captian_insano
New Member
- Messages
- 1
After being out of the hobby since the late 00’s, a video early this year from Baked Beans Garage reviving a Tmaxx inspired me to get back into it and revive my old Revo. And after spending an absurd amount rebuilding it pretty well from the ground up, I had the itch to continue. At that point I started watching Nitropimp as well, and saw all his videos on a plethora of Savages, and more specifically the Truckzilla’s, I had a new goal.
I started scouring eBay for what I could find semi-local to me, got lucky with an listing that just popped up for a couple of well worn savages, scooped them up and so began my journey to become broke by the end of the year. They were just two savage x’s, nothing fancy, one has no body, no engine, no rear bumper, tons of screws missing, etc, a zombie really. The other, not much better condition wise but more or less complete, mach 427 engine, all the radio gear, couple bits and bobs done to it. They'll probably get their own threads at some point, but the tl;dr is that I got the mach 427 sorta running, not a lot of pinch left, but it needs a owb that Ill get to soon.
Unsatisfied with my acquisitions, I kept checking eBay for something else. As a young teen, I would buy RC Car Action and the lot of magazines, and was always stuck on the full spread ads for Hot Bodies Truckzilla conversions, first the OG and then the Big Twin, with their huge wheels and tires, outrageous amount of engine(s), and while I was a Traxxas guy (despite at that point not owning one yet) I was always secretly admiring the Savage’s and wanting to one day have a Truckzilla of my own. After reading a bit, I learned of HPI’s downfall from one of the top contenders, and Hot Bodies moving away from it and not having done the Truckzilla stuff for eons, and how relatively rare it is to see them pop up, especially for anything reasonably priced. A nearly pulled the trigger on a Twinzilla from Japan, but the price of $1500 canadian rubles just irked me the wrong way and when I finally said to myself yolo, it was already gone.
So I kept looking, checking ebay often and seeing what would pop up again, until one day I see a listing for a new in box Truckzilla Sport kit. I remembered them but I was never a huge fan since they didnt have the giant .46 or the twins, but now seeing it, I saw an opportunity. I even had a spare chassis to use with it. I had been collecting parts here and there throughout the year, hopeful one day Id be able to find exactly what I wanted, purple aluminum c hubs and knuckles, matching purple aluminum a-arms, all things not needed but in my heart I knew I needed them. Also overpayed for a nice set of a712 shocks, liked them so much I ended up finding a 6/8 set for about a 1/4 the price a month later that I also collected, but I digress. So I waited, hoping the price may come down, and it did. Then it did again. And then I even through out an lowball offer, which they oddly enough accepted! Were in business!
Later that night, I happened to notice that same seller also had another listing for what appeared to be a old but new/unused savage x for sale, no engine no wheels no shocks, but it had a 3 speed transmission, adjustable upper arms, stainless steel brakes, and chrome appearing drive shafts, and a perfect 4.1 savage x gt2 body. It seemed to be a built, slightly upgraded and then robbed from Savage X SS kit, and I thought to myself, well why not, then the truck will be basically new! So I scooped that up as well, like a fool a day later and just after they sent the first package so I couldn’t combine shipping unfortunately.
Fast forward to yesterday, and everything finally arrived, along with other gubs for a now planned other, OTHER build in the near future, and I was a child at Christmas, sitting crisscross apple sauce on my living room floor, throwing this thing together.
Going through checking out my glorious purchases:
I hadnt really thought about making a thread at all, I'm doing this just for me but figured others may enjoy it as well, I know that forums for the most part are dead but I do still like to browse them, and relive 2005 all over. But I did snap photos there and there:
Ripped the truck apart, and started adding all the bits I had collected:
Once the Truckzilla kit was on the way, I new I would need something cool to pretend power it since this will in all likely be a shelf queen only, the same guy I had purchased revo stuff and the purple aluminum bits from also gad a 5.9 listed, so I scooped that up for this too, I also got a earlier 4.1 with the purple head that may make its way onto here instead but well see:
Admiring the nice and shiny extended TVP’s, I don't think I ever realized before now that every hole nearly is counter sunk, and this bastardized savage x ss thing has a mix of stock and stainless allen head hardware, so while I did snug things up somewhat tightly, Id like to get countersunk hardware for it:
Things starting to come all together now:
I also realized near the end that while the a-arms I had got came with the hardware for mounting, even extra’s, they did lack the screws for the shocks and I do have extra stock ones, theyre for stock plastic arms with and arent the right thread so Ill also have to sort that out.
