Restoration Project #7 - Kyosho Spada

[WickedFog]

@WickedFog This makes me think of this classic. You can still get these though, from time to time.
https://rc.kyosho.com/en/30635.html

I LOVE the Fantom series... still blown away that the re-release was popular enough for Kyosho to come out with 3 versions... I have this one, the gold 60th anniversary edition, AND 2 originals NIB. I had a ball driving this sucker on a local track ... still can't believe how fast it is with such a seemingly inefficient chain drive setup that rubs the radio plate ... but now that the track has closed, along with every other one in the state, I wonder if I'll ever get to drive it again ... or I can accept the thrashing it'll take in a random parking lot & hope I can find replacement parts... You'd think that popularity would cause them to increase production of them, but I can't even find a new body for the thing.

Although, if you're desperate...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/3874371381...NCCKxqlTp2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Gotta be so careful on eBay these days ... so many sketchy sellers. This example here is for sale on several other auctions last time I checked, with different pricing, same pictures. This one has the corroded air filter... with every part for this thing so rare & expensive ... I got lucky & snatched up a pristine example for > $200 less than this one, but I did talk to this seller & got no straight answers. In the end I did get a really good deal ... now if I could only find a track that'd allow this classless anomaly of a car...

Kyosho got bought out a few years ago by a toy company who promised that production improvements of Kysho RC stuff was going to be top priority. Then they started releasing stupid toy grade RC garbage like you find in Walmart. After waiting a couple years though, they have lately started getting some of the Legendary kits back in stock. Parts show up here and there on ebay, and not just old stock mind you. New stuff too. You just gotta be savvy and save those searches and allow notifications. The notifications for saved searches can get annoying, but just turn them off on your pjone and you'll just get them in your email.

This is our little collection so far, plus an unpictured Turbo Scorpion still in progress. The Beetle is on a 2014 2bd Turbo Scorpion chassis, which is stretched and wider than the original Scirpion chassis the Beetle uses, so it took some internet searching to find a few things to convert it, but it was all newly made stuff. So Kyosho is still there. You just gotta be Johnny-on-the-spot with your hunting, because there are a lot of Kyosho guys out there gobbling stuff up as fast as it comes out. If Kyosho would get their crap together, they could be making killer sales. But I kinda like the hunt and kill

@cbaker65 @Littlemotor might know about how to resolve your starter dilemma. I'm not a nitro guy, so I can't help much. But I'm sure someone will

 

[CertifiedMike]

https://rc.kyosho.com/en/74006.html
Is this the starter you had?
Do you have a picture of the bottom of the chassis by chance?

 

[Littlemotor]

That Kyosho 2.0 box will work-if you can find one. There’s a shop up in NY that says they have it in stock. However-the 3.0 is the newer version, and carries PN 36373.

https://kyoshoamerica.com/multi-starter-box-3-0-36373.html

You’ll need to remove your engine, set up the chassis pins in the box, align the wheel properly in the flywheel window, then reinstall your engine. Donezo. OCCASIONALLY, you may have to shim the starter motor up so that it protrudes further into the chassis. Hope this helps.

 

[CertifiedMike]

https://rc.kyosho.com/en/sdw014.html
If you have this set up on your car, a drive shaft and a drill could prob replace that handy start discontinued part.
The starter box SHOULD work. Like @Littlemotor explained.

 

[CertifiedMike]

https://www.plazajapan.com/45485650...t2BIGjFsAYHVUM9ZhMeI-8RC18krRuapzS70dCqwQ23la
Found this to add to the chaos!

 

[BustedAw11]

Kyosho got bought out a few years ago by a toy company who promised that production improvements of Kysho RC stuff was going to be top priority. Then they started releasing stupid toy grade RC garbage like you find in Walmart. After waiting a couple years though, they have lately started getting some of the Legendary kits back in stock. Parts show up here and there on ebay, and not just old stock mind you. New stuff too. You just gotta be savvy and save those searches and allow notifications. The notifications for saved searches can get annoying, but just turn them off on your pjone and you'll just get them in your email.

