Vintage Stampede
I recently got a stampede from my father who bought it new about 22 years ago. I was racing offroad back then and he just had to have an RC. Shortly after he got it, I replaced the mechanical speedo with an electronic unit and left the silver can 20-turn motor in it. It served him well for the little that he drove it. It sat for the last 20 years until recently. My 8 year old got me into racing again and when we visited my parents the old Stampede came out. Surprisingly the batteries still worked for about a 3 minute run after a full charge. My Dad gave the truck to my son so we had another to add to our fleet.
When we got home I removed the Tamiya connector and soldered on a Deans plug and plugged in a new Nimh battery. The old truck ran great and my son had a ball with it. However, at the end of the battery pack the motor was 240 degrees. 20 year old dried grease and un-oiled bushings makes for a bad drive train.
I tore it down, greased and oiled everything. I replaced the speedo with one that would handle a 12-turn motor and put a Titan 12T in it and reduced the pinion size from an 18 tooth to a 16 tooth. The truck ran much better, but it did not seem to have much punch and still ran a little hot at 170 degrees. I just installed an original bearing kit in it yesterday and took it out for a test drive. There wasn't any change in performance and the motor ran a little hotter at 180 degrees. Seems like the oiled bushings worked a little better than the bearings or they may need to just break-in.
Now that the rambling is done, here are my questions. Does any one have any ideas to get more punch out of the truck? I would have thought a 12-turn Titan would have it making wheelies like the modern Stampedes. It could be the old heavy wheels and tires, they are beasts. Does any one have an old manual with recommended gearing? I am using the modern manual and am not sure if the internal ratio and gearing charts work with the older model.
Thanks, Ryan