TOPIC:

I am just starting my Monster Beetle restoration(s). I plan to make one Beetle as close as I can to kit specs apart from ball bearings and a technigold motor, and with the remaining parts build a brushless beetle to bash. I am thinking of using a re-re beetle shell painted a unique colour and a small ez-run brushless system. I will probably use re-re frog drive shafts also. My greatest concern now are the fragile and scarce body mounts. Hopefully everything else is strong enough or readily available.

vara351 wrote:

...I am just starting my Monster Beetle restoration(s). I plan to make one Beetle as close as I can to kit specs apart from ball bearings and a technigold motor, and with the remaining parts build a brushless beetle to bash. I am thinking of using a re-re beetle shell painted a unique colour and a small ez-run brushless system. I will probably use re-re frog drive shafts also. My greatest concern now are the fragile and scarce body mounts. Hopefully everything else is strong enough or readily available.

Looks like you have enough to build one 100% complete car - the other "rare" bits are the lights & bar on the front, the nose cone (it has two little bits on the bottom that the light bar screws to, which break if you so much as fart in its general direction), and the big "U" shaped servo cover/brace - and of course the decals

I'm not sure about a Technigold motor for a shelfer - it doesn't "feel" quite right as a period upgrade ... TBH if it was me, I'd only put a Technigold in a car that had it as OE, otherwise I'd sell it, stick a Tamiya Sport Tuned 23T motor it it, and put the rest of the wonga towards your brushless setup

By repute, the biggest problem with turbocharging anything like this is the weak gearbox sides - apparently the diff tries to expand under power, which bends the alloy plates. Apparently bolting the diff together ( here ) fixes this.


IDK how au fait you are with the EZRUN motors - but remember that the "turn" numbers aren't directly analagous to brushed motors, for example on a "5.5T" motor (like I put in my TA03F drifter ), the point 5 denotes a full 540 size rotor, whereas a whole number denotes a 380 size rotor in a 540 sized can. This is important, as although a whole number motor has the same revss, it has about half the torque, so you are much less likely to shred a transmission that was never designed with that amount of power in mind ...

I put a 13T EZRUN in a Bigwig, and it's fairly mental, even with the punch turned right down ... TBH I don't know what to suggest for your Beetle - there are _no_ options to gear that gearbox down for faster spinning motors ... maybe a 13T brushless would be ok on 7.2v ... but I can't help thinking a 23T brushed motor is a much better balance between going fast & not breaking too much

Hi, yeah I know I was lucky to have found a good nosecone and spotlights I do believe I have at least one of nearly everything. The only part I would be keen to replace is the windows as one car is fitted with a Sand Scorcher screen (no rear window) and the 'glass' is fairly scratched up on the other car. Apart from a few wrong screws and washers and the body clips that is it I think. The bodyshell does need restoring but I am scared I may make it worse and as you say genuine stickers are rare. Also the driver is moulded from black plastic but as he is glued in he can stay.

The reason I decided on a Technigold motor was because I remember seeing an old promo video which did list the technigold motor as an upgrade for the Monster Beetle. Maybe this video was made after the beetle had already been around for a few years, I don't know. In the short term I do plan to fit this motor as I bought it for this car, and I feel it is a period upgrade that will make my beetle unique. I may change my mind later though.

I do have some experience with Ezrun set ups, I also own a 8.5T @ 11.1v DB-01 Durga, a 6.5T @ 7.4v re-re Boomerang and a 10T @ 7.4v Midnight Pumpkin metallic. Obviously the older cars are way overpowered but the only car that has ever had a driveline failure is the Durga!! As well as wads of power brushless setups also offer increased runtime, greater tuning options and less maintenence. Besides, if anything does break I can use re-re Frog parts to repair it. Obviously this motor will never sit behind my three spotlights!!!

I saw the title & did some poo... Standard kit motors are more than capable of wrecking MB gearboxes if you drive them without your "L-plates" on. Smaller wheeled frogs/Brats do the same with 18-turn modifieds.
I suspect the promo suggesting putting a Technigold in a MB was more about boosting spare part sales than upgrading!
Just a suggestion, but given that the MB has flexible driveshafts, why not make up some adaptor plates & plonk a better, stronger, more adjustable gearbox in it? - would solve the brushless power & gearing issues

Good evening,

I tried brushless once on an old Lunchbox i had lying around. It was ruined in 1 day with a 19T i think i put in there...
But the time it ran it was a blast and a very good laughter

Luckely i didn't use my original shelfer for it...

Cheers, Bram

Brushless in a Lunchbox?! Must've been uncontrollable! Who's gonna be first to try it in a Willy? (Not me!)

Thanks for the link Jonny. I will try screwing the diff together as suggested.

My "shelfer" beetle is finished for the moment, to my knowledge it is 99% correct and complete down to every screw, nut and washer. The only non-genuine parts I am aware of are the throttle servo horn and the black plastic driver. Unfortunately a previous owner did a very messy job of the paint and stickers, and although I have touched it up as best I can I would like to re-do the body if I can find some quality decals.
I have re-assembled the "project" beetle from the left-over parts and it is not looking to bad for a basher. There are a few replacement parts coming in the mail as well as some re-re frog upgrades. When the frog drive shaft assembly arrives I will start work on building a stronger diff, I may be able to tie the outdrives together using parts from a DB01 ball diff. With a drill, a grinder and a big hammer anything is possible....

I'd like to see some pics of the shelfer

vara351 wrote:

...if I can find some quality decals...

I still get angry about the fact that for a lot of tamiya cars, the only option now is the absolute garbage on eBay


Anyway, I do have a couple of decal sets you might be interested in:

Firstly, I have a "custom" set (yellow/red/blue/green stripes instead of white/yellow/silver/blue) made by ScreenPrintDigital before the "ban", they are of good quality, although a bit thicker than genuine decals, and, critically, come on two sheets so the bits that are supposed to be white lettering on a clear background actually are. This repro set should have three number plates on it, but two of them have been used.

I also have a genuine set - this has the orangey yellow stripes (so is from the earlier kit releases with the white moulded body rather than the later red bodies), the backing paper has yellowed a bit, but I carefully peeled one corner to check & it's not the decal material itself. It's also slightly creased in places, but I'm confident they will not be an issue once they're on the car.


TBH I'll have to think more about asking prices, as my usual way of valuing things - the "completed listings" option on eBay - shows only tat + one very sorry looking genuine partial sheet

I don't want to be a profiteer, but on the other hand, any price is going to have to reflect the badword near impossiblity of me finding another set if I need them in the future.

Here is a quick picture of the shelfer, I hope to create an album elsewhere with more pics and details when I get some spare time. I would like this thread mostly be about the brushless beetle and its modifications. I may be interested in the genuine stickers, is there a way we can discuss this further without posting it in the forum?