Snake Plissken

Thanks for the info, I wasn't aware of that. It would help me greatly in future shock rebuilds.

Thats good news as rubber parts will dry and crack eventually, However, the new Kyosho shocks are the kind that mixes air and oil (I think Tamiya calls it 'aeration type') while the gold shocks have a diaphragm that separates the air from the oil (see pic). Once this Diaphragm leaks it must be replaced. This is a crucial part that might prove to be hard to find as its not available new as the other parts. I had a ruptured diaphragm in my King Cab CVA shock which proved hard to replace (King Cab shocks are the long CVAs which means they need a different diaphragm than the smaller CVAs that are still available today) so I eventually ended replacing the shocks with Associated ones. I don't know why I haven't thought about it before, but yesterday I realized that Associated springs may fit right in on the gold shocks. I did a few testing and found out that while the spring is not a direct replacement (the Kyosho spring retainers are a bit too big), using the Associated upper and lower spring retainers enables the use of the springs without a problem. Not a solution for the purists, I know, but as I already have several Associated springs around that I use to tune my RC10 (and new springs are much cheaper than Kyosho ones) I decided to got with that. Here's how it looks on my Ultima:

0.8 module is virtually identical to 32 pitch so both gears can be run together with no damage to the gears. As 32 pitch gears are popular you won't have a problem acquiring one. Note though that 0.6 module and 48 pitch, as well as 0.4 and 64 pitch, ARE NOT identical and running both gears will cause damage!

Thanks blshar, thats good news. Were did buy the springs at? Benracing carries the current Kyosho springs but the price is 3-4 times higher than equivalent Associated springs price at Tower.

gravell rash -thanks for the tip on Benracing, they do have quite a selection of Kyosho parts, although not the gold shock springs. I think they'll come handy for future part purchase though. RichieRich -Any info you can share will be appreciated.

I want to fine tune my Ultima and use harder springs at the rear. I remember there used to be a hop up spring set for the Kyosho gold shocks but its obviously not available anymore and if one does pop up on ebay it would end up at quite a cost. So I was wondering if the current Kyosho buggy shocks (I think they are called 'Ultimate shocks') springs would be a direct fit for the gold shocks? Has anyone test fitted or saw these installed somewhere? On the same subject, will the modern shocks be a direct replacement to the gold shocks? My main concern is overall length fully extended and compressed for both the front and rear shocks. Using modern shocks could save me some trouble in maintenance.

I think Tamiya molded the front bar on the chassis in order for it to be painted but for some reason did not mention it in the manual. I've painted it in my second wild one to match the roll bar color and I think it adds much realism to the car. My Wild One

The Wild One shares his tires with the Hotshot rear tires and with the upcoming Hotshot rerelease they should be widely available again on ebay within the next month or so.

Wow Darryn, looks like you had an interesting meeting, some of the cars attended are hardly seen even in vintage meetings. How many drivers showed up to the vintage race?

The TTC has a standard slipper clutch and a geared diff (not ball diff like in the Astute). The gears are 0.5 module which make them quiter and more efficient than the Astute's 0.6 module but are also more delicate. From what I've read racers preferred the original gearbox over the TTC and Super Astute owners actually replaced it with the ball diff equipped tranny.

Hi Joel, nice hopper! Where did you get the hex screws for the wheels? They look nice and 'trick'!

OK end of arguments, looks like we are getting the original shot although part of the upgrade seems to be the hotshot 2 chassis with the hatch. Also, nice of tamiya to include the maintenance bar that, together with the battery door, holds the car in the air. Now... when is the release date??!

Unfortunately, both me and zeppelin don't live in the US so we can't use Tamiya America's excellent part support. Whats left is either ebay or online retailers like Tower.

thats a Lazer ZX-Sport, AKA the ZX-R for the poor [] it has the same driveline and suspension as the ZX-R but uses cheaper materials to reduce cost such as kelron (plastic) chassis instead of graphite, aluminum shock towers (again, instead of graphite), plastic shocks instead of Kyosho's gold shocks and bushings. Given some minor upgrades (bearings should be the first) this car should be a nice performer.

If you plan to use the Ninja as a runner, ball bearings are a must. Look for a thread regarding the size and number of the required bearings. When you strip down the Ninja look at the condition of the gears and specifically at the diff plastic gears which are delicate and used to strip. For this reason I suggest you limit the motor to a mild stock -I use a Tamiya sport tuned. When buying new batteries, check to see if they will fit in the car, as the new higher capacity batteries are a bit larger than the old ones.

Like everyone here I am glad that the HS is being re-released and am certainly going to purchase one. More importantly, this re-release, together with the Frog/Brat re-releases hints that Tamiya makes nice profit on these models, which very likely means will see more 80's cars in the future. Tamiya marketing very smartly intervals the re-releases so that RC Joe will eventually be purchasing them all (which he won't if all the re-releases we had so far would be released in less than 6 months). Extrapolating the re-releases so far, I guess we will see Blackfoot/Monster Beetle, Wild One/FAV and maybe even Astute within the next year or so.

If I understand your question correctly: the gear box assembly as a whole will not fit the frog, however, the diff gears (plastic and metal), pinion, spur gear shaft, and dogbones (or optional universals) will fit. Please note that the WO/FAV spur gear is specific to this kit.

I bought a KC shell from oz-rc and indeed the shell is almost identical to the original except for the molded-in roll cage (which I believe only helps in the strength department). The shell has JG written on it so its either old stock (AFAIK JG is out of business) or someone bought their mold and is now vacuforming new bodies. If someone is interested in non-original shell for the KC, I know that Savage shell (and probably other shells made for it) aligns nicely on the KC wheelbase and has correct width too. Not sure about the body mounts location, maybe some creative mounting is required.

I've been running my Wild One in an off road track for over two years now without any incidents, however, both my brother and speedsecret who run their Wild Ones against me experienced front wheel breaking. Also, speedsecret managed to break his Fox front wheel (same as Wild One, only gold plated). I can not explain why I haven't experienced similar breakage. speedsecret, who bought two new wheel sets claims that one of the sets had reinforcements on the wheel -maybe Tamiya realized that problem and fixed it on later production runs?

Although I haven't tried it, I think an 18th scale buggy/truck shocks (Tamtech Gear, Losi, Associated etc) might fit. If you own one or have a buddy that has one you may want to check it out. I've been thinking of checking it to replace the front shocks on my Wild One (mainly due to scale looks as regular shocks do fit there) which are the same as Hornets rear, but haven't had the opportunity to look at these shock up close and compare.

mobias, the Tamiya crawler sounds interesting, where did you read that?

Robinson also makes 0.6 module pinions

You mentioned you re-greased the gearbox when you opened it, did you use that grease inside the ball diff as well? It is essential to use only ball diff grease inside diff, otherwise it would slip. If this is not the case then you need to add extra shims inside the diff to tighten it. Do not attempt to drive the car with the ball diff loose as the friction heat would melt the diff gear.

I guess you can say the 58xxx is limited to number of kits they can sell []

Thanks DJTheo. According to the specs you provided it is very similar to the Le Mans 360 Gold (18x2, 0.65mm). The manual suggests using gear ratio range of 7.7 to 6.2 with this motor,so I'll probably start with a 6.9 (18 tooth pinion) and work my way from there.