My two savage rebuilds

[RobertDonkers]

I recently purchased two savages off of eBay. Paid 62 and 112 US for them.

Shown here is a roller that is waiting for a few parts before I put the engine in. It’s a new F4.6.

The truck has been completely rebuilt and has the mods I want into it. I don’t plan on doing anything crazy with his truck I just want a nice reliable runner. It’s pretty much a 2010 spec savage x 4.6 rtr, the one just before they changed the colours and went to the big bore shocks with a gt1 body.

Stainless steel screw kit, fresh bearings, steering bearings and ofna throttle mod, good servos and high voltage LiPo on an airtronics m17s radio system. Upgraded diffs.

Both truck combined to make this one. I do have a lot of great parts for the second one, which I will show in the next post.

 

[RobertDonkers]

The second truck was a mixture of upgrades on a savage 21. Most of the parts to complete the truck to the latest spec are coming and for now the parts I have are sitting in pieces cleaned up in bins.

I expect the parts to arrive in the next three or four weeks and then it will be assembled. It will have a three speed transmission and the flux/XL sized drivetrain with big bore shocks. Tires and engine unknown (but won’t be hpi) and I’m unsure if it will be an XL or regular length.

The old f4.6 is shown.

Suggestions on engines are welcome. I want to make this a good runner that is sensibly modified and well set up.

Not much to see now, I will post an update when the parts are in and things are laid out for assembly.

Stay tuned.

 

[upbasher1]

This is a great engine. Its cheap, simple, and most importantly, actually available lol
https://www.amainhobbies.com/dynamite-.28-rtr-nitro-engine-w-pullstart-dyne0571/p543544

 

[RobertDonkers]

This is a great engine. Its cheap, simple, and most importantly, actually available lol
https://www.amainhobbies.com/dynamite-.28-rtr-nitro-engine-w-pullstart-dyne0571/p543544

I am considering that engine too as well as the mach-style head they have but am leaning towards an LRP. Did losi stop making the 454 and nitro LST based trucks?

I can rebuild the F4.6, would need new bearings, conrod and a pinch at the very least, but thats going to be 80 bucks to have a stock engine with a scratched head, so...

 

[upbasher1]

I am considering that engine too as well as the mach-style head they have but am leaning towards an LRP. Did losi stop making the 454 and nitro LST based trucks?

I can rebuild the F4.6, would need new bearings, conrod and a pinch at the very least, but thats going to be 80 bucks to have a stock engine with a scratched head, so...

Yes unfortunately they did. It really sucks too because I absolutely love LST's.

 

[olds97_lss]

I am considering that engine too as well as the mach-style head they have but am leaning towards an LRP. Did losi stop making the 454 and nitro LST based trucks?

I can rebuild the F4.6, would need new bearings, conrod and a pinch at the very least, but thats going to be 80 bucks to have a stock engine with a scratched head, so...

Just an FYI, the spin/combo starter on those things tends to fail. The 28 @upbasher1 linked has a normal pull-start.

 

[TwistedToys]

It’s nice to see I’m not the only one buying old savages for cheap. I was into these trucks deep 15 years ago. I never imagined this 1/8 gas trucks era would die... I have boxes and boxes full of hop up parts... but not to many consumables. I’ll be keeping an eye on your build.

 

[RobertDonkers]

Polished some pipes. Waiting for many parts to come in.

 

[RobertDonkers]

I remember ten years ago ebay and shops were flooded with parts and I agree, I thought the flow would never end. It was shocking when I thought about getting a firestorm and savage a few months ago how much things have changed. There definitely was a peak between '05 and '12 before a sharp thud. I hope HPI has another parts run or two coming yet, although I wonder if the revised HPI would push the nitro trucks in their new business model.

 

[RobertDonkers]

Just an FYI, the spin/combo starter on those things tends to fail. The 28 @upbasher1 linked has a normal pull-start.

Can the HPI roto setup and one-way bearing setup fit on it?

 

[olds97_lss]

Can the HPI roto setup and one-way bearing setup fit on it?

Don't know. I had a buddy quite a few years back with the 454 (the LRP 28'ish engine) that had the pull/spin. His parts box had 4 or 5 broken starters in it and the one on the truck was also broken. Only had the thing like 6 months at the time and wanted to sell the savage it was in.

