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lucasan

Upgrading A Hotshot Re-release

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Hi, everyone,

I'm brand new here and am about to get back into the rc hobby after more than 20 years. I had a Wild One back when it first came out and loved it. Sadly, it got run over by a car when I was running it in a parking lot. It actually still ran afterwards with some minor repairs. Now I'm about to buy a Hotshot re-release and want to know if there are any upgrades I can make to this kit to make it a little speedier or whatnot. I have never done anything like it before, but know my kit building skills will be better than they were 20 years ago. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

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Not much out there for upgrades, um actually there would be ZERO.

It's good the way it is, you can always upgrade motors and tires etc.

It's a must have though for sure, you'll love the build.

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It goes with out saying..

But I'll mention it anyway.

Get a Ball Bearing kit for it and fully ball race the Hotshot.

another tip is to get Tamiya Anti-Wear grease, and use that on the Beval gears in the diff's

Makes them have a little bit of a "Limited Slip Action" (Kinda like Ball Diffs).

As far as motors go..

Your options are limited somewhat,

Given that you don't have much variation to make gearing changes to utilise 'Hot' motors properly.

All of the old 'Vintage' Hop-Up's for Hotshot will work..

provided you find some, and can afford to buy them on the rare occasion they pop up on Ebay.

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Bearings are a must. Motor is an obvious one, but the Hot Shot's suspension isn't really up to the task. Better wheels/tires will help a bit.

Your other options are tricky-to-find vintage hop-ups.

The vintage Super Shot style independent CVA shock upgrade is a good one - if you can find the kit. Otherwise you'd have to track down the Super Shot bits to mount independent shocks (front alu shock risers and alu arm brackets, alu spacers, rear arm brackets/ball ends, rear FRP damper stay/alu bracket, mounting hardware nuts/washers/brass tubes/bolts)

And there's the Super Shot underguard upgrade.

There was a bump steer eliminator hop-up I think from CRP for it?

Otherwise you can get really creative and go all-out, like fabricating a CFRP double deck chassis.

Or you could do something like this...

Grahoo's Hot Shot IRS

- James

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It's tricky to find vintage Hotshot upgrades, especially for the suspension (which IMO is a must if you intend to run off-road) - however, there is a company which has some very tasty options coming out soon:

http://www.rccarparts.biz/index.php?cPath=...e8e1f05b7dc3932

I must admit, I thoroughly enjoyed building my HotShot but after one run it was retired to the shelf where it still looks better than any current Tamiya buggy. It just doesn't perform off road and is nowhere near as much run to run as my Dark Impact. With proper 4-shock suspension, I guess it'll be much better.

Ax :o

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As mentioned in a couple of other threads, there are these guys.

RC Channel Website

From what I can tell, it appears they will be producing new aftermarket hop-ups for the Hotshot since the re-release. Most are listed as "coming soon".

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As mentioned in a couple of other threads, there are these guys.

RC Channel Website

From what I can tell, it appears they will be producing new aftermarket hop-ups for the Hotshot since the re-release. Most are listed as "coming soon".

I emailed them and the reply back said that its gonna be approx 2 onths before the Hotshot parts a released.

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Hi, everyone,

I'm brand new here and am about to get back into the rc hobby after more than 20 years. I had a Wild One back when it first came out and loved it. Sadly, it got run over by a car when I was running it in a parking lot. It actually still ran afterwards with some minor repairs. Now I'm about to buy a Hotshot re-release and want to know if there are any upgrades I can make to this kit to make it a little speedier or whatnot. I have never done anything like it before, but know my kit building skills will be better than they were 20 years ago. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I know this is a shameless plug, but this is a good picture to show several of the vintage HotShot hop-ups that were available many years ago. I just finished this project recently. The hop-ups added are:

Dirt Burners Nerf Bars

AYK Aluminum Wheels

You-G Front Bumper

You-G Aluminum Wing (I painted it Red to match the car)

Team CRP front stabilizer

I'm having trouble attaching the photo directly, so here is a link to the showroom entry: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=71317

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That's one sweet Hotshot! Wish they still made hop-ups like that. Looks like that site listed is just bling parts.

