Stampede repairs complete!

Yo, remember this?

Allow me to refresh all of our memories... Back in the day I modded a Stampede, unknowing of the numerous pitfalls that would stymie me in my travels. One of these pitfalls was the stripping of a key gear that drives the blaster. A square hole became round, courtesy 4 unprotected Trustfire batteries putting out 16.8V and mucho current.

For many months the Stampede laid dormant after every form of glue and epoxy I had was used in the repair effort. I moved on to other projects, figuring some day I would find an answer. I figured metal would be optimal, and I first found some bronze gears made in Australia, but the seller was MIA. Recently I found PAK D, a company from Singapore that casts Stampede gears out of aluminum and charges an arm and a leg for them ($55 + $40 shipping). Eventually I learned about solvents, and I changed my course of action. Look what I got in the mail recently:

It's a fresh new gearbox from my fellow modder Drev McAwesome! He said it was in good shape so I decided to make a "preemptive strike" before the gear even had a chance to strip. Time to bring in the heavy hitters:

I'm not sure what the gears are made of (hopefully not Nylon), but I was desperate. I slathered on the PVC cement and popped the gear into place. I then brushed it with MEK in every single crevice. It's pretty easy, since it has the consistency of water. Make sure to clean both pieces with rubbing alcohol beforehand and wipe off any grease.

Back in place (second from right):

After a day of curing, I put everything back together and tried her out. To my horror, only one dart made it out before the breech got completely stuck within the barrel! I sanded down the front of the breech, the back of the breech, and even the back of the barrel in an attempt to fix the problem, but nothing worked. Finally, I messed with the alignment of the breech and barrel and found out that I had two problems: the flimsy little section of the barrel that sits above the clip had gotten bent over time, and the brass portion of the breech was not glued on straight! I re-glued the breech properly and modded the barrel like so:

Just like SgNerf!

It's 1 1/4'' PVC. I also did something that may have been overkill. The rail that the breech rides against gets awful flimsy near the barrel, so I decided to fortify it.

Everything in its right place:

Back in action!

PVC shim under barrel keeps it in line with the rear portion

And the beast lives again! It took a while, but now it's time to see some action. Hopefully this post can serve as a warning flag for those thinking about overhauling the Stampede. I haven't dealt with a more finicky blaster in all my days. However, these epic struggles do have their place in life.

9kg SgNerf spring + O-ring + teflon tape + shitty breech/barrel seal

Not bad, but not amazing. Many of my darts fishtail out of my barrel, and I'm pretty sure I sanded away my perfect seal. To make matters worse, my tightening rings were to tight, causing darts to get stuck or improperly chambered at times. Bah! I was but a wee nub when I started, and I had no idea that I would be jumping into quicksand. In any case, I'm glad it works now, and I'll have to settle for Stampede #2 becoming the belle of the ball.


I hope your guys enjoyed this resurrection,
~T