Restoring/Upgrading a Tamiya Clod Buster QD

[Davidqd]

hey all, 

I am definitely a newby here, but I already read a lot on the forum and I am a little bit confused, plus this will be my first time to open the "hood" of an Rc car. I could use your help, so please hit me with tips and advices for the following:

So I have a Clod Buster QD, Model number: 46012. (1/14 scale) I'd like to replace the original 8 x AA battery to a more recent one. What type do you reccomed? (voltage, mAh, etc.) 

Is it a good idea to replace the current brushed motor to a brushless? (benefits, compatibility) 

Thank you! 

 

 

[Nikko85]

I have had a few - personally I think the Ezrun 2030 brushless is the best - I would go for 18T. Personally with a small brushless motor the AA batteries are fine. If you are getting a brushless motor you'll need a new speed control and servo and radio gear.

You might be able to swap out the original motor with something a little more zippy like a 370 and keep the electronics it came with, but I am not sure.

Have you got any pictures of it? I'm quite jealous, I could never find a QD Clod for a decent price! 

[wolfdogstinkus]

You'll need to drill a couple of holes in the motor mount to fit a brushless motor, easy job, don't be scared. I would suggest leaving the locating pins in place and drilling a new hole to bolt to the motor, might only need one bolt if you leave the pins in place.  You'll see what I mean when you strip it down.

 

If you are changing the motor, you'll probably need to do the steering servo and receiver and upgrade it to 2.4Ghz.

The servo will need the tabs snipping off to fit in the box but it does work

 

[Davidqd]

Thanks a lot for both of you guys, that's a lot of useful info.  Can you please reccomend me a solution to replace the AA batteries? (in case of sticking to the original motor, servo, etc) Probably I am gonna start with my most important aim, which is to raise the runtime of this beauty. 

I will be back with photos in a few. 

Thanks guys! 

[wolfdogstinkus]

Some guys re-use the AA packs but with a better quality rechargeable cell.

Me, I like to rip it all out and start again. A 2s lipo of between 1500- 2200mah will give good runtime. But you'll have to decide how much chassis modification you want to do to the battery tray as to what will fit in there. The bigger the better for runtime and punch as the bigger batteries will have a higher discharge rate.

Here's mine from years ago, same chassis, different body.

This was an 18T hobbywing ezrun system for 1/18th scale cars and an old 7.2volt nicad, I hadn't moved onto lipo back then, was over 10 years ago. Didn't even have a 2.4Ghzradio!!!!, That was a while ago.