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Nicadraus

Vintage Wild One to Blockhead conversion

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The Wild One. This was my dream kit back in the 80s. I've had hand-me-down kits from my dad which was the Ford F150 XLT and my older brother's Subaru Brat which I later converted to a Frog. But neither could keep up with my friends' RCs. When I saw the Wild One in catalogs, I wanted it so badly. Unfortunately, it wasn't available at our local hobby shops. Importing was very expensive at that time. So that wish stayed as a dream. 

Eventually, I got a newer kit. The Astute. I loved it. It was definitely way better than the Wild One on and off track. But the Wild One just kept haunting me. It was also unfortunate that I missed getting the re-re. I think I was too late when I resumed to this hobby (Sept 2018). My plan of getting just one kit and rebuilding my dad's CC-01 turned into addiction. I currently have six heavily modified running kits, one heavily modified shelf queen (and she still gets upgrades from time to time), a few micro and mini helis, and now an actual vintage Wild One. It was given yesterday by my friend and DJ student of mine. He has 3 of this (and about 100+ RCs). 2 vintage and a re-re. When we last discussed it two weeks ago, I mentioned that I always wanted the WO. It was such a surprise when he handed me this one. Now my mind can't stop thinking of what to do with it. Keep it all original or should I convert it into something that will perform better on and off track.

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Let's see what this one will turn out to be...

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Today I started disassembling the kit and cleaned everything. Shocks have been cleaned as well and put in new oil. I also cleaned the axles and re-greased them. Replaced all bearing to rubber sealed which I've had as extras since two years ago for my CC-01 and FF-01.

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I replaced the original shocks in the rear. I cleaned and replaced the oil but the rebound isn't as nice anymore and one is already leaking. Ordered this pair of aluminum shocks with internal springs ($15). I just replaced the o-rings and put Tamiya shock oil. Works great! 

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Still waiting for some parts I ordered. Will update this build soon. :)

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So my other set of 85mm shocks came in today. I rebuilt it, replaced the o-rings and put Tamiya yellow oil. Installed them in the rear. I decided to install the shocks with internal springs in front as the other front shocks have a bad leak too. These sets definitely works better. Smoother and rebound is nicer too.

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I've had this set of YR aluminum servo mounts since last year as extra. I decided to use it for here.

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Old set of shocks. One rear shock and one front shock are already leaking badly.

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Nice work .I love these buggies , one of Mr. T's best looking models . I like those front shocks , more realistic . I have a few sets of those rear shocks on various models , nice for the price . Careful with those front wheels , they are vintage early type and can snap easily if run hard , rear too but fronts are worse

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8 hours ago, KEV THE REV said:

Nice work .I love these buggies , one of Mr. T's best looking models . I like those front shocks , more realistic . I have a few sets of those rear shocks on various models , nice for the price . Careful with those front wheels , they are vintage early type and can snap easily if run hard , rear too but fronts are worse

Thanks!

The front and rear rear wheels will be replaced. I was thinking maybe the SA or DT-03 wheels. Not sure yet but might just get both sets and change them once in a while. I'm also still going to replace some parts. I might get an FAV front bonnet so it's hard plastic and fabricate a roof from an aluminum sheet. There are so many inspirations from other builds to get ideas from. The work of @Problemchild really inspired me too. :)

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6 hours ago, Nicadraus said:

fabricate a roof from an aluminum sheet

I have made a solid roof from styrene card , 2 layer and top profiles , and I also have an alu one made by another member and I've added top profiles to replicate the original - need to get a pic of that one

Styrene roof

1st pic unpainted , 2nd pic fitted to W/O and painted

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1 hour ago, KEV THE REV said:

I have made a solid roof from styrene card , 2 layer and top profiles , and I also have an alu one made by another member and I've added top profiles to replicate the original - need to get a pic of that one

Styrene roof

1st pic unpainted , 2nd pic fitted to W/O and painted

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Looks great! ;)

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Some items came in today...

SPT servo 4412LV and Surpass 23t motor

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HW 1060 ESC

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Tamiya damper O-ring set

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On 3/14/2021 at 5:12 PM, Nicadraus said:

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Given the placement of the motor being RIGHT behind one of the driven wheels, I suspect the endbell will get VERY dirty VERY quickly. Do you have any plans in mind on how to avoid this? Or will this not be a runner?

Great thread btw, keep it up!

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3 hours ago, DeadMeat666 said:

Given the placement of the motor being RIGHT behind one of the driven wheels, I suspect the endbell will get VERY dirty VERY quickly. Do you have any plans in mind on how to avoid this? Or will this not be a runner?

Great thread btw, keep it up!

Thanks! It sure is going to be a runner. A light runner. No plans of racing it or doing crazy jumps with it.

With regards to the end bell, I think I'll create a guard but not totally enclose it as it may get hot.

