3.  Re-re MR-2 radius arms

(4)
1.  Re-re suspension stay [MP-4]
2.  Eliminated B-6 and MR-4 suspension parts

(5)
1.  "rctechzone99" front damper mounts  {THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL HOP-UP, IMO}
2.   Tamiya #50519 CVA Shocks with CRP #9127 shock spacers  {THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL HOP-UP, IMO}

(6)
1.  Original MR-13
2.  DIY washers, screws, and brass tubes added  [replaced BC-6, BA-1]
3.  CRP #3044 front bumper  [replaced MP-5, Front Bumper]  {THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL HOP-UP, IMO}


(7)
1.  Thorp #4520 spur gear  [replaced MD-3, MD-3, PG-1, 2, 3, MR-1]

(8)
1.  Thorp #4540 Yoke Style Frog Ball Differential  [w/ new spring washers (4439), thrust bearing washers (4440), 1/16 steel balls (4441)]
2.  CRP #1608 tranny bearing supports  [dyed black, replaced B-2]
3.  Re-re C-16, B-1, MR-3

(9)

1.  Re-Re MR-8, MR-12
2.  CRP #1608 tranny bearing supports  [dyed black, replaced B-2]
3.  CRP #1606 tranny insert for swing arms [frog size]

(10)
1.  Original MR-13

(11)
1.  Traxxas #4851  [w/ holes needle-filed to fit Thorp yokes]

(12)
1.  ".50 Calibre" aluminum swing arms  [replaced C-6 and C-9]
2.  Robinson RRP-5012 axles  [replaced MD-14]

(13)
1.  [unknown] Rear Arm Stoppers  [replaced MD-12]

(14 - 16)
1.  Tamiya #50520 CVA Shocks w/ CRP #9127 shock spacers  [replaced rear shock]  {THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL HOP-UP, IMO}
2.  CRP #1622 rear shock mounts

(17)
1.  Tamiya TBLM-02s 10.5 motor w/ new MR-14  [w/ Thorp 16t pinion]

(18)
1.  CRP #2107 adjustable motor mount
2.  OG King Blackfoot A-1

(19)
1.  Tamiya TBLE-02s ESC
2.  Tamiya #54381  [35mm sensor cable]
3.  Airtronics 94102 servo
4.  Airtronics receiver

(20)
1.  Dubro #2156 turnbuckles and CRP #1519 ball-ends  {THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL HOP-UP, IMO}

(21)
1.  Kimbrough KIM-113 servo saver for Airtronics
2.  Original MSC plate  [saved from my Original Frog - one of the few Original parts I have left on my Jumper]

(22-25)
1.  Amark "California" front wheels w/ Pro-Line Road Rage tires  [or HPI#2100]
2.  Amark "California" rear wheels w/ Pro-Line Road Rage tires  [or HPI #2135]
3.  "rcloverr" aluminum rear drive hubs
4.  No antenna used.

(26)
1.  Re-re B-3
2.  CRP #3042 skid plate  {THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL HOP-UP, IMO}

(27)
1.  Driver  [another Original Piece from my Original Frog]

(28)
1.  Re-re body and wing  [cut out the entire front window to allow more venting to ESC.  Also had to cut a slit in the rear to fit around the CRP adjustable motor mount]

Other Hop-Ups:
1.  DIY tranny window [cut from left-over lexan - this replaces C-12]
2.  "MHeald" ORV Tranny Brace  [custom for CRP pieces]
3.  CRP #3041 rear bumper
4.  CRP #3045 rear skid plate
5.  Parma nerf bars  
6.  AMPRO underside chassis plate 


I replaced many of the screw/nuts/bolts/washers/etc with new stainless or black hex screws or otherwise.  I'm not exactly sure what is Re-Re, Original, or Hop-Up...

Terry

https://jpegbay.com/gallery/007550055-.html#1

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Yeah, I think I saw that down in the Yard Sale... But no, I'm in the US...

I'd love to get it, but it might just be cheaper for me to go thru FleaBay... I'm not quite there yet...

