Soon to be a member of the HPI Club

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sperera

sperera

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Ok so later this week ill be swapping my FG MT for a HPI Baja 5B SS with some TR gear and the odd hop up (if all goes well).

Ive never owned a HPI and know nothing about them. What im looking for is some idea on what I should check before/after each run and what are the trouble areas I should keep my eye on?

A few people have told me these arnt as tough a basher as the FG's which I own two of but ive always wanted to experience a HPI and here's my chance.

Ive included some photo's, don't know fully what im looking at but even I can see its got some upgrades.
 
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Looks like you already have the essentials mate. Filter, pull and shock covers are a must. The turtle shock braces are great too.

Ive been bashing my SS for nearly a year now and I gotta say its been Brilliant !! Ive added a few bits here and there but nothing too major.

I would advise if you can, the turtle front top chassis brace , and a Scorpion (or if not-very easy to make) Underside chassis brace. This will make the front end VERY tough indeed !

Hope you enjoy the SS and keep us posted on how you find it :D
 
the deal went through and I bought the HPI home Friday morining, haven't been able to jump online as my modem died but fixed it recently.

the motor looks like the original fulie and has no comp, took the head off today and the ring looks very worn, a fair bit of slop in the crank as well and the rod. i just finished putting a 23cc top end on it to keep me running until I can get something more serious, first time for me and it fired first pull so im happy with that.

the rest of the car looks good, no slop in steering or suspension areas so its a great starting point for me, just need to spend a bit of coin on the motor and ill be having fun with it in no time.

luckily i gave it a once over before I tried to start it (which it didnt anyway coz of no comp, the 4 bolts that hold the rear chassis to the front on there was only 1 bolt on, so put another 3 in and there's a few other areas that have missing spacers etc which ill get to.

one think i noticed straight up is HPI love their R clips! there everywhere, radio tray fuel tank cage, cant believe how many there are, very different from the FG where screws do most of this stuff.

anyway i should have it back together and replace the missing bits hopefully next weekend and then get it out and dirty so ill put up a post on my first proper run in it.
 
yea as pete said get a chassis brace or make one the front of chassis bend very easy indeed, allso check the drive shafts for twists, i run km shafts in mine half the price of the hpi ones and just as strong,
 
Aye there's lots of R clips, maybe do the Fuel line/cable tie mod on the clips so to make it easier to pull them off.
Once you get it running you won't look back.
 
take the R clips off the battery box and bolt it down with 8mm bolts this stops the movment in the battery box and makes the throttle brake servo a tad more responsive.
 
put a spare 23cc top end on the baja yeasterday. first time ive repalced a top end on my own and when it fired first pull i was quite pleased with myself :D

ill put the rest of it back together during the week and let you know how my first run ends up
 
put the pipe on the HPI last night and started it up with the new top end. much to my delight it idled niced and revved fine. was only on bench but means i did something right LOL. very happy considering my first attempt.

did notice though when I took the plug off there was a small amount of steam/smoke coming out of spark plug hole, don't know if this is normal, it was a freezing night so that might have something to do with it.

also noticed that on rear hex where wheel attaches the pin that goes through it into the axle is missing, can I buy these seperate or do I have to buy a hex set?
 
Try kris at dps he should sell them seperatly.If it has wheel extenders on it you should be able to use large zip ties to hold the pins in.You'l have a lot of fun with the baja as ive had mine for 3 years and still going strong.
 
thanks mate, i found them at PSR for only $0.90! ended up buying a screw kit as well as this thing is missing screws and bolts all over the place!

it doesn't have axle extenders, does the wheel hold them in place when bolted on?
 
Yes mate...the wheel covers the pin on the stock hexes...

If you lose pins in future....just use the blank shank of a 6mm drill bit...that's what mine are..

Also ..there is a grub screw inside the axle to lock the pin in place..
 
You may find as I did that you will blow head gaskets but nothing you can do about this. I found the shocks front and rear can leak and the fronts on my SS did not take too much bashing before bending so most guys I ran with (Hpibaja forum) had plenty of spares. You might want to do the front wheel bolt mod as the front wheels are just held on with the 'E' clip again the HPIbaja Forum has info on this or pm Timmah or USAbaja5 on here to help. I did the mod after both my fronts popped off and it sorted the issue. If you go on the other forum they have a number of stickies that have very useful info.

The Yamadude linkage is a good upgrade to do, it replaces the throttle/brake linkage and gets rid of the issue with possible stones getting stuck between the linkage and engine/tank. http://www.davesmotors.com/s.nl;jse...Sk2TYgPP!-353404299?c=885035&n=1&it=A&id=6343


The Baja is a great car and is a lot of fun to drive and bash but a little limited on space to work on.
 
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found the grub screw and put the pin in last night, got it here with me at work today so if the rain stays away ill take it for a quick squirt on my lunch break, will be my first drive of the HPI :D

about time if you ask me :lol:
 
started to pull the engine out over weekend, didnt get very far as mates kept coming over and we ended up drinking all night LOL.

i can say however that its heaps easier to pull out the engine in the FG compared to the HPI. but I think im almost there, just need to get out the centre roll bar and the two side plates and I think thats it.
 
Just a couple of things to watch or mod for future bash proofing.....

Try the Yamadude Linkage and take the E clips off the front hubs and upgrade to the bolt mod. A couple of hard landings makes the front wheels come away. If you do that mod I would upgrade the shock shafts and fit limiting straps to the suspension.

A worthwhile upgrade is fitting a Worx front bumper these things are heavy duty and take some punishment.

Great cars though.
 
thanks for the info mate, much appreciated.

had a couple of days off work thanks to a stomach bug and finally removed the engine, once I pulled the coil off it spun freely, what could have caused that?
 
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