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I know some of you guys have converted old Nikko or radio shack Rc cars to hobby grade electronics. What did you use to do so?

I have these that I would love to make run again.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve been looking thru some of the older posts people have converted them. It looks like I will have to tear them apart an see what I can do.

I recently did a Nikko Magnum and switch the electronics to hobby grade... I did not change the motor but it uses a LiPo battery.. it has a JR standard servo and a LRP pro esc with no motor limit... I kept the sterring geometry the same just add a connection point to the servo... turned out very nice...

i would venture to say that 90% of the toy grade models had no proportional steering. So that part of it will be the area that needs the most work. Grab a servo and figure out how to graft it into the model chassis the best that you can. Once you have a working steering system with a servo in place, you can rip out most of the other guts(I would probably leave the dc motor installed, easiest way to convert) but drive the dc motor with a hobby grade esc and control with a radio of your choice.

the second biggest headache if you don't change the dc motor will be the battery. Some models used AA; if you are lucky, some used a sub C nicd, which is what the hobby grade used. Figure out the dimensions of your battery box, and find a nicd or lipo solution that will fit, and wire it to your esc.

that will give you an updated system, maybe not the fastest, but at least proportional and more capable.

Thanks guys. I’m definitely not looking for more speed as the suspension would never be able to cope with the extra power anyway, but i thought it would be fun to have the running again and let my son run them.