Is this a Monster Beetle?

[James76G]

Back in Christmas '87 I received a Hotshot II, complete with Futaba Attack R radio gear. Foolishly I sold it and so now 34 years later I've decided to get back in to the hobby. 

So yesterday I picked this up as it was local and for £50 it seemed like a good opportunity. 

 

It was sold as a King Blackfoot I think it's a Monster Beetle chassis given the CVA shocks, the servo protector plate and the gearbox back panel. It also has gold wheels and tyres with (worn down) spikes. 

But it seems to have an original Blackfoot body with "FORD" on the bonnet/hood, although it's missing the rear panel with a homemade one in its place.

Can anyone confirm my suspicion that it's a Monster Beetle?

Assuming it is I'd like to find the correct shell, but I will also need the correct body mounting posts because from what I can tell, the Beetle shell mounts differently to the Blackfoot. I see I can buy a new bare shell without any of the additions, but I can't find a "body set" anywhere with the decals, spotlamps, driver etc. Or am I missing something?

Thanks

 

[Snappy1]

I am no expert on this chassis but it definitely looks like a Monster Beetle to me , nice find 

[Frog Jumper]

MB with BF body.

[KEV THE REV]

£50 is a fair price if you intend to use as is . If you put money into restoring it , it will outprice itself . Get a re-re if you want a nice shelfer and run this one .

[Exit13]

It’s nice. 

[James76G]

On 2/22/2022 at 11:11 AM, Snappy1 said:

I am no expert on this chassis but it definitely looks like a Monster Beetle to me , nice find 

 

On 2/22/2022 at 11:57 AM, Frog Jumper said:

MB with BF body.

Thank you both, good to have it confirmed.

22 hours ago, KEV THE REV said:

£50 is a fair price if you intend to use as is . If you put money into restoring it , it will outprice itself . Get a re-re if you want a nice shelfer and run this one .

I have a handset from another recent purchase (Nissan King Cab) and so I've managed to get this one up and running on the road outside the house. I'm please to report it goes well and so I'll do a little tidying up and leave it as is. Thinking a respray to the body and a decal set. 

21 hours ago, Exit13 said:

It’s nice. 

Thanks, I'm very pleased with it. 

[Kol__]

Very good research there @James76G, I think you pretty much had the answer before you asked

Agree, def an MB. You can pick up a re-re body set, but it could set you back around the same price you paid for the car. Not a bad investment as such, it's just when sellers part out kits they do charge quite a bit for the individual components you need to make up the body shell kit.

There's one that popped up on eBay this week, which is over priced imo -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/tamiya-not-vintage-monster-beetle-bodyshell-set-beetle-new-rc-car-spares-parts-/373944932836?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

I think another good option could be the Sand Scorcher body set. I think it's identical to the MB, but you'd need to drill your own holes in the sides for the MB body post mounts (I can give you the measurements for that it needed). Someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that - 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tamiya-51406-Sand-Scorcher-2010-Body-Parts-Set-SRB-Rough-Rider-Ranger-NIB-/393910509319?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

[James76G]

Thanks for this @Kol__. I never bought a bodyshell back in the 80s and it's a surprise how much some of them go for certainly. 

I've taken it out again at the weekend and my son grabbed a few clips which I've put together here on YouTube. It goes well and is a lot of fun. 

Perhaps inevitably a few things have now shown up including one of the front shock springs being the wrong length and the front bumper has cracked but nothing that can't be fixed. 

Also afterwards I went to give it a good clean but while wrestling the rear tyres off the rim (which had been araldited on) they tore, so I'll need to replace them too, ideally with a set of part worns to match the fronts (which seem to be newer and didn't tear)

[Kol__]

Nice one mate, good to see it running again in that vid

Check out JK-RC online, usually pretty good value for parts spares.

[James76G]

An update on this for thread completion purposes, that being that I have got it back to being a nicely running Monster Beetle. Here's what's changed:

Firstly I sold the original Acoms radio gear as it came to me without the transmitter and fitted a Carson Reflex Start setup. I then fully ball-raced it, treated it to a torque tuned motor and got a new 2000mah battery for it.

By this point it was running well, but was still on the Blackfoot bodyshell. With some patience I managed to find a rough but serviceable Monster Beetle bodyshell, plus the right body posts and sold the Blackfoot one making the swap cost neutral. Finally I went through it and fixed a few things, such as replacing missing screws and replacing that front springs that was the wrong length.

I've really enjoyed doing this, so much so that I've now got a Nissan King Cab to get back to full health. That means the Carson radio gear, TT motor and battery will move over to that and the Monster Beetle rolling chassis (with original motor) will be going up for sale. 

[Snappy1]

I hope your King Cab doesn’t need to many parts, they can be very difficult to source, and I would be looking at the ball diff to make sure it’s serviceable, it’s the same as fitted to a madcap