i got this off ebay. $55 shipped.

pretty sure its a HPI sprint nitro(early model, not evo)

has a nitro star .15

this one seems to be missing a bunch of stuff.

the set screw for the brake aint there.

the fuel line between the tank and muffler is missing.

2 screws that should hold part of the spur gear mount arnt there.

im worried there is a second plastic piece to the mount that should be there that is not.

The "AA" battery holder was there, but is all smashed up.

Screw that hold the motor on are nearly stripped.

Motor does have compression....the only good news really.

anyone got info on this model? and exploded view might help me.

i mean its a nitro RS4, not sprint.

If you need any engine parts, let me know. I have a Nitro Start .15FE I got from a buddy that has a roached rear bearing. It looks like it hardly ever ran but one tank of fuel. Has a purple head. Its complete (but disassembled) minus muffler and 1 bearing. I thought about getting a rear bearing for it and see if it will run but being the piston to liner fit isnt that good, I dont know if it would run or not.

Those older HPI engines were tough. I think they were made by Toki? They were an OEM engine supplier for several brands.

That thing looks rough.  Like it was left outside maybe? Can you take a pic from a little farther back? I used to run a nitro RS4 so I might be able to tell you if that is what it is.

Original Nitro RS4
I had one 2 years back ran it a few times till I stripped the spur(which is common from what the one LHS guy I used to talk to told me).
After that I let it sit for a while till I stripped it for parts for other things
http://www.hpiracing.com/instruction...ruct-nitro.htm the manual

Will say that pipe is worth a pretty penny when I was trying to rebuild mine they were going for $30+ alone.
Also it looks like he removed the purple anodizing.

wow, lots of info. thanx guys.

ive got a couple scaler projects, so this car may sit on the shelf for a bit. the motor has good compression, and i do think it can be a runner again. just needs a few bits and some cleaning.

post better pics.
I got one when they first came out and had it for more than 10 years... and it does look like the first gen rs4. (no purble chassis) ...but the 1st gen rs4's came with .12 engines,,,not .15
maybe the put a .15 coil ?

the rs4-2 came with the .15 and a different pipe.

wow, more interest in this old RS4 than i would have thought.

here are some more pics.

maybe its a 1st gen, with a motor upgrade??? Or could it just be a .12 with a newer pull starter on it?

i bought this on a whim, and i have several projects going right now. i may test the motor to see if it will run and then put it up for sale. anyone interested?

probably is a t-15fe
who knows maybe the guy grabbed any old engine laying around, and flung it on, or upgraded for speed back when they sold the t-15fe still.
lets face it how many people run engines other than stock on their RC's

wish I had pics of my first rs4 lol

anyway, that looks like a first gen rs4 with a .12 and a .15 pull starter. even that rear exit pipe came on the .12 engines> http://archive.hpiracing.com/?page=k...ritage/n-m.htm

that info claims it can do 30-35 stock, and 55 with ball bearings-2 speed tranny and other goodies.

that sounds like a tall claim for a .12!

i see 1998 on that page. so this has got some age to it then.

now i feel kinda bad. im not really a nitro fan, just bought it on a whim. and i already have a running nitro onroad.

i dont want the car to just sit on my shelf.

It seems like a car that someone should restore! I think its 99% there and that the motor can run again. Just needs a tear-down, cleaning and rebuilding of the chassis and belt system and a few screws for the spur gear mount.

1996 when they came out. http://archive.hpiracing.com/?page=k...ritage/n-m.htm

hard to get parts but u can still find them on ebay and a few from tower. I bought about $100 on spare belts, for my rs4-2. If you are going to run it on the street,.... get spare belts, buy as many as u can.

I regret selling my 1st gen rs4, 4/5 years ago, it was in perfect condition [:@]

Mine was clocked by a police man at 60mph with a Nova Rossi .12 (bump start) and 2 speed. Long time ago, i really miss that car. Pretty sure thats the first gen, the others had a slightly different front suspension setup with a front belt tensioner built into the front end....

I have good news and bad news.

bad news: Rx is dead.

and worse, the clutch bell doesnt seem right at all. it wont mesh right with the spur(doenst even seem to be same pitch?)
and its coming off(away from motor, revealing the clutch shoes)

so until those items are fixed, it wont be drivable. I did manage to get the motor mount screws loose without totally stripping them. this allowed me to put screws in the spur gear mount.

here are pics:

I did test the motor. SHES A RUNNER! Started up really easy. see the short vid. I didnt tune it or anything, just add fuel-prime and start!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BfjNGdqBkg[/youtube]

wow what the hell pitch is that bell even?
kinda leads more into my the guy just threw anything on it to sell it rtr heory I had on why the engine is a .15fe instead of the .12

Good news is an HPI bell is like $10 and is still sold seeing all the RS4's still use the same style

cool, didnt know they all use the same style clutch bell.

there is also a phlips head screw holding the clutch bell on. i dont think thats right either...lol!

i was impressed by how easy i got this motor started.

edit, just bought a 13t clutch bell off ebay. thats what the HPI said was the stock tooth. hopefully it will work!

Oooh, nice, motor works. Order an air filter before you drive it any, you don't want dust and dirt getting sucked in there. Also it didn't sound like it was that badly out of tune, a slight adjustment on the idle screw and HSN(There isn't an LSN on that carb AFAIK) should have it purring wonderfully.

thanx for mentioning it didnt have a LSN. i would have looked for it for hours...lol. i didnt know not all nitros had them.

i have a air filter for it, just to lazy to put it on for that motor test.

the throttle linkage will need adjustment, and i should have the new clutch bell next week. when i pull the motor off the chassis to install the new bell i see if i can clean it up and make it look good again.

Heh, yeah, some don't. It's one of the reasons the 15FE is a weak little thing. I remember back in the day one of the biggest hopups for anything sporting one on a budget was the purchase of a proper carb with an LSN, woke the engine up quite nicely.


Don't worry about making it look pretty. Just clean it so it won't bake in it's own filth. Looking pretty is for shelf queens and eBay listings, when you're running it you can't see the engine for the shell anyway.

so, does only having a high speed needle make it easier to tune???

hate to tell ya that is right
My HPI engines have phillips head screws holding the bell on
You might notice HPI uses phillips head screws still for the most part.
Only things I can remember them using hex's on(out of the 7 or so I've owned) are the screws that hook up to the knuckles

Yes and no. It does in that there's one less thing to adjust, but it doesn't in that you have to adjust it far more often and usually have to settle for a somewhat fat setting on either the high or low speed, depending on your altitude relative to where the carb was prototyped.

OK.

is it fair to say that smaller nitros tune easier? i have had a tmaxx 2.5, savage with axial motor and a few other trucks. all were a pain to keep tuned(all bought used) now i have this .12 that fired right up after not being run in years, and i also recently got a smartech with a .15 which also(although being in rough shape) fired right up and was a breeze to tune.

im kind glad syco said they use a philips head screw to hold the bell clutch on. should make it easy to put the new one on.

Engine displacement does have an effect on how well an engine holds a tune, but most car engines fall in roughly the same range. What has the largest effect is engine design and maintenance history, with more mild engines tending to be more forgiving and better kept ones tending to be more reliable. Your 15FE is a very mild little thing, and it seems to not have been abused if it fired right up without any effort.


As for that phillips screw...Get. It. The. Hell. Out! I HATE phillips screws. They strip far too easily. Pull it out, take it to a hardware store, grab yourself an allen headed bolt to replace it.