RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

Hi guys, thought I'd share a little on my latest project.

Bought this truck off ebay some time ago and finally got around to working on it. As I took it apart I was quite disappointed at the state it was in with many parts cracked or broken, wrong screws/nuts used, etc... Fortunately most of the essential "Blackfoot" (i.e. stuff I can't rip off a re-re frog) were there.

So I got to work on some carbon-fiber parts.

First up the rear end got some new parts.



Both the mounting points of the rear shock were cracked so on the front I fabricated a new mount. On the rear I glued up the hole in the arm and made new brackets which both reinforce the arm and at the same time offer adjustability in terms of the shock mounting and rear damping characteristics.



Both the rear outer arm brackets were shot too... so I replaced them too.

The next part took a lot more time to work on...



Here's the bellcrank steering system I designed for the Blackfoot. I originally designed a similar system for my frog. However, the different steering geometry of the blackfoot required the design to be tweaked somewhat. The revised steering bridge, coupled with the shortened steering links reduced bumpsteer significantly and should improve handling. Here's another picture of the truck with the steering system installed.



In his excellent thread here, Andyrt200 experimented with various ways of adapting a 12mm hex drive to the front of the Blackfoot. I took a similar route and here's the result.



Now I can run wheels off current models like the Blackfoot III without worrying about replacements.

The front end is largely complete and I'll be moving on to the rear end next.

Here's a picture of the truck as she stands.



Let me know what you think.

Wow!

I'm loving the mods on this one!

The carbon fiber and aluminum looks great!

I'll be watching this thread closely.

Diggley wrote:

Wow!

I'm loving the mods on this one!

The carbon fiber and aluminum looks great!

I'll be watching this thread closely.

x2, Nice work!

Nice! Gotta love a good Blackfoot. I have 3: one restored shelfer, one runner with some vintage hop-ups, and one in pieces that will someday get an "old is new" treatment like this. (In fact, I'll probably "borrow" some of your ideas.)

What are your plans for the transmission? Stock, Thorp, or do you have something else in mind?

Very cool mods and excellent attention to detail. Once again I feel as though I don't belong in this forum. It kinda has a tractor look the way it is. That's pretty cool too.

Looks awesome I'd love to see a carbon shock tower and maybe some tie rod style braces to show off that bellcrank

Thanks guys, glad you guys like the build so far.

markbt73 wrote:Nice! Gotta love a good Blackfoot. I have 3: one restored shelfer, one runner with some vintage hop-ups, and one in pieces that will someday get an "old is new" treatment like this. (In fact, I'll probably "borrow" some of your ideas.)

What are your plans for the transmission? Stock, Thorp, or do you have something else in mind?

I've been thinking about that question all weekend! lol!

I had some wild ideas which included working on a custom belt-drive transmission with a slipper incorporated, but most of the ideas would require quite a bit of planning and work. I did want to get the truck running soon, so I'm going to go with some less involved work on the transmission and then maybe work on something else later.

So speaking of which, here's an experiment I worked on today - slider shafts!

I already have a set of Tamiya universals but I thought slider shafts would be cool. Machined the differential outdrive and axle to fit and voila!

As it was a test I only finished one side so far... will do up the other side tomorrow.

Neat stuff, looks cool.

Very nice work!

You do great work, love the carbon! Looking good!

gomachv wrote:Looks awesome I'd love to see a carbon shock tower and maybe some tie rod style braces to show off that bellcrank

+1

i dig it!

kaiser wrote:

gomachv wrote:Looks awesome I'd love to see a carbon shock tower and maybe some tie rod style braces to show off that bellcrank

+1

i dig it!

Totally diggin' the mods...waiting for more!

I'd vote for carbon fiber gearbox side plates too!


There's just something so cool about CF on a BF, it's so wrong,...yet sooo right on!

I managed to hook up the rest of the truck tonight. The steering system works very well and achieves 2 things. The first is near zero bump-steer. I took the following 2 pictures to compare the steering at normal ride height and with the suspension fully compressed.



The second thing I wanted was for the setup to achieve good ackerman angles. I was able to set the steering up to my liking.



Heres a picture of the rear end. I managed to finish up the slider shaft for the other side of the transmission and it all goes together very well. I've currently hooked up a 10.5T motor to the transmission and it really rips! To prevent the differential from coming apart, I did a modified "oldfrogshot" mod - managed to do this without drilling or tapping any screw threads and I managed to install a thrust bearing as well for smoother diff action. Everything is held together with a locknut so I don't have to fiddle with locktite and yet the diff is easy to service when needed. No pics of this as I was too busy putting it altogether but I can try to take some photos later.



Electronics include a 120Amp hobbywing esc.



Here's the truck as it currently stands.



This is the shell that it came with. It's got scratches and is well worn but structurally is in great shape for a restoration.





Some rain today made the local track too wet to run the truck there but I did test the truck on the road and initial impressions were very good. The steering tracks very straight and steering is quick, responsive and consistent. The 10.5T seems a bit too fast but I've got to test it on track to be sure. Even on the high grip tarmac the truck seems to handle pretty well without ever feeling too top heavy.

So the first run was a very positive experience. I'm hoping track performance will also exceed my (somewhat low) expectations. lol!

too cool. but a 10.5? lol it's got to be a beast.

Looks gnarly! Hope you can get some video for us.