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Ok so I have a new passion and wanted to share this madness with the rest of you.
I have been thinking of giving the 1/10th thing a rest and would like to build a few old Kyosho 1/8 4WD cars and convert them to brushless.
The concept is simple, there's no racing or track work for these cars but rather I want to set these cars up for fun and drive them at the park with my sons as they grow older. I figured the 1/8th buggies are a little tougher than their little 1/10th brothers so the idea is to have a few cars that will present fewer problems and allow for more 'fun time' rather than down time being repaired. Add to this I am a big fan of the original 'BURNS' body design and can see a few 'vintage' paint schemes ready to go onto fresh shells (box art OPTIMA anyone )
I am currently in talks with another member here who will help me with a 3rd car to complete the set

So here are the first two cars just paid for on ePay.

BURNS. (bought for $169 + shipping)






TURBO BURNS. (bought for $139 + shipping)

This'll be a great project, I assume you'll be putting a brushless/lipo setup in them? Does Kyosho do an electric 1/8th car right now? Maybe borrow some parts from them if so?

Look foward to seeing some progress!

Burns, seems to be (maybe the only?) a nitro buggy with narrower front tires than rear tires. Nice project idea.

Jirka

that's one HECK of a $169 burns you have here!!! It's gorgeous!

The challenge is, again, that the 8th BL motors are crazy powerful. in 2wd 10th, you can drop in a modern (reasonable) BL in pretty much any chassis from the late 80's and more recent and still get away with it. In 8th, with the extra weight, the transmission gets considerably more sollicitated. I'd be worried about the BL + vintage 8th cocktail.

IF you still go ahead, the challenge will be the motor mount. The newer 8th scale motor mounts are pretty technical and in most cases are interdependent with both the center diff mounts and chassis.

Curious to see what you come up with!

Paul

Can't wait to see some progress on this, I think this will work out great!

The Kyosho 1/8th were a big hit in the UK during the early 90's.

Have a few locals do the ofna conversion to a few older models and didn't hold up too well. Maybe the kyosho will hold up a little better. Would like to see some life in these though. I always had a thing for the BURNS buggy...

Todd

Plenty of good advice here guys, thank you.

As previously mentioned I'm not looking to race or beat the he'll outa these cars. Just be happy to get them out onto an open field or even a BMX track for a little bit of fun. At the very least the bigger diameter wheels/tyres will be better adept at driving over the grass than 1/10th scale stuff.

The reason I like the Hobbywing brushless kits is not just cost but ease of set up. I'm happy to adjust profiles to make the thing behave itself.

Great project JM I know you had one of these before but perhaps I can chime in and assist.


In regard to the tyres, the wider rears are hard to get these days (so too the front for that matter) so I would recommend getting a set of MP5 or Inferno rims (as they have the same fitment on the drive hex) and run modern rubber (Schumacher have a great set of grass tyres called the spiral cut if you intend to run the car at a park). Different width tyres were used by other manufacturers as well like BMT and Mugen in the early days.

Another thing to be mindful of is that the body shells are not interchangeable between the Burns and the Turbo Burns as they have different shock towers. Repro 1/8 body shells are available from Marwan or TBG.

If you did not already know the Turbo Burns you have there has an optional front brake system and a metal spur gear. Let me know if you do not want to use the front brake system and wish to get rid of it.

The drive train of a 1/8 buggy is pretty darn strong (compare the old drive shafts to modern 1/8 buggies) but the spider gears of old were also made of cast iron and were prone to very fast wear rates. I believe the Burns were pre silicone filled diffs and relied on a very heavy grease to keep it lubed (rather than to alter drive characteristics) so keep an eye on them.


Hope this has been helpful to you, I used to race and collect 1/8 buggies (I too have a Turbo Burns btw) so if there is anything more you wish to know feel free to ask away.

Nice buys for sure; I didn't expect you to get something so nice for that price when you asked around.

I've put my own electric conversion on a hold (inferno 10) since I started on the wyvern.
And to be honest, I was really stuck too: batteries have such a big footprint compared to a gas tank.
I guess 1/8th gives you more space on the chassis, but the motor and battery will be bigger too, not?

Why mutiliate what looks like a gorgeous Kyosho off road...

Just fill the tank and go!!!

naushad wrote:Why mutiliate what looks like a gorgeous Kyosho off road...

Just fill the tank and go!!!

I'm not a fan of noisy, smelly and oily r/c cars. I'll save that kind of torture for when I have to mow the lawn.......

Just got an email from my friend Marwan. He has recommended I look into this kit for the Burns conversion. It is for the MP7.5. Would this motor mount fit the Burns chassis and drive train?

I just purchased this Xerun esc and 2250KV motor unit. Should be with me in a few days. Looking forward to getting these cars going

J.M. wrote:I just purchased this Xerun esc and 2250KV motor unit. Should be with me in a few days. Looking forward to getting these cars going

Too much HP for the old lady... even in modern 8th scale BL standards this is considered too much...

Paul

It's all going to be a bit of a steep learning curve for me Paul. I purchased these items cheap so I figured -hey'.

Maybe I'll just de-tune it via throttle profiles?