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The QD dampers are kind of a sealed unit . The shaft is pressed in to the lower fitting . You could maybe 'unscrew' the spring , but seems a lot of effort . You can replace the dampers with oil filled ones . I did it on QD Clod with generic dampers . You can also get yellow CVA QD kit dampers , very rare , but I did it . The QD MP tyres are Lunchbox tyres 100 %

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22 minutes ago, KEV THE REV said:

The QD dampers are kind of a sealed unit . The shaft is pressed in to the lower fitting . You could maybe 'unscrew' the spring , but seems a lot of effort . You can replace the dampers with oil filled ones . I did it on QD Clod with generic dampers . You can also get yellow CVA QD kit dampers , very rare , but I did it . The QD MP tyres are Lunchbox tyres 100 %

That's really useful, thank you. I'll think about unscrewing the spring, but I may well deform them in doing that.

I'd like to try and keep them stock for now - and then look into upgrades after a little run time. I've seen some red QD shocks on Ebay, but the yellow ones would really work in the Pumpkin, so I'll keep looking.

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You can 'clean up' the springs with a bit of light cleaning over the top with a foam backed wet & dry pad  . Those QD red dampers on eBay are mine . If you want them drop me a line . I also have one black one :)

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Thanks, black ones would work better than the red for sure. I'll see how bad these are, but might well give you a shout. 

When I am able to add to TCPhotos I'll take some pictures of them both.

They seem like fun cars, the small size and short wheelbase means turning radius is tiny (especially with a proper servo) but there's enough car there so they don't get trod on, and it seems like you can mod them too. Spare seem rare, but not so rare that it's a dead end if something breaks, and I'm sure if I keep an eye on ebay I'll be able to pick up a few junk cars for spares.

Now I'm debating a Thunder Dragon! Agghhhhhh. 
 

 

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4 hours ago, Nikko85 said:

 

Now I'm debating a Thunder Dragon! Agghhhhhh. 
 

 

Leave them thunder dragons alone. Lol. 

I have them all anyway. Lol. 

 

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Well, the QD pumpkin arrived and it's the rustiest car I've ever seen. A number of the bolts are completely stripped and rusted, I took off a wheel that was falling apart and....... and a moth flew out. Quite a few screws needed to be drilled out completely. However I think it is salvageable. Thankfully the plastic is in ok condition (apart from the bumper, which I am going to fix.

Now I've got it close up I can see my Clodbuster copy is completely different. The gearbox, chassis, steering system and how the body connects are different too, so it was a copy, but not made with the same tooling or probably in the same factory either, more of a rip off! This is different from the Radioshack/Tandy version, which I think is the same car with different electronics and wheels.

Tomorrow I open the gearbox, and hope that's not rusted completely!

The plan for the MP is to

strip out the rusted battery compartment and sand it flat, so a 9.6 volt battery can come in
drop in a servo and convert to modern electronics
drill out some of the screws and use bolts to connect it all up
Use aluminium bar to make my own bumper

I'm aware that after all this I could have bought a modern Midnight Pumpkin, but I like the engineering challenge, and the small scale is really cool.

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On 2/15/2021 at 11:15 PM, Nikko85 said:

So, this seems to be my exact fault. Perfect going into forward when it works. Perfect going into reverse. But going from reverse to forward often does nothing,  just both LEDs flashing and zero movement. 

So, it seems like I may have just got unlucky - I've order a new TX and ESC - so hopefully will have some lucky with a combination that doesn't glitch. 
 

 

 

 

 

A few updates.

Well, the new controller turned up and it works perfectly with the EZrun. Zero issues at all, just a nice, neat system which swings from forward to reverse in crawler mode. The issue was with the eTronix RC system, it was just was causing interference, so this may help someone for future reference. EzRun and Etronix just don't mix.

I've opened up both gearboxes (the Pumpkin and the Fake Clod) and the Pumpkin's looks much studier. Thicker gears, wider pinion, just all round more serious. However the Pumpkin needs more work, so I'm going to get the Fake QD working first. Gearbox is quite noisy, so I'll clean up completely, and grease up, and hope for the best, I'm not sure what the other QDs are like in terms of volume, I do like a nicer quiet car.

