Recommissioning An Old Tamiya RC Buggy

[benny.c]

Hi chaps, I've not used my old Baja Champ for a good 10 years I reckon but the old girl seems in reasonable shape. The driveshafts have a bit of surface rust and the dampers don't do much damping but I've got a little son now who would no doubt love to see it running.

So first up I need a new battery - any recommendations? I'd say running time would be a priority over power/speed.

Second up, is it worth upgrading the motor to something more modern?

Thirdly, although not a priority, what's the best bet for fitting new dampers?

Apologies if this has been asked many times before. I imagine it has but a quick trawl with the search function didn't reveal much.

Cheers

Edited by benny.c on Wednesday 11th January 15:12

[wacattack]

Brushless motors and lipos are the best options these days. The run times compared to old NiCads have infinitely improved.

If you choose to upgrade your motor then you will need to make sure the car is able to cope with the power (Ive never run one of these cars before so Im not sure how strong the transmission will be). Oviously the faster the motor, the less run time therefore putting a faster motor for a kid may not be the best option. However going brushless would still be a worthwhile investment.

Hope this helps

[UberMeister]

Are the shocks oil filled?

If so and they're not corroded you might get away with just a clean up and replacing the oil. Possibly new seals, if you can find any!

[benny.c]

Thanks guys. Been doing a bit of reading this afternoon and started getting a plan together. The Baja Champ is pretty much a bottom of the range RC car so I'm going to keep the costs right down. Doesn't seem to be worth spending that much on it. 

I don't think I'll go for a  lipo battery as I already have a nearly new regular charger and I'm not keen on the safety aspect of them with the little lad.  So the plan is:

1. Two cheapish batteries so I can charge one whilst the other is running - Orion Sport Power 2200 Stick Pack. 

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/orion-sport-power-2200...

2. Replace all the plastic bearings with metal. 

3. The stock suspension isn't oil filled so I'll replace them with Fastrax alloy ones. They don't do 65mm to match the existing so I'll get 75mm and do some adjustment/modifying if they cock up the geometry.

http://www.fastrax-rc.com/rc-products.php?productI...

4. The tyre rubber has completely perished so I'll get some new rubber pre-mounted on new wheels - Fastrax Flash tyres on 6 spoke wheels. 

http://www.fastrax-rc.com/rc-products.php?productI...


5. New motor. Either a cheap replacement Tamiya silver can or similar, or maybe a Tamiya RS-540 Sport Tuned. I've read that this is straight replacement and won't require any additional mods. 

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/tamiya-rs-540-sport-tu...


The whole lot shouldn't cost that much and should see the buggy running pretty well. Going to start stripping the whole thing down tonight with a view to giving it a damn good clean and lube before fitting the new parts. 

Quite looking forward to it

[thehos]

benny.c said:

Thanks guys. Been doing a bit of reading this afternoon and started getting a plan together. The Baja Champ is pretty much a bottom of the range RC car so I'm going to keep the costs right down. Doesn't seem to be worth spending that much on it. 

I don't think I'll go for a  lipo battery as I already have a nearly new regular charger and I'm not keen on the safety aspect of them with the little lad.  So the plan is:

1. Two cheapish batteries so I can charge one whilst the other is running - Orion Sport Power 2200 Stick Pack. 

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/orion-sport-power-2200...

2. Replace all the plastic bearings with metal. 

3. The stock suspension isn't oil filled so I'll replace them with Fastrax alloy ones. They don't do 65mm to match the existing so I'll get 75mm and do some adjustment/modifying if they cock up the geometry.

http://www.fastrax-rc.com/rc-products.php?productI...

4. The tyre rubber has completely perished so I'll get some new rubber pre-mounted on new wheels - Fastrax Flash tyres on 6 spoke wheels. 

http://www.fastrax-rc.com/rc-products.php?productI...


5. New motor. Either a cheap replacement Tamiya silver can or similar, or maybe a Tamiya RS-540 Sport Tuned. I've read that this is straight replacement and won't require any additional mods. 

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/tamiya-rs-540-sport-tu...


The whole lot shouldn't cost that much and should see the buggy running pretty well. Going to start stripping the whole thing down tonight with a view to giving it a damn good clean and lube before fitting the new parts. 

Quite looking forward to it

pretty much spot on, as you say its an entry level car, not worth going to the expense of lipo's/different charger etc etc.

just tidy it up get it running, then go from there

[defblade]

I did similar with my Manta ray in a thread around here somewhere... just ordered another £40's worth of parts as it broke again.... might go and update that post while I think about it...

[theshrew]

Thats about right mate. The one thing i would change is the cells 2200 are really old now and you wont get a lot of run time out of them. Go for a higher capacity you will be able to play longer and you will get a bit more speed out of them.

Your correct in saying motors all fit the same way so you can change it.

[benny.c]

defblade said:

I did similar with my Manta ray in a thread around here somewhere... just ordered another £40's worth of parts as it broke again.... might go and update that post while I think about it...

Would now be a good time to remind you what you said on that thread

defblade said:

And this is
absolutely
finally
definately
the last I'm spending on this car!

Until it breaks again

theshrew said:

Thats about right mate. The one thing i would change is the cells 2200 are really old now and you wont get a lot of run time out of them. Go for a higher capacity you will be able to play longer and you will get a bit more speed out of them.

Your correct in saying motors all fit the same way so you can change it.

What would you recommend? The biggest capacity for sensible money? This 4500 is available on Ebay for £24

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/orion-sport-power-pack...

