KingCab Restoration (pics)

[TonyH 16]

Looking for some advice/feedback..Starting to revive my old King Cab (quarantine madness setting in)... I ordered & installed the electronics a few months ago to get it running.. Now I just broke the bank and ordered one of stupidly expensive Thorp diff kits off of eBay (trans was slipping big time and had that melting smell from the last run)..Also ordered:

• New screw kit
• had the TBG body for years but never painted it (scared to ruin it!)
• Proline front tires

[KEV THE REV 2255]

Who doesn't love the KC

[TonyH 16]

Also wondering what kind of issues others have run into after restoring and running? Any parts breaking that I should look to grab while I can still find them? Can ampro print any plastic part from the kit?

[TonyH 16]

Thorp Diff and screw kit are in! Diff is perfect and lubed..is there anything else I need to know before dropping these parts in?

[Rhino1977 3]

Just posted on another thread about these - see below for my non runner as I am getting back into these (new on the forum) and have just bought an Aqroshot "for the kids" to add to my Ansmann X Pro (which I think probably stopped being produced after I bought it!!)  - I have some parts as well

[TonyH 16]

Good luck Rhino..I’m almost there..waiting on some stuff to come in. Painting the body is my biggest challenge. I wish I had some original decals, but since I don’t I kinda have to to my own thumbing which is also fun. 

[highflyer 73]

The plastic center gear support is weak, I have an Aluminum support on all my trucks.  I do believe you can find these on ebay still as a few companies like Thorp made them.

 

[TonyH 16]

Done..for now...color not at all what I expected. I was using duratrax candy red but it was translucent. So I backed it up with black and got this.  I actually found some original decals so I may attempt the box art at some point..thorp diff dialed in..25T Reedy stock motor and a 5000mah 6cell...this thing rips!s Still looking for nice wheel/tire combo but for now I’m happy. Have some pro-lines coming for the front. Waiting on the ampro battery bracket setup too. Spent way too much on this but it was worth it!

[highflyer 73]

Looking good TonyH..  Thinking of getting a Thorp diff for my runner and replace the TTC unit.

[TonyH 16]

Thanks highflyer....thorp diff wasn't as "plug and play" as I expected.. it was super noisy and slippy on the first couple of tries.. Had to tweak it a couple of times, add some more ball diff grease and it finally seems to be good now. I thought maybe the motor and new battery were too much for it but I think its good now. we'll see after a some more runtime on it

[TonyH 16]

Few underneath pics..

[highflyer 73]

I figured, my Thorp only lasted six months in mod truck (1991) running a soft 16T..   It did well in stock 27T though.

 

Thats clean, I'll upload a pic of my runner as I'm gonna put some AMPRO susp arms etc on it tomorrow.

 

[TonyH 16]

well if the thorp goes up in flames I have 2 stealth rc10s.... just need to get a mounting kit

[highflyer 73]

11 minutes ago, TonyH said:

well if the thorp goes up in flames I have 2 stealth rc10s.... just need to get a mounting kit

 Ampro gave me an email but the builder never got back to me, not sure if they make that kit still???

[TonyH 16]

RCC (Radio Controlled Customs) made that kit..I reached out to the guy but he never got back to me. Your build looks awesome! Where did you get those wheels & tires? That’s what I need!

[A-Baum 346]

On 5/6/2020 at 9:22 AM, Rhino1977 said:

 

Just had to say I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s “workbench” is the kitchen/dining table. I get jealous when I see so many people have a dedicated workbench with storage and the little rubber mat.  It’s just not as much fun if a 2mm washer doesn’t roll onto the carpet causing a family wide frantic search party.

[TonyH 16]

OK need some help here on my differential adjustment...when I go in reverse and hit the throttle hard, it slips. Is this normal or should it be popping a wheelie? If it's popping wheelies is that too tight?

 

[highflyer 73]

5 hours ago, TonyH said:

OK need some help here on my differential adjustment...when I go in reverse and hit the throttle hard, it slips. Is this normal or should it be popping a wheelie? If it's popping wheelies is that too tight?

 

You kinda answered your own question.  Both tweaks are normal, but I would not keep doing it because of possibly damaging that Diff.   Remember Thorp is an improvement but not bulletproof.  I remember running mine slightly loose to slip on starts for races on dirt.

 

These are old IMEX Dirt Dawg pins mounted on King Blackfoot wheels (chrome).  I only run these on dirt/ low grass.

[GTodd 1182]

I have the stealth kit in my childhood Monster Racer, game changer. I added the Rere TTC to the Kingcab I built for my son, nearly as good as the stealth. For the TTC use differential putty makes it as good as a stealth and you can use Tamiya and associated 48P gears with the Rere TTC as well.

[TonyH 16]

What size dampers should I be looking for to replace mine? I saw something that said 91mm for Kingcab but I don’t know it that’s correct.