HPI RS4 Rally Project

[nascarkeith]

I found a HPI Rally RS4 on ebay at a price I could live with so I bought it. I knew going in that this would be a project car for me to work on for a few weeks. The seller was very honest about the car being in working order but very dirty. This is what I got to start with.
The chassis already being tore down for cleaning.

The extra bodies,wheels, and inner body.

I got the complete HPI Rally RS4 kit minus the stock tires assembled with Futaba Tx/RX and ESC, Venom 3000 mah Nimh battery, Trinity P2K Pro motor, HPI Trans-Am body, HPI Supra Body, two sets of HPI wheels and tires, and a set of basically new HPI SS wheels with new Pro-Line tires on them. I got it all for $95 shipped so I think it was a good deal and a great winter project.

[Inclodneato]

thats sweet, i would like to find a rally conversion for my tt-01

[hellbentrodder]

Thats killer. I have my RS4 rally I bought new. They are a blast.

[nascarkeith]

Just sent an order to tower for the following:

New Belts
Pirelli Rally tires to go on the black HPI SS Wheels
New Body Posts
HPI 2004 Subaru Impreza Rally Body
Antenna Tube
Bent Up Body Clips
Ball Ends
35 Wt. Shock Oil

When all that gets here and I get it back together it should be as good as new. I was gonna order new wheels as well but noticed that none of the wheels and tires that came with it are glued so I am going to re-use the SS wheels to save some money.

Current Project Total So Far = $181 and I may get some of that back selling the extra wheels and body.

[hitman46mod]

I turned min into a speed basher. I just put it back together the other day. It is now running a 3s lipo so I need to wait for the snow to melt so I can see how fast it can go. The last time I had it out It was clocked doing 43 across a parking lot buy the local police.


I have had it since it was new. I love this chassis it is so light you can gear it to the moon.

[nascarkeith]

This is what I am going for when the body gets here. Something a little different than the standard blue Subaru rally car but something that almost looks like it could have been stock for the Subaru race team.

[trailduster79]

can't wait to see how this turns out.

I just picked up a used TL-01 rally car off the bay and hope to revive it into a rally basher.

[nodnarb81]

That looks like it will be cool. I like the color scheme you have going. You got alot of stuff with it. Maybe I can get the mustang out and get it going so I can have something to race you with.

[nascarkeith]

I got a good bit of the chassis cleaned and put back together today. I also got the diffs cleaned and repacked with grease. This chassis was in good shape mechanically but it was filthy.

Since it came with 3 bodies I was trying to figure out what to do with them. The Subaru is held together with shoe goo and is in pretty rough shape. The Trans Am looks good now that it is cleaned and the paint is touched up but I have no use for it so it may go on the bay with the extra wheels and tires that I won't be using.
That leaves the Supra that had a nicely done paint scheme but the colors just didn't work for me.

I decided to try the brake fluid method of stripping paint. I was impressed. The body is in good shape except for cracks above the front wheel wells that come from a front impact that can be easily fixed. I am going to use this body to practice my painting skills and run as a basher body.

[markturbo]

Wow, the brake fluid worked great! Did you just let the body sit in the fluid?

[mmbackpacker]

Wow, I am impressed with the brake fluid as well!

Project is looking great!

I will be following this one closely because I am doing a rally conversion on a 4 tec...

[nascarkeith]

I actually just took the body and placed it on a big piece of cardboard and poured some brake fluid into the upside down body and smeared it around with a wad of paper towels. After about thirty minutes I started scrubbing on it with the paper towels to see if anything had happened. Places in the paint started to rub off. I poured in more fluid and covered the entire inside of the body again. After about another thirty minutes the paint began to peal off like a thin decal. I even used a rag with some brake fluid on it to wipe down and clean the outside of the body. I took off all the decals I didn't want to keep and got the sticky residue off with goo gone.

[nascarkeith]

It was too cold for me to work in the garage last night. I know the 20's aren't cold for some people but here in Alabama I am used to sweating while I work not shivering. Since it was too cold for me to be in the garage I didn't get any work done on the chassis. Instead, I stayed inside with the wife and baby while I masked off and painted with a brush. It was a good chance to watch some T.V. and spend time with the family. Its great to have a good job that gets me home around 4 so I have time in the evening to tinker and its even better to have a awesome wife that understands and doesn't mind my R/C addiction.

[nascarkeith]

Since I was off work for MLK day yesterday I got a lot of work done on the RS4 Rally Project. I got the chassis together and electronics installed.


I also finished up my basher body.



Its sitting with 1 inch of ground clearance thanks to a shock mod. I added TLT ball ends to the shocks to gain the extra clearance. Stock shocks are on the left, modded ones on the right.



Here is a short video of the test run.


Wheels and tires on there now are just for mock up. I just got a big box from tower with a Subaru body, Pirelli rally tires, and some other stuff.

[nascarkeith]

Wow, I know its a crawler site but I thought since it was an offroad car I might get a little love. Nobody feels like replying?

I got my parts in from tower including the Subaru body and the Pirelli tires. I got the Pirellis mounted on the HPI SS wheels and took it for a spin in the dirt.


I've got it geared 28/87. I noticed that the Subaru body has a little higher clearance under the front bumper so I trimmed the Supra a little to get better clearance and more of a rally look. I know some people cringe at a Supra being used as a rally body but it came with the car and I have no other use for it. I think its kinda cool because its different. Black wheels and Pirellis look good on there too IMHO.

[Brainstain]

Awesome. I've been wanting one of these for a long time.. I just never got around to getting one.

[karlos]

Nice looking car! My son would love something like that. Looks to be about the right speed for him as well (8 yrs old). How durable is the RS4?

[nascarkeith]

I've got a little more work done on the rally project.

The inner body was a little rough when i got it so I cleaned it up, added some patches with extra lexan cut off of the new WRX body and some Shoe Goo, and touched up the paint. I tried stripping the paint so I could paint it to match the new blue body but for some reason the brake fluid wouldn't strip it so I just repainted the helmets.

Before


After


I also cleaned up the wiring and finished up the chassis.



With all that done I slapped on the basher body and took it for a spin. It was a blast. Fast in a straight line and just loose enough to drift around the turns on dirt.

Now that the chassis and set up are finished I turned my attention to the new body. So far I have masked it off and sprayed the blue and backed it with silver. I am using Createx paint shot with a Pasche airbrush. I decided to leave the hood blue instead of white like my original paint drawing.

[mental]

have you found anyone still selling parts for these. ive got one im just itchin to restore.

[nascarkeith]

Originally Posted by necro

have you found anyone still selling parts for these. ive got one im just itchin to restore.

Tower Hobbies has had most of the stuff I needed.