New member, new b3 project!

[DontTreadOnJake]

Greetings everybody,

I am yet another "was cleaning out the garage" story. Last week I was going through some stuff at a relatives and opened a box with a familiar yellow body and black, neglected chassis. Wow, my old B3 Team car. I bought it RTR from Tower Hobbies after saving my pennies for MONTHS lol. I haven't thought of that for about 10 years, when my friend crashed it and broke the front arm/bulkhead. Being 15 and saving up for my first real car, the repair bill was just too high for my minimum wage job, so into the cardboard time capsule it went along with some made in usa front arms & Pro Line Bow tie rear tires which are still in the box!

Fast forward a decade or so and I find myself stripping it down, reading a ton and trying to get it ready for me and my son to play with. Forunately I had the brains to remove the battery from the car, the radio was less lucky. I have ordered all of the parts to rebuild the chassis, arms, bulkhead, shock rebuild kit, etc. I am going to take apart the trans when my "black grease" and diff fluid arrive and give that a fresh lube job before I put the power to it. It spins real nice, just after sitting that long I want to go through it with fresh grease. I have ordered double of some of the body components, and bought a carbon front shock tower off ebay simply because its discontinued and break commonly. If there are any other items I should be hoarding let me know. Also open to aftermarket upgrade ideas, for example the CVD dogbones from associated are discontinued? What do you do if you break one of them?

My main concern is going to be making smart decisions on the electronics going forward. I have no battery but will get one soon, so I won't be able to test and see what works yet, but assuming it all turns on here is whats in the car:

Trinity Midnight 2 motor, Duratrax Spike Mosfet ESC, Tower Hobbies system 3000 receiver and radio, says 75 mhz. I used this for playing around and some backyard races with neighbor kids (we had a decent track built with sweat and shovels). I cannot imagine racing will be in my future, so if it all works I will probably keep it as is for now. I would like to build something for my son if he enjoys the hobby, so maybe I could take that setup and put it in his starter car as I upgrade the old B3 with fresh new fangled wizzbangs.

I am thinking #1 I should upgrade the radio, mainly due to the battery acid death it suffered. I saw a FlySky model for $40 that had decent reviews, would that be good enough for playing around the yard?

#2 I'm going to need a battery and charger. The tenergy TB6-B caught my eye. I would like to have NIMH and LIPO batteries, maybe even some old NICADS for my son to thrash, charge, drain, charge, drain break and only cost me $11 replace. This has been a source of major confusion for me so advice is greatly appreciated. Also I'm a bit confused if one ESC can handle all battery types?

#3 Eventually I would like to go brushless. Either a velineion system or maybe a sidewinder sv2. I love the idea of being able to tune the throttle curve, etc. I could make it run slow for my son and fast for me. This was also appealing about the Traxxas system as it has training mode and is waterproof!

I'm looking for any help and advice I can get. I will post pictures on here soon, thanks in advance and glad to be here!

[DontTreadOnJake]

Any input on this charger? Anything better out there for the price?

http://www.amazon.com/Combo-Special-Tenergy-Balance-Charger/dp/B00466PKE0/ref=pd_sim_sbs_t_2

Also any good tutorials on wiring bullet connectors onto ESC's?

[Charlie don't surf]

eBay is great right now for all the "recyclers" that strip RTR kits out and resell the parts, very cheap source of good electronics that are current day stuff. That being said, virtually any of the items out there are decent....or at least comparable to each other as far as features and uses within the price ranges. LiPo is as cheap or cheaper in the long run as NiMh, but you can approach it any way you are comfortable.

Should be a blast to get your little one up and running!

[vwjuice]

Any input on this charger? Anything better out there for the price?

http://www.amazon.com/Combo-Special-Tenergy-Balance-Charger/dp/B00466PKE0/ref=pd_sim_sbs_t_2

Also any good tutorials on wiring bullet connectors onto ESC's?

That charger is sold under a million different names including Losi. I have the Imax B6 version and I love it. It is very small, does what I need it too, and is easy to use. That is a decent price, but look around on ebay for a B6 and you can find all the items in that kit separately and save a few extra bucks.

[teman]

My brother uses the FlySky and he likes it a lot. That would be good choice for you if you want to dial down the throttle for your son

Don't sweat the CVD's, plenty over the net and ebay at regular price. You might want a few front bulkheads and rear arm mounts as they seem to break easily. Suspension and steering arms can break on occasion too. I've since strayed away from the FT version, just seem to be more brittle than the normal composite versions and cost more. If you plan to rebuild the transmission grab the black idler gear (as opposed to the yellowish white version) it seems to last quite a bit longer.

I chose the sidewinder v1 for my B3, I like having the option of brushed or brushless and it will do any battery type. I think that's something along the lines of what you're looking for. You'll need the castle link programming system for sure with any Castle.

I think the biggest issue with B3's are the finding the original wheels at sticker price The cost effective route would be the Thunder Tiger Phoenix BXII wheels. The plastic is a bit different that Asso's nylon, but will hold up pretty well. JC Racing makes really nice wheels for the B3 also. If you order the JC's, make sure you get the 3/16" axel version

[DontTreadOnJake]

Hey guys, thanks for the info and the nice replies. I have the car all stripped down now just waiting for UPS boxes to start showing up. I am going on a trip for the next week and will order charger/batteries when I return but it does sound like I'll be going with the Tenergy and the Fly Sky for the radio. If there is a much better radio out there for $20 more ($60) I would be game, please let me know if there is. I did not know that you could use it to control throttle, very cool. This RC thing has changed a lot since I put the car in the box and I'm liking it.

