Illogicals Clod Buster

[Illogical 141]

As you may have gathered this is a thread about a Clod Buster I won in Ebay and which I picked up yesterday. It's my first Clod Buster and I'm undecided yet in which direction it will go - keep it standard and vintage or do something fancy. Either way it will be a runner.

First up, here's what I have so far:

it's obviously been used as intended but doesn't appear to have had a hard life. There's some minor damage to the body and a few screws missing holding the body together but everything else seems fine.

Unfortunately there is a crack in the body but it's very small:

The first thing I decided to do is put a battery in and adjust the MSC by hand - the motors run and the gearboxes seem to be fine. The economy/power switch seems to work - I'm guessing the motors are in series and the switch bypasses one of them when in economy - a bit crude but at least it works.

Next step was to pull all the electrics - this had some nice and not so nice surprises:

I like Hitec servos and their HS-615MG is a well specced unit. I hope it works - it moves a little when the power is connected so I'm guessing it's fine.

The Graupner C512 on the other hand seems to have been tampered with, here's what I found:

I have no idea what's going on there but I'm going to assume it's died - the chip inside is an Acoms so maybe someone tried to swap the board and motor - either way it's only a plastic geared servo so no point trying to fix it. I just hope it didn't take out the receiver too.

All in all I'd say I have grabbed a bargain - but what should I do now with the Clod?

Keep it standard on the MSC and original motors and refit the 40MHZ radio gear?

Or go modern with all new gear and a twin brushless setup, better steering and suspension etc.?

Should I leave the bodyshell as it is? Or remove the stickers, fix the damage and pant it? Or put it to one side and find a new body in a different style?

[Prescient 671]

Very nice. Car body filler and superglue will sort the crack out.

1) Full ball bearings are a must if it hasn't got them already.

2) Hobbywing  QUICRUN 0860 Dual Brushed ESC (let's you run 2 to 4s lipo) and is waterproof. 

3) 3s lipo using the stock silvercan motors gives you as much performance as the chassis in stock form can handle. It's also cheaper than going brushless by a long shot whilst retaining that vintage vibe. 

4) High torque servo with the large servo horn mod for increased leverage and turning circle.

 

[Terz1 745]

What amazes me about mine is that one servo turns those huge four wheels. I've had mine for 26 years and it's got a plastic geared run of the mill futaba servo and it's still going strong. Mines completely stock and will be staying that way but if you want to improve its performance you're spoilt for choice. Look forward to see it progress. 

[Illogical 141]

The Hitec Servo works just fine - but is it strong enough for the steering or is a 13-20kg servo recommended?

Amazingly the Graupner C512 also works but I'm not going to use it. I'll order a Quicrun to replace the MSC instead of risking it.

The servo horn mod sounds interesting; I assume it's just a much longer horn with the ball studs attached. Is there a recommended maximum length? I have a selection of horns from other kits so I'm hoping one will be suitable.

Is there a kit available which completely replaces all the bellcranks and links, like the Junfac/GMade CC-01 parts? If so are they worth getting? The whole system as it is seems sloppy but I guess that's maybe all part of the fun on these big rigs.

[Prescient 671]

In the picture for this servo linked below is a large 4 arm star servo horn. Something like that is ideal. Most hi torque servos come with similar as standard. 

I have run a ~6kg futaba servo in my super clod for 10+ years with no issues using that style of horn.

The general slack in the steering is fine if running pretty standard and bashing. Loads of scope to mod but then it starts becoming a mod clod rather than having the original charm of the vintage issue. Depends which way you want to go.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__6334__Turnigy_8482_TGY_9150MG_DS_MG_Servo_15_8kg_0_17sec_60g.html

[mellowman 1]

I picked up something similar sometime ago. Rebuilt it and am really pleased with the way it is now. I went with Tamiya gold shocks, sports tuned motors, Tamiya twin motor esc, 2S lipo, bearings throughout and a very high torque, extra large steering servo.

If you are going to retain the stock chassis, check around the steering servo for cracks and fit the Tamiya chassis brace plates. Mine was cracked so I replaced the chassis. I would be included to do this anyway if you are going to rebuild and run it as they are pretty cheap.

