Kyosho Lazer ZX Rebuilds

Ever since I rebuilt the Kyosho Lazer ZX that I acquired in 1993 (click here to see the start of the restoration that began in 2011), it became more of a shelf queen than runner mostly because of the time and effort I spent on the body. 

It took a fair amount of effort to trim, mask, paint and decal the body and I don't really enjoy the process.  

I wanted to get a second Lazer ZX to have as a runner in order to feel less guilty if I ever flipped or crashed it, but I did not want to have to paint another body.  Luckily a few years ago I found an eBay seller who was selling pre-painted bodies for various RC cars and one of them was the Lazer ZX body in stock colors.  It looked nice enough, certainly good enough for a runner vehicle, so I bought the body and stored it for a while while periodically looking for a used Lazer ZX chassis to pair with it.  

I wasn't looking very hard, really just waiting to see if something came along that looked interesting every once in a while, and then one night a couple years ago I ended up finding a really nice looking chassis.

Honestly, it looked pretty nice and clean.  I bought it, stripped it down and cleaned all of the parts (which didn't need much cleaning), and then built it according to the manual.  It was obvious that it was either hardly run or was someone's "built-it-from-parts" project because everything was in very good to excellent condition and few missing parts.  The tires were rather hard, but I didn't care about that. I fitted the body that I had bought previously, trimming the area around the gear cover, front shocks and drilled holes for the body mounts and antenna.  Lastly, I trimmed and fitted the wing to the rear wing mount.

For this chassis, I used a used Kyosho Le Mans 240SB that I had on hand mated to a Robinson Racing 23T 0.6M pinion and the stock LA-2 spur gear.  Power comes from a 6-cell NiMH pack connected to a Tamiya TEU-105BK ESC.  The receiver is a Futaba R113ip 75Mhz which is controlled by one of my Futaba 3UCP radios.  For steering, I used a Futaba S148 servo which is about as basic as it gets.  I don't race so the driving and steering requirements are not too steep.

The only hop-ups on this chassis are the LAW-1 FRP front and rear shock towers to replace the stock aluminum ones plus the Pro Line Hole Shot tires and JC Racing wheels.

After a few runs with the Kyosho 240SB motor, however, I'm not too impressed with the power or speed.  My original Lazer ZX with the Kyosho Mega 16x2 is much, much more powerful and faster using the same battery, and it's using a 18T pinion on the stock spur vs 23T pinion on the 240SB with same spur.  I think I'm going to swap out the 240SB for something else.  The specs list it as a 19T motor using double 0.65mm wire wound on the rotor.  It was used and has been messed with by the previous owner, so it might not be working as well as it should because it certainly doesn't feel like a 30,000 rpm motor to me.  Even going downhill wide open it's much slower than the 16x2-powered Lazer ZX.

Fast forward to earlier this year and I somehow ended up buying yet another Lazer ZX chassis to restore and run.

This chassis was not nearly in as good condition as the last one.
The front right shock was an Associated shock, not a Kyosho Gold.
The rear shock springs were not for Kyosho Golds and were not the correct diameter to fit the spring holders.
The steering servo mounts were missing.
The front tires were totally cracked and destroyed. (no big deal)
The motor mounting screws were 4-40 instead of M3 thread. (ugh)
The motor (Kinwald stock I think) front bronze bushing was totally worn out.  The rotor rattled side-to-side in the bushing.  Endbell is not removable without bending the tabs on the can.
One of the biggest issues I noticed was that the motor pinion was 48P while the Lazer ZX spur is 0.6M.  Totally different gear pitches that are definitely NOT swappable or even close to being the same pitch.  I really hoped that the previous owner had just mounted the motor to the chassis just before selling to make it look "complete".  Thankfully the spur teeth did not look like someone attempted to run the car with that pinion.  The spur had some wear, but overall looked good enough to keep using.

While rebuilding the chassis, I noticed that 2 of the internal belt rollers were missing, so I had to get a new LA-10 pack to replace the missing parts.  The belts themselves were in excellent condition, so I simply cleaned them with a dry paper towel to remove dirt build-up and used them as-is.  The pulleys were also in perfect condition.

Most of the rest of the parts were in very good condition once they were thoroughly cleaned.  I found a single Kyosho Gold front shock on eBay (amazing luck) and rebuilt all 4 shocks with new shafts, o-rings and fresh oil.

I have ordered a Lazer ZX body, wing and gear cover from Team Bluegroove in Canada plus some Tamiya PS-15 metallic red and PS-1 white spray paint, so I guess I'll be trimming, masking and painting another Lazer ZX body in a few weeks.

