Sixtysixdeuce

So, does anyone else here remember the old Radio Shack Turbo Z Racer? I got one for my birthday when I was 6 or 7, have a lot of fond memories with that little critter. Of course, I was a tinkerer when I was young, too, and that car did not survive me.

Fast forward 25 years, I spotted that car on eBay in pretty good condition and thought it'd be fun for my rugrats to play with the same toy I did when I was little. So I bought it for $46 shipped, only to discover that the steering motor gear was broken when it showed up this afternoon. I was a little irked, and contacted the seller, but I believe he was being sincere when he said he did not know, so I opted to keep it an upgrade it a bit.

Of course, I have parts galore lying about, including brand new HK 320A brushed ESC, FS GR3 receiver and Associated mini servo. So I tore this critter apart and decided it would be rather simple to add some cheaper hobby grade parts and make it actually have variable speed and servo steering. Ripped out the crappy stock integrated 49 MHz receiver and "speed control", and affixed the HK ESC and receiver where it used to live. Then I tore the guts out of the steering box assembly, analyzed it for a few minutes, and decided to simply cut a recess for the servo, attach it with a couple of 4-40 screws/nuts, and simply use a pivot on the arm to connect with the OEM "rack". It actually came out pretty clean:







Honestly, you'd never know except for the short 2.4GHz antenna, the missing adjustment screw for the steering, and the Tamiya connector in the battery compartment. I was even able to put the switch in the same location (though it does bulge the side of the lower chassis rail a little):





It'll run on a Tenergy 9.6v 2,000 mAh NiMh pack for now, with the stock brushed motor. I'll probably upgrade the brushed can soon and maybe go to a LiPo when the kids are old enough to pay attention to a low voltage alarm, but I doubt I'll ever put a brushless in this, unless I change out the entire rear end, and that kind of defeats the purpose. I might figure out some aluminum, oil-filled shocks that will fit, though.

Anyone else ever upgrade a toy, particularly a childhood relic?

turok007

lol i had one that looked like it. not sure if it was the same model but i stuck a 7.2v stick pack in mine. worked very well.

SyCo_VeNoM

Shoulda converted it to nitro


GJ though keeping its stock look

nitrosportsandrunner

5-6 years ago I upgraded a older radio shack buggy. It was a decent sized one....cant recall the name of it tho.
I put a xl5, 15t venom motor, and standard servo/radio gear.
It was soooo much faster than stock. soon, the plastic bushings started to wear out and the parts had a lot of play. but, before the chassis gave out the motor did. I had used the stock pinion gear the buggy had....which was geared much to high for the 15t motor.
The buggy's trans gears were pretty tough looking, like on older tamiyas.
Id check the gears in your model to see how wide they are, before putting a better motor or lipo to it. these things don't have slipper clutches

Sixtysixdeuce

Right? lol. All that would be left is the body.

This should be good for the rugrats; it's not for me to play with. I'll just relive my youth vicariously through them playing with the same toy I used to.

Yeah, that's why I figured I'd not do a brushless. Biggest reason for LiPo is not the output, but the better charge density (although I haven't seen a LiPo that would fit with more than the 2,000 mAh rating of the NiMH I have coming). As for motor, I don't imagine any brushed 370/380 can will be able to hurt it, especially being the one-legger it is (VERY open differential).

Ttam Says Blarg

Thats cool man I wouldnt upgrade it too much because that thing is just not supposed to go fast.. But a great toy for the kids to play around with!!