Super Sabre general questions

[Zorvak 0]

Hi there,

I’ve recently reclaimed my old Super Sabre (I think 1989) from my parents loft, after some menial repairs and a new battery the car is running well tearing up and down the garden - I have a young son who is very interested in construction/Lego etc so he helped me repair it. 
 

I just really wanted to say hello and that I’m loving having it back working again, and if there’s any recommended tips for me for a car that hasn’t been driven for maybe 25 years! Any parts I should just go out and upgrade or if he’s still running if I should leave him alone?

 

thanks 

[Juggular 4964]

Welcome back to RC! 

If you enjoy taking things apart, I'd recommend putting in ball bearings. 

These white nylon bushings will end up grinding metal shafts down, creating gap.  Later on, when you try to install ball bearings, the shafts have become too thin to fit right.  From right to left, you can see how it wears out.   

5x11x4mm are the most common bearings (aka 1150).  The second most common bearing is 5x8x2.5mm (aka 850).  If you are not eager to take things apart, get bearings first and wait until there is a need for a rebuild.  Bearings cost about $3 for ten.  Twenty 1150 bearings and ten 850 should cover it.  It should cost about 10 USD total.  Parts last longer, it goes 15-20% faster, and the battery should last 10% longer too.  Ball Bearings get you the most bang for the buck.  

If yours came with a mechanical speed control, an electronic one would be a game changer.  Hobbywing 1060 ESC (electronic speed control) is a popular choice.  It can be found at about $14- 20 USD.  Instead of going at 50% speed, 75% and 100%, these ESCs give you smooth incremental speed control.  They were like $100 back in early 2000, but now, I've got a dozen for about $15 each.    

If you choose to upgrade to a faster motor, Hobbywing 1060 allows a motor down to 12 turn (which is too fast for me).  

And if you are bored, you might want to give a 2.4ghz radio for about $45- $50.  Flysky GT3C is a good starting point.  The fun (and dangerous) part is that each extra receiver costs $7.  And these new radios can control 10 cars (not all at once).  You don't need 10 radios for 10 cars.  You need only 2 radios between you and your son, and you could control any one of 2 dozen cars you will have. 

Like this trike (Dancing Rider) from Tamiya.  $80 for the kit, $6 worth of bearings, $14 for the speed control, $7 for the receiver.  Another $7 for a LiPo battery.  $114 was all I needed.  Well, I still haven't picked out a color for the shell, so that would add $9.  

When there is a child in the house, I would just go with a NiMH battery for now though.  LiPo gives you more amp, but there is a small chance of catching fire when mishandled.  

Take everything with a grain of salt. There is no law saying you should do one thing or another.  It's your hobby. If you have fun, that's all that matters.  

 

[Zorvak 0]

That is a tremendous answer thank you very much! I will get on to the ball beatings, I might be back just to double check I’m buying the right things (as I am a bit of an idiot) - I’m looking forward to a bit of maintenance and upgrading and hopefully a hobby that my son enjoys with me!

[ThunderDragonCy 7876]

You can count up how many bearings you need in the back on the manual. If you don't still have that, here's the Boomerang manual. It's the same chassis as yours, just with different colour plastics

https://www.tamiya.com/english/rc/rcmanual/58418boomerang.pdf

[Zorvak 0]

You’ll have to forgive me for asking so many idiotic questions - I have found them in the manual - looks like some go into the wheels and some go into the gearboxes. I don’t think I’m up to a gearbox refurb but I can do the wheels. Is the wear worse on the wheels or gearbox? Is it also the same case with the thrust washers (part 5700011)? And how can I tell if I have mechanical speed control?

Sorry for the questions and thanks in advance for your help!

[ThunderDragonCy 7876]

Any bearins will help, but really the gearboxes aren't that hard to pull apart and the bearings make more difference in there because everything is spinning faster. 

If your buggy is original it will have a mrchanical speed control. It uses a second servo (the first drives the steering) to swing an arm across some metal contacts. Mechanical speed control looks like this

Electronic Speed Control (ESC) are just little boxes. This is a hobbywing 1060

[Zorvak 0]

So I guess the 1150 and 860s are something like these? There are metal and rubber options?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/372244617607

in the same bags as those when I got the car was some rubber tubing (8000034) and thrust washers (5700011) should I get new ones of those as well?

and if anyone has a bette recommended source then the first ones I found on eBay that would be great!

 

[Baddon 860]

go to u Tube and do a search on Boomerang (same car with diferent colour higllights -reds become blue and a different shell)

 

Here is 2 options for you,

Glenn from Tamiya Legands does a 3 part restoration.

and Gavin from RC kicks does a 2 part restore

Both these guys are Tamiya nuts who are a few years ahead of you and me...great way to spend time catching up on your old buggies, ones you wanted or ones you now want.

[Zorvak 0]

Thank you so much, very helpful!

[slimleeroy 241]

On 4/18/2020 at 8:39 AM, Zorvak said:

That is a tremendous answer thank you very much! I will get on to the ball beatings, I might be back just to double check I’m buying the right things (as I am a bit of an idiot) - I’m looking forward to a bit of maintenance and upgrading and hopefully a hobby that my son enjoys with me!

Just buy a ballrace set for the boomerang.  It's the same car bar minor damper changes and different body.

Do a search on eBay for tamiya boomerang ballrace set

[Zorvak 0]

Thank you!!

[Zorvak 0]

So I’ve upgraded the bearings in the wheels (1150s) and have just ordered some for the gearboxes. I was also going to order some 850s but according to the parts listing in the manual they are metal anyway...so should I not bother?