My aim is to run it with 4.8 volts, so I don't worry about tearing out the gearbox with the brushless motor. The fake clod can't take bearings either, so I want it to run low and cool. I've bought an 4 x AA battery holder, which I plan to use inside the chassis, leaving the battery bay empty. If the 4.8 volts works well, I may decide to buy a proper 4.8 NiMH Sub cell pack, or solder up 2 x 4 AA in parallel and place in the battery bay. 

I'll get some pictures when I can, I've got a big issue getting on TCPhotos.

 





 

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Well I opened up the gearbox to install the new electrics and it looks like I blew up the differential last time. Other gears are more robust looking, but I thought the gearbox was quite weak looking in general.

So I now have a fixed rear glued diff. Not perfect but its a £20 car. 

On the plus side it works quite well. At 4 x AA it moves ok , and at 8 x AA it really goes.  Tires are junk however, so that's a shame but I need new tires for the pumpkin anyhow. Think this car will be a test bed, and I'll take over the best ideas to the real QD. 

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So, after a bit of playing with the car the 4.8V does seem a little low (perhaps it's the AA over Sub C) but as minimum for the ESC is 4 x Sub C I think I'm cutting it too fine. However turning down the punch seems to help a little with a higher voltage.

I've got the same clattering rear end as a pumpkin, so debating a 5th shock mod, as it does really make a racket when accelerating at low speed.

I might just block up the vertical travel in  another option, which will remove articulation, but I've got no diff, so might as well go all in!

So, the gearbox goes make a real racket - is this a) the brushless motor or b) my gearbox? It's not completely trivial, as I often just drive around in my house and like quiet car..

 

 

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Well, having given the car a spin the gearbox does seem a really weak point. The rest of the Fake QD is pretty standard (and in fact some areas are a better design than the real QD, but there is very little to the car) but the gearbox is cheap and juddery, and now I've opened up the QD and compared the two there is no comparison. Every time I hit the throttle the gearbox sounds like it's going to explode. Even with the motor set to low it's just not a smooth action.

But.....I do have spare gearbox from a Nikko Might Max with is 540 powered - and similar to the hornet/grasshopper.

I've seen some photos here of cars that have been converted and they do look nice. The rear wheels would stick out further, but I plan to flip the wheels hubs meaning the hex attachment is near the outside of the wheel, and this will pull the wheels in so they line up with the front. 

It looks like the wheelbase will be enlongated, but only by perhaps a cm, which shouldn't be too noticeable.

 

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Well this escalated quickly. 540 Motor and gearbox on the clod copy. I've kept the clod stock, but cut the gearbox to fit in. Its about 1 cm wider in the rear and 2 cm long wheelbase, but looks fine. I also resprayed the faded chrome and aged with shoe polish.

Cheap esc should power the 540 fine for my needs.

Forum etiquette question, can I make a new post in the builds, or keep it here.

20210226_190032.jpg

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Pic from the top.

So next install an ESC, shocks and tire, make windows and paint hubs white.

16143665637733793352000853153546.jpg

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Unconventional back end. Rear articulation and travel is reduced as the 540 gets in the way and it's quite a bit stiffer. But, it seems to work for now. 

I've got bolts attaching the gearbox now. I can lock the gearbox higher or lower or have loose for a little pivot action. I'll test it out soon.

 

20210227_122704.jpg

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Ok, some help needed please.

The car works really well in general. I went for the cheap 320 Amp ESC and it  I must say I really like the plug and play aspect. I'm pairing it with a 540 35T motor I have. The only bad thing with the ESC is that it seems to have a 7.2 Voltage limit for NiMH at 540 sizes. This means I'll need to find a way to use the 7.2 Volt pack. More chopping. However it's night a day in terms of ease compared to the EZrun combo with the old gearbox. And it sounds nice.

