Herbie !

[SuperChamp82]

Ok, so am I showing my age rebuilding 70s cars with (basically) 70s kits ?

Guilty as charged !

The thing is my kids are loving it - and enjoying the build time together almost as much as ludicrous aerials off road - then consequent fixes ...

The reason for this post is we've now built a Scooby Doo Mystery Machine, Fall Guy truck, Dukes of Hazard General Lee, Bandit Trans Am and .. a Herbie, pics attached.

Its been a test of strength convincing the girls to sell any toy - the merchandising ethos behind the Toy Story franchise borders on criminal in my book ... - but I'm just aboutvthere replacing the Blitzer Beetle Herbie with a Sand Scorcher build we'll do together !

So - apart from the obvious ball races, shocks and rods, what hop ups does the Scorcher need to handle, say, a 5.5t brushless sensored combo ?

The Blizter Beetle currently cooks c. 30mph w/o breaking a sweat if you're careful drifting a turn - nothing less acceptable going forward ! 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[Backlash]

What hop-ups will you need to run a 5.5 turn brushless motor in a Sand Scorcher?  A shed load of spare parts..... It may end up being cheaper just to buy a few extra kits for spares..

Personally, I think that a 15.5 turn brushless motor may even be too much for a Sand Scorcher unless you only run it on the beach.. The suspension on the SRB's is quite primitive, and that is why many companies like MIP, CRP, RCH etc all bought out upgraded suspension and gearbox (metal gears and a ball differential) pieces for the SRB's back in the day..

IMHO, if you want to run a 5.5 T brushless motor, then stick with the Blitzer Beetle, but even it wasn't designed for that much power..

[TheMidnight Pumpkin]

A 5.5 is going to flat put a whooping on this poor little guy.  I hope Herbie has some of that "movie magic" left over, cause he's going to need it!   -lol

[Fuijo]

On 11/07/2017 at 11:24 PM, SuperChamp82 said:

So - apart from the obvious ball races, shocks and rods, what hop ups does the Scorcher need to handle, say, a 5.5t brushless sensored combo ?

Replace all the chassis parts with Egress ones?

[gizard]

Sorry slightly off topic but what and where did the wheelie bar on your Blitzer Beetle come from - I think I need one on mine with a 13.5t brushless setup to stop my son constantly flipping it!  

 

PS very nice Herbie 

[gizard]

5 hours ago, gizard said:

Sorry slightly off topic but what and where did the wheelie bar on your Blitzer Beetle come from - I think I need one on mine with a 13.5t brushless setup to stop my son constantly flipping it!  

 

PS very nice Herbie 

Ahh I think I have guessed - it a GPM one for a lunch box? GR-LB333R- 

[SuperChamp82]

1 hour ago, gizard said:

Ahh I think I have guessed - it a GPM one for a lunch box? GR-LB333R- 

That's the one - you'll need to remove a motor housing bolt and replace it with a longer bolt, internal brass spacer (inside the wheelie bar anchor) then grip nut.

The wheelie bar then sits tight and clamps the gearbox better than the original.

Only downside is the bottom of the wheelie bar anchor point pushes the plastic chassis protector down by 2 - 3mm but it's no big deal.

[SuperChamp82]

On 12/07/2017 at 1:12 PM, Backlash said:

What hop-ups will you need to run a 5.5 turn brushless motor in a Sand Scorcher?  A shed load of spare parts..... It may end up being cheaper just to buy a few extra kits for spares..

Personally, I think that a 15.5 turn brushless motor may even be too much for a Sand Scorcher unless you only run it on the beach.. The suspension on the SRB's is quite primitive, and that is why many companies like MIP, CRP, RCH etc all bought out upgraded suspension and gearbox (metal gears and a ball differential) pieces for the SRB's back in the day..

IMHO, if you want to run a 5.5 T brushless motor, then stick with the Blitzer Beetle, but even it wasn't designed for that much power..

Thanks Backlash.

Ive not run a Sand Scorcher before - would the main problems be failing metal suspension arms or the fibreglass chassis plate  warping ?

Agree no 70s kit was designed for modern 5.5t power - I'm just seeing how far I can push things accepting breakages are half the fun

I've also seen an aluminium alloy chassis plate that might fix any warping w/o adding weight ?

 

[TurnipJF]

How about a carbon fibre one?

http://www.fibre-lyte.co.uk/fl/cars/tamiya/sand.html

 

[shenlonco]

NICE!!

[Fuijo]

15 hours ago, SuperChamp82 said:

Agree no 70s kit was designed for modern 5.5t power - I'm just seeing how far I can push things accepting breakages are half the fun

 

 

Well, obviously it's entirely up to you. But back in the day, people had no trouble breaking things running the stock silver-can motor.

The motor you suggest is like strapping C4 to the car and driving it off a cliff. It's a pricey kit with fairly expensive parts, but it's your money.....

It will also turn the car into an uncontrolled ground-to-ground missile, which would be irresponsible to run in the vicinity of other people.

