RC project for 2017. Kyosho Hi-Rider Corvette (1989)

[mongoose1983 3335]

Earlier on this month I happened to come across some cheap and beat-up Kyosho car crusher chassis. This is the 2nd Kyosho RC vehicle that I have in my collection with the 1984 Honda 250R ATC 3-wheeler.

I do have vivid memories of seeing this one standing all built boxart by the side of the mighty Tamiya Bull Head back in 1992 at Hobbylandia. What a sight to behold. You wanted one, you had to spend over a monthly salary of a regular worker here in my country. Yeah, the thing was that cool. Although of course I was more interested in the Bull Head myself

Here's some pictures of the Kyosho car crusher that I found in one of my magazines from back in the day:

Hot looking, huh? And very different from any other high-lifted RC vehicles from the 80's. Here's the original late 80's promotional video for this model:

Now, I don't intend to have a pristine example of this Monster Corvette, just something reasonable, something nice to run and look at.

In a perfect world I would like to have something like this one, obviously non-boxart (although the boxart doesn't look bad at all!):

Well, here's what I am starting with. And as much as it looks bad and obviously beat-up, I'm sure I can clean, rebuild it, and make it work and look very good.

Many parts missing: bumper, one front mock shock, and the rear body bar with posts. Also, the battery cradle is all shot and needs to be replaced!

Well, I happened to find an original but badly beat-up Corvette bodyshell for this one. I was mostly interested in the engine, as that is one real tough part to find. Replacement body shells you can find them online no problem, but not the engines. Also, I have seen people selling these things without the engine as they seem to be valuable for those who like to make customs as the detail on them is pretty awesome. So here it is, I plan to remove the paint of the blower and probably replace the bodyshell in the near future, or who knows what

I'm finally done with rebuilding the chassis today, and I fixed the broken tire last weekend. More pictures soon.

PM. Oh, and by the way, anybody have any junk parts that I can use in this project? Drop me a line and let me know what you want for those bits and pieces.

[mongoose1983 3335]

Some more pictures of the work and rebuild:

This is something I hate about rich kids from back in the day. Not doing the job properly causes damage to the tires after two or three decades...

Fixing the broken tire. Looks awful! And this is something I have never tried before, what the heck, I went ahead no matter what as the tire can not go worst! And good thing now it is in good working condition again. Good stuff

Here's what I did to solve the problem (hopefully for good).

Tire fixed, chassis' next

 

[mongoose1983 3335]

The chassis as it looks today.

Overall looks:

It cleaned up alright. Dismantling the chassis was very interesting, very different from all of the many Tamiya cars I have worked in the past!

Original MSC donated by THE BEEF. Thank you Ben!

Underside (front):

Underside (rear):

The powerplant. A nice Kyosho Le Mans 05 motor!

And oh, what a nice rear end!

That's for today. I now have work to do here, and there is some work to do on the original Sand Rover project car in a few days.

You all have a fantastic Tuesday!

[StrokerBoy 772]

A mate of mine spotted on Facebook that I was into RC and brought over all his old cars and kit to give to me.  One of them was a Kyosho Hi-Rider II Corvette (the later model, though I don't know what the differences are).  This is it, exactly as I acquired it, I've done nothing with it except stick a battery in it and drive it for a minute to prove it runs.  At some point I'll tidy it up a bit (and lose that wing).

[Static Age 65]

I have a Big Brute runner, almost identical to the high rider, its great fun! 

I've added few mods like oil filled shocks and a few chassis braces. The suspension travel is a little limited due to the short wishbones, so if you corner to quick it will roll. Mind you it wont be that quick with a silver can, I have a super stock RZ in mine.

The steering mechanism is probably the worst bit, its very vague & slow, it gets the job done though. 

 

 

[Static Age 65]

Edit: Double post.

 

 

[mongoose1983 3335]

On 22/11/2016 at 6:17 AM, StrokerBoy said:

A mate of mine spotted on Facebook that I was into RC and brought over all his old cars and kit to give to me.  One of them was a Kyosho Hi-Rider II Corvette (the later model, though I don't know what the differences are).

Yes, that is the Hi Rider 2. And it is worth to try to restore. It shares the chassis with the Kyosho Tracker Chevrolet truck and it is 100% different than the original Hi Rider. Chassis completely different with bodies & mock engines exactly the same, the HR1 comes with a LeMans 05 540 motor, the HR2 comes with a 550 motor. What's most noticeable is the tire/wheel size. The tires of the HR1 are almost as tall as the Tamiya Clod Buster's, the HR2 comes with 2.2 wheels with tires the size of the Black Foot/Monster Beetle. I presume the HR2 might be a better runner (if you think of racing these things). I have the HR2 review in some magazine here, I remember the reviewer said the front tires rub the bodyshell, which seems to be the case with your Corvette in the picture. You can make the front suspension a bit more stiff to avoid that damage to the paint? I do believe these are nice vehicles to restore as they capture an interesting bit of the American culture in the 80's.