1 hour ago, KEV THE REV said:

I made a motor guard for one of my Wild Ones . Made from styrene card 

 

 

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That's neat!

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So here's what I did today...

Shortened the servo wire

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New RX came yesterday.

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Opened the new ESC and changed the plug

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I also found the perfect Lipo battery for the Wild One. This wont need any modification in the battery bay. Fits perfectly. I just replaced the XT connector to deans.

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Installed the electronics...

I created slots to make way for the motor wires.

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I also drilled a hole to insert the cable tie to hold the motor wires.

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I added 15grams of weight up front too. I also cut short the internal springs for a softer rebound shocks. It does really help

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Installed front and rear lights.

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Fabricated a fin from a 1mm plastic card

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Here it is so far. It's now a runner but I still need to change the wheels and tires. The vintage wheels are too fragile already.

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great write up. The Wild One is also one of my favourite runners and I am liking some of the mods you have done, so will probably shamelessly copy :D

Make sure to post some pics once you run it!

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4 hours ago, yogi-bear said:

great write up. The Wild One is also one of my favourite runners and I am liking some of the mods you have done, so will probably shamelessly copy :D

Make sure to post some pics once you run it!

Sure you may use whatever idea. This is one of the fun things about forums. Ideas, tips and modifications are shared for others to use it too. I also got some ideas and tips from others here. 😊

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Some progress today...

My 1mm aluminum board arrived today. Was waiting for this and got something in mind. 

So I fabricated a roof using the aluminum board and 2mm carbon fiber.

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Installed and bent the aluminum a little downward.

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Since the original wheels and tires have cracks already, I decided to change them to something modern. Dropped by the local hobby shop today and bought SA rear wheels and DT-03 front wheels. I couldn't find any SA front wheels available but these two sets look good together anyway.

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Still waiting for the rear tires I ordered.

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I also took @Problemchild's advice and ordered a 20mm hex hub, to replace the original plastic hubs and be able to use modern hex wheels. 

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The old wheels/tires set. :(

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Nice job, going to steel your roof idea for my FAV. It has a bit of gravel rash from when it had a "too fast" BL motor. Now it has a Tamiya Super Stock. I'm running the same battery and ESC as you, its a good combo.

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So for the third time, I revised the shocks set up...

Moved the front shock with internal springs in the back. I replaced the spring with a harder one that came with the black while I put the softer springs that I previously cut short for the black shock in front. The black shocks is 90mm (eye-to-eye/ETE) while the silver is 80mm (ETE).

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I have also added a small piece of aluminum on the roof in front whoch will also serve as protector for the CF.

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Ordered a new set of 15t (brass) and 18t (steel) pinion gears. I've installed the 18t.

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Just waiting for the new set of rear tires to arrive and it's ready to run!

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Looks good . Any reason for buying black fronts when you had silver shocks already ? - just curious

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12 hours ago, KEV THE REV said:

Looks good . Any reason for buying black fronts when you had silver shocks already ? - just curious

The shocks previously installed in the back is just 1mm away from the SA rims. I figured that when the tires arrive and installed, it will bind with the springs. So I need to put a narrower shocks at the back to avoid any problems. Now since the rear requires a shorter damper than the front, I put back the silver there. For the black shocks, I also added 3 o-rings inside along the rod to make the travel 4mm shorter. The cut soft springs now rebounds even smoother and perfect for the front. While the silver with uncut harder springs at the back is also perfect especially when there's load already. The previous shocks was still too hard even with its collar all in the way up.

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THIS was a Treat!! I've wanted a Wild One for YEARS!! Now I can finally afford one, but the best "deals" I can find are $500.00 and UP!! And all from Japan! 😖😠😭😖😞

I want a NIB rere, to not upset History.... But they're ridiculous right now!! 

You're doing a fantastic job of restoring yours. One thing I'm going to try (and why I want a rere) is boring out the ends of the Trailing Arms, and fitting Bearings. I know that Fast Eddy Bearings makes very small Ball Bearings (down to 3mm I.D.), so it is possible.

Hopefully I can join you at some point. Have fun!! 😊

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5 hours ago, Carmine A said:

THIS was a Treat!! I've wanted a Wild One for YEARS!! Now I can finally afford one, but the best "deals" I can find are $500.00 and UP!! And all from Japan! 😖😠😭😖😞

I want a NIB rere, to not upset History.... But they're ridiculous right now!! 

You're doing a fantastic job of restoring yours. One thing I'm going to try (and why I want a rere) is boring out the ends of the Trailing Arms, and fitting Bearings. I know that Fast Eddy Bearings makes very small Ball Bearings (down to 3mm I.D.), so it is possible.

Hopefully I can join you at some point. Have fun!! 😊

The trailing arms are fitted with 1150 bearings for the inner and outer. So no need to bore anything out as seen here just behind the wheel hub.

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