Terry

I have a new frog body for sale.Are you in the UK?

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I have a couple of questions, for anyone that may have tackled the same situation in their own ORV build... While I'm sure this subject has been discussed a brazilian times, search just isn't giving me the answers I want...

1. I'm interested in getting Pro-Line Road Hawgs on the back (maybe the front). Can someone recommend a Wheel??? Model numbers would be appreciated.

Related to this, it is my understanding that the old school Blackfoot wheels are 2.2??? Is this correct??? Has anyone successfully mounted Road Hawgs on Blackfoot wheels???

2. I'm also interested in adapting to new 12mm rears. Can someone recommend Wheel and Tire??? Again, model numbers would be appreciated. I have both the HPI adapters and the Tamiya adapter.

Thanks,

Terry

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Here is another subject I would like to tackle: the ORV transmission. Again, I'm sure this has been discussed a godzillian times, but my searching is fruitless...

I have a Robinson now. Its OK, but the spur gear is worn and gives me fits, and the port side driver falls out occasionally...

Anyone run a Thorp in their Frog???

Anyone with thoughts on upgrading w/ tamiya parts??? Perhaps the Posi Drive system that was in the Brat at one point???

Any other thoughts???

Terry

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Congratulations on a great restoration! That frog looks mean.

And welcome to the club of course :)

Hopefully you'll get the input you need on the Thorp diffs, but if you have the original diff or want to put in a new Tamiya diff, have a look at Oldfrogshot's screw mod:

http://tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=24674&sid=3142

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=57144

If nothin else, it's a great read.

We'd love more pictures of course, here's how to do it:

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=69842

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OK, I think I've figured out the Road Hawgs thing... HPI #2100 for the front and HPI#2135 for the rear.

I'm sure there are other Rims that can work, but this is a good start for me...

Terry

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Finally found some time today to do some work on the Tranny, and to run the car...

Figured out why the Robinson Tranny was giving me such fits - one of the screws holding the Cluster together had come loose and the Spur was loose... This was causing it to tilt when under duress and unevenly wore the teeth... New gear, new lock-tite, new grease and the Tranny was smooth as silk! Woohoo!!!

So then I had some time in the afternoon while the wife took the kids shopping... Got the batteries charged up and went to run the car, but the servos are so twitchy that I can't drive it. It ran about 20 feet, threw itself into reverse, turned left and then got stuck under a bush... Turned it off and back to the bench with a scowl on my face...

*methinks* new BEC is giving me RF interference. Its a Turnigy Heli-BEC I picked up for cheap from HobbyKing (see below)... It seemed OK on the bench, powered the Rx just fine, and the servos didn't seem to be any more jumpy than usual...

When I ran the car with (4) AA batteries powering the Rx, it was great - solid as a rock when I had my Tx antenna fully extended. Now, with the BEC it does whatever it wants...

So, I'm looking for some advice and/or trouble-shooting...

I have an ancient Airtronics XL Tx (with steering wheel) w/ equally ancient Rx and Servos. [here is a thread I found on another board with pix of the same kit I have http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=78&t=17493]. The new BEC is shown below. I'm also running a typical Duratrax NiMH Onyx battery.

Any thoughts???

Terry

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That really is looking great Frog Jumper, my suggestion for the radio issues, although sacrilegious for a vintage car would be throw a 2.4Ghz radio system in to run it, if it goes back on the shelf go back to the am system.

If you havent run a modern radio system you will be surprised, cheap and solid, no glitches and huge range.

Now that you are a member here it wont take long before you have multiple cars, so you will use the modern kit

I bought a vintage hotshot and became a member here, I now have 25 cars lol

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That really is looking great Frog Jumper, my suggestion for the radio issues, although sacrilegious for a vintage car would be throw a 2.4Ghz radio system in to run it, if it goes back on the shelf go back to the am system.

If you havent run a modern radio system you will be surprised, cheap and solid, no glitches and huge range.

