I’m currently running three GTs, a Blue FT chassis, a blue RTR chassis and a black FT chassis. The blue FT was my first GT, and my first nitro, bought brand new in 2001 when I was 19 years old. From the get-go, it wasn’t stock. Lol. Ever the hot rodder, against the advice of the staff at Colpar hobbies, I bought a Picco .21 to stuff in it at the same time as the kit purchase. I went home and assembled the kit that evening, and began working out how to install the Picco. Back then I didn’t have the skills or equipment I do today, but still managed to fab an aluminum motor mount that fit the original bolt pattern, drilled & tapped the factory GT clutch nut to fit the Picco shaft, and cobbled together an exhaust manifold with copper pipe. It worked, and it was pretty quick-epecially compared to the RTR nitro Traxxas Stampedes the other guys at the shop all bought. But it quickly became apparent that the stock GT was never meant to handle that kind of power, as I was burning through clutch shoes and spur gears like it was nobody’s business. MIP 4-in-1 clutch solved part of the problem, and at the time I just kept a pocket full of spurs on hand. I ran the truck this was for a few years, but life got in the way, and the RCs got shelved for nearly a decade.
Fast-forward to spring of this year, I saw the nose of the old GT poking out of a box one day when I didn’t have much going on work-wise (I run an auto shop on my own property), so I pulled it down and began to assess what it would need to run again. The three-piece motor mount I had built so many years ago was the reason it got shelved in the first place, when the screws stripped out. The RX was glitchy as well, and it needed some general TLC. So I quickly whipped up a new mount plate, found another RX and got her going again. Well, it wasn’t long before the price of ignorance in my younger years reared its ugly head; At 19 and a total nitro newb with no mentor, I had no idea about proper break-in procedures or parking the piston at BDC during cool down. I had just plopped the motor in and raped this thing. Anyway, it was having issues idling, and would flame out when it got hot-classic symptom of smoked piston & sleeve. I checked real quick for parts on eBay and got sticker shock. But I did find a nearly over auction on a like-new OFNA Force .32, so I bid. I won that engine, complete with clutch, for $63. Now owning a small vertical mill, once that engine arrived, I set to work making a nice new all-steel one piece mount.
I’ll spare the extensive description of everything else between now and then, but will give a run-down of what this once-humble stadium truck has turned into. Purchased parts include new graphite shock towers, GPM alloy trans housing, RRP aluminum diff & steel idler gears, Losi 48T steel mod 1 spur gear, GPM alloy bulkheads & rear arm mounts, a Savox SC0251 oversize MG HT servo for steering, HSP 1/8 scale buggy rear shocks, TRX 2.8” Talons, an MGT 8.0 150cc fuel tank, and a new Associated XP3 radio set. Hand made parts are 6061-T651 front & rear arms, steel rear hub carriers, steel front C-hubs, knuckles and ¼” spindles. Running TRX camber links, moved the rear shocks to the front, made my own steel 12mm hex adapters for the rear, and the front talons have plastic 12mm hexes epoxied into them, which I then bored out to accept ¼”x3/8” flanged bearings. The end result is a nearly all metal, 7.2 pound beast of a GT that clocks 62 MPH:
Well, that beast was so unruly on a track that I decided I should get another stock GT to play with. So back to eBay, where I scored a nice little RTR for $83. I lucked out, as it was a pretty clean kit that needed only a pull start & one-way bearing to run. Even had a radio set. So another $25 and I was rockin’ it. But being me, it didn’t take long before I started screwing with this one, too. No more than 2 months went by when I scored a piston, sleeve and rod for that worn out Picco, which promptly got rebuilt and stuffed into the RTR that was supposed to stay stock. Then I made some TRX 17mm hex adapters work and stuck HPI Phaltline 3.8” wheels & tires on it, and lowered it with TC3 shocks. A 22 tooth bell on the Picco got me to 53 MPH, which wasn’t nearly fast enough. So back to the drawing board (which exists only in my head; I design nothing before building, just go for it).
Got back on eBay, scored an OFNA LX1 rear diff & suspension assembly, and ordered up a brand new LRP ZR.32 spec 2 big block. This is where things got kinda nuts. The truck has no transmission; The LRP drives the OFNA diff directly, using a Tamiya Nitrage clutch bell and a hybrid dogbone me and a mad scientist friend of mine TIG welded. The chassis is 1-1/4” extended with a piece of 6061-T651 aluminum that also serves as the diff mount. Braking is accomplished via a pair of inboard-mounted modified Atomik GPV-1 motorcycle rotors with calipers I milled from 7075-T6 and fitted with modified NTC3 brake pads. The calipers are mounted directly to the diff and are cable actuated. The rear suspension is still 1/10 on-road shocks, mounted to a cut off & inverted GT shock tower affixed to the original OFNA tower on the diff, and RPM GT camber links (those 1/8 buggy links were ridiculously large and heavy for this application). I also milled copious amounts of material out of the rear arms to reduce weight. The front suspension is mostly stock, except for the same 1/10 road car shocks, and the 17mm hexes I modified to accept Associated wheel bearings. Covered by a nice looking GT2 body, this thing screams down the road at 82 MPH on the OFNA belted 1/8 buggy road tires. My ultimate goal is another 39 MPH to set a new speed record, but that means a $500 modded Picco .28 and custom exhaust at the least, so for now, she’ll remain like this:
Well, once again, I had no stadium truck. So here I come, eBay. Lol. Looked for a few days, finally saw a project with my name all over it. It was a total basket case, but had quite a few good parts, and an in-tact black chassis, which is what I wanted because one, I didn’t have a black tub and two, the black tubs don’t lend themselves as well to serious modification, which would inhibit me from doing it again. So I bought it for $30 shipped, and began assessing it when it came a few days later. Lots of missing and broken parts. LOTS. But that was OK, as much of it I had on hand from the previous vehicles. I cleaned it up real good, and assembled it with what I had so I knew what I needed. Not too bad, just required a few turnbuckles, a servo saver……….and an engine, clutch & complete exhaust system. I thought about putting that again-orphaned Picco .21 in it, but decided to go small block this time around (the Picco may find a home in an NTC3, but that’s another story). Got my hands on an HPI .18 Nitrostar WR8 take-out for $85 shipped, which seemed like a good solution. It is, however, a slide-carb SG shaft engine. The slide carb is no biggie, as I’d adapted those several times. But the SG shaft means ditching the stock GT clutch stuff (of which I had multiples), and either going to mod 1 gears, or running a GT2 clutch bell. opted for the latter, mainly because I didn’t want yet another RRP steel spur going to waste. Using the GT2 bell and SG motor does require a different offset, which was accomplished by flipping the front mount 180*, and milling a new rear one. Last was the exhaust, and I got a great deal on a factory team purple anodized pipe. The truck is sporting the blue chassis RTR body right now, but I have a Tower ST15 body on order, which looks to be a dead ringer for the original GT body. I just bought the truck on July 24th of this year and finished assembling less than two weeks ago, so I have an excuse on the body. lol.
Not a wicked critter like the other two, but still quick. I haven't hit it with radar yet, but I'm estimating 45 MPH. And it still has enough torque to flip itself over backwards on high traction surfaces. That HPI .18 is a peppy little unit!
I figure that’s about a long enough OP for a newb here, but I am more than happy to discuss the mods in greater detail if anyone is curious!