18 hours ago, Static Age said:

I have a Big Brute runner, almost identical to the high rider, its great fun! 

I've added few mods like oil filled shocks and a few chassis braces. The suspension travel is a little limited due to the short wishbones, so if you corner to quick it will roll. Mind you it wont be that quick with a silver can, I have a super stock RZ in mine.

The steering mechanism is probably the worst bit, its very vague & slow, it gets the job done though. 

You're right, these share the chassis with the Toyota Big Brute. And yeah, I am very curious about how the rack steering works on this one.

Now that you say that I do believe what I like the most about the Kyosho chassis is how narrow its axles are, as I am particularly turned-off by R/C vehicles with non-realistic axle lengths.

The guy I got the truck from was sure to tell me how nice the LeMans 05 motor is, "it does wheelies and it IS a heavy vehicle". I yet have to see it running though, I'm going to hook up the original MSC to some period radio gear later on this month.

By the way, what are those chassis braces you mention?

 

[Crash Cramer 617]

Wow, that is a nice bit of work you have done there Erich. I didn't know that Kyosho went through the trouble of making the tires all over again in a smaller size, but the tread pattern is quite unique and cool at the same time. I sure wish I had spares to donate to you, but sadly, my chassis has just languished in the garage collecting dust until you called my attention to the engine measurements.

[khyzersoze 268]

On 11/22/2016 at 2:17 AM, StrokerBoy said:

A mate of mine spotted on Facebook that I was into RC and brought over all his old cars and kit to give to me.  One of them was a Kyosho Hi-Rider II Corvette (the later model, though I don't know what the differences are).  This is it, exactly as I acquired it, I've done nothing with it except stick a battery in it and drive it for a minute to prove it runs.  At some point I'll tidy it up a bit (and lose that wing).

Wow, this looks like it uses the same chassis as my Kyosho Tracker Monster Truck.

[Static Age 65]

15 hours ago, mongoose1983 said:

You're right, these share the chassis with the Toyota Big Brute. And yeah, I am very curious about how the rack steering works on this one.

Now that you say that I do believe what I like the most about the Kyosho chassis is how narrow its axles are, as I am particularly turned-off by R/C vehicles with non-realistic axle lengths.

The guy I got the truck from was sure to tell me how nice the LeMans 05 motor is, "it does wheelies and it IS a heavy vehicle". I yet have to see it running though, I'm going to hook up the original MSC to some period radio gear later on this month.

By the way, what are those chassis braces you mention?

 

The narrow axles do give it more of a scale look. I have the thorp dog bone set up in my brute, ideal if you want to run more power but expensive to buy these days.

I fitted braces on the shock towers. Your corvette has different towers to the brute, yours are already braced in the way that they are moulded & much more substantial looking. That appears to be the only structural difference between the two models (apart from wheel & tyres). 

[mongoose1983 3335]

All of the missing parts, except for the elusive rear bar with bodyposts have already been located and are on my way from the UK - Thank you Dan!! (TCer Static Age). So right now the Corvette is sitting on my bench waiting for the bits to arrive. Hopefully they'll be here before my vacation is over   Here's how it looks by now.

 

[mongoose1983 3335]

Time came to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the KYOSHO HI RIDER MONSTER VETTE.

I can not post videos anymore, but here's some pictures of how it looked like when I run it last Saturday morning. Hey, we're celebrating!

I'd like this one to be re-released in its original fashion. It's a gorgeous-fun vehicle, although I can see the looks are very very dated to what monster truck were like back in 1988. I mean, a car body, supercharged engine front with pipes and a blower, kids would not think it's based on real vehicles, or at least by the looks. Anyway, I guess that comes to prove how classic is this vehicle today.

Happy Birthday, Hi Rider Vette !!!

And you all have a good Wednesday!

[spankrjs 77]

Good to see this one out and about running around 

I have almost "pulled the trigger" on a Corvette/Big Brute/Big Boss, just can't take the leap, yet.

Maybe if Kyosho re-release them 

 

Time to start working on the Big Bear, both of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mongoose1983 3335]

2 hours ago, spankrjs said:

Time to start working on the Big Bear, both of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's for sure, pal!