racer1

I have been clearing over the decals on hard bodies for as long as I can remember. It started with my first grass hopper and I have done it with every one I have done since with no issues. I tend to stay away from hobby grade paints as I tend to get much better results with Automotive paints. Here in the states we have a brand called Duplicolor that makes hundreds if not thousands of colors and they are really great products. Never had an issue using their products.

The Black Foot handles ok as long as you take it easy. When thing speed up is where the problems begin. When you compare it to a modern truck it handles like a loaded dump truck. It's only saving grace is that the tires are so incredibly hard that they don't grip very well so have at least a 50% chance of keeping it on its tires. Yes you can make changes to the truck as you go but it all honestly the only thing that will really make a different in the trucks performance is getting a lower center of gravity. My recommendation it that you paint and detail the stock hard body. You might even consider getting a set of Repo-Original decals for it and and original grill and use that while the truck is on display.When it comes time to run the truck i would buy a Lexan Black Foot Body and run that. It' about 1/10 the weight and greatly reduces the trucks tendency to flip over. It might sound like i'm being hard on the Blackfoot but that is not the case. They are awesome trucks build, restore and own. Be careful or you will quickly find yourself with a bunch of them like me. Here's a pic of the work bench last week. The 3 on the right are projects but the one on the left is an all original, never run truck that I found and built about 15 yrs ago. It's little dusty and the decals are starting to lift but otherwise it's perfect. Also have another uncompleted one in the garage in a box somewhere. Bought it from a guy that never finished it. Yes I know the tires are on backwards. I was a kid, what can I say......

1 with bumper and 2 without bumper, Thanks,

The LiPo packs I run never get above room temp even during charging as I only charge at 1C or below so no chance of hurting the chassis with those. Odds are good that your packs get hotter while running than during charging so it shouldn't be an issue but you can monitor the first couple of times to make sure.

Not sure of the conversion rate but I can tell you that I picked up an brand new, never run WW2 complete with a brand new battery, charger and controller about 2 months ago for $135 USD. That is just a bit lower than what I typically see them selling for on Ebay but it's a good real life scenario. Ebay normally gets in the $150 range for what I bought. The truck alone will fetch maybe $100 -$110 USD. The Pumpkins normally sell in the $80 USD range around here. Ebay is about the same.

For the type of plastics that RC cars are generally made out of you will need a 2 part Epoxy. JB Weld makes one that is specifically made for plastics and it's the best non-industrial epoxy I've ever seen. I used it to glue a Stampede chassis back together about a year ago that I snapped out messing around in the freezing cold. It lasted about 9 mouths until I eventually swapped it out for another used one. 2 Part Epoxy is also great filling in stripped out holes in a chassis. Just force it in there with a open paperclip then use a tiny drill bit to make a pilot hole. Works great. Like others have said. A replacement chassis is is about the same as a good epoxy so you might as well replace it.

Well you could always just use cable ties to strap it in and leave it there. I have a few cars that i bought dedicated LiPo's for. I have a couple of crawlers that have 2S 7500mah packs strapped in. IN all honestly, I get tired of running my crawler long before the battery runs out. I've gotten 2 hrs of run time and there pack wasn't showing any signs of slowing down. For reference, the small 3300 Mah Lipo I run in my FD lasts about 30 mins with the stock silver can. Same battery in a 380 powered Hopper runs about 45 mins.

Not sure this is going to work for you as it looks like your issue is the length of the battery where my issue was that the battery was so small that it would fall out of the battery tray and slid under the retainers but here is what I did.

I completely agree. The Frog is top heavy but you can do a lot to reduce that by mounting everything down low in the chassis. With mine the receiver was mounted on the top side of the front skid plate and the ESC just behind it on that funky "H" shaped plastic piece. It made a difference but there was never a way to get around the high motor placement so it would roll pretty easy if you caught a rut or a bump the wrong way. Back in the day I raced a FAV with a Wild One lexan body and shocks. It was miles ahead in terms of stability and drivability. I feel the Wild One was one of the better Tamiya track toys of the day with the Fox being slightly better. It wasn't until we saw the Astute that things really changed. I think the Astute was the first real 2wd car that was capable of running with the JRX2 and RC10's of the day,

I ran into a similar issue when running thin LiPo packs with mine FD. I used a kids foam pool toy and cut out a piece of it just large enough to fit inside the battery slot. Once I had that I then hollowed out enough room for the small 2S 3400mah Lipo I was running. I can post up some pics later tonight if that helps

I clear coat over everything. Get it all assembled, decaled and spray on the clear. I typically do 5 or 6 good coats as I like to wet sand and polish the bodies.