[GooneyBird]

From my limited experience of running a (stock, silver can'ed) Sand Scorcher:
You don't steer it in the traditional sense. You point it towards a spot on the horizon, and hope you don't hit too many things along the way.

On the beach, this is fine. As long as it tracks somewhat straight it'll end up where it needs to be (or on its roof, always an option). Running one (for a giggle) on a high-traction carpet track was....scary. It would NOT accelarate in a straight line, braking was absolutely out of the question and there was the constant fear of flipping it.

If you're dead-set on having a Herbie with a 5.5t sensorless (!) brushless motor: buy a Proline VW Beetle shell and mount that to a modern 2WD buggy/Short course chassis of your choice. Something like a TRF211 or similar if you want to keep it Tamiya. And even then I doubt if this will result in something that's remotely controllable. (For comparison, the world championship offroad cars tend to run 6.5t sensored brushless motors, and 2WD something around 10.5t sensored)

 

 

[Backlash]

On ‎14‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 0:27 AM, SuperChamp82 said:

Thanks Backlash.

Ive not run a Sand Scorcher before - would the main problems be failing metal suspension arms or the fibreglass chassis plate  warping ?

Agree no 70s kit was designed for modern 5.5t power - I'm just seeing how far I can push things accepting breakages are half the fun

I've also seen an aluminium alloy chassis plate that might fix any warping w/o adding weight ?

 

Its been a lot of years since I've driven an SRB, but I guess that the first thing that will break is the ABS plastic body.. Next it will probably be the bumper..

From there its any ones best guess, but pot metal is rather fragile, and doesn't like being bent (in a crash), and if you do happen to bend something and not break it, you will be very lucky if you can manage to straighten it without it breaking..

I also recall having issues with the steering knuckles continually falling out due to the ball races in the arms wearing out (The re-re does have larger balls, so maybe Tamiya has cured that issue).. The SRB's don't have a differential (one of the causes of the poor handling they have) so I'm guessing that the soft brass Uni Joints in the re-re wont last that long either.. And lets not forget the aluminium pinion gear..

Also keep in mind that the SRB chassis only has two gear ratio options, and I don't know if either of them would be suitable for a 5.5 brushless motor..

[TurnipJF]

I can see the attraction of a SRB Herbie from a scale looks perspective. However it sounds like an expensive and frustrating exercise with the motor you are considering.

 

For scale looks and less expense/more robustness, how about basing it on a Hornet chassis? Or if you fancy a more modern RWD drivetrain, maybe the M-04? Or if you want 4WD, maybe the MF-01X?

 

You could perhaps keep the ABS shell for display purposes, and top it with a polycarbonate one from Kamtec for running duties?

[SuperChamp82]

Thanks Backlash and Turnip - much appreciated advice.

Lovin the Brit carbon fibre chassis btw. Not sure about an Egress ...

I know my idea pushes the SRB beyond its limits but that's sort of the point. Can nostalgia ever come up to date ?

The answer might be no - and yes Fuijo, safety will always come first - but it would be a lot of fun trying.

Money also isn't the issue - it's seeing if every 40 something Dad can recreate his childhood making 00 kids happy with modern tech.

And it's a question worth asking because I guarantee other Dads would enjoy themselves doing similar if we can make it work !

So much for inspiration ...

I'll start searching hop ups for each area you've rightly called out + welcome any more

 

[SuperChamp82]

Ok guys - I'm here to admit defeat !

A re re SRB is on its way plus bearings, ball diff, RC Channel alloy shocks all round and aluminium chassis / bumpers / motor plate / main gears.

Other tweaks are cosmetic - alloy wheels, scale cabin perks and a separate body so one is box art - but I've left the rest alone.

Power is going to be a v tame Tamiya Sport Tuned with HW Quicrun 1060 ESC ...

 If it's not enough I'll be back to ask how you wedge modern brushless into the SRB's alloy gearbox ! 

[Country Mike]

On 17/07/2017 at 1:55 PM, Backlash said:

Its been a lot of years since I've driven an SRB, but I guess that the first thing that will break is the ABS plastic body.. Next it will probably be the bumper..

From there its any ones best guess, but pot metal is rather fragile, and doesn't like being bent (in a crash), and if you do happen to bend something and not break it, you will be very lucky if you can manage to straighten it without it breaking..

I also recall having issues with the steering knuckles continually falling out due to the ball races in the arms wearing out (The re-re does have larger balls, so maybe Tamiya has cured that issue).. The SRB's don't have a differential (one of the causes of the poor handling they have) so I'm guessing that the soft brass Uni Joints in the re-re wont last that long either.. And lets not forget the aluminium pinion gear..

Also keep in mind that the SRB chassis only has two gear ratio options, and I don't know if either of them would be suitable for a 5.5 brushless motor..

I've been abusing a plastic body and its well tough! I've had tarmac roll overs and my body was on a orv for max height. 

[Backlash]

10 hours ago, Country Mike said:

I've been abusing a plastic body and its well tough! I've had tarmac roll overs and my body was on a orv for max height. 

But, were you running a 5.5 turn brushless motor like what the OP wants to use?