Vintage 1986 Supershot Resto-mod build, turned separate vintage restoration + modded build

[EsotericRC 99]

Hey All, new member here at TC, but not new to the world of RC. Built my first hobby grade RC car in 1983 at the ripe old age of 10...a Tamiya Frog. Loved that thing, even upgraded it with all the CRP goodies I could get my grubby little hands on, then a few years later bought and built an original Supershot, and loved that even more. Had so much fun with it bashing around and jumping off of everything. Later went on to build an RC helicopter, a speedboat, and a Kyosho Motorcycle as well before falling out of the hobby in the early 90's after I started to drive and became a car/automotive fanatic instead (not enough $$ to do both!). Fast forward 30 years (though I did dabble back in the RC world in 2003 or so for a couple of years to build an RC Drift car) plus 2 cross-country moves, and an International move to Manila and back, and we've landed back in my hometown where I decided to jump back into the hobby to introduce it to my son, who is now 10...the same age when I started in RC. He also likes to tinker with things, much like I did when I was a kid, so it seemed like a perfect hobby for him. Found my old drift car and gave it to him to play and tinker with, and will likely buy him a kit to build soon. In the meantime, while sorting through old stuff at my parent's house, I was elated to come across these:

My original Frog and Supershot that I built in the 80's. Seeing them brought back a flood of nostalgia remembering how much fun I had with them both back in the day. Immediately, I knew I wanted to restore them, but also wanted to make the Supershot a runner. So that's how this project originally started...as a modest desire to get my Supershot running again. Unfortunately, both are missing quite a few parts, especially the Supershot. I think just before I had lost interest in these 2, I had taken apart the Supershot with some outlandish project in mind, but never put it back together. Many of the parts I removed, like the rollcage, bumper, skid plates, etc. seem to have disappeared into oblivion. I searched high and low at my parents' house for them but they were nowhere to be found. I did, however, find the original assembly instructions for both the Frog and the Supershot, as well as an original Supershot decal sheet that I never opened. Those should come in handy.

 

So I set out to try to find the parts I was missing for the Supershot...for what started out as a modest idea to do a resto-mod build on my old Supershot. Was originally thinking mostly restoration with some upgrades, but it has quickly spiraled out of control. But more on that later. Stay tuned...

[EsotericRC 99]

The first search on eBay for "Tamiya Supershot" turned up an auction listing for a bundle of vintage Supershot parts with 4 or 5 days left. Had pretty much all of the parts I was missing. Perfect:

Waited till the last 20 seconds in the auction then placed a bid, but was outbid. I knew I shoulda gone heavier with my bid, but oh well...missed out on it. (If the person that won that listing is reading this...congrats! Looks like you got some good stuff in that haul!) Anyway, was back to searching after that. Started googling Supershot and Hotshot builds (which is actually how I came across Tamiya Club) but that was an udder mistake. Found out that they did a rerelease of both the Hotshot and the Supershot (now renamed the Super Hotshot) and came across quite a few builds of both. Then the gears in my head started turning and that is never a good thing. Seeing some pretty sick Hotshot and Supershot builds here and other places around the web made the plan for this build go from a modest "restoration with some modification", to " let's see how far we can take it."...

 

[EsotericRC 99]

But before we can really move forward, have to take a look at where we are currently and what we are working with. So, here's a closer look at what is left of my vintage 1986 Supershot.

It has the original bodyset that originally came in the kit. Rear wing is a little banged up. Looks like I started installing the original decals but never finished them...at 13, I was likely too eager to just go out and run it. I later bought a spare bodyset to try to do a custom paintjob to, which is where the set of vintage decals I found came from. More on that later. 

 

Here it is with the body removed.

 

[EsotericRC 99]

The underside of the chassis...

 

And some of the spare parts and hardware I found that I organized into a case...some from the Supershot, some from the Frog, and some from various other RC projects at the time...

[Grumpy pants 5549]

Welcome to TC 👍

Great finds and a brilliant re-introduction back into RC for you and now your son too. 
 

 

[EsotericRC 99]

5 hours ago, Grumpy pants said:

Welcome to TC 👍

Great finds and a brilliant re-introduction back into RC for you and now your son too. 
 

