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1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:59 pm
by dinglem
Probably not a car many on here will have even heard of, but in 1986 a chap by the name of Bill Jones campaigned a much modified Hotshot, which was dubbed the 'Supercharge Hotshot' and was named after his shop down near Romsey, Supercharge Models.

Bill Jones was a very competitive driver, and actually campaigned one of his cars at the 1986 European Championships in Bologna, Italy, qualifying second on the grid with it and actually winning one of the A Final legs, eventually finishing 5th overall. He also used this success as a platform to sell on his Hotshot tuning parts and cars at this event. One write-up actually documents how he offered to lend a Supercharge Hotshot to one of the 2wd car owners in the hope of improving their chances (at that time 2wd and 4wd cars were in the same class).

Bill Jones was also the Race Director at the now famous Romsey circuit, so clearly had success there at his local track, with pictures of his car existing from a 1987 event.

I have always been really interested in the look of this car, particularly the low-slung swooping fibreglass chassis which was notably minimalist when compared to the FTD Hotshot - the other well-known and successful Hotshot racer of that time (over in Europe at least). A few months ago an elderly racer gave me the opportunity to purchase a fibreglass chassis Hotshot he had been steadily restoring, and so i grabbed it. I didn't really know too much about these cars and their tuning options so have spent a little time trying to work out the spec, but in summary as it goes back together after a thorough clean-up it has the shortened wheelbase swooping fibreglass chassis and a short main prop shaft, really low-angled Associated shocks (well worn), the red CRP front A-arm brace, alloy steering hubs (again well worn but perfectly fine), a centrally positioned single RC10 steering bellcrank which was the norm for these chassis modified cars, and a Thorpe rear ball diff.

It is still at the rebuild stage for the moment, but I can add a little on the original pictures of the car I have managed to gather in the last 4 weeks or so during my research. I have no idea how many Supercharge cars were built, or how many chassis parts Bill actually sold either at events or from his shop, but I can only assume it wasn't very many. This chassis has some light damage on the underside - just dings and scratches, but apart from being slightly yellowed it has come up really rather well. I will add some pictures of it once it goes back together, plus i don't have a shell for it just at the minute, although I have sourced a TMS swb Hotshot shell to go on to it.
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Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 2:51 pm
by dinglem
BTW - just to add a little more here, this is the other fibreglass chassis Hotshot i mentioned, famously campaigned by Jimmy and Wayne Davis. This was known as the FTD Hotshot conversion, and was very popular in the UK at that time. I certainly recall seeing a few of these on the track when I was first starting out. As things usually go, whilst researching the Supercharge I car, somebody responding to my questions claimed to have an original FTD chassis from bitd, so i ultimately now have another car to build up after the Supercharge one 8)

The FTD one is thicker fibreglass, taller sided, but still has the same central single RC10 steering bellcrank mod.
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Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 5:47 pm
by Dadio
You know I was just planning on building a replica of my TMS chassis hotshot from back in my racing days but once again you got there first " Damn you Dinglem !" :lol:

Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 5:50 pm
by coxbros1
Cool write up! Stoked about these builds

Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 5:52 pm
by TheDiamondOne
Rightous build homz!!!

Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 5:57 pm
by dinglem
Dadio wrote: Thu Dec 24, 2020 5:47 pm You know I was just planning on building a replica of my TMS chassis hotshot from back in my racing days but once again you got there first " Damn you Dinglem !" :lol:
Better get in there quick then mate.... prices of the fibreglass chassis variant Hotshots are going to sky-rocket once i have finished this.... allegedly... :lol:

I have to admit it is starting to look absolutely wicked already though.

Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 6:01 pm
by dinglem
The TMS version was one I hadn't heard of bitd actually, but somebody did find an new in packet TMS chassis complete with instructions. Looks cool. I have nabbed this picture from another forum so apologies in advance to the pic owner... good for reference on this thread however.

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Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 6:03 pm
by dinglem
Dadio - can you give some feedback on your Hotshot racing days? I have never actually run one. Anything I need to be aware of as I intend racing this particular car at the Revival event in the summer. What am i going to break first?

Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 6:58 pm
by GoMachV
I finally got some parts cut and bent to recreate to “hotting up a hotshot” magazine do it yourself chassis. Now in the middle of a move so I’ll pick it back up when we are done.

Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 7:04 pm
by dinglem
Sounds good - do you have any pictures of the article by any chance?

Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 7:05 pm
by dinglem
Scratch that - i found your thread!

https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?t=38565

Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 7:23 pm
by GoMachV
Yeah I only made the one attempt and never bothered finishing it. Finally decided it was time haha.

Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 10:44 pm
by dinglem
Just read through the article - very interesting. I am sure there must be others detailing the various tuning upgrades and options for the Hotshot, which as an introduction for many drivers to 4wd at that time must have proven very popular. I already have my Rory Cull Hotshot which is a variation on the themes seen above, and that car did particularly well on the UK scene, but it was the FTD car which was most popular and most people seem to remember. Not many however, even in the UK, know of the Supercharge Models cars, although that was the design which had the most success internationally.

I have listed the hop-ups this car has in my initial post - does anybody on here have an actual Hotshot racing experience at all? I am hoping to get a little feedback on the spec I have here and whether it will hold up on the track for some light racing. I am assuming the Thorpe rear diff will offer some drivetrain protection at the motor end of things, and the red CRP suspension brace at the front will offer some addition strength there. I forgot to mention that the car also has a well used and scratched-up full width polycarbonate bumper which will get cleaned up and put back on, so front-end protection will be fairly decent. Does anybody have any details on when the Thorpe ball diff was first available at all?

I have the various components to enable me to replicate the electrics set-up that Bill Jones used. Futaba 131-SH servo, Demon ProKing esc and a Futaba FP-R102H Mini-Receiver, so they will all be going into this build. For once the radio gear install should be fairly simple. I also have a few old school stick packs so they can go in too. Back in 1986 the batteries were held in place by fitting two fairly thick rubber rings on either side of the battery on the outside of the chassis plates, thus preventing the cells from sliding sideways out of the chassis cut-outs. I am sure I can come up with something suitable to replicate this.

Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 11:10 pm
by GoMachV
Sadly I can’t help with much details as far as the racing side of the Hotshots. We didn’t get many around here, 4wd started getting popular later on.

Re: 1986/87 Supercharge Hotshot

Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 1:21 am
by dinglem
When i was first starting out at my initial indoor club (Perry Common Buggy Club on the outskirts of Birmingham) the main car to have was the Pb Mini Mustang. It was basically a flat carpet track with wooden jumps an table-tops. The other common cars were very hopped-up Hotshots and Boomerangs, many of which had the FTD fibreglass chassis conversion which is why i so fondly remember these. I was racing my Meteor at that time. If you didn't have a 4wd car you basically weren't making the top two heats.