Original Blackfoot clean up and repair

[Burmanater]

So this past weekend I picked up this 1986 Original Blackfoot off the original owner. I have to go back for a Original Hornet with box in the same condition as this Blackfoot. The backstory is that as soon as these came on the market his dad bought one for him as a father son project. He used it sparingly and kept pretty good care of it. I will have to go back and get more stories out of him on my next visit.

Anyways overall it's in great condition with the only problem seeming to be a bad receiver but more on that later. The body has no cracks at all and the chassis has almost no damage or so much as a scratch really. He did paint the rims silver it seems and the tires are stiff with a little cracking but overall I'm very pleased for the price I paid. Even came with the box in decent shape with some of the tubes of grease/oil still in their boxes but used. Some spare parts trees, Instructions, and all the other misc paper items that came with these brand new. Sorry that all I have is a crappy cell phone pic right now but I will get more later.

My plan is a simple tear down and clean but I would also like to make it function. The radio that came with it didn't work so I used another radio and crystal and still nothing. When you turn it on the front servo twitches for a second and if you move the MSC it has all forward and reverse settings but there is no communication between the receiver and the rest of the system. Is there a way to trouble shoot these or am I stuck trying to find a replacement? I want to keep it as original as possible. Also what is the best way to go about cleaning the body without disturbing the graphics? Thanks hope you guys enjoy this little piece of history as much as I do.

[RcMadness74]

Congrats on picking up a nice Blackfoot. I had purchased one new when I was about 14 and still have it. I think if you have matching crystals and still nothing then you either have a bad receiver or your servos are dead. Make sure you have the correct crystals in the proper places. Transmitter and receivers are different crystals. Just because they are the same channel doesn't make them interchangeable.

[RCcoachworks]

This was a pretty lucky find, congrats!

[Scapelnz]

Rcmadness took the words right out of my mouth! Looks like a really nice example. With cleaning the body and trying not to disturb the decals you have to be super careful as those decals get really brittle and can snap of easy. With my blackfoot I just used warm water and a super soft sponge, no soap and just took my time very gently cleaning of the 25+ years of dirt and trying not to damage the decals, best of luck

[Burmanater]

Thanks guys I feel very lucky to have this and soon to be Hornet in the same condition. I was thinking water and a sponge but I was a little nervous about introducing water to the decals.

As for the Receiver issue I've tried 2 sets of crystals and swapped the crystals from the controller to the car and then back twice. The previous owner said this thing was running perfectly 2 years ago. I've pulled and re-plugged every connection. I'm just at a loss unless it's the receiver.

If the servos were dead would the still do the initial jiggle on start up? The steering one is at least good because when you turn the car on with the wheels turned it pulls them into the neutral position. Not to sure on this one as I'm trying to do everything I can while also not messing up what's there. Thanks for the help guys.

[RcMadness74]

Do you have any other transmitters you can use. I would find someone with another Futaba TX, swap crystals and see what happens. Make sure that the servos are correct for the receiver and that they are wired correctly.

[Burmanater]

I will check into it but I do know that my remote and crystals are good because they're the same ones I use in my LB. I've checked every crystal set and even the ones that came with the Blackfoot work. I'm going to get the part number for the receiver and find another one. Or does anyone else know a list of what was available/optioned when these were new? As long as I can find something that works at this point I would be entirely happy. I would use the MSC and receiver from my LB but the plugs for the servos and battery are different. Thanks again guys.

[RCcoachworks]

What model of receiver is it? I have a lot of old Futaba receivers.

[Burmanater]

It has an FP-R2GS

[RCcoachworks]

That's one I don't think I have, but I will check.

[Burmanater]

At this point I'm just looking for something that works. Thanks for checking though.