 

Thanks! Am pretty stoked to have gotten back into RC, especially to be able to share the joy with my son. Am also super stoked to have found some of my old stuff and have the opportunity to relive some of those great early RC memories through their restoration. 

Anyway, back to the project. I also found some of the old motors and electronics I used to use and organized those into a case as well. Was stoked that the Tamiya Technipower motor that came stock in my original Supershot was there. If I remember correctly, the last motor I ran in the Supershot before it got taken apart and disappeared for 30 years was the Trinity Monsterpower. I don't remember what pinion gear I ran with it, but I recall it being pretty quick, and the NiCad batteries not lasting for very long. Heh. 

[Kol__ 3927]

Welcome mate! Both cars look cool, in particular that Super Shot

The Technipower is lovely and worth a fairly tidy sum these days, may be worth considering that before you bung it in a runner. Also, I'd imagine that those original Super Shot stickers are worth quite a bit, maybe better off picking up a rere set (now called the 'Super Hot Shot') or a repro set from MCI Racing if it's gonna be a basher buggy

[EsotericRC 99]

2 hours ago, Kol__ said:

Welcome mate! Both cars look cool, in particular that Super Shot

The Technipower is lovely and worth a fairly tidy sum these days, may be worth considering that before you bung it in a runner. Also, I'd imagine that those original Super Shot stickers are worth quite a bit, maybe better off picking up a rere set (now called the 'Super Hot Shot') or a repro set from MCI Racing if it's gonna be a basher buggy

Thanks! Have always loved the iconic styling of the Hotshot line, and especially the Supershot. Always thought it was one of the best looking buggies at the time, and would even go so far as to say that I think it's still one of the best looking buggies even now. But I may be biased. Heh. 
I am sure the stickers and Technipower motor are likely worth some coin. I definitely won't sell them though. I'm gonna use them, but not for a runner. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself in terms of the build thread posts, but i've actually decided to just do a restoration of the vintage chassis to display, not as a runner. Will use as many vintage parts as I can get for that. Will be doing a separate build for the modded runner. But, more on that decision and how it came about later...

For now, back to the project...
Part of the planning phase was to take a close look at everything and figure out what parts I would need for the build. I know cracked plastic on the suspension arms was quite common for all of the Hotshot based cars, and I ran this car quite hard back in the day so it's no surprise that most of the arms have some sort of damage to the plastic as can be seen here. I very highly doubt that these arms would hold up to being run again, so the original plan was to upgrade to the RC Channel metal arms.

 

These pics also show some of the damage that was incurred from bashing the car around back in the day. Front shock stays that are bent out of shape, and a cracked rear shock tower.  Things I would want to address with upgrades in the build. I actually have a replacement vintage rear shock tower (can be seen in the first pic of spare parts I posted previously), but definitely want to improve/upgrade for the nature of this build.

 

[EsotericRC 99]

After assessing the car, missing out on the vintage part bundle on eBay, and having no luck searching for vintage versions of the stuff I needed, I decided to just order some of the replacement parts I needed from the rereleased Super Hotshot. A few days later this showed up:

In the box, new parts from the rerelease...rollcage, front bumper, underpanel/skidplate, hardware kit, center prop shaft and outdrive kit, front and rear gearboxes & gearsets, as well as an aluminum propshaft for a TT02:

I originally was gonna order just the gearsets for the gearboxes since the spur gear teeth in my original rear gearbox is stripped, but the complete set including the gearbox cases was only a little bit more expensive than just the gearsets so I figured it wouldn't hurt to have the gearbox cases as spares. 

[EsotericRC 99]

It was at this time that I came across @toyolien's sick Super Hotshot build. Saw that he had found a carbon fiber chassis kit for the Hotshot based cars made by a guy in Singapore. A few Instagram messages later, and these pics were sent to me from the guy in Singapore:

 

Seeing those, and seeing that the kit is designed to use the steering bell crank of the M05 (that should correct the torque steer caused by the unequal steering tie rod length that the original steering setup was known for), and I was sold. A few more exchanged messages and a Paypal payment later, and one of these carbon fiber chassis kits was on it's way to me here in the US. 

