1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

[dinglem]

Yup, i am keeping it as original as i possibly can, right down to the electrics. I cannot tell from the pictures how the upper shock cap was mounted but i think our solution works the best and looks like Bill had it.

I also have a Parma Chenowth bodyshell for it - the same as he used, but for the life of me i just can't handle the challenging looks of it. I am hoping the TMS one (the same as on the Rory Cull car above) will be a little easier on the eye.

[Dadio]

I know what you mean with the body , its like a bad cross between an AYK and a Mini Mustang , the TMS one is quite attractive really . Thing about body's is you can do both without changing the essence of the chassis , I way prefer the Maxima body to the Mini Mustang so i have both styles .

[dinglem]

I always used to mix up my bodyshells anyway. I ran a Maxima shell on my SWB Mid when i first got it, and then went to 870c shells when converting the Mid to lwb. My second indoor Mid ran a YZ10 shell.

[dinglem]

Bit of mock up progress.

[1300GT]

Looks good.

[winner_evo]

Looking great

That thinner chassis looks very similar to the one I had. When I got it, the chassis had been replaced with a thicker one although I don't think it drove as well as the original chassis as I'd driven it with both chassis.

It's a shame I don't remember all the details of the car.

[Dadio]

That's looking very nice , my memory is that both my own hand made chassis that was quite thin and the thicker TMS version i had later both flexed a fair bit but it never seemed to be bad for the handling and may have improved it , i certainly thought the flex helped at the time but i was at most 15 when i was racing so ....
One major difference with this chassis and the others is the sides only mount to the rear gearbox on the forward mounting posts , not the ones further back with a spacer as well, i doubt it makes much difference as it mounts in a nice triangle .

[winner_evo]

That's looking very nice , my memory is that both my own hand made chassis that was quite thin and the thicker TMS version i had later both flexed a fair bit but it never seemed to be bad for the handling and may have improved it , i certainly thought the flex helped at the time.

That's exactly what I remember, the earlier thinner chassis had a lot more flex which gave it more grip and easier to drive. The later chassis was much thicker with a lot less flex.

[dinglem]

There is some flex. The FTD chassis i also have is thicker and stiffer.

I still have to add the rear support to the tail gearbox holes. In the black and white pics it actually looks like some sort of ball joint set up, but hard to tell.

[dinglem]

[TRX-1-3]

I've probably missed somthing or haven't read closely enough, but how is that rear shock angle compensated for? Seems like there would be a helluva bind at the lower (or upper) mount unless it's got some serious (or no-joke) ball mounts.

Shock to the balls?

[dinglem]

Lower mount is on an angled metal bracket with a ball behind it. It actually works really well. Very smooth. The upper mounts have silicon tubing withing the upper cap hole (same on the fronts) which allows for smooth articulation throughout suspension travel. Actually quite effective.

[terry.sc]

The TMS version was one I hadn't heard of bitd actually, but somebody did find an new in packet TMS chassis complete with instructions. Looks cool. I have nabbed this picture from another forum so apologies in advance to the pic owner... good for reference on this thread however.


img297_14022004000308_3_1100_.jpg

That picture is mine, and if you want to see it assembled, is in my Tamiyaclub showroom
https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=18144&id=297
which started an interest in "Clubmans" home made Hotshot conversions and there were quite a few of these around in 2004-5.Wow, that was some time ago.

This was followed by my carbon version https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=56434 that did the rounds shortly after and its picture made its way around every rc forum, even made it to here via rctech https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?t=9056
The original plan was to develop it and put it into production, but lack of funds at the time meant it was impossible to find good quality carbon sheet at a price I could afford. The developed version was fitted with JG style rear shock mounts in front ofnthenarms and bolted to the Hotshot cage, and Tamiya M01 steering parts used with a centre link to sort out steering geometry compared with using the RC10 saver, as the full carbon version steered like a barge.

While I didn't race a Hotshot as sponsorship meant I was racing an Optima at the time, I did develop a race version for a young local racer based around the TMS chassis. TMS parts were the only ones available locally, the only time you saw hop up parts were grainy pictures in magazine race reviews so a lot of home made parts used. TMS chassis, Optima shocks, front shocks attached to the front of the arms,originally with the upper mount being on a long upper arm pin as no other way of attaching it, later moved behind the arms when Tamiya eventually produced the Supershot. It was a first version Hotshot, so m3 threads on the pivot balls for the steering arms which would pull out of the hub in a crash, so Optima steering arms were used, later drilled out to fit the later m4 thread ball studs. Steel pivot balls from Specialist Turned Parts, a local supplier. As we were using 1400mah batteries and 23-27 turn motors, the propshaft was more than capable of handling the power, but would fall to bits as the hex drive end would fall out of the brass sleeve. The simple fix I did was to clean it up and fill the joint with solder, never came apart after that. SRM alloy wheel adapters used for Hotshot wheels, later changed to SRM alloy wheel adapters to fit Wild One rear wheels all round. To make narrow front wheels, the Wild One rears had the inner rim cut off with a hacksaw, removing as little material as possible so you could move it in over the sloped section and glued in place.

[coxbros1]

Very informative! Thanks

[dinglem]

Period advert from May/June 1986 Radio Race Car date-proving the Thorpe Hotshot diff availability.