DARKWAV

I got the transmission out and took it apart. It had a bit of grease in it that I cleaned up. Then I dissassembled the differential. I was expecting to come across stubborn screws and bearings that would not budge. However, there was none of that. Everything came apart rather easily. It seemed as though no threadlock had been used at all when this was put together. Inside the differential I expected to see at least a small blob of grease. Instead the gears just had a light coating of motor oil; at least that made clean-up easier. I pre-soaked and then washed all of the transmission and differential parts in a solution of Simple Green and water followed up with a blast of electric motor spray.

I partially built-up the Turtle Racing Quick Diff Transmission Case minus the differential to reduce the amount of parts I had scattered about. I had a DDM aluminum plug to use instead of the stock plastic one.



Things were going very easy, almost too easy. Then it was time to assemble the differential using the Turtle Racing Differential Case Saver set. The small bearings were a very, very tight fit. I pressed the first one in with my bench vise, but had issues with the bearing for the other half of the case. I had a very difficult time trying to get it started straight-on. One side of the bearing kept dipping in first preventing me from pressing it in properly. I chipped the outer race on the bearing but fortunately had a spare available. I eventually got the new bearing pressed-in without having to freeze the bearing and heat the case.

I was debating on whether to use 10K or 30K diff oil. Just going by what I have read on forums, it seems to me that 10K would be a fairly versatile choice so I went with that then buttoned up the differential.



After finishing the differential, I re-opened the new transmission case. I lubricated the gears with Team Fast Eddie Dogbone and Tranmission Grease, and installed the differential. That grease sure is super tacky. The drag it causes on the transmission is noticeable. I tried not to use too much.



Here is the transmission all back together, ready to install back into the Baja 5B!

Horatio

That really is a super-nice build. Nice write up to! ​​​​​​

The issue you had with your bearings in the differential is exactly what happened with me when building the Baja 5B SS.

Quite simply, it wasn't possible to press fit the bearings into the diff halves and as a consequence of this, my build was delayed by 48 hours while I sourced replacement bearings. The diff was relieved to obtain the correct interference fit and the new bearings pressed in without issue.

I love those alloy transmission housings! I think the TR easy access diff housings are on my shopping list. One day!

DARKWAV

The TR QD Trans Case is a nice piece of kit, worth the upgrade as I understand the plastic case can have issues. Then there is the convenience of being able to remove the diff without pulling out the entire transmission.

The TR Diff Saver is nice too but it is a bit overkill since I don't think people have issues with the stock alloy case that came in the later Bajas. I think it was originally intended beef up the plastic diff case, but they made this version which came with the saver and a new alloy case machined down to fit inside the saver. I can't exactly remember the rationale for me buying it in the first place since it was so long ago, but I had it and I was going to be pulling the diff apart for cleaning and adding oil anyway so I went ahead and installed it at the expense of more weight and of course dealing with the bearing issues.

I didn't know how fiddly it would be so I saved installing the boots on the dogbones, as well as putting the transmission back on the chassis, and connecting the bones to the outdrives and stub axles for its own build session. I went with the stock HPI boots. I also picked up the Team Fast Eddie Boot Install Tool, making sure to get the "V2 for HD SC Bones" since that's the setup that comes stock on the 5B Flux. Everything went on fine with no torn boots.



With the boots on the bones all greased up and the transmission in the buggy, getting the boots over the outrive and axle cups was in fact a bit fiddly at first but I eventually figured out that starting the boot over a pin slot then finishing it over the other pin slot worked the best for me.



Finally, all the new stuff is installed. I'm in the home stretch now. I would hope it comes back together quickly, but I'm sure some things will take a bit of convincing to get back on!

DARKWAV

Took a bit longer to get it all back together. Had to futz around a bit with the shock towers and aluminum shock mount. I discovered that I didn't insert a set of stock aluminum spacers from my old shock towers into the Team Chase set I installed way back when (I had replaced the shock towers, braces and shock mount all at the same time so I never fully took apart the original tower assembly which contained those spacers!)



The worst was the spur gear cover. Than lower clip has to be installed blind with a set of pliers since my access is limited due to the Modified RC combination rear chassis-plate/under-guard. After some time I made the hole in the lower mounting pin larger with a body reamer to increase my chances of getting the clip through it. That seemed to help because I finally got the cover mounted.

Here is a picture of a shimmed hinge pin. This one has 1.7mm worth of shims on it. Team Fast Eddie has these in 1mm, .5mm, and .2mm sizes. I did the front suspension earlier when I was working on the servo and lower front chassis brace. I did the rear suspension while working on the transmission.



My Baja 5B project is finished!



Well, kind of. When I put the wheels on I realized the front tires had lateral tears across the tread and some on the sidewall too. These were the original stock front HPI tires. On the rears I have Pro-Line Bowties which appear to be fine.



Even with the front tires in bad condition, I still took the buggy on the first shakedown run. It was just at my nearby bash spot which is fine for 1/8 buggy or smaller, but with 1/8 MT and larger, the space feels a bit constrained so I wouldn't be getting to top speed anyway. So far everything seems to be working pretty good. I would say the Baja is back in service. The tires are just a consumables issue at this point.