Me and the little guy have had some fun tearing it down and have learned a lot along the way. For example the idler gear appears to be metal, were they metal at one time?

One thing I'm having a hard time tracking down is the 9220 bumper. Mine is there but not for much longer. Could I just order a phoenix bx 2 front bumper? Any nice aftermarket options out there? Not too crazy on bolting on a huge bumper, so the smaller the better

[templeofspeed]

Confirmed BX2 bumper is the one: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXALJJ&P=7

[DontTreadOnJake]

Wow, .99 cents, good find. I almost paid $13 for one out of Canada due to crazy shipping. I'll just buy a few of these and be good to go.

[85Edinger]

Another good option for a brushless system is the Duratrax Element (rebadged Sidewinder). Last I checked it was avaliable on Tower Hobbies scratch and dent for $82. Decent system, not worth full retail, but for $82, it's a great value and has an actual warranty.

[2500M_Sub]

Welcome to the forum, I too found this place because I dusted off my old b3. I ordered a Castle sidewinder SV2 and 4600 KV motor. I had it installed and ready but was waiting on replacement wheels from JC racing as they sent me the wrong wheels for the B3. In that time I picked up an unused RC10 CE gold pan with stealth so transferred the electrics to that car instead. I am using the Flysky radio and Gensace 5000 mah Lipo. The Rc10 was very fast with this combo, but I melted the diff gear yesterday so am now waiting for replacements. If you go Castle I picked up a combo from ebay brand new for 120ish. Got the radio, lipo and charger from hobbypartz. So now I have to pick up another combo from Castle and an extra receiver for the B3. As for the bumper try and source an RPM B3 bumper, they are better than the stock or thunder tiger version. I found two one came from Australia and I got one from Ebay. Good luck and post some pics. Using this charger (http://www.hobbypartz.com/73p-ac680-accharger.html), which is great and cheaper than the one mentioned above.


Regards,

Ren

My B3 with modified 1/4 axle rims before I removed the electronics, I have since received the correct wheels, which are a little different.


. by 2500M_Sub, on Flickr

[knucklebuster]

I got back into the hobby a few years ago and realized nimh was a huge jump over the old nicd. Back then I refused to pay big bucks for lipo. IMO lipo is the way to go as they are now essentially the same cost as nimh.

I literally just made the jump to lipo. The batteries are much lighter than nicd and nimh. New lipos from reliable names such as Turnigy, Gens Ace, Onyx and Venom can be had for $35-45.

[DontTreadOnJake]

Thanks for the info 2500 Sub. Nice looking car, mine is pure yellow and in pieces at the moment. I really have my eyes set on the exact same brushless system if I were to upgrade, about how fast does yours run and how long on that 5000 mah battery? Any good pics of how you wire that esc?


Did you buy those wheels direct? Also, the more I read the more I realize I may just as well buy the right equipment for LIPO, either low voltage warning or new esc and balancing charger. Thanks for the tip on the charger, might just go with that one instead.

[2500M_Sub]

Yeah, you might as well just get into lipo, you will be much happier. Not sure how fast, but it is very fast, any faster and it would be uncontrollable. If you go with the brushless set up no need to get the lipo cutoff. Wiring is easy the ESC already has 3 wires that connect directly to the motor wires, which are already attached to the motor. The only thing you have to do is solder a connector for the battery, I went with EC3 connectors over deans because they are easier to deal with. The 5000 mah battery lasts a long time, again not sure exactly but I ran it 3 times before the battery died. Also whatever connector you decide on you may have to change the battery connector and the connector to the charger. This was no big deal. I will see if I can take some pics and post the wiring tomorrow. If you do go brushless make sure your diff and slipper are set up correctly as I melted my diff gear yesterday, think the diff was too loose and the slipper may have been a tad too tight. I have the b4 top shaft and slipper upgrade on the Rc10 and will probably do the same before running my B3. As for the rims, You get 2 fronts and 2 rears from JC racing (from the UK) for the posted price, Just make sure to order the B3 wheels. I think I just emailed them and they sent me a Paypal invoice.

Regards,

Ren

[DontTreadOnJake]

Wow, good to know. I was thinking that you would have to do some updgrading in the trans after taking mine apart. I ordered a spare black idler gear last night for $4 with free shipping off ebay so I'm getting prepared.

What else can be done to modify the trans? I'm thinking I might just order two new halves and build up a spare, tougher transmission for when I go brushless.

On another note I put new batteries in the old radio last night, scraped some corrosion off of the terminals of the battery pack holder and it powered up! This thing was in a garage in northern wisconsin for 8-9 years, maybe longer with no heat. So it saw several winters of -30 temps and summers over 100. I'll get a battery and charger and see what else works on the car.

If it all turns on and runs fine, I will drive it as is to see if the hobby is going to take with the family. If it does, I will upgrade the "vintage" B3 for myself and some 1/18 scale trucks for the kids. I would rather they broke parts that are available, and at $100-$130 RTR you can't go wrong. A little off topic but would you go HPI Mini recon or RC18 MT or T2?

[DontTreadOnJake]

Another good option for a brushless system is the Duratrax Element (rebadged Sidewinder). Last I checked it was avaliable on Tower Hobbies scratch and dent for $82. Decent system, not worth full retail, but for $82, it's a great value and has an actual warranty.

Can you still program this one? I saw some reviews that said the motor had cheaper internals and got hot, but that could be gearing selection. I'm very interested in that if it can still do castle link or something similar.