[EsotericRC 99]

It was here that I realized that I really wasn't gonna have much left from my original Supershot in the finished build. Especially considering that I was planning on swapping to the RC Channel metal suspension arms and upgrading to some aluminum dampers. The only thing that would be left of my original Supershot would be the front and rear transmission cases, and front and rear hubs/uprights. I also have new transmission cases, so even those could be replaced with new. I then made the decision that I would just split this into 2 separate "builds". Will do a box art restoration of my vintage Supershot chassis (using as many vintage parts as I can find over time) to display on a shelf,  and will use the new rerelease parts I have bought thus far on the carbon fiber chassis (when it arrives from Singapore) to do a fully modded runner build with a brushless motor and ESC. 

For the fully modded side of the build, will likely buy a rerelease body set and will get a repro decal set from MCI with some of the colors changed to suit the (still to be determined) colors use on the body. For the vintage restoration side, I do have this vintage bodyshell that I originally bought to do a custom paintjob on:

It's a pretty crappy paint job though (what do you expect from a 14-15 year old?!). Hoping I can somehow safely strip the paint from the backside of the polycarbonate and repaint it to box art colors using the vintage decal sheet I still have. Anyone know of any good ways to safely remove paint from polycarbonate bodies? If you do, let me know!

[EsotericRC 99]

Since I've now decided to split this into 2 separate builds, one of which is going to be full modded build, I figured that I might as well go all-out on the modded build and do everything I can think of to improve upon the original, while maintaining the look and character of the original. One thing I definitely want to address is the suspension. The original (and I assume the rerelease is the same since it uses the same exact design) was never known for great handling. The steering suffered from torque steer due to the unequal length steering tie rods, and the arms (especially the front) had a lot of play and looseness. I was originally planning on using the RC Channel metal arms in front and rear, but that setup still maintains the ball pivots for the front hubs, and has no possibility of adjustability for camber, etc. So then I started pondering the idea of using the front and rear C-hubs and knuckles/uprights from a different (higher end and more modern) 4WD chassis. Would likely need to make some custom control arms/wishbones to make this happen, but one of the other hobbies that I started into about a year ago is 3D Printing. 3D printing would be perfect for this project, and I had recently been trying to learn and improve my skills in CAD software like Fusion 360 so this would be a perfect way to expand and hone my skills. 

I started scouring the web for pics of different 4WD buggy suspensions, and liked what I saw from Tamiya's DF03 chassis. I like the front C-hub, knuckle, and arm layout as well as the fact that it uses a turnbuckle for the upper arm that is adjustable for camber. Did some additional digging, and found an .stl file for the front lower arms of a DF03. Figured I could print them out for test fitment purposes to see if the DF03 suspension might actually be feasible. Downloaded the file, sliced it in my slicing software, and printed 2 pieces out on my Prusa MK2S 3D printer:

[EsotericRC 99]

Since these are just test pieces to check the possibility of fitment to the Supershot chassis, I printed them out of the filament I already had loaded in my 3D printer...some silver PLA. I wouldn't use this filament for parts I was gonna actually run on, but for testing and protpotype purposes, it's perfect.

 

Since the carbon chassis hasn't arrived yet, I figured I would just use my vintage chassis for test fitment purposes for now for the DF03 arms. Turned it over and laid the front DF03 arms over the stock Supershot arms to see how they compare in terms of geometry: 

 

You can see from that pic that the DF03 arm geometry places the hubs about 4-5mm in front of where they are with the stock arms, lengthening the wheelbase some. It also looks like the arms may be slightly longer, resulting in a slightly wider track width. Both would probably be beneficial for the Supershot. 

[EsotericRC 99]

Pulled the stock front suspension and attemped to fit the DF03 front lower arms. The DF03 arms are a little narrower than the mount/pivot point on the Supershot gearbox, so I had to file them a little to get them to fit:

 

They seem to fit the chassis pretty well, but to make it work I will likely have to modify them slightly. Eagle eyed viewers may notice that I have the arms mounted on the opposite sides, placing what is normally the lower mounting point for the front shocks towards the front. This was intentional as I have some other plans that I want to try to implement for the front suspension that would require this. Not gonna divulge exactly what that is yet, but in due time...