This is our little collection so far, plus an unpictured Turbo Scorpion still in progress. The Beetle is on a 2014 2bd Turbo Scorpion chassis, which is stretched and wider than the original Scirpion chassis the Beetle uses, so it took some internet searching to find a few things to convert it, but it was all newly made stuff. So Kyosho is still there. You just gotta be Johnny-on-the-spot with your hunting, because there are a lot of Kyosho guys out there gobbling stuff up as fast as it comes out. If Kyosho would get their crap together, they could be making killer sales. But I kinda like the hunt and kill
View attachment 211260

@cbaker65 @Littlemotor might know about how to resolve your starter dilemma. I'm not a nitro guy, so I can't help much. But I'm sure someone will

This is wild. I had no idea kyosho got bought out.
I run an mp9 but not exactly in the loop with them.
Might explain some of the odd things I've seen from kyosho in the recent.

 

[WickedFog]

Yeah, the company that bought them make mostly little weird rubber dolls like that Pokeamon looking mongrel. Jeremy Clarkson was over there one time and the gumball machine he put a coin in spat out a plastic bubble with a tiny diaper in it. He held it to the camera asking all of Japan "why?" I assume they were for these ridiculous little rubber dolls. This totally explains it

 

[BustedAw11]

Yeah, the company that bought them make mostly little weird rubber dolls like that Pokeamon looking mongrel. Jeremy Clarkson was over there one time and the gumball machine he put a coin in spat out a plastic bubble with a tiny diaper in it. He held it to the camera asking all of Japan "why?" I assume they were for these ridiculous little rubber dolls. This totally explains it

Being in this hobby as long as I have I've seen a lot. That's a sad one, friend. I often wish we could go back to around 2008 and how things/ companies where. Probably why I collect and restore so many rc from around 2000-2010.
Another one bites the dust.

 

[WickedFog]

Being in this hobby as long as I have I've seen a lot. That's a sad one, friend. I often wish we could go back to around 2008 and how things/ companies where. Probably why I collect and restore so many rc from around 2000-2010.
Another one bites the dust.

Not actually. They have actually improved supplies of the Legendary cars by quite a bit. Almost 3 years with no stock, and just a couple weeks ago I was seeing every car I need from that series to finish my collection was in stock at various places. I just found the driver figure for my Beetle. A part I have been trying to find for a number of years, and it's new stock. There are lots of parts out there now. At least last time I looked. Kyosho stuff tends to sell out within a few days. So if there is stuff in stock, they're starting to get ahead. Then they can focus on designing some new stuff.

 

[CertifiedMike]

Being in this hobby as long as I have I've seen a lot. That's a sad one, friend. I often wish we could go back to around 2008 and how things/ companies where. Probably why I collect and restore so many rc from around 2000-2010.
Another one bites the dust.

That video may explain things to you but BOY do I have a few questions now!

 

[eightball298]

I don't mean to make light of your situation but for $300, theres a fair amount of $ to try a custom starter using a good Milwaulkee cordless or similar.
i wish I had a car chassis to try some ideas with!
Fitting a rubber wheel that can access the flywheel to the drill with an adapter should be straigtforward... gotta find a wheel!

An adapter like this exists? Have you seen an example of this someplace? While I had an old Vanning & ran it a few times, the Spada is the only nitro car I've ever built from a kit myself. Starting this engine has to be easy peasy, or this thing is going to wind up a shelf queen I'm afraid.

https://rc.kyosho.com/en/74006.html
Is this the starter you had?
Do you have a picture of the bottom of the chassis by chance?

Kyosho’s Multistarter box wasn’t designed for a 1/12 pan-car, that’s for sure. Apparently, enough people had this problem to prompt Kyosho to release a foam template (a piece of FOAM now selling for $95) to help align things, the Handy Start system itself, and there was even enough demand for a brushless conversion kit.

By some miracle I actually found a handy starter in a Japanese auction & snatched it up for around $50. Now I just have to find the joint cup set to go with it, and after that, all I'll need is a place to run the thing!

 

[CertifiedMike]

I would prob continue to look for the other half of the handy start first.
If not, possibly a rotostart from another car.
I don't have a similar car here to experiment with... This seems like a fixable issue so you can run and enjoy your car!