Savage X got a new life.

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Jabbo

Active Member
Messages
105
Hi.

I was a basher when i was a kid,(i am 32 now) used to own a Savage and few other nitro cars. When covid hit (2020 march) I was bored and bought myself a very rough Savage X from ebay.
It had so much parts that needed replacing that I dissassembled it, cleaned and ordered parts that it needed. In the summer 2020 the covid kinda went away and my interest of building it as well. This winter I found myself bored again and on december started to order things again. So here i am now.
First wanted to make a shelf queen, restore and make it look nice. Then bought new XL TVP-s, a lot of aluminum parts.(most of i wont be using for now). Then I kinda figured I'm gonna bash it to pieces and next winter going to buy innovative parts+alza racing upgrades. AND NOW I'm thinking of electric rc and watching videos of Kraton 8s. So lets see what happens.
What ive done so far:
1.Brand new X standard TVP-s (old stock from local dealer, dirt cheap)
2.Composite bulkheads(a lot stronger)
3.New forged diffs+correct shimming+50k rear and 30k front diff oil, new o-rings, new seals. Also let machine shop to cut aluminum diff cup from 10x16x5 bearing to 8x16x5,
so it now uses 8x16x5 bearing on both side of the diff.
4.NEW plastic - gearbox housing, bumpers, skidplates, roll bar, shock towers, newer style arms.
5.Hot Racing 17mm hex adapters (+5mm extension)
6. Heavy duty dogbones. (HPI 86151, HPI 86152)
6.Aluminum steering(turnbuckles and steering assembly with bearings)
7.Aluminum rear on front knuckles.
8.Picco Efra 2046 pipe. Couldnt find manifold that would fit, so cut off the 3spring connection part, grinded off the side. Now fits perfectly with silicone coupling.
9.New f4.6 engine(v1 though, got it very cheap)
10.New hump pack
11.Aluminum 6mm big bore shocks (EM13170) (changed to 35WT oil, also added 10mm rubber spacer inside to lower it a little)
12. Ecoboost 32kg servo x2 (Kevin Talbot´s favourite ones)
13.Aluminum servo horn x 2
14. Adjustable upper arm set
15. Flysky FS-GT5 transmitter/receiver
16. Louis MFT 3´8 Uphill 1/2 inch offset wheels(no ballooning)
17. All new bearings(Avid)
18. Aluminum clutch shoes
19. Nitro GT-2 body, which I decided to paint orange. (Now kinda regret, little too orange, maybe should not have backed it with white)
20. New dual fibre brake kit

Things I have ordered
1. 2mm steel rods that I'm gonna use for finishing throttle/brake linkage. All the linkage-s i´ve ordered are very weak and bend easily. I hope 2mm ones will be enough.
2.Wheelie bar.
3. 5x os.8 glowplugs
4.LiPo glow igniter

Things I need to order in the future, if I don't loose interest:
1. Alza racing bulk head conversion,bulkhead plates, innovative rc extended LCG set(which has engine plate and center skidplate).
2. RPM arms (cant find them anywhere, probably discontinued)
3. Ofna/hobao, Team Associated or Losi Fuel tank. Not going for the mid tank mod though, just to get rid of the lean tank issue.

I don't have pictures of building unfortunately, cause I never imagined that I would post a thread here. But this is the current state. (Last picture is the aluminum and TVP-s I wont be using)
 

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Last edited:
Good looking build. I actually like the orange lid, kind of reminds me of the orange HPI used to use on anodized parts.
 
I was aiming for little darker orange and the more I watch it, the brighter it gets. Cant wait to destroy it :D
 
Good job jabbo. Keep us posted
 
Looks nice!

Those tires look huge on the shorter chassis. Reminds me of my flux with trenchers on it... but those are wider!
2018-0630-SavageFlux-SideBodyOn.jpg
 
Yeah, those tires are very wide. Probably too big and I'm not sure if I should use them after all.
 
Similar size to Proline Big Joe's?
Height is allmost the same, few mm difference but Big Joe width is 108mm, Louis Uphill´s are 120mm. So they are bigger. I probably gonna use stock ones for bashing.
 
Its awesome to see guys pulling trashed Savages out of retirement and restoring them ! I was hardcore into Savages back in 2002 and sold off everything in 2008. Now i got the itch again and bought my original savage 25 back from my nephew. Its a mix of older S25 and XL parts, and I'm running a RCR modded LRP .32 spec 4.
 
My original S25 came out of retirement too ! Converted it to a brushless it’s a beast ! 80 foot wheelies and big air jumps it’s bad to the bone !
 

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I'm still in chassis mode. HPI has made quite a few upgrades since my S25 so i'm kinda in a new learning curve about how I can make some of the new "5.9 XL" parts fit. Here's a pic thus far. Got my diff's all rebuilt. Gears and diff cups all shimmed nicely. I like the new easy access radio box on the newer 5.9's as is the same wit the updated trans case. Swapped out a lot of the cheap screws for stainless socket head screws to add some chassis strength.

DSCF1283.JPG


Here's pics of the RCR modded LRP .32 at some point will replace the Axial.

DSCF1281.JPG
 
I was considering buying LRP.32(spec4) but decided to go with f4.6 because the parts are available for that. But looking good guys, keep it up !!
 
It’s crazy to think I bout my savage in Kuwait back in 2006 and the tons of mods to get it to where it’s at today
 
It’s crazy to think I bout my savage in Kuwait back in 2006 and the tons of mods to get it to where it’s at today

It's definitely a struggle getting parts (at least in the USA). I was unaware of all the issues in the RC industry with Hobbico and HPI basically falling apart financially back around 2018 . HPI nitro support and just nitro in general is currently non-existent. Ebay has helped me, but in the USA we have a problem with scumbag ebay sellers who want triple the msrp cost of Savage parts because the parts are not available. A real shame. I'm NOT a brushless guy, I have a passion for RC realism and you ONLY get this with nitro ! Not dissing the electric guys brushless technology is amazing and just flip a switch and scream away, but again it's just not the same IMO
 
Hi cross wires I think, I was referring to the shock purple covers you have!
Looking at those big bore shocks though they look like the exact ones I have fitted but have not had chance to use yet (weather to wet/cold) how have you found them as I have put 40wt shock oil in them?
 
Lol No worries!
How did you find filling shocks up, I didn’t find them too easy to get rebound all the same on them!
 
Hi.

Nothing much happening. Got the wheelie bar installed and finished the linkage upgrade.
Waiting for weather to warm up so I can break in and break the car.
 

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