Best of luck and enjoy the ride!

[Wooders28 4723]

Nice find! 

The Clod is one i have on my wish list.

If i remember right, the motors ran in serise in economy (effectively half current to each motor) and in parallel for power  (full current)

In the past I've bought cars and gone straight for rebuilds and upgrades, only to run out of spare time. So I'd get a good servo and run her.

[Illogical 141]

I've decided to retain the stock chassis and just try to improve on what Tamiya designed with modern electronics. I'm very tempted to do a twin brushless ESC having seen Klausens Clod.

OK I like the idea of a very high torque servo - so I've purchased this (you did say extra large servo lol):

http://hitecrcd.com/products/servos/giant-servos/analog-giant-servos/hs-755hb-karbonite-giant-scale-servo/product

13kg @ 0.23 seconds should be great if I can remove the slopiness a little.

What will I need to make it fit?

Do you have a part number for the Tamiya chassis brace? I checked the Tamiya USA site but couldn't find it mentioned under hop-ups.

[Ian_Gsi16V 533]

That looks like a great find, every Tamiya fan should own a Clod

Echoing what @Terz1 said above, I have had mine since the early nineties, completley stock bar an ESC, even running plastic bushings, I bought a full set of ballraces for it ages ago but I can't bring myself to pull it apart, just seems a shame as it is so original. 

Good luck with it, will be fun to build and mod  Looking forward to seeing the progress

 

[Terz1 745]

Yes mine has the bushings too and a mechanical speed contoller. Mine is like a moving time capsule from 1990 .

[Illogical 141]

I now have a runner - I was messing about with the steering and managed to strip the original servo horn testing on the carpet in the house. Never mind I wanted to do the servo horn mod anyway.

I put in CC-01 ball cups and sockets on the inner ends of the long arms but left everything visible original. 

What a pain those long arms are to adjust - the servo horn isn't in the perfect vertical orientation for maximum travel as if it were the rod ends would be pulled from the rods - it's close though and they now seem to be staying on.

The MSC had some play on the socket and would not return nicely to the middle which made for entertainment - I squashed it with pliers to try and crimp it onto the plastic horn and it's now behaving. However it overshoots the endpoints on the 40Mhz radio gear and there's no endpoint adjustment - so I'll need to upgrade to modern radio gear or get that dual ESC (or decide I really want brushless and spend some $$$).

It's also on plastic bushings - do you want to sell me your set Ian_Gsi16V?

I think for now I'll run a couple of 7.2 packs through to make sure it's solid it and maybe try out a 3S Lipo on the original MSC and motors just for fun.

 

[Ian_Gsi16V 533]

I have used a few out of the pack @Illogical so I don't have a full set, they are really cheap from rcbearings.co.uk anyway...

I don't use a dual motor ESC, I bought a Y motor lead and use a vintage Futaba ESC in mine, only really stuck an ESC in it to save myself a servo and because I didn't want to chop the Tamiya plug off the end of the MSC

 

 

[Illogical 141]

I've just pressed the buy button on a Quicrun 0860 Dual ESC - it was only 28 EUR delivered and will remove the bothersone MSC when it arrives.

I'm going to keep my eye out for some cheap used sensored brushless motors and ESCs - I think a pair of TSKY ESCs should suffice (one motor can be reversed with a Hobbywing programming card apparently) - but I'll find the motors first before getting the ESCs.

Do all of your Clods have about 15deg of slop in the steering? I can't see much that can be done about it as it seems to come from the 1987 Tamiya ball joints - any tricks to make them better?

[Nitomor 2122]

The 860 doesn't come with a battery connector plug so you'll need to get yourself a suitable plug and solder on. Modelsport offer this service but mine came through badly soldered so I ended up having to redo them anyway. It does come with a cooling fan though which is cool. 

It's an excellent speed controller.

[Illogical 141]

OK good to know - I will solder on Deans so I can use my 2S saddle packs. I've held off changing everything to Deans due to some new kits and batteries having the Tamiya connectors and they are still under warranty.

