TOPIC:

Oh yes, I used to have a ansmann drift, but used it once on the beach, and it got sand and wet inside it. Now it's all ceased and crunchy. I got the impression the dirt was more designed to stop stuff getting inside? Or is it you just get the little foam bit to stick round the end?

Would brushless be worth looking at. I saw on modelsports you can get some cheap brushlesss setups for

Brushless is cool but they're vulnerable to water. Dunno if that's a good choice for the beach...
Generally it's awesome to run it with a brushless of course.

A rebuidable brushed motor might still be the best choice...
Thing is, good ones are usually pricey. Close to the price of the cheaper brushless sets.
But advantage is that it could be cleaned up...

You may still be able to get the Drift going if you clean it btw.
I've run in motors under water - and it's also a good way to clean them up.
Putting it in an ultrasonic cleaner might even work...

If you might happen to have no use for the Dirt Tuned motor anymore, I'd be interested in that motor.

Oh i see. What would you consider to be a reasonably decent rebuildable brushless motor?

And i'll give that drift motor another go tomorrow. Is there actually anything special about the dirt motor? Or is just the standard silvercan with a bit of removable foam for the back?

I reckon you mean brushed rebuildable... these are fairly easy to maintain.
Rebuilding a brushless needs serious electronics skills.
And probably not much one can do when it's burnt out by moisture...

The Dirt Tuned is a nice motor compared to the silvercan.
I think it also has better magnets - and it's rebuildable of course.

Yeah sorry, I meant brushed. What would you consider to be a reasonably decent rebuildable BRUSHED motor?

Also, how hard are they to rebuild? When I was much younger and used to race, people at the club used to always offer to rebuild them for me

It's not really that complicated. There are only a few components :


Just member what goes where when you take it apart...
Lrp motors are very nice btw.
But I came across Etronix a few times. They seem to be rebuildable but still affordable.
And come in a variety of turns.
Can't tell you about the quality myself though...

www.ebay.co.uk/...ed%20motor

Those Etronix motors could be rebranded Ansmann Launcher or Absima Thrust B-spec motors. But thats just judging by the looks of the cans, endbell and the supplied motor wires. So I'm not 100% sure.

I've rebuild once a GM Racing Pinnacle Brillant 27T, and it wasn't that difficuilt at all. As Edou said, just be sure to keep track of every small thing you've taken apart.

Fairly important question on this - are we talking vintage Holiday Buggy, or the re-released version? - the original's open gearbox won't like the sand much, gears are nigh impossible to get for it, & I don't fancy its chances with a more powerful motor behind it! Then there's the fragile front suspension/chassis to also consider...

Body paint - the body is polyethylene, & as such paint WON'T stick properly to it. I've heard of people dying them with fabric dye (Fablon), but I've never tried it. Other option is PVC paint for re-painting vinyl car upholstery (Don't know if you can still buy it) as it forms a "glove" when dry rather than actually being adhered to the surface. Lexan paint might work the same way, but again I haven't tried it.

Paddle tyres - Grasshopper rear paddles on Grasshopper rims & use spacers to move the wheels out to clear the chassis - done this before on a vintage Holiday Buggy (Have a look in my gallery at my "Holiday Scorcher"). Can't see any reason why you couldn't do something similar on the modern version too, although you might need longer stub axles for this (& obviously Grasshopper/Frog type wheel adaptors).

Motors - Sand & salt water on the beach are your enemy... Anything open will get sand & water in it & need to be cleaned out after play.
Brushless is out due to the high working voltages inside.
Modifieds are difficult to enclose to keep the beach out, sand will cause problems with stuck brushes & wear.
Best use an enclosed type canned motor, fit foam or tape over the vent slots, oil the back bearing then put a dob of thick grease over it (To intercept the sand before it gets into the bearing).

Salt water will have ANY electronics for breakfast, so waterproof everything with balloons, condoms, bags & nylon tiewraps. ESC & receiver are most prone, but watch the on/off switch as well. If you can get an Acoms AS12 servo for the steering, do that too (AS12 has waterproofed spindle & cable entry).

Most importantly, clean the car down thoroughly immediately after playing on the beach - if you can, carefully hose it with clean water then dry it quickly somewhere warm. Better still, strip it & clean it properly. Salt water will attack all steels, including stainless & it will go for the aluminium & any zinc plating too. Failure to do this will have it looking/functioning like a Fiat Panda within 24hrs!

eddrick wrote:

Fairly important question on this - are we talking vintage Holiday Buggy, or the re-released version?

Indeed... I was under the assumption it's the DT-02.

alexthetaxi wrote:

holiday buggy to build into a suitable basher for the beach.

You never know of course, could still be a vintage one.