However I do have an issue with my rear suspension. When I accelerate the back end rises and the gearbox rotates backwards. This causes the whole rear suspension to unravels as the springs pop out of the cups. This is because there is no limit in how far the rear can articulate (I lost this when I cut in the new gearbox) and rear suspension can be pulled apart (it's just a spring on two cups held on with compression). This also means any jump or when I pick up the truck would result losing the springs.

I could glue the springs at both ends of the cups, but I wouldn't trust that fix long term. A piece of string might work, but again, it's inelegant, and there is no dampening effect, so it might either snap the string or damage the car. 

Am I right in thinking that most suspension has a limit in how far it can open? I mean you can't just pull them apart? A system that works in compression and tension would be best if that exists.

Sorry for the very newbie question, but nothing like a tough project to cut your teeth on!

 

 

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7.2V battery fits. Lots of careful dremmeling but I got lucky in that there is just depth to fit it in. 

Spring problem solved by heating spring wires on gas hobs then pushing into the cups. Red hot wire melts into and bonds with plastic. Now they are fixed really really well and I can't pull them apart.  

Oh and I made windows with plastic folder material.

20210302_205307.jpg

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The pack is tight in there isn't it . I had to do the same . I also had to heat up the battery door and put a slight curve in it to wrap around the pack . Your truck looks great

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57 minutes ago, KEV THE REV said:

The pack is tight in there isn't it . I had to do the same . I also had to heat up the battery door and put a slight curve in it to wrap around the pack . Your truck looks great

Thanks Kev. I made a post in the builds to show what I had done.

Great minds think alike, I also heated up the battery door on the gas hob! I tried to keep most of it flat, with two tighter angles at both ends. I then sprayed it black as the heating had made it look a little grey and greasy.  

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Rear now upgraded with a fix to stop the back pulling down under acceleration. Very muddy field but it certainly runs! Will roll if turned too hard under max throttle, but that's just a MT, a bumpy field and my driving. 

It looks like this will be going to my ten year old nephew, and I've got another (Nikko Turbo Dasher, great car) for my niece. I've not seen them since lockdown, and need some presents to cover Christmas and Birthdays.

I was quite impressed with how it went, although it's high geared it accelerates ok and motor temp didn't seem too bad, however I did cut away most of the housing for the motor, so it should run cooler than the original design. Didn't really get to check out max speed, as it was very bumpy, but it was pretty nippy, faster than a stock QD, and many times faster than the Scientific Toys original.

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Uhg, I shouldn’t be reading these threads, I may want to do something with my Radio Shack version from 30 years ago......once I find it, that isđŸ˜…

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5 hours ago, BJoe76 said:

Uhg, I shouldn’t be reading these threads, I may want to do something with my Radio Shack version from 30 years ago......once I find it, that isđŸ˜…

Do it! They are really great cars. Thanks to @nowinaminute for the advice on the Nikko gearbox, bearings in now and work a treat. Tough little guys too.

16155836669788665146226509373179.jpg

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Are tires still available if the one I mine end up being toast?

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The Lunchbox / Pumpkin etc tyres fit the Tamiya QD trucks , so if yours are the same size as QD tyres then you're ok .

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Yep. Oddly enough the tires that came with my fake clod were 7mm hex (same as many Nikkos) and also fit the Pumpkin.

However it does look like the tires on yours will be different. This might help. If it is the same as mine wheels and tires are almost direct swap, but it might be different.

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Nikko85 said:

Yep. Oddly enough the tires that came with my fake clod were 7mm hex (same as many Nikkos) and also fit the Pumpkin.

However it does look like the tires on yours will be different. This might help. If it is the same as mine wheels and tires are almost direct swap, but it might be different.

 

 

 

 

That is interesting, though mine isn’t a Street Comber!  Mine has the bigger wheels and tires that are more like the QD trucks but aren’t removable and is molded in black like the QD Pumpkin, but may have the chromed goodies vs satin plated. If it had stickers, I may have pulled those off since I preferred cleaner appearances way back when too, though if I find it, I may use my Moltow pens on the molded in chrome trim on the body like I’m planning on for my Lunchbox and Clod, once those are painted. 

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