4x4 Buggy (Aristocraft-Hitec Dolphin)

[SFC K]

I picked this thing up today off of Craigslist for 10 bucks. It was posted on there for over 12 days so I decide for the 10 spot why not.

Once I got it home, it really looked interesting enough and has some old radio/ESC gear from Aristacraft and came with a nice looking Challenger-260 2 channel radio. Its 4WD and looks to be belt driven. It has some shocks similar to the AYK ones and super soft tires. On the side of the chassis is says it was made in Korea. The guy I bought it from said he had this when he was a kid and has not been used much at all.

Has anyone seen one of these before or know what it was called?

[SFC K]

[Phin]

Aristocraft-Hitec Dolphin

[SFC K]

Aristocraft-Hitec Dolphin

Thanks!

[GoMachV]

Very nice, i always liked the oddballs and that's one of them. The wildbeest was the truck version and it was even uglier! Lol

It's chain drive btw

[SFC K]

LOL, It definitely is an odd ball and why I could not pass it up. I see that is chain now reading about it over on Tamiyaclub.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=5973&id=37

[GoMachV]

Don't take the gearbox apart...there is a thread around here somewhere on that topic...

[SFC K]

Don't take the gearbox apart...there is a thread around here somewhere on that topic...

I was just reading Lowgear's thread and I will not be taking this apart. I will clean it up and put it on the shelf.

http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=16223&hilit=dolphin

[Lowgear]

The main issue is with the gearbox. As long as you leave that alone you'll be fine. The funny thing is I recently saw a gearbox assembly being sold on eBay by someone who experienced the same frustrations as I did. That made me feel a little better that it wasn't just me. The description stated that after grinding away on the inside of the halves, and using the toothpaste on the gears trick, it finally loosened up. They claimed it took them many hours. I don't know if all of them came from the factory with ill-fitting gearbox components or it was only random batches. I've also never driven any of them so I can't vouch for the performance but to be fair they were built on par with or better than other models of the time. With that being said, the dolphin is very rare. Although I don't look religiously, I have never seen another one on eBay since I bought mine (that's near mint) 4 years ago. If your body is molded in red, than it's actually from the 2wd Koala version.

I've been after a Wildebeest for just as long and came across one a week or so ago on eBay with a reserve. It only went up to $75 with me being the high bidder. After the auction was over I messaged the seller saying I'd pay a lot more for it but they refused to sell it.

[SFC K]

Thanks for the response. I will be just cleaning it up and may run it in doors on carpet just to make sure it is working properly. Interesting on the body. I had to go check on the one on mine. It appears someone painted it red. Underneath it is a grayish silver color with red overspray. Some one also put a wood dowel in-between the canopy so it would not collapse. I assume they did not come like that. Only one piece is broken and that is the rear body mount upright where it attaches by the antenna tube. Other than that this is in really great shape.

[Lonestar]

Some reading for you (or picture staring, if you don't speak French...)

http://www.retromodelisme.com/article_page/516/dolphin-4wd-hitec.html

I remember when the Kangaroo (same car, 2wd) came out when I was a kid, it was the first hobby-grade RTR on the market, with an ESC to boot! Ugly as sin, but a good deal back then. Same for the Dolphin!

Nice find

Paul

[SFC K]

Thanks Paul! I checked out that link but yup, I don't speak French but my wife's cousin does and teaches it at the U of M. I will ask her to translate it to me when we go to their house for Thanksgiving.

If I would not have bought this off of CL and posted it here, I still would not have known they existed. They are ugly looking but unique looking as well. I'm glade I took a chance on it and picked it up.

[SFC K]

I started tearing this apart last night getting it ready for a bath. I took the wheels off and noticed the lack of axle pins. I find it hard to believe this is an efficient way to get the power to the ground. No bearings in the hubs either so their has to be some serious drag in the drive train too.

I did pull all the electronics out for ease of cleaning but the motor was a pain in the butt. One screw was very stubborn to break loose but once it was free I was able to twist the motor with pinion right out. This is going to be as far as I go for the tear down even though I am itching to see more.

Should I replace the front and rear bushings with bearings or just leave it all original? Over all it is very clean with a few scrapes on the bumper mount and the tires are worn just a bit.


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[GoMachV]

If it's sitting on a shelf then really no need for bearings IMO, but they are incredibly cheap if you decide to.

As far as the drives, same as scorpion and the other kyosho/cox/Hirobo's of the day

[SFC K]

Thanks Jeff! I finished cleaning it up and put it back together today and decide to just to leave the bushings.

I was going to use one of my batteries but they all have Deans, and this comes with the yucky Tamiya connector. The stick pack that came with it was dead. I charged it for a bit and tried again and the buggy was racing full speed (good thing I had it on a stand ) and died after about 15 seconds. I think the battery will need a bit more juice.

Anyway, this is how it turned out. Still waiting for the battery to charge so I can test the electronics.