Fighting Buggy re-build

[donfilippo 696]

Hello folks, 

this is about my next project: re-building an used Fighting Buggy and modifying it lightly along the way. Disclaimer: I will waffle a bit in this one… 

The background:

The missus has a brillant idea: we will go to De Haan in Belgium for a week in the coming winter. Sounds great, doesn’t it: a little holiday at the sea, some of those excellent Belgian beers,... And the rare possibility to run a RC car on the beach! But which one? My DT-02 in Rough Rider disguise? The Wild One BHM? Or even the BBX? All three would not look out of place in the sand, that is for sure. Nevertheless I will take the opportunity to build another car, set-up specifically for running on the beach! When thinking about beach-running a RC, instantly the SRB chassis cars come to one’s mind. The Sand Scorcher and the Rough Rider/Champ come with a watertight-kindish box for the electronics, which would be good for the intented purpose of this car. And I do find the SS and RR aesthetically more pleasing than the Super Champ/Fighting Buggy. Nevertheless the FB is something special, due to it’s quirky rear suspension. This had immediately fascinated me when I first saw it in the early eighties. So the FB it had to be! Yes, I know for some the FB is not really a SRB, but it does belong to the greater family, I think. 

The base:

A lightly used one turned up online, which I was able to buy for a reasonable price. The standard of it's initial build had been mediocre at best (application of stickers, etc). Mechanically it seems to be okay, apart from leaking dampers, which is to be expected with these cars.

The build plan:

I will try to make this car well-suited for the harsh environment that the beach is: salt-walter and fine sand:

- Dismantle, clean and re-assemble on an alloy chassis

- Use stainless hardware where possible

- Stick with the spool and resist the urge to put in a diff

- Fit a watertight receiver, ESC and servo

- Paint the body (probably non box-art)

- Use plastic bushes for the wheels(?)

- Stick with the silver can, maybe a Torque Tuned

- Use a 15t steel pinion

- Fit paddle tires

 

[donfilippo 696]

Here is the base car.

[Grumpy pants 5541]

Looking forward to this 👍

[donfilippo 696]

The stickers had to go first. 

Then the body got a light sanding in preparation for the new paintjob.

The axles were cleaned and re-built:

 

Very unique, those early designs! 

 

 

 

 

 

[donfilippo 696]

I re-built the dampers, using clear o-rings and lots of green slime in the hope of getting them to stop leaking. For the rear damper I tried my best to get all air out of the hose! I even screwed it to a wall while doing so. 

Then it all went together again, but this time on an alloy chassis.

 

 

 

[MadAnt 596]

31 minutes ago, donfilippo said:

re-built the dampers, using clear o-rings and lots of green slime in the hope of getting them to stop leaking

Mount them upside down, trust me.

[Re-Bugged 11652]

Enjoy 👍🏻

These are a great classic RC.

I run a 20t Kyosho brushed in mine to help push it along sand. It’s also worth plugging the holes where the motor wires go through the clear cover with a bit of foam or something to stop stuff getting in there, & I put a smear of grease on the mating surface of the clear spur cover to help seal that a bit to. I even smear grease on some of the inside edges of it so if something does get in it then sticks to the grease out the way rather than mashing up the gear teeth.

[donfilippo 696]

8 hours ago, MadAnt said:

Mount them upside down, trust me.

For the moment the seem fine. But that might be the way to go!

[donfilippo 696]

5 hours ago, Re-Bugged said:

Enjoy 👍🏻

These are a great classic RC.

I run a 20t Kyosho brushed in mine to help push it along sand. It’s also worth plugging the holes where the motor wires go through the clear cover with a bit of foam or something to stop stuff getting in there, & I put a smear of grease on the mating surface of the clear spur cover to help seal that a bit to. I even smear grease on some of the inside edges of it so if something does get in it then sticks to the grease out the way rather than mashing up the gear teeth.

Great tips about keeping the dirt out!

Currently I have put the original motor back in, but for the planned trip to the Belgian Beaches, a stronger motor would probably be a good idea. I do have a TT, a ST and a Kyosho G2X and need to decide which one to use. 

 

[donfilippo 696]

When I took the gearbox apart, the counter gear showed some serious dental problems... 

I replaced it with a new one. Only after that I learned about the possibility of replacing it with a cut-down driveshaft (13565002), which is probably a better solution. 

[donfilippo 696]

As the holidays are approaching fast, I need to finish the Beach Runner! 

Chassis has been completed with electronics.

I have replaced the wheel bearings with plastic bushings and fitted paddle tires.

The body was painted on the last possible day (weather) in a hurry! I went for a matte and unexcited gray with only a few red accents in order to highlight all the alloy parts. No decals, too. This is very hard for me, I love stickers! The paint will need rectifying in spring as I had not masked the side panels properly... Doh!

The car looks like this now.

 

 

 

Only little jobs left to do: replace the original motor with a TT and give Ol' Copperface a cosmetic treatment! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Grumpy pants 5541]

Looks great and ready for action now! 

[JimBear 1189]

Ol' Copperface is soon racing again ... The grey colour with the red accents look great!

[donfilippo 696]

The driver has been repainted and glued back in. So, for now, the Fighting Buggy is finished and ready for the beach. I did a short test drive on tarmac just to check if everything works. The car felt much faster than I had anticipated. You have to drive really carefully and make up your mind before entering a curve, etc. We'll see how it does on the Belgian shores in early January. I suspect it will need another re-build afterwards...