I was amazed at the price from HK - maybe it's a knockoff but the TSKY sensored brushless my neighbor got runs well and even they can be had for less money. I'd like to support more local vendors but not at 2-3x the price if I'm happy to wait for the package to arrive.

[Illogical 141]

Are these the metal braces on the servo plate?

My Clod just has two posts on a servo plate which mounts on to the hatch/plate on the chassis - there's a fair bit of flex in the setup. Would mounting the servo with the above setup improve things?

[Illogical 141]

I checked the Bullhead PDF manual and spotted the plate which I don't appear to have:

The parts bag it's in isn't cheap - anyone in USA need a spare chassis as there's a Bullhead one in Ebay with the metal parts for 20USD?

[emory70 153]

There's a guy on ebay that makes a lot of reproductions of old aluminum hopups for vintage Tamiyas. He's stateside, unfortunately. He makes the ESP style chassis brace that was all the rage back in the day. His name there is "sicnme products"

 

I'd also suggest checking out 

http://crawfordperformanceengineering.com/index.php

They are one of the go to companies for Clod parts, both for the mild and wild styles. Again, they're here in America, but great to deal with. 

[Illogical 141]

I've fitted the Quicrun 860 now and it works great. It looks like there is not much that can be done about the sloppy steering though. I've managed to roll the Clod and I've broken one of the spotlamps off which is annoying. Anyone got that chrome part spare? I've carefully removed the sticker with a knife so it can be put back on as it appears the Super Clod Buster uses a different design.

I'm considering selling the Clod as somehow I prefer running my CR-01 (I don't mind if it rolls over or get scratched) - anyone interested?

[berman 5315]

Doesn't the clod float your boat?

If you can appreciate that it runs and lools like an 80's monster truck it is a nice nostalgia trip. If you want it to perform like a more modern truck then keep the axles and wheels and get a chassis upgrade kit and sell off the rest.

I possibly have those braces spare, they are only really needed if you are going ro run the stock chassis quite hard. 

[Illogical 141]

Maybe I need to get out with it more or maybe buy a basher shell for it so I won't be so annoyed at rollng it or causing damage.

I've probably only run five packs through the Clod and so far I've had the battery compartment open up and the battery come flying out a few times, I've stripped a servo horn and had other horns slip which is a pain to repair, and recently broke a chrome spotlamp off when it rolled. I lke the concept but then I also own a CR-01 and although the Clod is much bigger and looks better, the CR-01 seems more robust and has better suspension and steering. The CR-01 has some small issues but they are easily remedied - I just don't know what to do with the Clod steering. I can live with sloppy steering on a VLB or similar, but on the Clod I feel it would be much better with sharp steering (and lock the rear). The Clod suspension in standard form seems to be purely an aesthetic thing - there's no real travel or damping to speak of. 

I will try to find an aluminium servo horn to avoid any more slippages and look for those plates - mayb that will help the steering a little. A slightly faster servo may also help with response - right now lock to lock seems to be very slow.

[Terz1 745]

I'm sure there's a kit which allows you to mount a servo directly on each axle. I'm sure this would improve the steering feel. If I can find the link I'll pop it on here.

[Darat76 265]

There are many options for steering upgrades on a clod. as an example, there is the changing the servo horn to allow more throw on the front link while also reducing the throw on the rear link.

Another option that many people go is changing to dual servo steering, few ways to do this, can go with a behind the axle servo setup, on the metal axle brace, even one that puts the servo hard against the gearbox on the opposite side to the motor, down side is most of these brackets won't work with the stock suspension setup.

the option I use puts the servo in front of the axle in an alloy bumper, it doesn't stick out quite as far as the stock bumper, nor is it as wide, but it does protect the servo from impacts, just to make the most of the increased clearance gained by removing the servo savers you have to use low profile servos, which I don't have on my clod atm.

[Terz1 745]

Lots of juicy clod parts on here. Almost everything is upgradeable  

http://www.clodparts.com/products/steering/41.html

[Illogical 141]

The servo on the axle sounds like it would really help - does anyone in Europoe stock the CPE kits?

The alloy bumper/servo mount also sounds good - I assume it's similar to how things are done on the CR-01? Where can I get a kit that does that?