Vimto 0 Posted March 30, 2009 Hello, I'm about to finally start tearing down my MB that I am refurbing with my eldest daugther. I have most of the new parts to replace the broken parts or parts I wish to replace. I have also ordered a bearing set and a new (more spritely) motor. I will be replacing the original mechanical speed controller with a spare electronic one I have. What I'm after really is anything else that is worth doing to the MB mechanically or set up wise that will make it a nicer drive and more fun. Obviously don't want to steer away from its originality too much but would like to hear what other MB owners have done to theirs whilst its being stripped and rebuilt. Cheers Simon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loaded 4 Posted March 30, 2009 You could buy a beautiful gold plated A parts from a well known seller ;-) Paul. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vimto 0 Posted March 31, 2009 You could buy a beautiful gold plated A parts from a well known seller ;-)Paul. Hmm maybe if it was going to be a shelf queen but as its never going to look that good I don't think gold is my colour!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mymonsterbeetleisbroken 16 Posted March 31, 2009 Currently my MB runner looks like this: It's got just about every CRP hop up I can find, a full Thorp drive system (ball differential, spur gear, dog bone drive shafts) a Technigold Motor, ESC, after market servo saver, rear anti roll bar and ball bearings. All the mods build up to make the car more durable and handle just that little bit better (the ball diff makes the biggest difference to handling) and of course the 21 turn technigold adds more power, working with a larger pinion on an adjustable motor mount. Basic mods that I'd say are really worth while and value for money would be as follows: CRP rear shock absorber mounts, replacing the black plastic parts either side of the chassis that the rear shock absorbers mount to. CRP rear suspension arm mounts - this set includes a bushing that goes inside the gearbox, where the rear trailing arms pivot. It stops the trailing arms wearing away at the aluminium gearbox plates. Both of these sets can usually be found on ebay.com The thorp ball differential is rare and expensive. If your a serious monster beetle fan its one of those "holy grail" items though But the standard diff gears will be durable as long as they are well greased and in good order, along with the gearbox side plates - make sure they are perfectly flat, as flex in those causes the diff gear to open up and wear out faster. I'd also recommend using nuts and bolts to secure the shock absorbers to the chassis. A small amount of drilling is required to do this, but its well worth the effort - the self tapper screws that it shows to use in the manual stress the plastic and can cause the suspension mounts to crack. Hope this helps a bit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vimto 0 Posted March 31, 2009 Excellent cheers for that. The CRP rear shock mountings are a must, as you mentioned about the self tappers ruining the plastic I have one screw mounting that the hole has bored out the standard shock mounting black plastic and was going to temporarly put a bolt in. Also the way yours is braced to the front shock tower seems a good mod it does seem to twist and they always did. I am fitting a 27turn motor at the moment as I have a spare 27t limit ESC and as my daughter will be using it as well it will still be to fast for her. Watch this space, all being well I'll be starting this at the weekend once the bearings turn up. Just need to decide on what to do with the body as its not in the best of conditions but could be repaired. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loaded 4 Posted March 31, 2009 I was just teasing anyway :-) If gold isn't your colour however, the Monster Beetle wheels will need changing :-D P. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vimto 0 Posted March 31, 2009 Luckily my gold has about disappeared. Mind you I've really took notice of the wheels being gold!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mymonsterbeetleisbroken 16 Posted March 31, 2009 A session in the dishwasher gets the gold clean off Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leethal Driver 86 Posted March 31, 2009 That front shock brace is more CRP kit - you can buy it separately or as a complete chassis brace including the rear shock mounts, try ebay or teamcrp.com - wifey got mine for christmas. I too am building an MB with as many hop ups as I can get my hands on. Still struggling to get hold of a rear sway bar though, but we'll see how it performs without it. There's a good thread on the vintage discussion forum about Blackfoot mods most of which can be applied to the MB, I've put a couple on mine. I've got a set of rere Frog UJ's and bevel gears brand spanking new if you're interested (you can fit them with Oldfrogshot's diff mod) - better than the std hex driveshafts. I bought them and was planning to do this myself, and then went and bought a Thorp diff...and I can readily attest to the cost of said item!!! Does that dishwasher comment work Ed? I've got three gold (one was cracked) and one yellow (neighbour no longer into RC had a box of wheels with two Blackfoot wheels in, which was nice) and was planning to respray them anyway so throwing them in with the cutlery would save me some time! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mymonsterbeetleisbroken 16 Posted March 31, 2009 yep, the dishwasher took the gold off. I just put the wheels in with the dishes, i'd say it got about 98% of it off, the few stubben bits came off with a bit of t-cut. Those wheels you see in the pic above were gold once Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
