I jsut got back on friday and my Baja won't be back until Wednesday or Thursday. I will update the rear upper plate to accept the Cstle HV ESC when the beast arrives(beta ESC is here waiting for installation). The actual holdup will be the raw material and machine time - expect +/- 2 weeks before these are ready for sale, but the product listing will show up on the site this week. :)

BETA!! Saweet!

Sounds great. Let us know in here when it's up on the site.

Funny. I find myself checking rc-monster.com on a daily basis now that Mike announced it would be on the site this week. Been wanting this brushless car for so long an now that it's finally possible to buy the necessary conversion kit I can't wait to place that order and build the car. Amazing what a toy can do to a grown up man :)

Here are some more RCX pics of Mike's kit. Look in the first group of photos near the bottom.
http://www.rccars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4268

Thanks for sharing! Quality is not the best but pics show the kit in good detail.

Put a good beating on the Baja today - man this beast is a load of fun! I will get the kits updated for the HV ESC and get them done ASAP so everyone else can play, too. :)

Mike, I take it that the 1527 on 7s is pushing the Baja just fine?

The 1527 is working rather well, actually. I did get it up to around 170 degrees after a while(running 7s and 8s packs), but I was running mostly in the grass and was being quite aggressive with it. A heat sink and a fan on the motor will be plenty of insurance, but probably isn't necessary. I am quite happy with it, actually. The shaft is too short, which is compounded by the motor adapter I had to make to install it, so i initially had trouble keeping the pinion on, but I have a custom adapter/bore reducer on there now and it held up for the last hour or so with no trouble.
I have the 1527/2.5d motor installed with a 12t pinion. the motor has a 5mm shaft and is only .75" long, which only allows about half of the pinion set screw to engage the shaft. The custom adapter adds another set screw and is working rather well so far. :)

Have you thought of using a Wye wind instead? I find they hold up and produce better than the Delta winds. The 1527/1.5Y is a 825kv versus the 925kv currently. 8s and a 13T pinion would make up for that.

It's good to see that people will be able to use a motor like the 1527, and not have to go all out on a 2215 or 2230, or a Lehner.

Mike, will your mount accept other motors as well? Like Scorpion outrunners or the Bigger Neu's? a 4035 would power this nicely and fairly cheap as well.

I would have used a 1.5y if I had one - the 1527/2.5d was here and its specs fit my needs, so I used it. I don't think switching to a wye wind in and of itself would make any appreciable difference in performance or 'holding up' as you put it, either. A wye motor may have a very slight efficiency advantage, but this would be tough to quantify in this application I think. The rpm vs gearing etc. is more important than delta vs wye(and I already owned the Delta motor). I wanted to try a 1527 because its smaller diameter allows broad gearing without interference with the tranny or brake disc(if mech brakes are retained - I removed mine) and also would allow a longer battery if needed. A 1527 is rated for similar continuous power to the 2215 as well, so I suspected it would work well for me and because I already had the motor, I decided to use it. If the castle 1717 motor was a 2y instead of a 1y, it would probably work quite well also.
The motor mount bolt pattern matches the outer holes on a 22 series Neu motor (45mm IIRC) to allow motor screw access when using the larger mod 1.5 pinions. I made a mount adapter to install the 1527 and could make similar adapters for most any motor that would fit if it doesn't have the needed bolt pattern.

I will be using the Neu 2215 750KV with the kit but making it capable of running with alternative motors will probably have an impact on the number of kits sold.

Do you plan on taking pre-orders or will it only be available on the site when you have them in stock?

No mechanical brakes Mike? I've always run them on my Baja under the assumption that it would be too hard on the ESC to run motor braking. Did you have any problems? Would you recommend ESC braking with the new Castle controller?

motor brakes
 

I made the conversion to accept the mechanical brakes(and ran it this way with the HV180 boat ESC), but i prefer motor braking personally - the mechanical brakes fade, run hot and add complexity to the simple E-theme. Reverse is nice, too. :yes: I am also testing the ESC, so I want to test it in real world conditions - I will be gearing it up and driving like an idiot to simulate the gamut of driving conditions these may see. So far, the ESC has held up like a champ and even without the fan plugged in, the ESC hasn't gotten over 130 degrees or so. I suspect taller gearing may heat things up a bit, but I am thinking the ESC won't likely be the weak link in a normal setup.

GREAT!! High voltage, low amp, cool temps RC history in the making!