MadAnt

My parts finally arrived, but I have already solved some of the issues. Hmmm... I guess I will start getting things ready to put together a tutorial for people who want better rear control arms on their Hotshot II/Boomerang or whatever else is related. Maybe I will make some more bumpers too, I have an idea for a jig tool to make the process easier.

Hotshot II parts.

The front suspension arms and knuckles on the re-re SRB's is better and beefier. If you are going to go convert to coil over shocks and make the car a runner, swapping the vintage suspension components out and using the modern parts would be beneficial with the added durability.

Looks so sharp! I have an OG SS, the body was pretty bad when I got it. I tried to restore the body, but my repair skills did not hide and everything, but it looked good from 10 feet away, lol. Then one day I was doing something with the sand scorcher indoors, which I forgot what and I got some random radio interference and damaged the paint job from a reck going into some chairs and a table. I wanted to throw up, it was bad. I attempted to fix some of it and blended the french blue paint, but the white paint I could not fix because I did not have a match for it. So a big sticker now hides it's scar. It was never going to be perfect anyway. It did not have the correct mirrors, door handles and glass, but at least it still looks good from 20 feet away, lol😂

Had some time again to run the hotshot 2 and see what else is going to break under normal driving. Two things I found that need addressing (other than a few cracks). First, the rear springs have a little too much preload. I did raise the ride height, but I did that by replacing the lower shock end/retainer, so the springs sit as they did before. Second, the screw fitment in the holes of the front sway bar mounts is not tight, so they have wiggle room and rely on the clamping force of the screws to not move a little bit. The problem is that the mounts can move just a little with a good whack, which will effect how the car sits causing it to not drive straight. Ok, so other than fixing some old cracked plastics, those two flaws are the last things I want to fix. I will need to find some shorter springs, the rear springs are about the right amount of stiffness, but like I said, there is a little too much preload. Then for the sway bar brackets I have tightened the screws down with washers for more bite, but because the screws are in plastic, I don't like making the screws very tight and I might just use counter sink screws to center in the bracket holes. Those are the spring retainers from my super clodbuster shocks. They are taller and give a little bit more room by the control arms.

Maybe. If you go that route, you will need to have a zip tie around the upper and lower control arms to hold them in their sockets.

For those that feel the Hornet Evo is unnecessary, that's fine, don't buy one. For those who think the Hornet Evo is interesting or that are curious, buy one. Everyone has their opinions. I'm buying one even though I own a few hornets and grasshoppers, which are all vintage by the way and only one of them stays on the shelf. I've modified enough with the Ampro suspension upgrades or random stuff to change but not completely ruin the charm. I've cut and modified parts and junk just to make my ideas works and get the results I want. The new Hornet evo could open more possibilities for those who want to modify their stock regular hoppers and hornets and whatnot without spending hours re-engineering things with countless failures or cutting and drilling a thousand times to make stuff work. Maybe people just want a modified hornet without needing to modify a hornet? That's cool too.

Fantastic, I love it.👍

When you can't find what you're looking for, make it. Ok, I have some progress for the front bumper. The first thing I addressed was the broken skid plate/mount. The styrene repair did not hold so I made a new more flexible and durable front skid plate out of 3mm ABS. It was a lot of cutting and grinding, but it came out good in the end and fits well using some bushings and other junk as spacers. Then I moved on to making the new bumper. When I was working with the expanded PVC, I realized it was too soft. So help the new bumper made from this softer material I also fabbed an inner ABS bumper just to stiffen things up, but yet still have flexibility. Next time I'll just fabricate the bumper out of ABS, which should be better depending on how I design it. Anyway, I'm gonna go easier on the car now on, I was only driving it hard to test out my modifications. I did not test the car tonight, but I kept punching the front for a bit to see how it hold up to that. The new bumper is more narrow than the factory piece, which I think makes the Hotshot 2 look a bit less goofy than before.

Like everyone has said, the Sport Tuned is a 23 turn motor. I own both Torque Tuned and the black can Sport Tuned motors, and from my experience, I can tell you the 25 turn Torque Tuned motor is just a little bit slower.

Ok, next up to fix is the front bumper, because it's awful and does not really absorb impacts that well from the front. So I went and picked up a sheet 3mm expanded PVC and 3mm ABS. I know it seems like a lot of material in the pic below, but the price was right and I can make many more things with what I have left. The explanded PVC is very flexible, but I will need to bend and shape it to keep it from staying deformed, and the ABS will work great if I cut the right shape out of it. Stay tuned!

People are living longer than ever, but the health police(that's what I'm calling them) keep coming up with new ways to scare everyone from the things we have been living with our whole lives. Lol, it's that silly when you think about. Now of course I don't deny some things are bad for health like asbestos and lead and what-not, but people do need to use common sense.

I'm sure one cancer causing material or ingredient will just be replaced with another cancer causing material or ingredient, lol, that's the way things have been done for decades.

For what it is, the Torque Tuned motor is a peppy motor, almost matching the Sport Tuned motor and a 2S lipo battery really does wake it up. For certain cars in certain driving situations, like my my Grasshopper or a touring car on a small track, I'd say the Torque Tuned motor is the sweet spot.