Popular Post Candyman Posted January 20, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted January 20, 2018 Hello people, I has a blizzard! Always wanted one of these, managed to pick up this fairly run down one for £65. Its old and needs a rebuild, so I have stripped it down to its component pieces and stared to polish the metal and fix whats broken, which isn't much as it goes. Diff is in pretty good shape, so cleaned up, filled with some heavy diff fluid and shimmed for a perfect mesh. more to come... 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XV Pilot Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 (edited) Interesting choice there on the diff fluid. Given the Blizzard's method of steering, won't a heavy fluid simply place more stress on the gears and brakes while making for a bigger turning circle? I know that you don't want the diff completely free running otherwise it becomes a challenge to keep the rig running straight, but you do want it quite free for the steering to work. I'd have gone for a small quantity of light grease if it were mine... Edited January 20, 2018 by XV Pilot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candyman Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 Hiya, right, so, when I tested it it drives straight, then with the slightest steering input it locks one side and does a pirouette. My plan is to run thick fluid, change the steel brake disks for fibre, have the brake lever join to the servo arm as far in as possible and then tune it with the ETA on my transmitter so that I can steer it like a car, i.e. be able to drive in an arc left or right with slight input and then fully lock up one side with a lot of input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si Coe Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 I tried several different fluids in mine and found that the thicker the better. With a decent servo you can lock the brakes even with very thick oil and a brushless motor. Actually with a brushless motor the thick oil is a requirement. I've retired my EV and replaced with an FR because the EV kept throwing tracks. The chassis twists too much under power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 Nice to see an old Blizzard being brought back to life. On the subject of Blizzards has any one actually seen one of these snowblower kits? https://spykerworkshop.com/product-category/3d-printed-snowblower/snowblowercategory/ John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candyman Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 Awesome snow blower! Im going to fit the plow to mine, retrofit as this one is a DF300 which didnt come with a plow. So first up I need a battery tray that will fit my lipo and need to mount it higher so I can get the rod for the plow under it. Made some half trays out of a lump of delrin. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si Coe Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 My solution was to use the stock tray but a shorty lipo. I took the plough off both of mine - I find it gets in the way on anything but the flattest terrain. I don't have the blower, but worse I now want their entire rc kit. It looks awesome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 (edited) I blame Candyman for causing me to discover that site. Now I’m seriously thinking about buying the print files for the snowblower. I too don’t have the plow fitted to mine. Fine for well ...........plowing ........ but does get in the way otherwise. If I do get the snowblower think it would be mostly for show. John Edited January 21, 2018 by johninderby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoodoo Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 That looked good before the restoration. Where did you buy that for that money??? J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candyman Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 Im planning on keeping the stock 540 and only using it in snow, I wanted a scale looking machine with the scale speed to go with it. I have enough stuff that goes fast. It was in ok condition, just old and all the alloy parts are tarnished and need polishing. It cost me £80 off ebay but I managed to sell the mint condition vintage kyosho esc for £20, so it only owes me £60 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XV Pilot Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 I can see Si Coe's logic of using thick oil in the diff to keep it running straight along with a beefy brushless motor to help it turn, but I'm not sure if it will work with the stock 540. Still, I suppose that you can always give it a try and modify the setup if required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candyman Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 6 minutes ago, XV Pilot said: I can see Si Coe's logic of using thick oil in the diff to keep it running straight along with a beefy brushless motor to help it turn, but I'm not sure if it will work with the stock 540. Still, I suppose that you can always give it a try and modify the setup if required. I dont know what you mean by wont work? it'll help turn more gradually so when you "steer" the side your breaking wont just lock up, the thick fluid will allow it to have some torque to try and turn both sides without instantly giving up and diffing out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XV Pilot Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 It has been a while since I last worked on a Blizzard, and I never tried oil in the diff, but when I experimented with thick grease in the diff, it kept the model going straight, but the more I tried to turn, the slower it went, and when I tried to get it to do it's signature pirouette move, it slowed right down and the motor got very hot very quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candyman Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 Oh ok, how was the diff to turn over by hand? if it turns smooth I wouldnt expect that behaviour, unless your motor was dying and that was highlighting its issue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XV Pilot Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 The diff turned smooth but slow, as gear diffs do when filled with thick grease or oil. The motor (stock silver can) was in good health and continued to work fine for years once the diff was put back to normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candyman Posted January 26, 2018 Author Share Posted January 26, 2018 Got most of this back together, the whole thing is ball raced, no idea if they come like that. made a little exhaust, just because. chose some Tekno fibre brake disks just because they were cheap, to replace the metal ones, this should give the brakes a bit more feel. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeb Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 Awesome job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novamadcars Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Kool model mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candyman Posted January 28, 2018 Author Share Posted January 28, 2018 (edited) So I ordered a new body a while back for a Blizzard SR, this turns out to be a narrow 1 piece body, I should have spotted that really. Its the width of the chassis, which is fine if your mounting the battery length ways, but not if its mounted like mine on the DF300. I considered changing the battery placement but its hard on the single motor version, the SR has a seperate 2 motor trasmission and no skid steering so theres more room for the battery length ways. I prefere the wide look of the DF300 2 piece shell, so I ordered a repro one from team blue groove in USA (or might be canada actually). Decals for the DF300 are just not available, so I spent some time scanning in my old body shell and cleaning up the scans adding some little bits and changing some stuff. Did some little warning stickers too, fake head lights and some of the chequer plates for the back, but not all, I felt the original had too many. Im getting these printed digitally on some waterproof vinyl, then i'll scalpel them out. It's costing me the same to do a run of 5 as it would for 1, so anyone who fancies a set for their DF300 let me know. Obviously this pic is shrunk down, the original is A3 size! Edited January 28, 2018 by Candyman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candyman Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 got the kyosho plow arms, they were cheap, not worth me making them, turned some grooves in the tube so they clip on, then cut a section out the chassis plate to allow for the little lever. Made a tube for that to pivot on and a bunch of other little bits. got a metal geared servo at the back and managed to run the rod under the rods for the brakes. new body turned up from TBG, fits nice! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candyman Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 Mostly done, few little bits to finish off. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johninderby Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Looking good. So different to the later Blizzard. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zannu Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Very pretty. Looks like it needs some snow to play around in, although I am sure you could have fun with it anyway. Enjoy and keep us updated as to the fun you have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candyman Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 Just enough snow to plow! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candyman Posted March 3, 2018 Author Share Posted March 3, 2018 (edited) Edited March 3, 2018 by Candyman 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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