New to RC - old nitro car purchased

[AlexC1981]

Hi All,

After drooling in the show us your R/C thread for a while I thought I would take the plunge and get something fun to play with over Christmas.

I ended up on eBay and won this auction:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/rare-vintage-kyosho-tr-1...

It's a Kyosho Inferno TR15 in 1/10 scale. Now I expect you are all going to tell me this is a terrible purchase for a complete newcomer to RC cars , but in my defence it's pretty cheap and only needs a new battery pack. From what I have read they made these in 2005, so I suppose parts might be a problem, though this one has a new engine. I found an old review which gave it high praise, so hopefully I have bought something fun, robust and won't explode in my face or tear my fingers off!

I originally wanted one of those really awesome 80s looking buggies, like the Tamiya Hotshot or Kyosho Scorpion, but I thought a petrol or nitro car sounded like fun. I have no plans to race it apart from laps of the garden, so I thought that noise, fumes, carb tuning, explosive fuel would add to the fun The only nitro buggies that look as good as the Hotshot/Scorpion type cars seem to be about £700+!

I was hoping someone could point me in the direction or give some guidance please as to where to get started with a car like this? Are there any specific checks I should do when I receive it? I need to buy some sort of battery pack as mentioned in the advert. What sort of fuel do I need to get as I understand there are different types of nitro? Where is a good place to buy it?

Is there an obvious problem a more experienced eye can see from the photos on the advert?

I found some more information about it below:

http://www.kyosho.com/eng/products/rc/detail.html?...
http://www.off-road.com/trucks-4x4/tech/kyosho-inf...
http://rcdocuments.com/documents/Kyosho%20INFERNO%...

Thanks,
Alex

[sgrimshaw]

Why did the seller list it as "For parts or not working"?

No mention of the the charger for the Glo Igniter ..

[AlexC1981]

You're not all as excited as I am then This one hasnt even arrived yet and I'm already wondering if I should get another one so I can race round the garden with my 8 year old nephew on Christmas day. Obviously I'm doing this for his benefit. Erm... Maybe he'd like one of those retro 80s electric cars.

sgrimshaw said:

Why did the seller list it as "For parts or not working"?

No mention of the the charger for the Glo Igniter ..

I think because the battery pack is missing or to cover himself if there are any faults with the car. He has sold a few RC cars over the last few months listed in the same way and the buyers have all given good feedback.

Good spot about the glow starter charger. I had no idea about that, so I have asked the seller if he is sending it.

I could get one of these starter sets on ebay? They are only £10 delivered and you get a glow starter and charger included. What else will I need?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Himoto-Nitro-Glow-Starte...

[sgrimshaw]

That glo kit looks ok.

You'll need fuel (obviously).
I always used to use after-run oil it really looks after the engine.
A couple of spare Glo Plugs would be a good idea.

[AlexC1981]

That's useful information thanks!

Have so far spent:
£56 on the car and £62.16 on accessories.

£14.99 on the starter kit (3000mAh glow starter, charger, spanners etc).
£13.00 2.27 litre 16% nitro fuel
£3.99 battery box
£5.50 spare hot glow plug
£2.84 after run oil
£2.37 air filter oil
£19.47 on 12 rechargeable 2400mAh Duracell AA batteries.

I'm a bit worried about the seller as I've had no communication back from him. Delivery is not supposed to be until Monday next week. I hope it isn't any later as I am back at work from Tuesday onwards. Shame it isn't here now as I have the rest of this week off.

Currently reading about tuning and setting up the engine and running it in as it has only had two tanks through it so far.

Topics yet to cover:
-Where to apply lubricant. Refilling the shock absorbers with oil if needed.
-How to re-paint the shell. I sense a retro white and BRG colour scheme coming on.

While I've been looking at R/C cars, I can't help but notice that modern cars are so shapeless and blob like, with really ugly paint jobs as well. The old Kyosha and Tamiya stuff is gorgeous.