Here is how the 3rd Lazer ZX looks now as it sits waiting for a body and wing:

For this third Lazer ZX, I used a Kyosho Le Mans Sports H-240S motor with a Kyosho 20T 0.6M pinion hooked to a Tamiya TEU-105BK ESC.  The receiver is once again the Futaba R113ip 75MHz controlled by a Futaba 3UCP transmitter and steering is a Futaba S148.

I really like the vintage Kyosho 0.6M pinions because they are wider than the modern Robinson Racing 0.6M pinions, so they make contact with the entire width of the LA-2 spur gear teeth. 

Finally, here are all three of my Lazer ZX cars side by side.

All three are great runners and very quiet due to the belt drive.  The only gears are the motor pinion and spur (not counting the gear diffs).  The rear axle is driven by a short belt instead of gears.

I know most people prefer the Lazer ZXR, which is a refined/racing version of the Lazer ZX 4WD design, but I still rather like the ZX-style chassis due to the enclosed belts that keep out dirt.  I know people say that the belt covers prevent any dirt that gets inside from ever leaving and that's true, but with the easy-going on-road driving and mininal off-roading that I do, dirt is not a concern.

Parts are becoming harder and harder to find these days, so restoring one of these chassis is something that will take more time and money than it used to.  There are some alternatives, however, now that 3D printing is more popular than ever.  For example, Shapeways has many parts for Kyosho vehicles, including the Lazer ZX, which can be used if finding the original part is too difficult.

Kyosho Lazer ZX Restoration Finished

I have finally finished the Kyosho Lazer ZX restoration that I have been meaning to get done for what seems like forever.  The last time I posted about this car was way back in late 2011 when I completely rebuilt the chassis from scratch.  The rebuild included some vintage hop-ups and original repair parts that I had bought not too long after I acquired the car way back in 1993.  If you haven't read that post before, I recommend viewing it before continuing with this one.  Here are a couple pictures from the rebuild:

The final piece of the restoration that was missing was the body, under tray and wing.  I had bought a reproduction body and decal set from MarwanRC in 2011 with plans to finish the work during the following summer of 2012, but that never happened.  Other things came up, plus I didn't feel like I was in the right mood to do it justice.  I knew it would be a difficult body to fit to the chassis.  I also knew masking the body for the box art color scheme would be a fairly complex undertaking.  I figured the painting itself wouldn't be too difficult to do as long as the masking was done properly.  It's just two colors, after all.  One sticking point was the yellow trim lines between the two main blue and white colors on the body. How would I do that?  Triple mask for three colors or trim tape on the outside (or even inside) the body?  My own self-doubt prevented me from attempting the work.

Fast forward to now, in the middle of summer 2015 in the northern hemisphere, and I can say that I have finally finished one of the most complex body fitments I've ever done.

Here is a quick overview of the work involved.

There were four main steps to finishing the Lazer ZX body set:

1. Cutting, trimming and testing fitment of parts to the chassis
2. Masking
3. Painting
4. Decaling

Cutting, Trimming and Fitment
Trimming the body parts and getting them to fit the chassis took the most time for this body set.  There are four parts to the Lazer ZX body set:  The main body shell, under tray, main wing and secondary wing.  This is twice as many parts as a "normal" car, which usually has just the main body and wing.

Fitting the main body shell to the chassis took the most time due to the complex cutouts required around the front shock tower, rear shock tower and right side gearbox.  Lots of fine-tuning the fit was required so that the body did not press or rub against the chassis, gearbox cover, and shock towers.

The main wing was the second hardest part to cut out and trim.  As wings go, it's pretty normal in shape but I find that it takes me a while to trim it down to the proper shape while keeping the edges straight and even.

The under tray was fairly simple to cut out and trim due to its mostly flat shape and straight edges.  Some extra trimming was required in a couple areas to allow the tray to fit more closely to the underside of the main chassis and prevent it from being stressed at contact points.

The secondary wing piece was the simplest part to trim and fit.  It's just a wide U shape with a center notch cut out to fit around the main wing mount bracket.  It fits inside the main wing in the finished product to create a "double wing" design.

Masking
Masking the body parts took the second longest amount of time to complete.

For the main body, the main cockpit window was masked first.  I know the box art scheme has a black window, but I wanted it clear instead.  Then, the areas I wanted white were masked off.  Remember, dark colors, like the metallic blue I used, are sprayed first when painting polycarbonate bodies from the inside.  After masking was complete, the areas I wanted painted blue were the only sections exposed.