There were a few things still missing I need as well, such as:
-Brake linkage from transmission up, I had got a used of linkages but it didnt included that specific one
-Bumpers, they are on the way though.
-Fuel tank, also have a new one on the way, I believe its an older one from pre-bankruptcy days but we shall see.
-Radio box cover, was missing initially, waiting on a message back from someone who has a few complete boxs so that’ll be on the way.
-14mm hubs, I had a new set of traxxas ones to use on the Revo before going to 17mm instead, I thought they’d fit on but they don’t, so gotta get a decent set of them, probably try and get a set of purple integys if I can find some (theres a purple theme going on, I know its overplayed and not everyones cup of tea but I always loved it).
-Random bits of hardware, like I said try to get counter sunk screws for the chassis stuff and need lower shock screws and what not.
-Body, I have a GT Gigante on the way, from what Ive seen on here they seem to fit well with the 1” extended chassis’s, but well see.
-Radio, this ones low because I honestly don't intend to run this truck really but ya never know, I have several old am radio sets kicking around but I think I'm gonna give a flysky setup a try after watching Nitropimps videos, truck came with JR Racing servos installed already, Ive got a set of amazon specials kicking around though, been happy with them on the other trucks so far but may just leave the JR ones in there for now.
Ill update once I have some more stuff in, like I said previously I have several savages now, including what I believed to be a Savage 25 limited edition, had the right body, wheels and brakes, but lacks the 3 speed, I picked up while waiting for all this other stuff to come in, I also have a genuine HPI Low CG black chassis and rollbar coming in, I scooped a set of a720 aluminum big bores new in box for cheap, so Id like to maybe use the spare poop savage x and make a cool little racer looking thing, if anyone has or knows anyone who has one of the old HPI suspension conversion sets they’d be willing to sell, hit me up Id love to get one, especially since I do also have the 6 extra a712 shocks and I know your only able to fit a single from shock with that kit so it would be perfect!
Sorry for the huge story if you made it this far, been a long ass time since Ive posted on any forums, I know introduction threads used to be a thing but ain't nobody got time for that, this is it!
I started scouring eBay for what I could find semi-local to me, got lucky with an listing that just popped up for a couple of well worn savages, scooped them up and so began my journey to become broke by the end of the year. They were just two savage x’s, nothing fancy, one has no body, no engine, no rear bumper, tons of screws missing, etc, a zombie really. The other, not much better condition wise but more or less complete, mach 427 engine, all the radio gear, couple bits and bobs done to it. They'll probably get their own threads at some point, but the tl;dr is that I got the mach 427 sorta running, not a lot of pinch left, but it needs a owb that Ill get to soon.
Unsatisfied with my acquisitions, I kept checking eBay for something else. As a young teen, I would buy RC Car Action and the lot of magazines, and was always stuck on the full spread ads for Hot Bodies Truckzilla conversions, first the OG and then the Big Twin, with their huge wheels and tires, outrageous amount of engine(s), and while I was a Traxxas guy (despite at that point not owning one yet) I was always secretly admiring the Savage’s and wanting to one day have a Truckzilla of my own. After reading a bit, I learned of HPI’s downfall from one of the top contenders, and Hot Bodies moving away from it and not having done the Truckzilla stuff for eons, and how relatively rare it is to see them pop up, especially for anything reasonably priced. A nearly pulled the trigger on a Twinzilla from Japan, but the price of $1500 canadian rubles just irked me the wrong way and when I finally said to myself yolo, it was already gone.
So I kept looking, checking ebay often and seeing what would pop up again, until one day I see a listing for a new in box Truckzilla Sport kit. I remembered them but I was never a huge fan since they didnt have the giant .46 or the twins, but now seeing it, I saw an opportunity. I even had a spare chassis to use with it. I had been collecting parts here and there throughout the year, hopeful one day Id be able to find exactly what I wanted, purple aluminum c hubs and knuckles, matching purple aluminum a-arms, all things not needed but in my heart I knew I needed them. Also overpayed for a nice set of a712 shocks, liked them so much I ended up finding a 6/8 set for about a 1/4 the price a month later that I also collected, but I digress. So I waited, hoping the price may come down, and it did. Then it did again. And then I even through out an lowball offer, which they oddly enough accepted! Were in business!
