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No billet chassis for the Blackfoot. darn it!

jimbo858

By jimbo858
in Vintage Tamiya Discussion

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jimbo858 Enthusiast

jimbo858

Posted
Posted

okay, I saw that one of the member albums that had a billet chassis for their blackfoot. Supposedly this was made by www.esphobby.com so I sent them an email. Here's their response and of course my reply. Just in case anyone was interested...

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Dear Eric,

you really know how to depress an old guy like me! I'm really bummed. That was one beautiful idea you had. Now that all of us ole'30+yr olds are starting to regress I'm sure that this news will really depress the rest of the old guys who have rediscovered their old blackfeet (... wait.. what's the plural of blackfoot?). It's a shame that us old guys don't have the option of getting a superior "NEW" replacement chassis. I spending way too much money on eBay trying to repair my old stuff only to break it when I'm bashing the little guy around. And just off the top of my head I'm pretty sure that the same chassis would fit the following Tamiya cars/trucks;

- Subaru brat

- Frog

- Blackfoot

- Monster Beetle

- Mud Blaster

- Super Blackfoot

- King Blackfoot

as well as others... hint-hint... Anyhow, if you DO change your mind. I really wouldn't mind a similar chassis with the ability to hold say two 7.2V NiMh battery packs... hint-hint...

thanks,

jim...

----- Original Message -----

From: Eric , the Pilot in Command@ESP

To: Jim Jumamil

Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2005 3:53 PM

Subject: Re: do you make a billet chassis for the Tamiya Blackfoot?

We did design and build that one prototype chassis many years ago. The target price at the time would have been about $150.00 for the kit and we felt that there probably weren't enough people who would spend that kind of money on a truck that only cost about $125.00 to begin with. As such, the project was scrapped. Incidently, we had to use the old shorter Blackfoot suspension arms on the front as our chassis was so much wider and would have been way out of sync with the rear width if we had used the Super Blackfoot arms. We also never made any provisions to mount the battery either, so it really was never quite finished. Indeed, this particular one was sold on EBay a couple of years ago and is now an interesting collectable, for sure. And I'm sorry to say to you Blackfoot fans that we have no plans to ever attempt it again. Eric.

Shodog Newbie Copy

Shodog

Posted
Posted

That looks pretty easy to make. my local hardware store carries u shaped aluminum stock. all you would need to make would be the cross braces. and the mount points.

Shodog Newbie Copy

Shodog

Posted
Posted
quote:Originally posted by stulec52

ok Jim, then the challenge is set. You make em, I'm sure there would be several buyers, me for one !

id="quote">id="quote">

The guy that does my cages is in the process of buying a Tig welder for his home. Once that happens the sky is the limit. Even better than this chassis would be a tube chassis that the body fits over.

Jim

DJTheo Newbie Copy

DJTheo

Posted
Posted

Sorry but except for the rarity, that chassis doesn't impress me as a construction, just 4 beams, am sure someone like G-made or Twinset could do something much better. Still am not sure if I would want one, as for me the main characteristic and personality of those cars lies in the space frame chassis design, if you remove that, it will be just another MT, just my personal view point...

Cheers

Scorcher Champ Collaborator

Scorcher Champ

Posted
Posted

During the late 80's there was a small company that made an exact replica of the Frog/Blackfoot chassy in polished aluminum. It was in one of the '87 or '88 issues of R/C Car Action Mag. I can't remember the name of them for the life of me, but I do remember they had a small black & white ad and were the same people who made a very limited run of tube-type full roll cages for the S.S., R.R, F.R. and S.C. I have some of those year's issues and will breeze through them to see if I can find the Ad. If I find it, I will try and post a pic of it, but I need to know how that is done.

jimbo858 Enthusiast

jimbo858

Posted
  • Author
Posted
quote:Originally posted by mymonsterbeetleisbroken

how would the rear swingarms of a frog/monster beetle etc mount onto that without adding extra metal? it looks like it can only be used with a super blackfoot/bush devel/king blackfoot truck.

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maybe a few extra screw holes in similar locations to the old chassis? and then just reuse the old swing arms and mounting points.

jimbo858 Enthusiast

jimbo858

Posted
  • Author
Posted
quote:Originally posted by Stefan

Shodog, if a tube frame / chassis gets done for "blackfoot / alike" , put me down for one please :)

Stefan

id="quote">id="quote">

me too! [:I]

Shodog Newbie Copy

Shodog

Posted
Posted
quote:Originally posted by Stefan

Shodog, if a tube frame / chassis gets done for "blackfoot / alike" , put me down for one please :)

Stefan

id="quote">id="quote">
quote:Originally posted by jimbo858

me too! [:I]

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It's something to consider if there is enough interest. Before something of this nature I want him to build me some SRB Sand rail chassis

Stefan(2) Newbie Copy

Stefan(2)

Posted
Posted

Yes, i understand...

But i don't have a SRB .. but plenty of blackfoot's ! :) :) :)

nahhh, skipping the joking, imho , when a tube frame would be made

for universal use (using the chassis of a blackfoot/frog/ect. would give a load

of people a nice option part to fit.

Go "vintage" , use a original blackfoot, or go for something more modern/runner, use a king blackfoot stearing/drivetrain.

A well, keep us posted! (forget the srb parts ;) )

Stefan

billg4 Mentor

billg4

Posted
Posted

nice chassis, but certainly not BILLET chassis

Billet would be machined from a block of aluminum

that's just aluminum extrusions secured together by aluminum round stock

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