JDCrow

iTrader: (32)

I received my 1:8 Electric Conversion Kit made by Associated this week. My plan was to take a SC8 Short Course Truck and prepare it for Electric Racing.

The packaging was well done. Everything from the box, to the individually packaged parts which were labeled consistent with the step by step instruction manual.

The Manual was very well illustrated and easy to follow. 21 pages of illustrated instructions and specific footnotes regarding the conversion of a RC8, RC8T, or SC8.

Since I had anticipated the release of the eConversion Kit (part number 80930), I had already disassembled the radio tray, engine, pipe, fuel tank from the Lucas Oil Project Truck. I only needed to remove the center diff, and the chassis was ready to receive its ePower backbone.

The only modification needed for the conversion to electric is to remove the left hand chassis side guard and with an exacto knife, remove the fuel tubing brace. After you have done so, you reinstall the chassis side guard.

From that point on, everything is plug and play. Run electric one weekend and within an hour, you can easily convert the chassis back to nitro. The AE engineers really thought about convienence for the racers on this one.

I was able to save some time on my conversion. Since the project vehicle was a SC8, I didnt have to change the center Spur gear. The SC8 from the factory is already equiped with the recommended spur gear, which I believe is the smaller 46T.

The individual components of the Receiver Box, Battery Tray Bridge, and Battery Tray are forward thinking designs by Associated. The battery tray as supplied is configured to accept standard length 7.4v LiPo Hardcase Batteries. Making it very easy for 1:10 racers to use our current enventory of 2S LiPo's. When (and I am sure they will) Reedy develops a single 4S or 6S Hardcase LiPo for 1:8, AE could simply supply a revised battery tray to accept the longer 160mm or 165mm case size of such cells. That way racers can purchase a tray specific to the battery they choose without the need for a complete conversion kit update.

The only thing that kept me from finishing the installation right away, was a needed trip to the hobby shop. With the Speed Control residing in the Left Rear corner of the chassis, and the receiver being in the Right Front position of the chassis, I needed a 12" servo extension prior to attaching the Battery Tray/Receiver Box to the chassis. There are nice channels for the Speedo communication leads to safely be positioned under the battery tray, over the bridge, and into the receiver box. I decided to use a 12" extension so I could easily remove either the receiver or speedo without having a connection point hidden under the conversion kit, or having to remove the epower components just to exchange these items.

Other bonus items in the AE design were the Flywheel cover which not only covers the flywheel hole in the chassis, it serves to keep the Speed Control/Receiver Wire safely positioned under the battery tray; the detail parts listing in the back of the manual, including part numbers for the Nylon Spur gears which should reduce the gear mesh sound waves a few octaves; and I also like the thought behind the motor installation. There are large openings at the end of the motor mount slots. This allows you to loosely install your motor screw and washer into the endbell of your motor. You then insert the exposed screws/washers thru the motor mount, slide toward the spur gear to set mesh, and tighten it down with the supplied ball end allen wrench.

Anything I was disappointed about? Hmm, I'd have to say Decals. Would be nice to have a small PRO-4e decal to put on the visor of my SC8. But I can do surgery on sticker sheets I have lying around and fix that.

So now the Lucas Oil Alternative Energy SC8 is ready for warm weather so we can attack the environment with just the whine of a well set gear mesh.

There are lots of great conversion kit options for racers wanting to go electric. I have built a few different brands, and each are good platforms to race. AE has provided large scale electric racers a great option for converting the RC8, RC8T, or SC8 from Nitro to LiPo/Brushless power and leaving a viable option to convert between the two power sources with the same chassis.

Great Job Team Associated.

JD

JDCrow

iTrader: (32)

A few photos from the build

tom_chang79

iTrader: (13)

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet

I had no idea that AE released brushless conversion kits for their 1/8th already. Must be relatively new?

Also, are there any FT SC8 kits out there? All I see so far are the RTRs. Wouldn't mind seeing an SC8 kit with FT treatment...

Rfury

iTrader: (6)

That's good to hear. I am thinking this is the route I will go. RC8 with this conversion and a MMM w/ 2200KV or the 2650kv motor.

trdsupra88

iTrader: (25)

Someones getting paid...

Who has the kit in stock?

kufman

iTrader: (6)

So... how does it balance left to right?

steve671

iTrader: (6)

Looks like a very nice kit except for the size of the battery tray. I think AE really dropped the ball on that part.

Rick Hohwart

The size of the battery tray is one of the car's best features. You use one if you race 1/10 and use two if you race 1/8. Racers need fewer batteries and hobby shops need to stock fewer. It is a win/win situation for everyone!

steve671

iTrader: (6)

I don't know man. So many high power lipos are 160+mm long. Longer than standard 1/10th scale packs. This significatly reduces your choices.

JDCrow

iTrader: (32)

Is that a hint of SC things to come?

kufman

iTrader: (6)

I think it is one of its worst features. There is currently only 1 hard case 4S lipo available and it does not fit the AE battery tray. Plus, two 2S packs on their sides do not fit under the stock body... but most soft case 4S lipos do. If AE was at all serious about making a descent conversion, they needed to do a lot more than this.

Rick Hohwart

It does reduce choices, but when you are speaking from a competition standpoint, batteriess typically need to be ROAR approved with a hard case. And there is quite a long list of high-power hard case batteries. It is hard to tell because not all voltages are listed,but if you look at the ROAR approved battery list (hard case and safety proven) there is 1-14.8V battery and 71-7.4V batteries.

A lot of people think of AE as not being proactive. We feel that this is the direction the class needs to and will take for it to be successful. It adopts a battery standard that already exists.

Maybe!

Rick Hohwart

Exactly! There is only ONE 14.8V hard case battery and over 70 7.4V batteries. AE offers an optional body for the E car that fits perfectly.

Soft cases? Every ROAR race, any larger "outlaw" race, and most electric tracks and clubs require hard cases for 1/10 classes for safety reasons. I don't see why they will treat 1/8 differently.

It all depends on how you look at it.

kufman

iTrader: (6)

None of our local tracks require hard cases. I also don't see how they are any safer. In fact, not being about to see the warning signs of a failing cell makes them less safe in my opinion. The only thing required is that batteries are charged in a lipo sack or ammo box. In my opinion the most dangerous thing I see at the track is charging two separate lipos as one pack without the use of a balance charger. The use of a balancing charger goes far beyond having the cells matched, it is also a great safety asset. The charger knows so much more about the pack which would have avoided the two lipo fires that have occurred at our local track. Both of which were due to charging a lipo on a non-lipo profile. This protection is built into Hyperion chargers.

More and more companies will make 4 and 5S hard case packs and most likely none of them will be 138mm long.

ShtLuck

iTrader: (45)

i just want to commend ae for doing this the right way.. two hardcase lipos makes perfect sense. anyone who has used a soft side knows how dangerous they are in racing especially with the impact that i have seen 1/8 buggies take... i am currently using soft side packs in my rc8 conversion and will be switching over as soon as i can afford to make that switch...
not to mention if you use hard case you get a much higher discharge rating at a better price..
2 quality 5000mah 28c packs at 90 bucks each are cheaper than a 4s 20c or 5s 20c pack.