The main wing needed a white stripe down the middle, so I masked it off, making sure it was evenly spaced on both sides.

The under tray and secondary wing pieces needed no masking because they are all blue and all white, respectively.

Painting
I used Tamiya PS-16 Metal Blue and Tamiya PS-1 White straight from the can.

This step is probably the simplest, but at the same time one of the most frustrating.  The very narrow space on each side of the main wing makes it practically impossible to get spray paint there.  I kept spraying and spraying, but the paint wouldn't go in.  In the past I've moved the paint can nozzle closer to the wing but it usually results in too much paint hitting the surface which ruins the metallic effect or results in a dreaded run.  I'd rather have it be too light in color than possibly have a drip or run.

The rest of the body parts painted nicely.  The main body was easy to do.  Many light coats were applied until it became mostly opaque.  I wanted a dark, rich metallic blue color and I knew white would be backing it so I made sure the paint was thick enough not to have the white affect it too much.  The under tray was the easiest because it was mostly flat which allowed the paint to coat it evenly.  

After the blue paint was applied and left to dry for a while, I peeled off the masking which exposed the parts of the body I wanted to be white.  The cockpit window mask was left in place.  I sprayed the entire main body, main wing and secondary wing with Tamiya PS-1 white until it had nice coverage.  After the white was dry, I removed the cockpit window mask and then removed all of the protective film covering each part.  I let it dry for a few days before moving on to applying the decals.

Decaling
I think that applying decals to a body is the most enjoyable part of the work.  No fiddling with sharp knives under tension, no plastic shards and no dust.  Also, there are no smelly paint fumes to deal with.  Just plop down in a chair with the TV on and play a bad movie while carefully cutting decals, dipping them in a soapy water solution and sticking them to the body.

It is certainly a time consuming process, but very straightforward.  Each decal has a specific location where it needs to go and it is just a matter of cutting it out from the sheet and positioning it precisely on the body.  The soapy water really helps with the final positioning.  It lets you move the decal around instead of just having it stick where the decal happened to touch the surface of the body.  It's also possible to remove the decal, re-dip in the soapy water solution and place it down again to get more time for positioning.  The larger decals benefit from this more than the smaller ones, but when trying to get the perfect spacing every trick has to be used.

With the main decals finished, there was just one more thing:  That yellow trim line between the main blue and white colors on the main body.  I purchased some Pactra Trim Tape in yellow which comes as a roll of 8 different widths ranging from 1/32" to 1/2".  I used the 1/16" wide strip. 

[Side note:  I discovered during my research for trim tape that Testors, the company that owns the Pactra brand, had begun to phase out most Pactra products as of mid-2013, including trim tape.  You can still find it, however.  It is also available under the Testors name, although the rolls are not as long.  It comes in various colors, including blue, red, yellow, silver, white and black.]

I did not use any soapy water with the trim tape.  It was strong enough to withstand removing and re-applying it over and over to get it in the correct position, so I decided that the soapy water wasn't necessary.  It bends around curves and corners well.  It is important to not stretch it as it is being applied, especially on concave surfaces.  After a few hours it will try to return to its original length, so it will pull back and away from the surface.  Use of a hair dryer or heat gun helps activate the adhesive and relaxes the tape, allowing it to adhere to the surface better.

Final Result
It is perfect?  No, certainly not.  I made a couple of rookie mistakes, like not ensuring that the masking tape was firmly pressed down in a couple places which allowed some paint to go under the tape where it shouldn't have.  I always seem to have a couple spots like this.  Luckily the two spots on this body are not too noticeable.

Am I happy with it?  Yes, for two reasons: First, it's finally done after all these years.  It is certainly a good feeling of accomplishment.  Second, it looks quite nice, especially in person.  These pictures don't really do it justice.  I am my own worst critic because I know every flaw, every mistake and every shortcoming about it.  I wish I could have done a better job than I did.  But it is what it is.

Enjoy these pictures of the final product.

