BigWig Dilema

[lentner3]

Ok to build or not to build. I can’t decide. I like the look of the build process which we know is half the fun. But I can see my self running this buggy and would be a shame to builD then box it back up as I have no display space left. So my options are keep it NIB and build/sell some time in the future. Sell it now, or build and run it? Can’t help thinking that I’d be better off selling and putting the cash in to my other models. Any advice. What’s a nib re re actually worth these days and is it worth holding in to? Unfortunately the Bigwig passed me by the first time around so can’t muster any nostalgia like I can with a lot of the other re-re’s.

[Percymon]

Its probably worth the equivalent of Tamico pricing on eBay, if you're in no rush to sell.  Could well find a buyer for a nice Xmas pressie

I didnt find the restoration of mine anything special to be honest as a build process, if you've buit a hotshot series before then it's largely the same.  I'm not a fan of the BigWig, it has a lot of loyal fans but to me its a rather bloated looking Hotshot; yes it handles a little better but it's still a vintage buggy

[lentner3]

No I’m not desperate to sell. But never built any of the hotshot series before either. I know it will end up trashed if I run it so it will only end up as a shelfer which seem pointless to me. If it was vintage I could justify putting it on the shelf but not the re re. Might just stick it in the trades section and see if anyone is interested.

[Hobbimaster]

As for selling it, you may be taking a hit. The BigWig is still currently available for around $175usd. Most people will want it for even less since its not being purchased from a proper hobby retailer. It really is a brilliant car with ball bearings, and upgraded motor. Since I already have a Hotshot and Super Hotshot, I built mine using a 8.4v pack and esc to at least make an attempt to make it different. In fact with a 8.4v pack it moves out quite quickly compared to my 2 Hotshots. Is it worth keeping? I'd say yes it is, But ultimately its up to you. I'm over 40+ cars now, all in totes, on shelves, or wherever I can find a space.

[lentner3]

Are these likely to go up in value if I keep hold of it? Or will they do another re-re run? I’d probably be happy to take £150 plus shipping if I could get it. Probably will keep it if I can’t get that. 

[Percymon]

Who knows - Boomerang re-re kits disappeared off the shop shelves a year or so ago, not sure they are making a premium on any ebay sales

[Juggular]

 

9 hours ago, Percymon said:

Its probably worth the equivalent of Tamico pricing on eBay, if you're in no rush to sell.  Could well find a buyer for a nice Xmas pressie

I didnt find the restoration of mine anything special to be honest as a build process, if you've buit a hotshot series before then it's largely the same.  I'm not a fan of the BigWig, it has a lot of loyal fans but to me its a rather bloated looking Hotshot; yes it handles a little better but it's still a vintage buggy

"a rather bloated looking Hotshot..."   I got a Bigwig only about 3 months ago, but I must admit that was a good description.  

[lentner3]

I opened the box, gave it a smell, took a deep breath, hmmmm🤔 . I think i’ll Build it 😁 but I will hold off as long as possible. The rack and pinion steering has me intrigued. But will it be any good as a runner or am I going to end up breaking it?

[Juggular]

10 hours ago, lentner3 said:

I opened the box, gave it a smell, took a deep breath, hmmmm🤔 . I think i’ll Build it 😁 but I will hold off as long as possible. The rack and pinion steering has me intrigued. But will it be any good as a runner or am I going to end up breaking it?

What you smelled is factory air from Japan.  Not the best air, I would imagine.  Yet, I do that too.  As I was building it, I found 3 places where I ended up paying more attention. 

1) It's optional.  But I shimmed bevel gears on both ends of driveshaft for smoother operation.  I forgot what size shims I put in, maybe 0.2 or 0.3mm.  Just watch how they mesh.  If you rotate the bevel gears, they squirm and wobble a tiny bit, because they are not perfectly round.  The part tree says 1985.  The plastic molding skills weren't quite as good as today's.  Shims give some clearance for the bevel gears to mesh well without bumping into each other and making a weird whirring sound.  Even if you don't do this, Bigwig runs well, though.  

 

2) O-rings in the dog-bone cups interfered with suspension travel at the horizontal level.  The manual is very strange.  It shows 2 O-rings in each of 2 cups in the front.  The other 6 cups show no O-rings.  You could watch that carefully, and adjust the number of O-rings you'd put in.  I thought O-rings were pushing too hard at the top of the suspension travel. 

As an experiment (because I like to tinker), I put in soft springs.  I cut them from a spring of a ballpoint pen.  I widened one end so they could compress down to half the width of an o-ring.  (In the photo, one spring is stuck on the tip by some grease, and another one is inserted into the cup).  I don't know how durable those springs are.  They keep the dog bones in the perfect middle position between the two cups.  Because they don't get bounced around left and right, dog bones don't clatter about, at any angle.  Getting some urethane spacers would be much simpler, but they don't bounce as fast as springs (don't get red urethane; they are too hard).  Until these prove to be a failure, I like springs better than the urethane spacers (and cheaper too: I only destroyed 2 pens worth 20 cents each).  

 

3) I also put a zip-tie on the servo saver.  The servo saver flexes too much for the rack-and-pinion to work properly, IMO.  (It had to flex a lot in 1985 with weaker servos, but your servo probably isn't from 1985)  With a zip-tie, it still gives a little like a stronger servo saver.  Just rotate the knobby head of the zip-tie to one side.  The up-position the photo shows is where the front gearbox will be, so that's not a good place for the zip head. 

To handle the rack-and-pinion, the steering servo should be slightly stronger than standard servos, I think.  I used Traxxas 2055.  The unique bulge on the servo body also interferes with the gearbox, so I had to shave some.  The sound the Traxxas servo makes is an abomination, but it has 86 oz of torque (compared to 57 oz of Futaba S3003).  It works for me.  I didn't want to put in one Savox I have in Bigwig (Savox metal gears also sound worse than nylon gears of standard servos).  

 

Bigwig is the best runner in the Hotshot family.  Have fun building it when you finally go for it.  

Here is a running video by Matteo.  He said he used the shock piston with biggest oil holes (for the fastest suspension movement), and it seems to work well.  

 

 

[lentner3]

I changed my mind, the lad made me build the be big instead and this is now for sale. Looking for something modern.