One thing I am a little concerned about is that the DF03 arm geometry would place the hub a little forward from the output drive from the gearbox. So, the front CV Axles/dogbones would always be angled forward some. Not sure if that would be a problem at all, but I would assume that the CV joint should be fine like that. Can see what i'm talking about in this pic from the side:

 

Still debating whether I want to maintain this same geometry from the DF03, or maybe redesign them to angle rearward some like the Hotshot/Supershot arms do to center the hub more with the output drives. Will likely try both to see which I like more. In order for this to work, will also have to design and print a brace for the upper arm mounts that incorporates the mounts for the upper turnbuckles. 
Anyway, that's as far as i've gotten thus far. Need to order more parts, and receive the carbon chassis before I can really move further some more. Will post more as things progress. Stay tuned!

[GeeWings 2861]

Welcome to the forum @EsotericRC what a great back Story!

Im really interested in your progress with these builds, especially the 3D printed solution you are building. 

One of my early RC memories is my brother upgrading his Hotshot to a supershot and, later, he built his own chassis. 

Late last year I picked up a hotshot and an original hop-up suspension set.

Then a couple of weeks back I got an MIP ball diff from a member here.

I’ve got close to buying the RC channel stuff a few times (and probably will at some stage) and the CF chassis but I don’t want to entirely lose the hotshot!

So, I think my plan is to fit the suspension and MIP and run it on a 10-13t brushless with 2S and see how I go. 

Anyway, I will be watching your progress with great interest.

[EsotericRC 99]

37 minutes ago, GeeWings said:

Welcome to the forum @EsotericRC what a great back Story!

Im really interested in your progress with these builds, especially the 3D printed solution you are building. 

One of my early RC memories is my brother upgrading his Hotshot to a supershot and, later, he built his own chassis. 

Late last year I picked up a hotshot and an original hop-up suspension set.

 

Then a couple of weeks back I got an MIP ball diff from a member here.

I’ve got close to buying the RC channel stuff a few times and the CF chassis but I don’t want to entirely lose the hotshot!

So, I think my plan is to fit the suspension and MIP and run it on a 10-13t brushless with 2S and see how I go. 

Anyway, I will be watching your progress with great interest.

Thanks! Wow, that's a vintage suspension Hop Up Set? Pretty cool.
Now that i've split the build and will be doing a more heavily modded build, am planning on ordering the MIP Ball Diff set as well, and will likely install them in the new transmission cases before I assemble the front and rear transmissions with the gears, etc. Am really curious what the limit is in terms of what power the Hotshot gears can take from a brushless motor setup. Have a 1st gen LRP Sphere and Reedy Neo One Brushless setup in my touring/drift car that i'd love to try in the Supershot build, but....according to the specs I have found online it is apparently equivalent to a 9T motor. Not sure that the rere Hotshot gears can handle it. Might have to buy a few sets of rerelease gears just in case...you know, for testing purposes....

[GeeWings 2861]

10 minutes ago, EsotericRC said:

Thanks! Wow, that's a vintage suspension Hop Up Set? Pretty cool.

Yes, it is. I actually got it for a decent price but I’m actually not sure about installing it as I had originally envisaged black shocks and it seems a bit crazy to dye this old set.

My hotshot is a ReRe so it can definitely handle a 13t brushless but I’m tempted to push to a 10t.

[EsotericRC 99]

24 minutes ago, GeeWings said:

Yes, it is. I actually got it for a decent price but I’m actually not sure about installing it as I had originally envisaged black shocks and it seems a bit crazy to dye this old set.

My hotshot is a ReRe so it can definitely handle a 13t brushless but I’m tempted to push to a 10t.

True. Were I in your position I would be hesitant too, and would likely sell that set to someone doing a vintage restoration and try to find a black set. If it's a runner, you could easily source or fabricate some front and rear shock mounts to make it work. I think the black CVA shocks are easier to come by since a lot of the later Tamiya kits came with the black CVA shock sets. I actually like the look of the yellow CVA shocks, but am planning on going with some Aluminum Big Bore dampers on my modded build. Will save the  yellow CVA's for the vintage shelf restoration.