Vehicle: Kyosho Lazer ZX (originally released in 1989)
Body: MarwanRC Reproduction Lazer ZX
Decals:  MarwanRC Reproduction Lazer ZX
Trim Lines: Parma Trim Tape (Yellow, 1/16" width)
Paint Scheme/Layout:  Lazer ZX Box Art

This first set of pictures show the vehicle with the following wheels and tires:

• Wheels:  J.C. Racing 2.2" Yokomo YZ10 5-Spoke
• Tires: Pro-Line Racing Caliber 2.2" (8211-02 front, 8210-02 rear)

This second set of pictures show the vehicle with the following wheels and tires:

• Wheels:  Pargu2000 Aluminum Optima Mid Front Narrow Wheels (ms0020)
• Tires: MarwanRC Reproduction OT66 (rear), Kyosho Square Pin Narrow (front)

Kyosho Lazer ZX restoration

This summer I rebuilt my Kyosho Lazer ZX chassis that I've owned since around 1993 when I bought it from a high level manager's son at the company where I worked.  The body was tattered and painted poorly and the front gearbox was punctured with a hole in the front of it.  Also the spur gear was ruined because the pinion mesh with the spur must have slipped too far apart causing the teeth to get shaved down.  In those days parts were still fairly easy to come by, so I ordered a new front gearbox set (LA-32) and spur gear (LA-2) from Tower Hobbies (http://www.towerhobbies.com).  Back then Tower used to carry Kyosho kits, parts, and hop-ups.

Speaking of hop-ups, when Tower was beginning to clear inventory of Kyosho-related parts in the 90's, I bought some Lazer parts made by Kyosho, A&L and also some Tecnacraft titanium tie rods for good prices.  I had actually ordered more parts than they had in stock, so unfortunately I missed out on some really cool pieces because other people had already purchased them before me.  After installing the parts, I didn't really run the car very much because I was not into 4WD back then.  Plus, the design of the center diff and front and rear one-way pulleys confused and irritated me because the rear wheels seemed to never get any forward power.  I even locked the center diff to get more power to the rear wheels.  The car sat in the basement for 18 years, untouched. 

Then this year I got sick of looking at the sad state the chassis was in, so I made it my mission to rebuild it completely.  I disassembled every screw and nut and cleaned everything as best as I could to make all of the parts look as new as possible.  I also purchased some new LA-43 ball ends, OT-32 balls, #1285 2.6mm hole black steel balls, diff balls, diff plates and all new ball bearings to replace the original parts because they were either too worn or binding up.  Then I laid most of the parts out on my workbench and took a picture:

The hop-ups laying on the table include:

• A&L Front suspension mounts (I missed out on the rears)
• A&L #3806 Finned motor plate
• A&L #3807 Steering bell cranks with bearing
• A&L #3808 Front deck support
• A&L #3809 Rear deck support
• Kyosho LAW-01 FRP front and rear shock towers
• Tecnacraft #1019 Titanium Lazer tie rods

Close up shot of the vintage hop-up parts

I purchased a reproduction Lazer ZX body, wing, and decal set from Marwan (http://marwanrc.com), however I never got around to painting this year, so it still sits in a box waiting for next summer.

I also bought modern Kyosho wheels and tires designed for the Lazer ZX-5, along with a set of new hex hubs. Finally, I bought some shock rebuild kits, new rubber diaphragms and shock shafts for the Kyosho Gold shocks.  The part numbers for these are as follows (available at http://kyoshoamerica.com): 

• W5018  O-Ring set (Gold shock) (2 sets are required for all 4 shocks)
• W5181-08 Shock shaft (S)  (for the front shocks)
• W5182-02 Shock shaft (M)  (for the rear shocks)
• W5189-05 Diaphragm (Black/4Pcs)

The original belts were slightly worn in some spots where some small pieces of debris got caught in the teeth, but I decided to use them anyway since they seemed to still be in good enough shape.  I have a set of Tough Racing brand belts, though I've heard they are not as good as the originals, especially when using a powerful brushless motor.

Once I got all of the parts I needed, I followed the instruction manual and rebuilt the chassis using the original, vintage hop-up parts and the new parts.  Here is the result:

 

 

The rebuilt Kyosho gold shocks are smooth as silk, just like new.  The modern wheels and tires fit perfectly and look nice with plenty of clearance around the arms, hubs, carriers and upper camber links.

The motor is a Kyosho Mega 16x2 4WD with ball bearings.  I originally had this motor installed in my Turbo Ultima, but since I used the stock Kyosho 240ST in that car for its restoration last year, I decided to use the Mega 16x2. The ESC is a Novak 410-M5.

I used the 18 tooth hardened steel pinion that came with the car when I bought it to perform some maiden test runs sans body.  I have a Kyosho W5086 48P 16T hard pinion in case the car feels over-geared.  The car really flies and is very quiet due to the belt drive.  After a couple of driving sessions, the spur gear differential needed some tightening because the rear wheels were still not transmitting as much power as they should.  The motor and ESC were not hot after a good run, so I think I'll leave the 18T pinion on for now.

It was a lot of fun to restore this car back to running status, and the vintage hop-ups give it some uniqueness.  Once I paint the body next summer, I'll post some pictures here.