check out what I just got for $30

[acerpower]

I've raced mini-Z in a club for a few years now and we race at one of my friend's house.
He has quite a few nice cars and since I like mini size cars I noticed he had a X-ray M18.
I never knew much about the car but it looked pretty cool.
I'd ask my friend about the car and he said he bought it with intentions of racing it but they never really caught on at his local track.
So he ran the car a few times and it sat in his basement for a few years now.

Tonight I went over to race my mini-Zs and in between races I was checking out the M18, when he asked me if I wanted to buy it for $30.
This car was in excellent condition so I gladly accepted the offer.

Here is a quick picture I just took of it....................................



Now I don't know much about this car but I figured I'd just throw a brushless system in it and use it for drifting or just zipping around in the house or driveway.

I think this little car looks pretty sweet but, did I do OK for $30?
And are there parts still readily available for this kit?

Anyone with previous experience with this kit and could give me any pointers about it, I'd appreciate it.

[cowboysir03]

XRay makes excellent racing 1/10ths and that M18 has many similar qualities. If I remember correctly it has the sweetest steering linkage of any stock chassis of the 18th onroad class.

Have fun with it....let me know if you're looking for brushless motors because I have 2 different ones that would perform nicely in that for drift or race.

[TripleXmodder(akaXXX)]

AHHHHHHHH, I wanted to get one a couple weeks ago... then decided I didn't want to spend the cash... $30.00.. you lucky sob. Enjoy. do a google search.. lots of stuff for it.

[acerpower]

I did some further investigating of my new score and found a Li-Po from my collection that fits perfectly.
I also found out that the servo included is a Hitec HS81MG.

Here's a pic under the lid......................................


My friend told me that he thought the included motor was brushless but it only has 2 wires so I suppose it's not.
The motor is a Team Orion Elite micro modified but I don't know anything else about the motor yet.
Edit: I found out it's coreless not brushless, that's an honest mistake.

My Tacon motor wont fit the hole pattern on the motor mount so I have to find myself another castle motor.
Or I could just put my Tacon 7800kv motor in my RC18 and use my 6800kv Tekin in this.
I mostly use my RC18T in large parking lots on a 3 cell Li-Po but since it's winter my temps might just stay low enough with the 7800kv anyways.

A kind member informed me that micro RS4 bodies will fit this car so I'll be shopping for a new body after Christmas.

[acerpower]

I installed my sidewinder, 6800kv motor, and 2.4ghz RX................

(sorry for the poor quality pic, my wife has the good camera with her)

With all this new power it wasn't long before I broke an axle.
I'll be ordering some new steel axles along with an aluminum motor mount and possibly some other goodies.

Even with sticky foam tires, this little beast slides around the carpet with ease.
This is definitely the best $30 I've spent in RC yet.

[acerpower]

Some better pics......................

[acerpower]

I added a heatsink on the motor that I already had...................



I also ordered a new battery strap....................



I'm ordering some steel CVDs Monday along with an aluminum motor mount and possibly another goody or two.


For bodies I was considering a Porsche 911 or a BMW M3.

[acerpower]

I ordered a few more needed parts today.....................................

Steel CVDs


Adjustable aluminum shocks


........and aluminum motor mount

[acerpower]

I finally have all the parts in.............................



This thing has so much power with the castle 6800kv sidewinder, I'm surprised the stock plastic CVDs even held up at all.
Next purchase will definitely be a new body.

[xmodsNSX94]

man i am so jealous of you right now....
they are a great little car and for 30$ thats a mega bargain... how is it holding up? any ideas on speed or anything?

could you take lots of pictures? they look really good i might have to get one
Michael

[TripleXmodder(akaXXX)]

Yeah, that is an amazing deal.. It looks like a fun little car.. I was gonna get an Xray, but decided to rebuild my old RC18R instead.. Keep us posted, can't wait to see the new body (I like the one you got on it.) I just don't like the wheels.

[acerpower]

Thanks.
As far as speed goes, I'm not quite sure what it's capable of yet.
Even with the smallest pinion it's way to fast to drive in my house, and right now isn't the best time to drive outside in this New England weather.

It did come with a brand new set of tires and white rims which I just dyed black. The only ting I really like about these wheels are that they have some soft foam tires which hook up great.

Here are a few more pics with the new parts installed...................................





I also found a toy trailer in my son's toys that seems to be close in scale...........



Now I just need a tow vehicle. I tried my RC18T but it looked goofy in front of the trailer.

[acerpower]

I tried these CVDs in the front and they had some serious binding issues...............


In this pic you can see the GPM steel CVD on the left at full bend next to the stock CVD on the right at full bed.


As you can see, this causes problems when taking sharp turns.
Even in wide turns these CVDs would bind and sometimes lock right up.

They work just fine in the rear end, and at a price of under $10 I'm happy I could save a few bucks for the rear.

Unfortunately I had to drop $35 for a set of these........................

More than what I paid for the whole kit, but they were necessary for the power I am running in it.

To me, this thing is still definitely worth the money I paid and put into it.

[texan_idiot25]

If you can, grind a hair off the collar around the shaft. It'll give the joint more angle.

[acerpower]

I got these new parts for about $25 from China on Ebay...................


Here's a look at them installed.......................



My camera's batteries are low so I couldn't get any more, or better pics. Not to mention, I'm holding my fussy 3 month old son right now while trying to take the pics.

The car is a bit dirty anyways and could use a good cleaning, so I'l try and get it to look good for some more pics.

[itzlinky]

That's a pretty **** nice bargain for $30. Though it certainly seemed to have sparked much more investments into it since then from you, lol

[acerpower]

I guess I've spent about 3x as much in parts as I spent on the car itself.
In the end it always happens like that with every car for me.