Tamiya Stadium Blitzer RE-Build

[Quincy]

It all started with a purchase at an online trading platform. Someone found this item in his attic, didn`t knew what it is, so I could make a good deal. Some days later, the postman sneaked around the corner with a "nice pink" suitcase with the Stadium Blitzer inside.

 

 

It must had been storaged for decades. The car itself was in quite good conditions. I think the Stadium Thunder had been banished into the attic, after the rear tires were gone (the car came with an mounted 15T brushed motor).

 

 

 

Unfortunately the previous owner decided to paint the body in his own design. Even it is in good conditions, this will have to be replaced. If anyone of you want this "Low Bucks Racing" body, contact me, you can have it for free.

 

 

 

 

After disassembling and cleaning all these dusty parts, some had to been replaced (e.g. body mounts and the missing battery hold). In spite of every affort I could`nt get my hands on a new rear damper stay, as the original one was broken. So I decided to modify it a little bit. After shortening the broken part, I adapted some steering posts from a FF-01. To improve the performance I equipped the Blitzer with some TRF dampers, which are looking quite well in combination with the silver accents.

 

 

After completing the gear box I had to realize that the motor plate doesn`t fit tigthly. As we are going to race in a very sandy place, this is no acceptable solution. Ebay offers a nice alternative, combined with some improved cooling. This required some modifying on the rear gear box, but the results are worthy of this work.

 

 

The Stadium Blitzer will be powered by a Tamiya UGT Tuned Motor, even if Tamiya strightly recommend to use no other motor than the silver can. So I made some changes to improve the handling. The obligatory steering mod, by flipping the uprights, in order to reduce the bump steer. Also the DT-02 turnbuckle Set (Tamiya 53828) fits perfectly for the Blitzer. Finally I mounted CVDs instead of the original dogbones and of course the chassis is fully equipped with ball bearings.

 

 

 

 

As mentioned before the Stadium Blitzer came with a "customized" body. So it had to be changed to give the Stadium Blitzer the original look. Unfortunately the Stadium Blitzer body isn`t available any more. But there is a good alternative: Tamiya 1825831. It is the spare body set for the Tamiya CR-01 Rock Socker. The body is completely the same and comes precut and undrilled.

As original 90`s decals are rare, I choosed MCI decals once more. A positive side effect is that it has the original 90s design and not the changes made at the Re-Release.

Masking the body was a real mess and painting took quite a long time. But this step is well worth the trouble.

 

 

 

 

After attaching the decals and mounting a new tire set, there is no comparsion to the previous look.

 

 

Finally I added the electronic components. Just choosed a cheap brushed ESC with Lipo-cut-off combined with the Tamiya UGT Tuned Motor. The first indoor test promised a nice performance, maybe I have to add a wheelie bar

 

 

 

So the mission "Stadium Blitzer" is accomplished, can`t wait to see Salty Sam Snookums on the track...