Lonestar's Fox Runner :)

[Lonestar]

Hi guys,

been a few months since I've posted car pics of my own I've been busy with the indoor racing season (3 classes, 4wd, 2wd, and DTM) as well as the usual logistics challenge of having 2 young kids in the winter season (chicken pox, otitis, flu and the likes).

Still, I've managed to find time to get this Fox back to running shape.



I bought it on a non-US vintage forum as "runner chassis only with repro body and decal" and it came as RTR wit a radio (Hitec Challenger 250) and all. I started pulling out the mechanical speedo as obviously it wasn't working properly and replaced it first with a Novak 4 and then after a LONG troubleshooting period which ended up with almost ALL electronics replaced by elimination, a T-4, a Kyosho Pulsar TX, a hitec Rx. The car runs on LiPo's and a new 540.











The first run was a miserable failure as one of the front arms broke - it appeared that it had been glued already, of course it didn't last more than a couple of seconds.



Somehow I had a spare in my box, dating all the way back from that HotTrick Red Fox I shortly owned some years back, so that was luck, especially when you know how much a new set of front arms cost. There was also significant time involved in trying to get the suspension to feel right, but given the geometry I suspect it's a lost cause









Anyways, the car runs now, we even ran it at the last round of our indoor OR series, and although it couldn't clear ANY of the doubles properly, it was looking remarkably at ease in the whoops (big hole pistons obviously helped there). Other than that it handle like the typical tamiya's from the 80's i.e. poorly





Next step is to install a front rollbar which I already have in stock and is well-needed!

Enjoy the pics, comments welcome









For the French speaking folks, article coming very shortly on overrc as well as on VintageRC

Cheers
Paul

[rhino1]

Very nice!

[Mad Racer]

Very Nice.

I found with the Fox the suspension is rather good on a off road track. I used Kyosho 2 hole pistons with 30wt oil and stock springs to be the best.

They are a little tail happy in the air but throttle in put corrects it .

I think they are a very underestimated 2wd.

Nice pic's

[blackfoot_puller]

Very sharp, I think the light blue body sets it off really well.

[Lonestar]

Thanks for the comments guys

The bodyworks credits go to the previous owner, really... Light blue works well indeed, and it was a coincidence that, rate-wise, that losi blue front spring felt most appropriate, really

I really, really have a hard believing how a Fox suspension can really "deliver" on the track given the shock mounting points, but anyway most time a good finger can correct many off-road car design shortcoming. The front spring is way way too stiff AND long, there is no downtravel with it and the car bounces all over the place

I still have to find out how to fit modern wheels from my collection on this "ride", install the front rollbar, and then I'll take her for a spin at the dirt track for a laugh!

It still feels great running a car that looks that good though... AE's Protech1 and that funco-looking Fox body are definitely my old-school favourites.

Cheers
Paul

[fredswain]

I am slowly piecing a Fox back together again. It was my very first rc car and probably my favorite of all of them for that very reason. It was my only car that used a stick radio. I also used the mechanical speed control. I raced it more than my RC10 or JRX2. As a kid I preferred what we called the Sportsman class. You were limited to Tamiya (or equivalent) 2WD beginner types of cars, 6 cell batteries, and a 540 or a 27 turn stock motor. We'd have Grasshoppers, Hornets, Wild One's Brats, Frogs, Foxes, etc all running around at the same time. It was a slow class but there was variety. It was tons of fun.

My best ever finish in class was 3rd but that wasn't my best finish. One time I entered and there were only 2 of us in class which wasn't enough. They folded us into the stock class which was primarily RC10's. That was pretty intimidating. I finished 2nd in the B main out of 10 cars. The other 9 were RC10's. The other Tamiya car was in the C or D main. We had several back then. There were whoops that I could take with the Fox that the RC10's struggled with but I lacked their straight line speed. I thought it odd that the Fox was better in many places than the RC10's. Looking back it was probably because no one else knew how to tune a car back then either! Racing my RC10 in stock class I never finished in 2nd in any main. I never made an A main with it either. That car always had ball cups popping off. The RC10 was a constant struggle for me but again I was a kid. The Fox was reliable and simple. It worked well. One day I'll have another one running. I miss it.

[Coelacanth]

Although I wasn't into Tamiyas after my first car (Frog) disappointed me in every way but looks, I always liked the looks of the Fox. The gold wheels, body, overall shape & proportions all just looked right--with the exception of the wing, which I found to be disproportionately small.

That's a very nice runner, there.

[rangerg]

Coelacanth, I agree totally. I have always much preferred Kyoshos. To me they make Tamiya cars look like toys. But, something about the Fox puts it into the racer category in my mind. I like them with a few hop-ups. I'm slowly restoring a Fox right now, it's a fun build.