[EsotericRC 99]

Just came across some pics of @TamTom's SICK Hotshot "Evolution" on FB in the Tamiya Legends group. Not sure if he has a build thread here in TC, but it has a custom made carbon chassis, and suspension bits from the DF03 just like I was envisioning. Nice to see that it's been done, and that i'm not barking up a useless tree, so to speak. Have traded a couple of messages with him on FB Messenger for info on his setup, and he's been more than gracious enough to answer my questions. Thanks, Tom! 
If you're a Hotshot/Supershot lover and haven't seen his Hotshot...definitely search for his posts in Tamiya Legends on FB. I don't want to post them here since they aren't my pics. Or perhaps Tom will drop some pics here himself...

[GeeWings 2861]

Would love to see his work @EsotericRC could you post a link?

[rwordenjr 1893]

On 6/19/2022 at 9:08 PM, EsotericRC said:

It was here that I realized that I really wasn't gonna have much left from my original Supershot in the finished build. Especially considering that I was planning on swapping to the RC Channel metal suspension arms and upgrading to some aluminum dampers. The only thing that would be left of my original Supershot would be the front and rear transmission cases, and front and rear hubs/uprights. I also have new transmission cases, so even those could be replaced with new. I then made the decision that I would just split this into 2 separate "builds". Will do a box art restoration of my vintage Supershot chassis (using as many vintage parts as I can find over time) to display on a shelf,  and will use the new rerelease parts I have bought thus far on the carbon fiber chassis (when it arrives from Singapore) to do a fully modded runner build with a brushless motor and ESC. 

For the fully modded side of the build, will likely buy a rerelease body set and will get a repro decal set from MCI with some of the colors changed to suit the (still to be determined) colors use on the body. For the vintage restoration side, I do have this vintage bodyshell that I originally bought to do a custom paintjob on:

It's a pretty crappy paint job though (what do you expect from a 14-15 year old?!). Hoping I can somehow safely strip the paint from the backside of the polycarbonate and repaint it to box art colors using the vintage decal sheet I still have. Anyone know of any good ways to safely remove paint from polycarbonate bodies? If you do, let me know!

Tamiya polycarbonate cleaner will take the paint off. Get 2 bottles so you have enough to strip paint off and another bottle for touching up any mistakes in future. 

[EsotericRC 99]

4 hours ago, GeeWings said:

Would love to see his work @EsotericRC could you post a link?

Unfortunately, Tamiya Legends is a private group so I can't link to the post. I think you would have to be a member to be able to see it. Let me see if I can figure a way to do it. 
He actually just sent me some pics of his "Evolution 2" version that he is currently working on and it is even sicker. Again, i'd love to post them, but they aren't my pics to post...

3 hours ago, rwordenjr said:

Tamiya polycarbonate cleaner will take the paint off. Get 2 bottles so you have enough to strip paint off and another bottle for touching up any mistakes in future. 

Good to know! Thanks! Hopefully it works on paint that has been on there for 30+ years. Heh. Will have to order some since, unfortunately, all of the hobby shops in my area that used to carry Tamiya product have long since closed down. There is only one Hobby Shop left and they don't carry any Tamiya products. They primarily sell Traxxas (and other brand) trucks and truggies.

[GeeWings 2861]

@EsotericRC no worries, I’m a member of TL so will take a look.

[EsotericRC 99]

1 minute ago, GeeWings said:

@EsotericRC no worries, I’m a member of TL so will take a look.

Just search in TL for posts by "Tam Tom" or for "Hotshot Evolution". Should come up. Pretty sick stuff. 

[EsotericRC 99]

Placed an order from RCMart yesterday for some aluminum DF03 front and rear C-hubs and knuckles, etc. from Yeah Racing as well as a Tamiya Hard Turnbuckle Shaft Set. I know people's experience with RCMart through the pandemic has been kinda all over the place, but they were one of the only places that had the stuff I needed listed as "In stock". Hopefully it doesn't take forever for the stuff to get to me...
Also, the carbon fiber chassis coming from Singapore apparently arrived in the US the other day, though I have no idea what part of the US it landed in. Am assuming that it got handed off to the US Postal Service here in the US, but unfortunately packages coming from Singapore aren't trackable in the USPS system. Bummer. Just gotta wait I guess, but the wait is killing me since I can't really do much else until the chassis gets here...