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That's one sweet Hotshot! Wish they still made hop-ups like that. Looks like that site listed is just bling parts.

Guilty as charged. I didn't add any specific performance parts to the build (except ball-bearings) since it was meant as a Shelf Queen to preserve the vintage bling. I have some of the old performance hop-ups like the Parma bump-steer eliminator etc, which I imagine were lifesavers in the era of vintage RC racing. I've seen other vintage performance hop-ups from time-to-time, such as a lightweight prop shaft, but they are not compatible with the re-re design.

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Yes, I have a Super Shot runner, and it is actually rather nice to drive off-road. Stable and controllable, and decent ground clearance. Definitely an improvement over the Hot Shot due to the suspension update alone.

Takes jumps really well.

Haven't actually crashed it yet, and not game to - I'm pretty sure since it's quite a heavy car, it wouldn't be hugely robust, multiple parts (front gearbox, bumper and suspension arms in particular) would just shatter on impact!

- James

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There are lots of things you can do to a HotShot.

I had a quick look around the member showrooms, so here's some ideas to start with :

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=18144

there's also a copy of an article from Model Cars magazine that shows you how to build something like Terrys yourself, but I can't find it right now.

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The essential hop-ups would be bearings (mentioned many times), any of the old aftermarket front upper control arm stabilizers (takes much slop out of the front end), and anti-wear grease on the diff bevel gears (as mentioned earlier).

But one of the best hop-ups would have to be the old Parma Bump-steer eliminator kit. It's basically really long extended ball-studs that screw into the uprights in place of the original brass pieces. This puts the steering tie-rods at a proper angle in relation to the control arms, which in turn keeps the wheels pointed in the direction you want through the entire suspension stroke. This is THE major problem with the original Hotshot steering...

As for motors, a Sport Tuned would suit it perfectly. Not too fast, but not too slow. You could go with any of the latest 23T Super Stock motors, but probably not much beyond that (unless you really know what your doing)...

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The essential hop-ups would be bearings (mentioned many times), any of the old aftermarket front upper control arm stabilizers (takes much slop out of the front end), and anti-wear grease on the diff bevel gears (as mentioned earlier).

But one of the best hop-ups would have to be the old Parma Bump-steer eliminator kit. It's basically really long extended ball-studs that screw into the uprights in place of the original brass pieces. This puts the steering tie-rods at a proper angle in relation to the control arms, which in turn keeps the wheels pointed in the direction you want through the entire suspension stroke. This is THE major problem with the original Hotshot steering...

As for motors, a Sport Tuned would suit it perfectly. Not too fast, but not too slow. You could go with any of the latest 23T Super Stock motors, but probably not much beyond that (unless you really know what your doing)...

Well I'm about 1/2 way through my kit. Had to stop because I don't have the servos yet. Probably be a week or so before I get those with the radio. Got the bearings from Tamiya and was surprised that Tamiya included plastic bearings which I replaced with metal ones from the hop-up parts. I also got the dirt tuned motor. Is the Parma Bump-steer eliminator this?: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...A:IT&ih=004

Some of the more complex improvements, I won't tackle right now. I want to see how it runs before I make major changes. I'm just getting back into it, so my commitment level isn't as high as some of the other users on this forum.

I have one question about body as well. Should I paint then cut or vice versa? I'm pretty sure I painted then cut for my Wild One and it came out fine. As I said before I'm pretty anal.

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I painted then cut, it's easier that way.

I have been running mine a lot and I find it runs just fine. I have been experimenting with the suspension and it works just fine as is.

Ya, bump steer is an issue on pavement for sure, but the tires aren't meant for that. I'm running a Novak 4300 brushless(27T equivalent)

Zx70939.jpg

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Is the Parma Bump-steer eliminator this?: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...A:IT&ih=004

No. The eliminator kit is just some extra long silver ball studs that replace the brass at the wheel hub (red upright). The kit comes with two long steel ball studs, two small machine screws, and two odd looking lock washers. It's made by Parma...

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