Kraken Upgrades

[choldaway]

Hey guys, I should probably have known better than to try this, but I found Kraken AK47s online for a hundred bucks new and figured, what the heck I can have a project gun or two. So now I've got two kraken's coming (one is so that whatever I screw up I have a complete picture to put it back together), and I am thinking about doing some serious upgrades on it.

In terms of internals, I don't know what is good and what is bad in this gun, although I know a lot of it to be relatively good material (maybe new shimmings and bushings in the gear box, but not an entirely new one for example). In fact, most of the bad ones I've seen have been from people who overcharged their batteries or didn't grease the inside, which is an obvious noob error. However, my general lack of knowledge means if anyone knows what upgrades need to be done for this specifically, I would love to know!

Externally, everything has to go, and sooner rather than later, so I found a couple of conversion kits and various pieces. While there's a full g&g conversion kit to ak47 tactical, I'd prefer a wood stock, and so I'm thinking these two kits should pull it off (and at 130 bucks for both combined, I've got a good looking, decent firing ak for 230 bucks, which is my plan, and I can upgrade from there). Can anyone let me know if these two kits will have everything I need (in addition to internal specs that need to be replaced)

links for externals are

http://airsoft-club.com/shop/externa...rui-aeg-gp430a

http://airsoft-club.com/shop/externa...ui-ak47s-gp495

[Styrak]

You can't order the metal receiver from out of country.
I have some metal receivers for sale though.

[L473ncy]

Second link is a go but like Styrak said don't order receivers from out of country so the first link you should take a pander through the retailer section to find what you need.

If I were in the same position as you though I would honestly aim at spending less than $50 to make it perform well.

Some things might be "free" fixes like if you have stuff in your work shop/garage like lithium grease and o-rings (that are the right size) for whatever reason. Others might be $10 fixes plus time to take it apart and put back together like the compression unit (cylinder, piston head, etc.).

[choldaway]

First off, yeah, I know not to order the metal recievers from out of country, I just had the misfortune of running into that site on ASC and assuming they had the good sense to be Canadian...so thank you for mentioning it to me

As for making it perform well, some of the internals should be decent from many of the reviews I've heard and seen, while others would suck, I was wondering if anyone knew exactly what would need to be replaced

[L473ncy]

Crap, I know the perfect thread for you to check out, unfortunately I can't find it right now. :banghead:

It was basically an upgrade guide for the Kraken from the very first things you should do out of the box and things needing replacement. It included cleaning out the "grease" it comes with out of the factory and regreasing with white lithium and such. I'll try if I can find it but if I haven't found in the last 5 minutes it might take me a while.

IIRC the thread was titled something along the lines of: "So you bought a Kraken? (upgrade guide)"

PS: I didn't know if you knew that though, only joining in June so I mentioned it anyways. As for Airsoft club, it's decent site from what I've heard, not stellar but good enough you would probably go back to them.

[Amos]

Yea.. I deleted that thread.. Information was out-dated and I was CONSTANTLY getting PM's from people that wanted to to upgrade their kraken to out-preform everything on the field for $50 with return shipping included lol

It's a kraken, upgrade the hop-up rubber, put in an SCS and run it until it dies

[choldaway]

Okay, two questions before you read anything else and assume I'm a moron...what's an SCS? And are these in fact TM clones as they claim to be? From everything I've heard the internals are most likely rebranded CYMA, and the externals are, well, I know they need to be replaced long or short term if it is really going to be a project.

See, what I would really like to do is make this into a project gun, with the idea of beginning with a kraken basically for the purpose of showing me where all the pieces go and building my own up from there (which, if it works, would also save me hundreds on a good gun doc)...from what I've seen, to outperform most of the stuff in the field (aks particularly) it would need a complete overhaul, around 300 bucks if I wanted it close to perfect and that's internals only, assuming I do all the work and don't mess stuff up. And by close to perfect I mean accuracy, power and consistency much more than ROF...I'm all about saving ammo, battery, and of course internals life. My main hope in buying a cheap TM clone is that everything will fit together properly to build it up over time and not all at once...I'd like to start with hop-up and possibly a better barrel+nozzle, then move on to the compression chamber (which is still relatively cheap), and ultimately buy a more expensive motor and gears set, (and much better spring) with everything else in place to handle it...

Beyond knowing what I'd like to do I'm pretty in the dark if anyone has suggestions? And would you suggest trying to upgrade externals right away or waiting for a deal in the classifieds/externals breaking that necessitates me buying something new?