I like to use Liquid Mask before painting details on a body. I will agree that the Brat body is difficult but the reward is great if you take your time. Do the Base color then cover all of details areas in a couple of coats of liquid mask. Once dry you can cut out the details and start painting. My hands aren't steady enough to paint details without it anymore.

If I have pics they would be on film. Said Bruiser hacks happened when I was young and stupid and didn't know the value of these things. At the time it was just a "Toy". I want to say I did this around 1995-1996. But in all honestly I would do it again as the truck made for a great runner. Full time 4x4 without having to mess with the 3-speed. I just wouldn't butcher up the truck as badly as I did the first time.

Sorry I know this is an old topic but.. I bought a KC new and had Diff issues from day 1. I initially broke the diff halves from over tightening it trying to get it to stop slipping. After going through a bunch of sets of diff halves I finally gave up and fixed the diff one last time and set it the truck aside for the future. A few years later I bought a new bottom plate and mounted a used Traxxas trans I had laying around. It took a little hacking of the Traxxas trans case but I made it work. That thing took all the abuse I could throw at it and never complained a bit. Of course I'm also the same guy that broke the 3 speed in his Brusier and swapped in a locked Traxxas trans sitting sideways on a custom plate. Tamaiya Faithfuls hated me but it worked.

Yes but some are much better than others. I wouldn't buy Krylon and use it on an RC body. It's much too thick and the spray pattern is terrible. It's almost impossible to get a decent paint job on anything smaller than a lawn chair. If you can find the VHT or Duplicolor brands in the color you want you will b much happier. They are real automotive paint and have a super hard finish.

Look at the Duplicolor Brand of Automotive paints. They have every color you can imagine and I recall seeing a hot Pink on the shelf at the store. I use Duplicolor paints on all of my hard bodies exclusively and have never had an issue with coverage, peeling etc. Just be sure to wash the body in dish soap and rinse real good. As a Final step I wipe the body down with 91% rubbing alcohol to make sure I have everything perfect. 3 light coats should do it. Google VHT Engine Enamels SP756

Des Plaines Illinois here.

you can put me down for 3 sets of these. I;m assuming they will work with BF, MB and the Frog. I live in the USA. ZipCode 60016.

Count me in. I'll take a pair of uppers and lowers if you make those.

Back in the day we raced Grasshoppers and Hornets in the local parking lot at my middle school then the first track opened locally and everyone upped their game. I bought a Fast Attack and ran it with a Wild One lexan body then stepped up to a Fox. After that I have to admit I jumped ship and went with an RC10. About 8 yrs ago someone build a track in a park about 10 miles from me and they had a lot of fun classes including vintage. The most fun and the largest spectator draw was the vintage solid axle class. You could run anything you wanted as long as it had a solid axle in the rear and Tamiya Hornet tires front and rear. 95% we hoppers and hornets but there were the knock offs and every once in a while someone showed up with a worked over Nikko with good electronics. Really didn't matter how much you tried to hop up the car. Those tires wouldn't let you use it. The class was a blast and we had a full field every race. The guy with the stock 380 won more times that I can count. Still miss that track.

Listed on Ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...p;rd=1&rd=1

You are correct. The Bloom i'm refering to is the white power that appears. Over time it will create a paste like film on the rubber. I bought re-re Hornet and had the same problem you're having. The tires where covered in a sticky white film. A few mins in the dryer made all the difference. Give it a try. Nothing to lose.

I work for a rubber company and we see this allot in older compounds. It's worse in colder climates but happens everywhere. In the industry the white it's commonly call bloom. When bloom first appears on the surface it's typically a power form but repeated heating and cooling form moisture and the power eventually becomes a paste like film. The good news is the condition is completely reversible. Simply take an old pillowcase and put the tires in the case, tie it up and throw them in the dryer on HOT for about a half hour. The bloom will be gone and the tires will be good as new. This blooming is more common is certain compounds of rubber. Specifically EPDM and Neoprene are bad but I have seen slight cases with some of the softer Buna Nitrile's