Ribbit

The 80's is when Grease came out! The "30-year nostalgia" thing makes sense because that's about the length of time it takes for most kids to grow up and finally be able to afford all the toys they wanted as kids. I'm thinking of the new stuff I have today and wonder if those will be the subjects of nostalgia in 25-30 years. My RC18R? My E-flite helicopters? I don't really see those as becoming nostalgic down the road. Maybe in another 25-30 years Tamiya will re-re-release all their original RC's again, updated with hydrogen fuel cell propulsion and quantum-entanglement controllers. Then when we're retired we can relive that time in our 30's when we relived our youth.

Vintage RC racing video. I dunno what they're saying, but I know a bunch of Frogs when I see 'em!

Updating the suspension sort of defeats the purpose... the suspension was designed to be horrible. Quirky. Fun.

I suppose a solution for those of us who are lazy would be to just attach a small heatsink (computer memory heatsink from Fry's or something) using thermal tape. Not as good as using Arctic 5, but better than nothing at all. Then use a zip-tie to hold the whole thing together.

A couple other things... it seems like this truck has a wiiiiide turning radius. I can't set the steering EPA's any higher though because it just strains the servo. Maybe it's just not meant for navigating my basement. Also, the 540 motor hits the right rear shock spring under acceleration... is that normal?

Adding the washer seemed to help. I tore down and rebuilt the gearbox, everything is as it should be, but it still meshed too tightly. One small washer (From the A bag) seems to do the trick though, if used on the topmost screw hole on the motor (when the motor is oriented in its installed configuration). It tilts the motor out slightly and angles the pinion up just enough to clear the spur. Anyway it seems to drive OK. It took a while to get the steering dialed in. Had to do with 75% EPA left, and 60% EPA right for the steering servo, otherwise it strains against the servo saver. Here's my finished project, sans paint job! Seems to drive just fine. I feel like a 12 year old bouncing this thing around. It's bone stock for now, except bearings. I have a faster motor to put in it but I'll probably leave the suspension alone... it seems that doing too much (oil shocks, lowered front, 3rd rear shock) kind of defeats the purpose. But I WILL be getting an LED light kit for this!

It seemed fitting.

I've tried a couple different motors including the silver can that came in the box, and it seems that something is a little out alignment no matter what. The pinion gear is pressed a little too firmly against the spur, and the noisebox has a very loud whine as a result. I somewhat alleviated the problem by inserting a small washer (from the "A" bag) onto the uppermost screw on the motor, between the motor and the plastic motor mount. This angles the motor by a degree or two, which removes some pressure off the gear. It's much quieter, although the gearbox has a bit of a rattle. Is that normal? Did I just get a malformed part? Without the motor installed, the gearbox spins freely and smoothly (ball bearings are installed). I went ahead and left it that way and so far have gotten all the axle and suspension parts installed, I just need to mount the wheels and tires now. The SECOND issue I had was the steering linkage. It seems the servo was really straining against the servo-saver when turning hard left or right. I think it's just built at a weird angle. I had to back the EPA down to 50% in both directions to avoid stressing the part!

Just go for the Tamiya 101, which is the same ESC used in most of their re-releases. It'll handle any 27T stock motor.

So once they come up with the design, are they building a prototype, and is it something Tamiya would mass produce? Or is it a one-off? Will I be able to buy this new Super Frog Extreme Professional Gold Limited Edition Mega Plus?

There's a metal mounting plate for the ceramic resistor that attaches to the gearbox. You might have to refer to the 1984 version of the manual which is on the "manuals" section of tamiyaclub.com. Now, you could always cheat and hide an electronic speed controller in the chassis while keeping the old mechanical one bolted in place.

Fast-forward to the year 2029. What will be the "must have" vintage RC's? (Current re-releases don't count, and naturally, anything that's vintage today will still be vintage in 20 years.)

My Frog has an ESC that I installed about 19 years ago. I can't find any info on it, and there doesn't seem to be a model number printed on it, so I guess Airtronics only made one "Impulse" model. There are 3 FET heatsinks on it, so I'm guessing that means two forward and one reverse. I'm trying to find some specs to determine the max motor I can put on it. I ordered a Co27 stocker to replace my old Trinity stock motor. I've heard it's got a pretty high draw for a 27T motor and I'm wondering if it'll fry my ESC. Anybody familiar with this one?

I thought I was the only one with that motor! I have the "1987 World Champions" stock motor installed in my Frog right now. It's only on its second set of brushes, ever. It still runs great. I discovered that I can't find replacement brushes for it, since today's stocker brushes are a different shape. So I ordered a new Co27 stock motor which should be a world of difference!

Thankfully I haven't had to buy many parts. My Frog was already in pretty good shape. So far I've bought $10 worth of replacement parts (not including new batteries) and it's fully up and running again!