Now that you are a member here it wont take long before you have multiple cars, so you will use the modern kit

I bought a vintage hotshot and became a member here, I now have 25 cars lol

Yeah, I had the idea of going entirely Vintage on my rebuild, but the whole issue with Shocks (front and rear) steered me off that track - I have had no luck finding "good" vintage shock upgrades... I decided to install Yeah Racing (and clones)...

One day I will just strip out the old electronics and move to a modern Airtronics or Futaba system... But I want to solve the issue I have before I make that step - I don't have the loot to make that big of a step yet... One day...

So for now, I think I will try some copper-tape around the BEC and see if that helps... Other than that, the only thing I can think of is to return to a (4) AA battery power system. I can't think of or find another 6v solution that is smaller, although I wonder if I could rig a 5v USB battery pack??? Or maybe use a rechargable Receiver Battery Pack... I wanted to get rid of the weight of those batteries, and replace it with the insignificant weight of a BEC...

My next thought is to try a TEU-105... Anyone have any luck with one of these guys in an ORV chassis???

As for more cars, I can imagine that I'll pick up another car in a couple of years, especially as my son gets older and (hopefully) gets into the hobby. I get more enjoyment out of the build than I do out of the drive, so buying an RTR has no appeal to me... That said, there is the prospect of upgrading an RTR with after-market parts...

Thanks,

Terry

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Here is a pix of my car, a few weeks out of deep storage...

At this point the only thing I had done to the Frog was replace one of the front steering rods b/c it broke the previous run...

Not letting me UL any more pix... I guess I need to subscribe or something...

Terry

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Here is a pix of my car, a few weeks out of deep storage...

At this point the only thing I had done to the Frog was replace one of the front steering rods b/c it broke the previous run...

Not letting me UL any more pix... I guess I need to subscribe or something...

Terry

It's great to join, but in the meantime, you can post your pictures on Photobucket or similar and link to them.

It's all explained here:

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=69842

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Yeah, I had the idea of going entirely Vintage on my rebuild, but the whole issue with Shocks (front and rear) steered me off that track - I have had no luck finding "good" vintage shock upgrades... I decided to install Yeah Racing (and clones)...

One day I will just strip out the old electronics and move to a modern Airtronics or Futaba system... But I want to solve the issue I have before I make that step - I don't have the loot to make that big of a step yet... One day...

So for now, I think I will try some copper-tape around the BEC and see if that helps... Other than that, the only thing I can think of is to return to a (4) AA battery power system. I can't think of or find another 6v solution that is smaller, although I wonder if I could rig a 5v USB battery pack??? Or maybe use a rechargable Receiver Battery Pack... I wanted to get rid of the weight of those batteries, and replace it with the insignificant weight of a BEC...

My next thought is to try a TEU-105... Anyone have any luck with one of these guys in an ORV chassis???

As for more cars, I can imagine that I'll pick up another car in a couple of years, especially as my son gets older and (hopefully) gets into the hobby. I get more enjoyment out of the build than I do out of the drive, so buying an RTR has no appeal to me... That said, there is the prospect of upgrading an RTR with after-market parts...

Thanks,

Terry

Stupid me cut the toroid off the BEC... Planning on adding it (ir a bigger one I have lying around) back in after the BEC and see if that helps! Thanks to dad for that suggestion!

Terry

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Finally got it back running... back and forth between the street lamps... I still don't trust the new BEC... I am really leaning towards a TEU105 and maybe an upgrade on my Rx/Tx...

Terry

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Pulled the BEC last night... It was driving me crazy... Now the car is rock solid again, but running on batteries for the Rx... Ordered a TEU-105 last night to replace the Servo, MSC, and BEC... We'll see how that works out...

Terry

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Broke a rear hub... Ordered some new aluminum ones...

Removed the CRP Front Bumper and reinserted the Tamiya assembly... The extra few mm's of space lets me run 2.2 truck tires (Team Losi ribbed)...

Received the TEU-105 today, but I need to get a Z > Old Style Airtronics adapter... Ordered one from Airtronics... Let's hope my 30yo Rx doesn't blow up!