I put in an order for both front and rear MadMax Big Digger tires assembled with foams on 8 spoke rims. I also ordered some DDM Bite-Lock beadlock rings. I was initially thinking of getting an orange set but at the last minute when placing the order I thought those might be too bold and flashy for my so I switched to the more subdued gray rings. I'll wait for these to arrive before taking the Baja out to a larger area where i can really open it up.

For fun, here are size comparison with the Vorza, and with the Felony. The Vorza was the project I was working on prior to Baja 5B. I bought the Vorza lightly used late last year and swapped-in several aluminum parts. The Baja 5B sure makes the Vorza look small! The Felony is my newest purchase and is completely stock, but is up next to get some attention. While the Baja was on the bench I ordered a bunch of Hot Racing aluminum parts for the Felony. I just need to organize and bag-up take-off parts and other hardware from the Baja build before I get started on the Felony. The Baja 3B and Felony have a similar problem, you need a large space to run them!

Horatio

Excellent! ​​​​​​

With the shims, aren't they supposed to go the other side of the brace - to take the slop out of the A arms?

Your rig looks great! I love the original HPI paint job. Cool project.

I wonder how quick it will be? I'm betting a fair bit more rapid than a 26cc Fuelie....

DARKWAV

Yes that is one of the uses for the shims. However, the bigger issue they are also intended to resolve with the stock pins is to prevent the pin from slamming back and forth causing the C-clip to get damaged and fall off. At some point I might just get Kraken hardened steel clip-less pins.

URC still has some old videos of the Baja 5B Flux. It is quick and fast...

Horatio

Nice videos! They are ridiculous - which is exactly how brushless cars should be.

Yes, I get ya' - plenty of people have issues with the C clips on these cars. Those shims prevent that issue - great idea.

DARKWAV

I got the MadMax wheels and tires with the DDM Bite-Lock beadlock rings. Here's some comparisons with those DDM rings vs the rings that come on the wheels originally. I picked up the gray outer rings and the black inner rings. Turns out the gray color is a bit darker than I had hoped but it does tie-in somewhat to the "gunmetal" finish on many of the aluminum parts.





When ordering the wheels/tires I needed to spend a few extra bucks to get free shipping, so I also got the Team Fast Eddie Alloy Front Hub Cones. When I went to swap those cones in, I discovered that I had one of the original plastic cones installed upside down...must have done that when I upgraded to the aluminum front hubs.



Here are the new wheel and tire set mounted on the Baja 5B.

Horatio

That's a really nice job - those wheels and tyres look great. The pattern reminds me of the old hostile mx's - these tyres transform the hook up on grass, which is the main type of surface we run on here in the UK.

How do the mad max tyres compare?

DARKWAV

I had some torn shock boots, so I wanted to take care of those before driving it. Fresh boots are on now, so I don't have too many excuses left. I am having some trouble finding the time to get this out to a large grassy park to run it full power when people aren't around. By the look and feel, they seem like a good wheel/tire set. Foams are relatively firm. I'm feeling pretty good about these, but will not now for sure until I get out and run it.

Horatio

Solidarity - I know how that feels!

I'm torn between RC cars, Drones and RC aircraft. When I do have some time off, it is often spent doing family stuff. It's almost like the planets have to align before I can actually use them these days!

I have however managed to rebuild my Moki 135 engine from the Funtana S 90, after de-gumming the internals, and intend to fly it soon. The boot of my car is a bit small though - not sure how the logistics are going to work!

DARKWAV

That's it right there, but it is overall a good thing to not have too much time available for RC when the opportunities are there to do family stuff. That's partly why I have limited myself to surface RC. I have always had an interest in aviation and spent several years doing aviation related work, but have avoided getting involved in RC aircraft all this time (except for a short flirtation with quadcopters that only lasted until local governments started freaking out about "drone" usage).

Horatio

Aah, the Drone control in the UK tightened up after some idiot decided to fly his quad in Heathrow air traffic - obviously not a good idea. >250 grams requires passing a test and registering. It's another fee each year but I'm too invested in it to stop now! ​​​​​​

FPV was something I learnt during the first lockdown and I've built 2 now on open Tx (Taranis SE) and TBS Crossfire radio, with DJI digital FPV goggles and flight units. They're awesome. They defy Physics.

Getting the Funtana S90 flight worthy after a 10 year hiatus is actually like meeting up with an old friend - it's been immensely satisfying - as I'm sure your Baja build is.

I spent a couple of evenings de-gumming the engine - it was run on 20% castor oil - which at the time was the supplier recommended fuel. However, it really isn't kind if it gums up. 17% Synthetic all the way from now on with Klotz. Can't wait to fire it up. It's the sweetest sounding 2 stroke I've ever heard.

DARKWAV

Anyone else as thrilled as I am that HPI has brought back the Baja 5B in kit form? 2 kits, one is setup for electric (Flux) and the other gas!



I'm happy that I will continue to be able to get genuine HPI parts to maintain my Baja 5B Flux.

Horatio

I didn't realise! Thanks for posting here!