Kol's Astute 58080 Build

[Kol__]

Hi guys,

Partly inspired by @davidsen's recent resto Astute build, I'm now embarking on another Astute related build, having stumbled across an old, used Astute 58080 chassis for £100 on Buyee. It's in grubby shape, but came with a Technigold motor, original hi-caps and original UJ's.

Upon first inspection, it appears to be in overall pretty sound shape. Used, but not overly abused.

This will be rebuilt to be a runner. I have a host of spares from previous builds that can be used here. From a complete 2018 Super Astute gearbox, to Paragu front bulk head, plus Xtra Speed rear arm mounts and VQS hi-caps, this should make for a fairly durable runner I hope. Although the original arms will remain a weak point I think.

First stage of disassembly complete...

Next will be a further review of all parts I have available that I can chuck at this build, plus a couple of purchases to improve the durability, such as the RCJaz front and rear hubs @ruebiracer

...and the VQS hi-caps are off the the anodiser for a colour change...

[davidsen]

Wow, that seems to be a perfect package for resto! Great you have enough spares and tuning parts to make it a runner. I've never heard about the Paragu front bulk head, is it made from aluminium? The front bulk head seems to be one of the weak points of the Astute (unfortunately it has many). Have fun, I'll follow your topic. 

[Kol__]

6 hours ago, davidsen said:

Wow, that seems to be a perfect package for resto! Great you have enough spares and tuning parts to make it a runner. I've never heard about the Paragu front bulk head, is it made from aluminium? The front bulk head seems to be one of the weak points of the Astute (unfortunately it has many). Have fun, I'll follow your topic. 

Thanks mate, yeah should make for a good base to build from. Not sure how much of it will be original by the end, I have a lot of spares here, so will likely replace the plastics for more recently manufactured 2018 Super Astute parts. I also have a spare original Astute chassis here, which I think I'll use in place of this one with the additional holes messily drilled into it.

Yes, Paragu make an alloy bulkhead. It's modular one, made up of separate parts bolted together. The manufacturing quality is good. Xtra Speed do a one piece CNC bulkhead, which I've fitted to my now Super Astute build. So I'll feedback any noticeable differences, if there are any.

[Sgt.Speirs]

@Kol__ What a great basis…it looks like if you replace the front and rear bumper, you will have a great restored Astute 😉

Other question: Why drive an Astute when a Super Astute is more robust and drives similarly/exactly the same?

 

[Kol__]

13 hours ago, Sgt.Speirs said:

@Kol__ What a great basis…it looks like if you replace the front and rear bumper, you will have a great restored Astute 😉

Other question: Why drive an Astute when a Super Astute is more robust and drives similarly/exactly the same?

I was tempted to replace them, but will likely leave the bumpers in situ as they'll get scratched up running anyway. Those and the arms will remain and continue to get battle scars. The new, original chassis plate should be well enough protected by the standard undertray.

To be fair l, I could very well restore this to shelf queen status, as I have very nearly all the parts here. However, the reason I'm not doing that with this £100 purchase leads me on to answer your question...

And it is a good question. So the answer, well it partly has to do with the unfathomable nature of the way that the RC hobby can hook you into a new project/purchase with only the lightest of touches😂 ...and also the fact that the two buggies are siblings and it will be great to see the differences in how they perform, in particular the handling. Fair enough neither buggy will be stock, but the geometry remains largley unchanged, with the exception of the wider front track of my Super Astute build, due to the longer Lee Broadhurst delrin arms. The geometry is different between the two models, not vastly different, but I'm not convinced the Super Astute is necessarily a vastly better handling buggy either, with regard specifically to the geometry at least. Sure, the battery running down the length of the chassis likely to produce better results in the Super Astute. I'm going to keep the battery running across the chassis in this Astute, as per the original. And the gearbox with the slipper clutch was of course a vast improvement, but as both my buggies will have the 2018 SA rere gearbox fitted, that'll be like for like in this case.

Plus, I love the overcomplicated, technical construction of the Astute rear hubs with the adjustable toe in, and running the alloy RCJaz rear hubs and carriers should solve the weakness issue in that element of the original design. The beefy 4mm turnbuckles are also so cool imo.

In summary, I'm eager to see how the grandaddy of the Astute family drives is my overall answer I guess! Oh and I just love the Astute family, so any chance to work on another buggys is welcomed🙂 Plus there's an element of the box art that's not replicated in the actual buggy itself, and I'd like to rectify that in this build😉

[ThunderDragonCy]

@Kol__ I strongly approve of all of the last post. I am sure itsuow a lot of us feel about these things, but it's lovely to see it written down so eloquantly. 

[Sgt.Speirs]

11 hours ago, Kol__ said:

…
Plus, I love the overcomplicated, technical construction of the Astute rear hubs with the adjustable toe in, and running the alloy RCJaz rear hubs and carriers should solve the weakness issue in that element of the original design. The beefy 4mm turnbuckles are also so cool imo.
…

I had concerns that you will crack/damage the (original) rear suspension on the first jump😉

But if you re-build the Astute with this alloy parts, there are no more objections on my part and I understand your point to find out the difference on the track.

Carry on, my friend👍🏻

[jonboy1]

Hey @Kol__ can you check your inbox, think it might be full 

[ruebiracer]

This will be a cool built, the differences to Super Astute design will make this so interesting...

[GTodd]

I've rebuilt my OG Astute with the metal hubs front and rear. It's a blast and very fun to drive. 

[GTodd]

.....and if the differential isn't slipping it's still good to go.  I never had issues with the Astute diff and I ran it with modifieds.  Now if the previous use unevenly tightened the diff halves then you could have issues.  The Astutes weakness are waaaaaaay overblown. It did understeer more then the RC10, but if you didn't over tighten everything it was pretty strong.  The only thing I ever broke was the rear suspension mounts because I cranked down on the rear arm mounts. Gorgeous car, and great thread!