Only thing is, my charger is an old Ansmann AC30 which is probably useless for a bigger capacity battery. Maybe I'll get the cheaper lower capacity battery for now and see how much use it gets before splashing out on a new charger too.

Edited by benny.c on Thursday 12th January 10:35

[benny.c]

I stripped the car down last night and it's not in bad condition, just very dirty and dusty. Some bits of rust will need rubbing down too.





Think I may replace this with a Tamiya TEU101BK ESC?







Tyres are knackered.....



Diff is a bit sandy....

Edited by benny.c on Thursday 12th January 10:58

[RicksAlfas]

Great thread. I've just uncovered my old Mardave Meteor (1989'ish) and am looking forward to trying to get it going again.

Good to see Modelsport are still aroun. I remember when they worked out of a newsagents in Otley and a Tamiya Frog was the best thing ever.

[theshrew]

benny.c said:

What would you recommend? The biggest capacity for sensible money? This 4500 is available on Ebay for £24

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/orion-sport-power-pack...

Only thing is, my charger is an old Ansmann AC30 which is probably useless for a bigger capacity battery. Maybe I'll get the cheaper lower capacity battery for now and see how much use it gets before splashing out on a new charger too.

Edited by benny.c on Thursday 12th January 10:35

The Orion ones mate they always sell good quality stuff.

As for your charger it will do any cappacity obv just take longer to charge. Just check its suitable for nicad and Mimh cells if its a old one

[n3il123]

RicksAlfas said:

Great thread. I've just uncovered my old Mardave Meteor (1989'ish) and am looking forward to trying to get it going again.

Good to see Modelsport are still aroun. I remember when they worked out of a newsagents in Otley and a Tamiya Frog was the best thing ever.

Gawd I had one of those screw in battery holders, half inch thick metal chassis, couldn't get spare parts for toffee.

I used to take it racing, surprisingly it didn't keep up very well with the procats and Kyosho Lazers!!!

I eventually swapped to a Tamiya Terra Scorcher which seemed to rip its transmission apart everytime I used it, despite nearly every senior member of the club attempting to set it up correctly!

[RicksAlfas]

That's the one! Simple and rugged I think is a polite way to put it!

Always did OK with spares direct from Mardave back in the day. Are they still going?

[defblade]

benny.c said:

Think I may replace this with a Tamiya TEU101BK ESC?

As I think I said on my report, the old 3 step controller was a serious weak point on my Manta and an ESC has completely removed that problem.

But what it has also done is changed how reverse works.... I think it goes in to "braking" mode first and then eventually allows you to go backwards, relatively slowly. I do miss being able to flick from full speed one way to full speed the other at whim (and I'm still trying to work out how I keep breaking stuff ). So you might want to look into that before committing. I would like to change my ESC on that basis, but I'm not spending any more money (today).

[theshrew]

RicksAlfas said:

That's the one! Simple and rugged I think is a polite way to put it!

Always did OK with spares direct from Mardave back in the day. Are they still going?

Yes they are and probably sell the same chassis are you had.

Really basic stuff they make have never moved much with technology. Actually this makes them very popular at club racing level. They are really cheap to buy and fix for eg A set of tyres = about £6 against my Touring Car £30 and the TC tyres will only be good for 2 x 5min races the mardave ones will last you ages club racing.

[theshrew]

defblade said:

As I think I said on my report, the old 3 step controller was a serious weak point on my Manta and an ESC has completely removed that problem.

But what it has also done is changed how reverse works.... I think it goes in to "braking" mode first and then eventually allows you to go backwards, relatively slowly. I do miss being able to flick from full speed one way to full speed the other at whim (and I'm still trying to work out how I keep breaking stuff ). So you might want to look into that before committing. I would like to change my ESC on that basis, but I'm not spending any more money (today).

Yes cheap electric speedo's go into a brake before they reverse. The brack isnt very good on them tbh. It will stop you mushing up your drivetrain esp on these cars not exactly strong.

[benny.c]

As with modifying or restoring full size cars, you're always better off buying one that's done, but where's the fun in that

Today I've ordered:

1. Tamiya RS540 Sport Tuned Motor



2. Tamiya TEU101BK ESC



3. Bearing Set

4. 75mm Fastrax alloy shocks



5. Ansmann 5-spoke wheel & tyre set

theshrew said:

The Orion ones mate they always sell good quality stuff.

As for your charger it will do any cappacity obv just take longer to charge. Just check its suitable for nicad and Mimh cells if its a old one

Ta. Just looking at chargers and there are some OK looking delta peak ones that wont break the bank so I may stick the AC30 on ebay.

defblade said:

As I think I said on my report, the old 3 step controller was a serious weak point on my Manta and an ESC has completely removed that problem.

But what it has also done is changed how reverse works.... I think it goes in to "braking" mode first and then eventually allows you to go backwards, relatively slowly. I do miss being able to flick from full speed one way to full speed the other at whim (and I'm still trying to work out how I keep breaking stuff ). So you might want to look into that before committing. I would like to change my ESC on that basis, but I'm not spending any more money (today).

I don't think would bother me too much but I wont bin the mechanical one.

Edited by benny.c on Thursday 12th January 15:40

[RicksAlfas]

theshrew said:

RicksAlfas said:

Mardave... Are they still going?

Yes they are

That's good to hear. Thanks.

[n3il123]

RicksAlfas said:

That's the one! Simple and rugged I think is a polite way to put it!

Always did OK with spares direct from Mardave back in the day. Are they still going?

Ah and I forgot the circlips to hold the wheels on... nothing like making it easy!