 

[kdogg1966]

hey all, I have a new Dynamite mach 2 .21 I just bought for my almost finished savage 21, I sure hope I have good luck out of the pull-start, was wondering, do they make a upgrade pull-start for the dynamite mach engines?

 

[RobertDonkers]

hey all, I have a new Dynamite mach 2 .21 I just bought for my almost finished savage 21, I sure hope I have good luck out of the pull-start, was wondering, do they make a upgrade pull-start for the dynamite mach engines?

Or is the roto start compatible?

 

[kdogg1966]

hey, it is i'd guess, I;m just not fan of roto-starts, I read dynamite had a h.d pull-start for their engines, a replacement of sorts, I was hoping that may be true? I can always stock up a extra pull-start or two for break-in, I hope I only need one pull -start. lol!

 

[RobertDonkers]

I’m going to put bullet proof diffs in this so it will take a little longer to get started.

I can’t rule out making this thing electric.

Goodies are coming in slowly...

 

[olds97_lss]

I always wanted one of those engine warmers... don't know why I never bought one.

Where are you getting your parts?

 

[RobertDonkers]

I got some parts, including the head heater, at Amain Hobbies. The rest are trickling in from ebay.

After having a head heater I don't want to start an engine without one. They make the engines so much easier to start, especially for breaking them in. Definitely worthwhile to own.

The high consumption parts, like fuel tanks, have disappeared from ebay. The lack of parts going forward is concerning me, and I doubt HPI is going to have much, if any, of a nitro focus going foward. I bought these both with the intention of making them nitro but I didn't realize the basher/recreational nitro market is pretty much dead. The racing scene is still going strong but that doesn't help here other than than supplying engines and clutches.

I am seriously considering making my second savage electric. I see the transmission conversion is easy and I just need to figure out mounting batteries and get a motor mount/motor plate.

 

[olds97_lss]

Yeah, fitting a motor in there with the stock tv's is a pain. The brushless versions have different shaped holes/tvp's to allow the motor to hang out the side. If your going to go that route, might just want to look at deleting the transmission altogether and going with a center diff setup from someone like Alza:
https://shop.alza-racing.com/en/flux-standard/26-center-differential-kit.html

The motor mounts to it and slides up and down vs left to right.

I went with the super 5SC transmission which has a diff in it in my flux hp, but it started as a flux.

 

[RobertDonkers]

I just checked out the Alza stuff, it looks great. So you can use a regular chassis with this setup I assume.

 

[olds97_lss]

I don't know for sure. Nothing a drill couldn't fix probably if it doesn't.

 

[kdogg1966]

I too have a extra savage, guess I never thought of making it electric, its a idea!

 

[RobertDonkers]

I finally have everything in to complete an XL or X bulletproof slider. I will make everything up for between the plates and then figure out if it will be electric or not.

 

[Azsuveyor]

I just completed two electric conversions. I couldn't be more happier, and so are my neighbors! I can post pics in a bit.

 

[RobertDonkers]

Post it, lets see. I think I will do this one in electric. I am going to start building it in a few weeks after my fall rush at work is over. Doing some painting too that will take a month - think I will paint a body for one of these first.

 

[Azsuveyor]

Post it, lets see. I think I will do this one in electric. I am going to start building it in a few weeks after my fall rush at work is over. Doing some painting too that will take a month - think I will paint a body for one of these first.

 

[Azsuveyor]

The biggest expense besides the motor and esc was the center gearbox. You can convert it from a shifter to single speed but, I ordered mine complete and ready to drop in from RC4ME.US they have some one here on the forum. This one is especially nice because it includes a diff in it! It works great too. Let me know if you need some advice but mine were really easy to do.

 

[olds97_lss]

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Are those the X or XL versions? What motor mount and motor are you using?

 

[RobertDonkers]

Very interested. Great site. I just loolked and couldn't find the conversion, or at least what I saw looked like HPI transmissions. Can I get a photo near the spur to see the transmission and mount?

 

[Azsuveyor]

This is the integy kit. #c23712 $39.99 on amazon. The motor and esc were bought on Amazon Goolrc 120amp esc and 2650kv motor combo for 74.99. On the rc4me website search for savage electric conversion, it will give you a list. I picked what I wanted to change, the center diff w/gearbox, and a new metal spur gear. Total thru them was approximately 60.00.

 

[Azsuveyor]

Oh and they are just the X model savage's