Also picked up a set of HPI 2100 rims to put my old Pro-Line Striker IIs on... Pro-Line totally hooked me up when I called their offices to inquire about foam inserts... And I guess the new HPI rim sets don't come with the axle adapters any more??? My HPI 2135s didn't come with them either... Front adapters ordered...

Terry

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HPI's new #2100 front rims don't need the adapter to fit the 5x11 bearing! Sweet! Except I've already order the adapter collars... I'll tuck them in the tool-box in case something come up later...

Fixed up the new HPI#2100's with the inserts via Pro-Line and the old Striker IIs... Works like a charm! They stick nicely and the cars runs great... Its a freekin' rocket!!!

I'm not sure if I'll make those my daily rubber or if I'll go back to the Brat Fronts... Both seem to work great, though the Brats are more "authentic"...

Terry

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Last night I removed the steering servo, MSC, and associated wiring... I added a TEU-105bk... I was really worried that it would blow up my 30yo Airtronics receiver (Airtronics #92123)... But it didn't... It actually works, though it is a little iffy...

So, with the new TEU-105bk, here are my observations:

1. Car moves forward and reverse no problem - except that the motor "beeps" whenever I hit the throttle... What's up with that???

2. It took me several times to get it set correctly... typical of tamiya ESCs methinks...

3. The removal of all the weight is wonderful, but it is all at the front of the car, so I'm a little worried about being tail-heavy...

I've driven the car at full speed (its a rocket) under the street lamps tonight. Works great... I need to get used to the new "brake" - the old MSC had a "E.M.F. Brake"... This one glides and I need to reverse throttle to brake - but I'm not spinning the wheels backwards as I'm moving forwards, which is what I think killed the original tranny... I think it will actually work better once I get used to it - the EMF brake was hard to predict and didn't always work when I wanted...

Also, the new ESC is giving me more fine response to the throttle. The MSC was old and worn out and so it was either full throttle or nothing... Shame b/c it is a cool device and it was modified by my dad years ago to fit into my Frog... The wires are butchered and soldered back, and its been tweaked a few times over... but it only looks cool and wasn't very functional for real driving... This is a good upgrade...

I guess the next big thing is the body (which I've been talking about for a few weeks now)... Gotta work out the custom decals...

And I suppose I can think of a few upgrades I might work on:

1. a full-width aluminum front bumper... I'd like to see a "full-width front bumper" from Parma remade as an aluminum piece... I may have to let my fingers do the walking...

2. centered steering (ala king blackfoot)... I can (almost) center my servo now as it is (good enough for frog science), so I may just get new steering rods instead...

3. new chassis... maybe king blackfoot dark grey??? or maybe brat chrome??? or sassy chassis reproduction??? or just a cheap gray one??? I'd love to find a Bush Devil blue chassis!!!

4. new wing on the rear... (no idea...)

5. re-work the front shock mounts so my Parma Frog Jumper body fits... I don't want to get the CRP mounts, but may have to do so...

I'm about done with my rebuild... In the end, I should have bought a brand new chassis and new screw sets and move from the inside out, rather than rebuilding my old Frog from the outside in... I've replaced almost everything, except the chassis and some of the screws... But it has been super fun doing it all... Now I need to fine tune it and run that traxxas down the street into the ground!

Drunk and buzzed about driving the Frog with the new ESC!

Terry

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Dang! Just did some more night driving and snapped a telescopic arm!

I hear that the traxxas #4851 is a suitable replacement for the Robinson/Thorp telescopic arms??? Anyone have any experience???

Thanks!

Terry

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The Traxxas #4851 is an almost perfect replacement for the Thorp/Robinson arms. The pin-holes need to be reamed out to fit the pins, but the length is perfect...

Dang! Just did some more night driving and snapped a telescopic arm!

I hear that the traxxas #4851 is a suitable replacement for the Robinson/Thorp telescopic arms??? Anyone have any experience???

Thanks!

Terry

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I forgot I replaced the broken rear axle hub (and the worn out one one the other side) with two new aluminum hubs via fleabay... They fit, work, and look great!

Terry

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