Help taking Vintage Blackfoot/Mud Blaster to brushless

[ReD-BaRoN]

Hey folks,

I have an original Tamiya Mud Blaster (Blackfoot essentially) which has gone through some changes over the years (Trackmaster Turbo Glide, Thorp dog bones, Tekin SC, Trinity Nuclear Assault motor, aluminum oiled shocks), but hasn’t really been used for the last 25 years or so.

The Telkin TSC410S speed control doesn’t have reverse, and that’s not going to work for bashing, so I’m looking to do the Lipo and Brushless conversion, but don’t know where to start.

I have already received the MIP diff and the Tamiya universal axels (the Trackmaster diff was missing the diff screw and I lost a dog bone somewhere along the way - now it’s all “vintage” and parts cost an arm and a leg”). 

I would be looking for whatever else I need to get this puppy running its best. I would probably also get a new transmitter/receiver, my kids are making fun of me with my Futaba Attack FP-T2NBL and it’s 3 foot long antenna.

Thanks for any suggestions you can give.

[Juggular]

3 hours ago, ReD-BaRoN said:

my kids are making fun of me with my Futaba Attack FP-T2NBL and it’s 3 foot long antenna.

lol, I could see that happening. 

Sensored or sensorless?  If you want some "control," you'd want sensored.  Hobbywing 10BL120 costs about $55.  Personally I'm comfortable with 13.5t, but 10.5 turn motor would give you some room to expand.  They cost about $35-40.  You could get a 9.5t for the same price, but I don't know how wise it would be to go that far on a vintage design.  It's just not all that stable compared to more recent chassis.  Not a lot of people enjoy seeing their vintage RC car flying around without wings. (Well, flying isn't the problem, landing is) 

Sensorless brushless has occasional cogging issues, but if you are gunning it all the time, you would not care about low speed control anyway.  Hobbyking used to have 80A ESC that could handle both sensored and sensorless motors.  But they are out of stock.  But you can find a clone on ebay.  If you are using 80A ESC, you can go up to 4000KV.  Which would be similar to sensored 10.5t motor.  

4000kv x 7.4v Lipo = 29,600 RPM.  For ORV chassis, that should be plenty.  

For a cheap and reliable radio system, you could start looking with Flysky GT3C (about $45).  It's got more functions than Futaba Attack radio.  And if you want more cars to your fleet later on, each receiver costs about $7-8 (up to 10 cars).  

 

[ThunderDragonCy]

With the gearing of the blackfoot and the MIP diff, a 10.5 brushless would be suit, but it will be pretty quick! I can also recommend the hobbywing 10bl120. Great piece of kit. I run one of the blue can brushless motor in my DT03 truck. Its sensored and i like the smoothness compared to sensorless. Just search ebay for "high efficiency brushless motor" and thry should pop in various tutn ratings. You will need to be handy with the soldering iron to get these up and running as the ESC needs soldering to the motor and doesn't come with a plug. You choose you preferred plug and out it on. Most people run Deans or XT60 plugs as tamiya plugs have loads of resistance and tend to melt under lipo current delivery. You will also need a sensor cable, which are standardised llug size but different lengths. Measure on the truvk from where the esc will fit to the far side of the motor to get an idea. 

[Nobbi1977]

Just a thought but why not keep the original totally original with all the radio gear and then build a Re-release for bashing with the kids? Lots of nostalgia but without the regret when it breaks.

[ruebiracer]

Personally, I would set the Limit for this ORV at 13,5t. In my runner I have an old Speed Passion 17,5t with a little boost, running nice. Should be quite the same top Speed with a no boost 13,5t. But I´ve to admit using a slipperclutch in mine.

[ThunderDragonCy]

@ReD-BaRoN As @ruebiracer has direct experience i would take his advice. 

[ruebiracer]

In the end it´s always depending on how you drive and what damages you are willing to risk! I don´t do totally silly jumps and try to avoid driving that will obviously fail. I mean it´s a Vintage Monster truck with limited suspension travel based on an ORV Chassis.  I´m always surprised, how well it´s working. 

[Frog Jumper]

Buy a ReRe and play with that. Put your original on the shelf...

Terry