Later that night, I happened to notice that same seller also had another listing for what appeared to be a old but new/unused savage x for sale, no engine no wheels no shocks, but it had a 3 speed transmission, adjustable upper arms, stainless steel brakes, and chrome appearing drive shafts, and a perfect 4.1 savage x gt2 body. It seemed to be a built, slightly upgraded and then robbed from Savage X SS kit, and I thought to myself, well why not, then the truck will be basically new! So I scooped that up as well, like a fool a day later and just after they sent the first package so I couldn’t combine shipping unfortunately.
Fast forward to yesterday, and everything finally arrived, along with other gubs for a now planned other, OTHER build in the near future, and I was a child at Christmas, sitting crisscross apple sauce on my living room floor, throwing this thing together.
Going through checking out my glorious purchases:
I hadnt really thought about making a thread at all, I'm doing this just for me but figured others may enjoy it as well, I know that forums for the most part are dead but I do still like to browse them, and relive 2005 all over. But I did snap photos there and there:
Ripped the truck apart, and started adding all the bits I had collected:
Once the Truckzilla kit was on the way, I new I would need something cool to pretend power it since this will in all likely be a shelf queen only, the same guy I had purchased revo stuff and the purple aluminum bits from also gad a 5.9 listed, so I scooped that up for this too, I also got a earlier 4.1 with the purple head that may make its way onto here instead but well see:
Admiring the nice and shiny extended TVP’s, I don't think I ever realized before now that every hole nearly is counter sunk, and this bastardized savage x ss thing has a mix of stock and stainless allen head hardware, so while I did snug things up somewhat tightly, Id like to get countersunk hardware for it:
Things starting to come all together now:
I also realized near the end that while the a-arms I had got came with the hardware for mounting, even extra’s, they did lack the screws for the shocks and I do have extra stock ones, theyre for stock plastic arms with and arent the right thread so Ill also have to sort that out.
There were a few things still missing I need as well, such as:
-Brake linkage from transmission up, I had got a used of linkages but it didnt included that specific one
-Bumpers, they are on the way though.
-Fuel tank, also have a new one on the way, I believe its an older one from pre-bankruptcy days but we shall see.
-Radio box cover, was missing initially, waiting on a message back from someone who has a few complete boxs so that’ll be on the way.
-14mm hubs, I had a new set of traxxas ones to use on the Revo before going to 17mm instead, I thought they’d fit on but they don’t, so gotta get a decent set of them, probably try and get a set of purple integys if I can find some (theres a purple theme going on, I know its overplayed and not everyones cup of tea but I always loved it).
-Random bits of hardware, like I said try to get counter sunk screws for the chassis stuff and need lower shock screws and what not.
-Body, I have a GT Gigante on the way, from what Ive seen on here they seem to fit well with the 1” extended chassis’s, but well see.
-Radio, this ones low because I honestly don't intend to run this truck really but ya never know, I have several old am radio sets kicking around but I think I'm gonna give a flysky setup a try after watching Nitropimps videos, truck came with JR Racing servos installed already, Ive got a set of amazon specials kicking around though, been happy with them on the other trucks so far but may just leave the JR ones in there for now.
Ill update once I have some more stuff in, like I said previously I have several savages now, including what I believed to be a Savage 25 limited edition, had the right body, wheels and brakes, but lacks the 3 speed, I picked up while waiting for all this other stuff to come in, I also have a genuine HPI Low CG black chassis and rollbar coming in, I scooped a set of a720 aluminum big bores new in box for cheap, so Id like to maybe use the spare poop savage x and make a cool little racer looking thing, if anyone has or knows anyone who has one of the old HPI suspension conversion sets they’d be willing to sell, hit me up Id love to get one, especially since I do also have the 6 extra a712 shocks and I know your only able to fit a single from shock with that kit so it would be perfect!
Sorry for the huge story if you made it this far, been a long ass time since Ive posted on any forums, I know introduction threads used to be a thing but ain't nobody got time for that, this is it!
