1/8 scale gasser round 2, this time its a buggy

[Sharkey]

some of you may remember my savage octane i was trying to build before hpi released the real one. you may also recall i abandoned that project because the starter setup was far to complex and problematic. i ended up tearing the engine out of the truck, tossing in an ofna 28 and i sold the truck. so now i had a perfectly good gas engine that was modified specifically to put into a land based rc, but had to be bumpstarted.

introducing the new home for my evolution gx15: an ofna ravager 1/8 scale buggy. i had actually bought a well used electric converted losi 810 buggy, however once i determined its too weak for what i needed i got rid of it, and ended up trading the rolling chassis for the almost rtr ofna buggy (and the reason the old savage ended up with an ofna 28).

so i ended up tearing into it today and so far its seemed too easy. the mounts i had built for the savage octane worked perfectly, 2 of the 4 holes even lined up to the chassis. im using an hpi rs4 clutchbell with thread on pinions, ive used these on many projects because of the gear range it gives me (17t-24t in 1m pitch).

i do have a few hurdles to overcome with it. im going to have to work out a bellcrank for the throttle linkage, and the biggest thing is going to be the exhaust. the exhaust is on the right side of the engine so its pointing overtop of the radio box. im going to have to build my own header, and im thinking ill grab a savage octane tuned pipe and give that a try. ive found a few on ebay already

 

[Revolauncher]

This shows a lot more promise for you. The best part is it can be a truggy or an MT easy enough too.

 

[WoodiE]

I just really hate that the custom Octane never worked out. It was just really awesome seeing it come together. Hopefully this one come to completion as that engine just looks awesome.

 

[Sharkey]

yea it killed me to abandon the savage gasser, bit i just couldnt make it work.

 

[Sharkey]

just a little update, and no i haven't given up yet. ive been waiting for exhaust for it. i ordered a tuned pipe off ebay, a take off from a savage octane. long story short, it shows up and is a pipe off a nitro savage, so im back to waiting for the correct one. i did find some aluminum mandrel bends for fabricating a header, and ive already got a flange cut for it, i just need to tuned pipe so i can finish it off. everything else is done, linkage is built, ignition box is mounted and all the electronics are installed. its almost ready to try round 2.

 

[atom3624]

THE BIG QUESTION!!
On your considerable recent experiences in trying to make a reliable 1/8 'gasser', in your opinion, did HPI get it wrong with the Octane, and where?

Al.

 

[Sharkey]

its too early to determine that. a lot of people are having issues, however imo many of those people are trying to rush break in. ive read lots about people following the manual for break in they trying to run it at full throttle and it just wont stay running. others baby it for well over a gallon and are having luck. others are having legit cdi box problems.

i think the biggest thing hpi did screw up is they rushed it to market. there have been too many revisions for carb settings, something that should have been nailed down well before the truck came out. they were trying to beat losi, and they did, however having a truck hit the market thats not ready kills the reputation of the product and brand far more than not being the first one. yes, hpi got the sales of the people wanting the first gas 1/8 scale, however losi is going to sell far more now because the savage has a bad rap. i hate to say it, but its typical hpi. they rush something out and figure it out a couple months later after you have pissed too many people off. it happened when the savage first came out, it happened when the savage flux came out, and its happened again.

 

[atom3624]

That's the impression I've been getting.
Unfortunate as well.
The truck's a gud'un, just needs care ... imo too much for a 'hobby' truck.
It's possibly taking things back to where they were 20 years ago regarding how you treat them ...
Long term ... who knows. I HOPE it's good news.
Al.

 

[WoodiE]

Rushed to market? I can't say they "rushed it" because it had been in the works for years now. I certainly agree things everything certainly isn't peachy with the Octane and I'm not sure why these things was not ironed out but I'm not sure how much "rushing" hpi really did. :\

Back on topic, looking forward to more build pics of this gasser buggy!

 

[Sharkey]

i say rushed to market because it seems like it wasnt quite ready. yes, they took more than 2 years from when they first teased us with it, and the core truck seems great, however to me they rushed the last details. they shouldnt have to have 3 bulletins on carb settings come out within a week on the truck being released. they had to release info on troubleshooting the ignition, something that should be in the manual. i dunno, to me it seems like they rushed it to beat the losi truck

 

[WoodiE]

@Sharkey how's this project coming along?

 

[Sharkey]

its sort of ended up on the shelf with the rest of my r/c stuff, at least for the time being. i bought a new mountain bike and have been enjoying the locals trails. i haven't had much time for r/c stuff because of it, however once the weather turns bad ill be back at the r/c stuff.

 

[WoodiE]

@Sharkey, I know exactly what you mean. I've not been able to ride my bike much this year and I'm hating it.

Off topic, what bike did you end up buying?

 

[Sharkey]

@Sharkey, I know exactly what you mean. I've not been able to ride my bike much this year and I'm hating it.

Off topic, what bike did you end up buying?

i picked up a 2013 specialized stumpjumper comp evo 29er. it was a demo at a local shop and they had it on clearance. a good friend of mine had been looking at a norco range they had forever and he dragged me in to look at it, and after riding the stumpjumper and a norco sight, i ended up taking the stumpy and he took the norco sight.

its been a blast so far, a huge step up from my old specialized hardrock. only thing i didnt like was the brakes, i couldnt get through one ride without them fading to almost nothing. fought with the shop over them, now im fighting with sram/avid directly, and in the meantime i upgraded it with some hayes stroker aces

 

[Revolauncher]

Avids don't like to get dirty, whereas the Hayes work better dirty, weird, I know. I am still running Hayes mechanical MX's with XTR levers and they are still fantastic after 4 seasons! Finally bought new pads this last spring....

 

[Sharkey]

Avids don't like to get dirty, whereas the Hayes work better dirty, weird, I know. I am still running Hayes mechanical MX's with XTR levers and they are still fantastic after 4 seasons! Finally bought new pads this last spring....

the avid taperbore design used in a lot of their brake systems is plagued with problems, much of it stems from a lack of fluid. in an effort to make them featherweight they reduced fluid capacity and it causes all sorts of issues. most say they have to bleed them every few months, when your pads wear out you end up having to bleed them as the pistons wont go back in. they also get hot and can boil the fluid quite easy.

my old bike had a set of hayes comp hydro discs on it, they are now 12 years old (older than that bike). i bled them 6 or 8 years ago, a few sets of pads later and they are still amazing brakes. i think that made the avids more disappointing, i figured hydro braking technology would have gotten better in the past 12 years, not worse.

 

[Sharkey]

so a little update, or maybe its a big update. either way, its ready to fire. i got my savage octane tuned pipe i had ordered, and ive got the header built to match it. i managed to find a metal supplier that stocks 3/4" aluminum mandrel bends, i used a 45 degree bend for the header, along with cutting up the savage octane header as the flange is the same as the evolution engine im using.

im just waiting for my starter box to charge now and ill give it a try.

 

[Revolauncher]

:drool: Fingers crossed!