[fleuryfighter]

use the search feature theres a huge thread on them
LINK: http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthr...concave+spacer

[Spawn28]

Oh and dont forget to upgrade the bushing from plastic to metal.
just my 2 cents

[Rooster]

Originally Posted by Amos

It's a kraken, upgrade the hop-up rubber, put in an SCS and run it until it dies

QFT A good rubber, and nub made a huge difference in my range

If you want to go a bit farther, you could get it shimmed properly.

Originally Posted by Spawn28

Oh and dont forget to upgrade the bushing from plastic to metal.
just my 2 cents

They are metal bushings already.

[Whiskey]

-modify bearing spring guide
-modify ss bushings (or something of the like)
-modify s120 spring
Re-shim, replaced piston o-ring with a viton seal. That what was done to the first kraken I had bought 2-1/2 years ago,(different owner for the last 2 years) and its still running strong @ 415+/- 5 fps with .25's (hit that on the chrono 2 weeks ago) 75,000+ bb's later. and its currently run on an 11.1v 25c 3300Mah lipo firing 25bps. Now in no way did I think this gun would ever last more than 15,000 rounds when it was built, but it has and still goes strong, maybe new trigger contacts though, they only needed cleaning once as of yet (I'd say mosfet it but that would be worth the price of the gun lol), . Keep it simple and everything should work. take Amos's advice on the hopup set up, the guys knows his stuff.

[Sicyon]

Originally Posted by Amos

It's a kraken, upgrade the hop-up rubber, put in an SCS and run it until it dies

I'll second that. Honestly, don't even touch it till it dies. It shoots around 370 out of the box, and the latest ones even come with metal bushings. From what I've seen, heard and experienced they can go for a long time without any problems.

[Rooster]

Originally Posted by BLACKWATER204

and its still running strong @ 415+/- 5 fps with .25's (hit that on the chrono 2 weeks ago)

Where in the hell would ever need to shoot 415 with .25's? You'd never be allowed on a field around these parts with a gun that hot.

[choldaway]

Alright, so at the moment I'm thinking of ordering a tightbore barrel and new hop-up system with bucking, the new piston head and maybe a cylinder head and nozzle (because I've heard the compression unit is terrible on these things, and I know the hop up isn't even a standard hop-up so that has to be changed), new shims, and possibly new bushings (I have to check and see if they're metal, many have been but occasionally they'll come with plastic bushings)...are there any other internals likely to suck/fail? Also, what are good brands for this? (I know not to order Element, so I'm going to have to order out of the states to get this stuff)

[Whiskey]

QUOTE]Where in the hell would ever need to shoot 415 with .25's? You'd never be allowed on a field around these parts with a gun that hot.[/QUOTE]
Yea here too (usual limit is 425fps w/.20's) but when our team scrims, were all ok with hot guns as long as the shooter is skilled and knows how to place his shots.

Alright, so at the moment I'm thinking of ordering a tightbore barrel and new hop-up system with bucking, the new piston head and maybe a cylinder head and nozzle (because I've heard the compression unit is terrible on these things, and I know the hop up isn't even a standard hop-up so that has to be changed), new shims, and possibly new bushings (I have to check and see if they're metal, many have been but occasionally they'll come with plastic bushings)...are there any other internals likely to suck/fail? Also, what are good brands for this? (I know not to order Element, so I'm going to have to order out of the states to get this stuff)

The standard hop up in the couple that ive owned has been quite good actually, replacing the rubber with a guarder clear and the nub with an scs should be leaps and bounds over the stock set up.
As far as your bushings go if you have a O.D stock, grip and hand guard it will have POM (plastic) bushings and if its the black stock, grip and hand guard it will most likley have factory installed steel bushings. In reality it is cheap gun and not worth throwing tons of money on the best parts cause some of the time the tolerences are not up to spec in all cases and may not work with other parts. modify parts are pretty well priced and work great with the cyma internals so there is a good option (airsoftparts.ca stocks a good chunck of there product line) guarder could be another option too, but they have been going downhill scince modify stopped making there parts. Ive also built another kraken with all the previously listed modify parts except the spring which I replaced with a modify S110+ and I threw in a modify polycarb piston head (non silent type) just for good messure. It was a champ of a cheap-o gun and the current owner is still using it as his primary after 1-1/2 years.