TOPIC:

This is my 1st post here, thanks for letting me ramble everyone!

I am about to purchase a Midnight Pumpkin for the fun of it, when I was 12, I bought an original BF from a good friend, RTR, for $75.00. It did me well and is still around the house here somewhere, but I had always been in love w/ the Pumpkin.

To make a really long and boring story short, my knowledge of the Tamiya RC World has flourished and I need a quick refresher w. something...

I wannna upgrade my motor to a 23 T motor, and a 20 T ESC, nothing dangerously fancy. First, is this a good thing, or w/ The Pumpkin, does it really not make much of a difference?

Last but not least, with a motor and ESC upgrade, do I need a new servo and radio?

Sorry if this seems ridiculous to ask, but my general RC knowledge is ancient.

Thanks for being understanding of my lack of knowledge right now and thanks for answering this question. I hope to become a regular here, filled w/ many, many questions!

Welcome on board

A 23T motor (like the Tamiya "Sport Tuned" motor) will give a 30% speed boost, I'd say it's well worth it for a Pumpkin as you can buy any new parts you need; for a BF (Blackfoot?) you've got to think a bit more about the lack of spares availability.

Re the radio gear/servo, any radio gear made between mid 80's & mid 00's will probably be fine (look for "BEC" (Battery Eliminator Circuitry) somewhere on the receiver) or use an ESC made by someone other than Tamiya.

Thank you Jonny!

This helps quite a bit. So any ESC that has been made recently other than a Tamiya is good then, yes?

Thanks a ton!

It's a bit more complicated than that, i was trying to simplify an either/or choice & probably went a bit far

Tamiya ESCs are fine (some people even prefer them) but they are different - one of those differences is that (as well as battery & motor connection wires) they have two connectors for the receiver (RX) - one is a "normal" 3-pin servo plug (which goes in the "Channel 2" slot on the RX), and a 2-pin connector that goes to the "Battery" slot on the RX. The red wire on that delivers the same voltage as the main drive battery connected to the ESC - e.g. 7.2v for a 6 cell stick pack, possibly up to 9v if it's fresh off the charger ... where an RX doesn't have BEC, the RX & servo are designed to run off 4.8 to 6v, so the higher voltage will damage them.

Pretty much any other brand of ESC will have just the 3 pin connector, with the power to run the RX & servo coming off the +ve wire (so no "battery" connection on the RX) - and this is almost always limited to somewhere between 4.8 and 6v.


Where your RX has "BEC" you can run it off any modern ESC (including Tamiya), if it doesn't have BEC then you need a non-Tamiya ESC ... or wire in an external BEC (just to complicate things).

thank you Jonny!

I am going to have to get a glossary w/ all these terms in it (BEC?), haha, because it has been so long. Like I had mentioned, the 1st RC I got my hands on was indeed a Black Foot and I was 12 at the time. I am 40 now and just getting back into things, it has been that long. This is going to be really fun though and a nice, safe way to revisit my younger years. Plus if I am lucky, I can get my 12 year old daughter into it a little by teaching her about assembly and such.

Now, if you dont mind me asking, what about a pinion? Whats good for there?

For the Lunchbox/Pumpkin you only have one choice - Tamiya's long brass 10 tooth 0.8 mod pinion (part number 3505015).

Jonny wrote:

For the Lunchbox/Pumpkin you only have one choice - Tamiya's long brass 10 tooth 0.8 mod pinion (part number 3505015).

They are rare but you can get long 11t and 12t pinions that where made by Thorp (Back in the day) that I have found will fit if extended toward the end of the motor shaft and fitted with a variable motor mount kit.

www.ebay.co.uk/...1497.l2649

Thanks. So much for me to learn, I can tell this forum will be such a huge help to me...

Now, if I may, is there anything I need to get in conjunction w/ a diff. pinion? I want this MP to be somewhat of a training car, something I can gain as much learning and knowledge as possible off of, so once I move up and on I will be able to know and understand more on my own.

dreadly wrote:

...

They are rare but you can get long 11t and 12t pinions that where made by Thorp (Back in the day) that I have found will fit if extended toward the end of the motor shaft and fitted with a variable motor mount kit.
...

That works on a Lunchbox/Pumpkin ?

So I dont have to get a better pinion if I upgrade the motor, is that optional and not a must?