Andy's Hobby Head Quarters 1/16 M8 Greyhound RC Conversion

[rb67mustang]

Good afternoon everyone, I'd like to start off this build thread showing where the RC conversion is to date. I bought the kit last year while it was on sale at $100 plus whatever the shipping was. I planned to RC the kit before buying it. I had just purchased the Coolbanks M5 Stuart & M8 GMC from Aliexpress, and I noticed all the RC parts that were for sale. I purchased a 6 wheel drive axle set, and a set of tires to fit the axles. Later I bought other parts I needed, and I needed a 2nd set of tires because the 1st set was to big even though they supposedly were 1/16 scale. Here's some photos and a video of where the build is today.







This image shows how mucch I had to remove from the floor of the kit to fit the frame rails and for room for the suspension to fit. Later I'll make some cross members to mount the body onto the frame, but first, I have to make spring mounts for the front Diff.



While I waited for the RC parts to arrive from Aliexpress, I began to build the kit to know the center distance of the two rear differentials so the build would be accurate and represent a proper scale M8 Greyhound.



Video:

[rb67mustang]

OK, lets go back to when I started this build in August of 2025.

As the parts began to arrive from Aliexpress, I compared them to the kit parts. So far things are looking good.



Here's the first set of tires I got. I learned that just because a seller says the parts are 1/16 scale doesn't mean you're going to get the proper size. You must search for tires by their diameter and width, or your spending your money for parts that may never get used. But the good thing about the first set is I could modify the back half of the wheel to mate with the kit wheels. I just might do that, but I preferred to have rubber tires. At that time, Torro was selling spare tires for their M16 Half Track for $15.99 each. I felt it was to much money at the time.





Here we see just how big the first set of tires was compared to the proper size I needed.



Once again, notice the tire size is so big they rub against each other in the dual rear Diff's are mounted at the proper spacing.



I paid $31.48 for the six wheel drive diff's. The incorrect set of tires were $19.73. At this point, I was waiting for the dual rear suspension I ordered from Aliexpress.

[rb67mustang]

OK, I have to go out tonight, I'll post more progress on this conversion tomorrow. There's still a lot to do to get this M8 Greyhound running!!!

[rb67mustang]

OK, so after looking at Tangs Andy's HHQ M8 RC conversion, and asking if the 3DP tires had enough traction, I'll modify the over sized hex drive wheels to mate with the Andy's HHQ kit wheels, as Tang has done for his M8 conversion. And so, this morning, I decided to re-think the frame I started for my M8 RC conversion. Though I still might continue with the full frame for my conversion.

The first thing I did was to determine where the centerline of the RC axles should be to have the proper ride height. I dry fitted the kit dual suspension and I measured from the center of the kit axle to the bump stop. Then I measured the RC diff's and do some simple math. The RC diff housings have to be 0.044 thousandths of an inch above the bump stops to obtain the proper ride height. See images, and video.

[rb67mustang]

Here are the RC Tires/Wheels I've bought for this conversion. The way oversized wheels will be modified to mate with the kit wheels as I mentioned. Images & video.



Here's an image of the gearbox/motor I'll be using for the RC conversion. More of the floor will have to be removed to make it work.

[rb67mustang]

And so, the first two post today are new, and now, I'll share more of the build from 2025 to get what I've done up to date.

[tdriver113]

Here are the RC Tires/Wheels I've bought for this conversion. The way oversized wheels will be modified to mate with the kit wheels as I mentioned. Images & video.



Here's an image of the gearbox/motor I'll be using for the RC conversion. More of the floor will have to be removed to make it work.

I ran into the same tire and wheel problem with my Vietnam gun truck project. I think an accurate military wheel and tire producer could make a good profit.