Vintage Rocky 4WD (Kyosho) back on the road

[Antonov]

Dear All, first of all, thank you for this forum.

Originally from France, I have been living in Switzerland for quite a while now. Almost 40 yo, kids growing ( 6 yo and 3 yo), it was time to fall again into my old RC stuffs. Like many of you did because of children...

I recently decided to pull from the mess in the parent's attic my old and battled Rocky... no body, no bumper, no RC set... but mechanically complete and still in running order.
Searching the web, I re-discovered the story. I was really shocked to see that those were now called "VINTAGE" models. Really ? For me, it seems like yesterday, not such a long time to call that vintage !

Anyway... I could say that "it is were we are now".

But that would not be true.

What about the two boys ? Of course, watching me working on the Rocky and driving it around, they wanted to play with it. But they are too young, don't have the fine ability for such RC cars. So I decided to equip the whole family (males members, it goes without saying) and bought two, yes two, additional Rocky 4WD to the family. So we now have three of them awaiting good treatment, cleaning, parts.

First, I had to purchase RC radio sets for each of them. Two of them had to have the mandatory "training mode" to allow my kids to drive the cars without too much risk of crashing.
Second, I had to dismantle, clean, fix what had to be.
Third, not wanting to burn the genuine tires, I bought 3x sets of wheels to replace the originals.
Fourth, new ESC for each, since the mechanical arm speed regulator was a tricky one to fine tune and maintain.

And that's where you realise that three cars take three times more time to work on ! I can't wait till the boys will be able to do their own maintenance.

That's what brought me to this forum ! Searching for information about this Rocky 4WD and the right way to handle them.

Thank you.

[Coelacanth]

Welcome to the forum, Antonov...and when you get a chance, share some pics of your Rocky's (or is that Rockies?) and a few pics of your kids' faces when they first get to run them! We have a Kyosho section perfect for that.

[Lonestar]

Sounds good - and we want pics

You're a brave man to give vintage Rocky's to kids... not only were they not that robust in the 80's to start with, but plastics have aged in 30years. I certainly wouldn't trust my kids to run any of my vintage cars, not that they would make a difference with the modern bashers I did for them anyway

Where in CH are you located? I'm in the lausanne area... PM me if you want to chat about what RC is available in the area

a+
Paul

[Antonov]

Hello, I am in ZH area.

To be honest, plastics are not cracked or dried, I guess the fact that RC cars are usually stored in places where they are protected from sun, heat... explains that. I am not too worried. I read here that Kyosho were considered as fragile but on some other places that they were robust... I guess the truth is somewhere in between:)

I will allow them to play only by blocking speed to the minimum (electronic limitation) so they should not do too much harm. If I see it doesn't work, I will change that for cheaper options and wait a few more years.

My first Rocky, awaiting body. I bought it in the 90's.
Here it features the new wheels, since I don't want to waste the genuine tires.

Here is the second one, before unpacking it !


More to come !

[Lonestar]

Gruetzi

you've bought NiB Rocky's recently, to have your kids run them? You certainly are a brave, and wealthy man!

a+
Paul

[Antonov]

Hi, wish I would

As said, brave depends how you deal with the risks. You can look very brave but have planned a safety plan and escape so, yes, brave apparently but in fact, "brave with a plan".

Wealthy: a NIB Rocky costs between 900$ and 1000$. I paid only a fraction for those, which are not NIB but OLD IN BOX. It means that they have been mounted, assembled 30 years ago and just little used. So their aspect is like new. But not NEW as "NEW IN BOX". The funny thing is that concretely speaking between the two, on the real aspect side, it makes no difference. But that x 5 the price you pay. I would personnaly not buy NIB to assemble and put on the street now. I think who is lucky and rich enough to buy NIB has no intention to use but to keep on a shelf as an icon.

I am the contrary: I intend to run those. Respectful of their age and historical value... but running.

[Lonestar]

Looked pretty darn close to NiB to me, but in hindsight indeed, bodies were painted.

Again - congrats on intending to run the old ladies. Make sure the kids have LOTS of space to drive them around

As you're a french speaker, enjoy the following, courtesy of retromodelisme.com


http://retromodelisme.com/article_page/2366/rocky-4wd-kyosho.html






Paul

[Antonov]

Hi, yes I did find useful information in their database. Really awesome website on the documentation side ! Reading articles from the 80's on our beloved is a pure enjoyment...

You know, even if they are not "pure" NIB, I still feel a bit concerned because the two additonal Rockies are in such a good shape that I am brave but still will take grand care that we do not spoil those stupidly.

That is why I already started to identify the "impossible" to find parts to save them before we even break them (see the topic regarding bellcrank on this forum). I did replace the tires and wheels: original tires cost a fortune when in good shape so I don't want to ruin them. Same with rims: white plastic tend to yellowish with time and usage, so I put them away from the sun and heat and use cheap chinese wheels instead.
The look is not the genuine one but the most important is that the day we want to show or to sell them, we will get the right parts still in great condition !
I am used to these "vintage" questions so I try not to make mistakes by using the vintage RC cars a way I could regret later !
So you see: brave, maybe, but clearly acting with conscious and planning ahead.

[Coelacanth]

Very nice Rocky...I like it a lot better that way than yellow.

[Antonov]

Thank you.

Yes, me the same. Looks nice in white. Just the blue strip on the wing are in wrong direction...

Yellow is "original" but not the best scheme, agree.

And in addition, because we need to distinguish from each others, only one will be in yellow (pics. to come). The other is, as pictured, white with blue strips, and I will put back the body in place on the "red frame" one and repaint it in red. So we have a nice colored team !



I made a few researches to find all kind of bodypaint that could exist on the web to help me selecting a nice scheme... hopefully I don't mess up too much !

New lexan body and sticker set can be purchased on the web at "reasonnable" price, worst case...

[Antonov]

Some more pictures, including the White Rocky with its new set of wheels.

[Antonov]

Hi guys, finally had the time to re-assemble the last Rocky. I am still missing a few details (save servo, Beta pin, notor connexions...) to make it run but we are almost there.

Another funny strange thing on these Rockies is that -even in the 80's when the batteries were slightly thinner- the chain is spinning just below the battery and tends to saw it at high pace, just like a mechanical saw !!!! I never managed to go through the batteries external protection but if one would not notice that, that could really happen ! I have to find a way to keep the chains lower and avoid to touch-saw the batteries packs, knowing that they are slightly bigger than what they were in the past...

[Antonov]

[Antonov]

Hello, just for fun... I am trying some wheels/tires options on the Rocky buggy. With the 55T engine, which makes the speed down at 7-8 km/h, children like taking the cars in the forest track while walking. So bigger wheels might make the journey even more fun.

Do you think gearing is at risk ? My old Rocky on the right for size comparison, with the original body I found last weekend... it will deserve a new one, I guess.

[Lonestar]

no worries with gearing. A 55T needs to be geared to the moon anyway. Worst case, you're geared too low... makes for more runtime with the kids.

I'm more worried in general about using a Rocky in this setup, but we already had this conversation