OG Blackfoot rebuild

[asciibaron]

back in 1986 when i was a young teen, i picked up a Blackfoot and proceeded to bash the heck out of it. i had a great time running and working on it, but in 1991 i put my rc cars in a box and there they sat for the next 30 years. i've decided to get back into the hobby and get my vintage cars running. this thread will document the rebuilding of the OG Blackfoot.

the starting point two weeks ago after taking the cars out of the box they lived in for decades

after building a workbench in the basement, i began to inspect the car and get a list of needed parts.

a classic failure point, both knuckles needed replaced

first round of parts order

while it was acceptable in 1985, the manual speed control will be replaced

the vintage receiver and speed control have been replaced with modern electrics

the Blackfoot now runs and makes me smile, but it could track better and the suspension components are very well worn. i used to run this a few times a week several months in a row over the course of 3 years. all the suspension components will need to be replaced. the body will be cleaned up and repainted and replicas of the vintage stickers applied. i'm thinking a dark blue-black metallic body would look pretty nice.

more to come as i dig into it deeper.

-Steve

[Frankentruck]

You might get some additional inspiration from this thread:

https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=46233

[asciibaron]

sorry for the long delay in posting more, i've been busy with some other projects, including building a Kyosho Turbo Scorpion re-re.

in addition to having a box of rc cars in my parent's basement for 30 years, i also had my tackle box of rc car parts. the OG 540 motor from the Blackfoot as well as the pinion gear were in there, rotting. the motor is seized and the pinion gear badly corroded.

after cleaning up the pinion with a wire brush, the wear is pretty evident. i drove the Blackfoot a ton back in the day!

since i would need a replacement motor, i opted for a Tamiya "Torque Tuned" 540 motor. look at how "great" this motor is compared to the OG 540

i managed to find the motor mount and found a pinion screw... ready to install.

after installing the motor i saw a ton of fore and aft movement in the front end. upon closer inspection, the brass sleeves on the "radius rod" mounting screws had wore thru. actually, that's a lie, they had wore to tiny bits of nothing and fell into tiny pieces when i removed the screws. i was looking for something to remove the play and had an idea...

after removing the spade terminal from the plastic housing, i found it was a tight, but not too tight fit.

after trimming the plastic sleeve to the correct height i opted for a longer screw. the threads in the mounting hole were pretty torn up from past abuse. this quick and cheap solution really does a great job of fixing the play.

the chassis is together, it runs well, and almost in a straight line. the end links that attach to the steering balls are badly worn and will need replaced. i'll tackle that when i move the steering servo to the center.