My Blackfoot

[fireguy14]

Hi all. Great board here, been picking up a ton of good tips. Names Dave, from central KY. Had gotten a used Blackfoot back in the late '80's / early '90's. Way fairly used then, managed to get it up and running. Borrowed a charger and ran it a very few times. Fast forward, my oldest daughter is enjoying R/C stuff, so I thought I'd revive this one. Had given it to a buddy at work, just got it back from him, along with a few other pieces.



He had gotten that aluminum home built somewhere and tried to finish. I have since transfered the parts back to my chassis.



Do not have an original body for it, just the old lexan that it had when I got it. And it is kinda rough. Now to try my hand at restoring then running it. Not going to 100% perfect, just a good runner to play with in the yard.

[fireguy14]

As I was changing parts back I found that the fronts of both chassis sides were severly stressed, and one was cracked badly. Found a stash of parts, including 2 sets of chassis sides. Hopefully will be here today or tomorrow. In the meantime I went ahead and completely dissasembled it, then started on the diff. Figured I never tore into it years ago, probably could use a good cleaning and new grease.



In addtion, found one of the rear shocks broke at the back mounting point. So another item to the shopping list, just need to figure out what I want to use.

[kaiser]

hey dave welcome to the nut house, nice old foot ya got there.

since tamiya re-released the frog and subaru brat there are alot of new parts available.
most importantly new rear axels, those old hex's never held up that well. the new frog came with dog bones
and tamiya has a nice set of cvd's as an option part.

[fireguy14]

Thanks! I have been looking at a dogbone set-up, will have to look at the CVD as well. Got my latest parts in today. The frames are not pristine, but a lot better than what I currently have. And I have not inventoried yet, but looks like I can come close to completing another chassis when the 'Foot is done! Not to mention that there is a full set of rear body mounts for a Monster Beetle! Hmmm......

[kaiser]

FWIW my new frog was throwing the dog bones, too much flex back there. cvd's stay in place just fine, they are $$ though.

[Puffdogg]

Nice resto project.I have one still to do...just need to find some body mounts.Great memories from my childhood.

[fireguy14]

FWIW my new frog was throwing the dog bones, too much flex back there. cvd's stay in place just fine, they are $$ though.

Thanks for the heads up! I have looked at the CVD's, and you are right - $$$$! Got a bunch to get for it, so I am gonna defer that until later on. Got to see if I can even get it up and running for now. Have gotten most of the chassis back together, just no pics yet. One shock end is broken, so looking at that for now. Also looking into a way to repair the rear body mounts. Hate that cobbled together look it currently has. Looked at some posts today, contemplating getting a set of those and either drilling and mounting on the cross brace or cutting the original posts down some, cutting the new posts down, then epoxying or JB welding a rod between the 2. Also ordered a new Parma Bigfoot body for it today. And gotta decide on a speed control. Not sure if I can piece together a decent original from my parts, or just go with an ESC. A brand new ESC would be great, but I have 2 MSC's. Decisions, decisions.

[justinspeed79]

Hey Dave. Nice to meet you and welcome to rc paradise. I don't know how much experience you have with esc's, but there is no comparison between esc's and msc's for general rc'ing, esc is tons better, and you can get them dirt cheap these days. Good luck on the build whatever you do. You gotta love a Blackfoot!

[markbt73]

Hey Dave! Nice to see another Blackfoot fan. I have 3 myself...

Quick tip on the gearbox, if you didn't know: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=98441&id=22640

Basically screws the two outdrives together to keep the diff gears from separating and stripping out. Much cheaper than a Thorp ball diff, and just about as strong. All you need is a piece of 2mm threaded rod, a couple 2mm nuts, and some loctite.

[fireguy14]

Thanks yall! I really do like the truck, so I am very much looking forward to getting it running again. Found the motor that was in it when I got it. It is a Trinity, and I think I can make out "LeMans" on the sticker. Have looked at some vintage ESC's, may go with someting like that. I have an older Challenger radio, so I kinda want to stick with the vintage feel. That, and I don't really feel like going in on a whole new system! And Mark, I do like that link! That is something I definitely want to try. I did notice that after putting the front end back together, the arms feel a bit sloppy. I cannot remember if that is how it is supposed to feel (back and forth motion), or if my parts are just that worn. And if worn, can some sort of nylon spacer / shim be placed between the plastic arms and the metal pieces?

[fireguy14]

Success!! I actually got to drive the blackfoot for the first time in over 20 years just a bit ago! Was a lot of fun, still have a bunch to iron out. But I was hell bent for leather that it was gonna roll on its own! I even had to piece together the remnants of 2 factory msc's and add a connection for the receiver to cut out the batteries. No big deal to most of ya, but I had never really worked on r/c until 2 weeks ago. Now I can play around with it while I get an ESC. Also found enough wheel bearing in the parts box that I put them on the front wheels and the rear shafts. Not close to the best, but a heck of a lot better than the plastic bushings looked. Will post some pics of it later.

[fireguy14]

OK, now I feel like a true Blackfoot owner. Busted my first gear! Not sure when it happened, but tore it apart today and found a tooth gone. Guess that explained the clicking sound I was getting from it. Ordered some more parts today, gonna let it rest until they arrive. Went ahead and got brand new bearings for it, a tap to do the screw conversion on the diff cups, and broke down and bought an ESC for it. Have also re mended the cracks on the lexan body with drywall tape and Shoe Goo, and gonna try to fix and redo the holes in the bed cover. Just to see if I can do it. Probably gonna let it sit until I get the stuff to make the diff stronger. Not too dificult as it is only 20 degrees or so here. Also attempted to fix the broken rear body mount. Will post pics of what I did if yall wanna see it. Later.

[fireguy14]

Well, I have now installed a Duratrax Intellispeed reversible ESC and rebuilt the transmission again. Went ahead and replaced all the bearings and changed the motor. Not sure on the previous motor, but looks like the lable had Trinity LeMans on it. Got a Tamiya RS-540SD running, so put that one in it. Weather here has been bad so not had a chance to run it much. Did play with it in the snow just a bit, very, very fun! Have also been working on the body:
Before:


As it sits now:



Thinking about adding some off road sponsor decals, not sure yet. Thanks for looking!

[fireguy14]

Oh, and I worked on the bed of the truck some:




I had used shoe goo and drywall tape on the sides of the truck where the previous owner used hot glue and it was weakening again. Liked the way that turned out so wanted to do something with the bed. Glued a piece of styrene under the bed cover then drilled the holes out. Then took some clear PVC sheet and made an overlay for the top. Cut some of the butchering away from the holes, painted the pvc semi gloss black, then glued it down. I think it looks a bit better now.

[cooltoys]

We have the same runner lexan body for one of my blackfoots.. I try to save the hardshell ones a little... I still run them once in a while..