BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

I finally bought my first Tamiya, a used M04 from CL for $30. Im not well versed with Tamiya products but for the price it seemed worth it. Everything works including the old Novak ESC, but the radio is ancient so I don't even count that as part of the package. It needs a body and could use new rubber. I've already stripped the electronics and bearings to give it a bath and it came out very clean.  Once I rebuild the shocks, double check the transmission and clean up the wiring it will be ready to drive. I need to figure out which body I want to use and get it finished up. Was $30 a fair price for a functional car in good shape with no apparent damage?

The_Shark

oh yeah, definitely worth it, i almost got a M-06 which is a newer version of the M-04 and the M-04 is a newer version of the M-03

is it RR or FF? they are supposed to be a hoot to drive however they are a little top heavy so they can flip over. I would say if its RR i would go with a Lancia stratos or a MR-2 body, i think ABC hobby USA has bodies that will fit, they have tons of bodies and they all have nice details like Tamiya.

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

Cool, I'm glad I picked it up. It came with what appear to be standard 1.9" TC wheels instead of what I understand are slightly smaller M wheels. I'll do some shopping around for wheels/tires and bodies.

This is what it looks like at the moment; as I stated Iremoved all the electronics, bearings and gave it a bath with Purple Power. I removed the rear "drive pod" so I can check clean out the transmission and relube all the gears.

UPDATE: Iopened the transmission and it looks good. The grease is old but I'll clean it up. It still has the stock plastic bushings so I think while it's open I'm going to order a set of ball bearings. I'm looking forward to getting it on the street!

The_Shark

yeah, i still want one or a ABC goose (which is like a better clone) it kills me they use a full sized 540 in what is technically a 1/12 car, brushless would be hilarious.

I always dig the space frame cars, they also seem to be very stiff and just look plain cool..


UPDATE on the Group C- still waiting for the body, however i took it out to my favorite bash place, lots of cement poles, curbs, dividers and such, perfect for setting up a "track" i was a little disappointed at first, it just couldn't bite and then all of the sudden it was glued! the tires actually get warm and bite better- sweet! it was SO stable I could pretty much point to where i want to go and it would obey, i was doing s-turns from the lamp post to the man hole cover, around that to the divider, a wide sweeper following a yellow line and back to the s-turn all at break neck speed, it supplied just enough understeer off throttle and just enough oversteer on it, then i decided to set the throttle to 100% and do a few speed runs, EVEN with the over-powered heli motor running this thing, i could jump on the throttle as soon as i was going over 10mph and just make it rocket forward at "theoretically" 63MPH!!! it tracked absolutely beautiful, staying within 2 feet side to side the whole time! I never crashed, even entering and exiting dividers and rounding the cement light poles at 40mph.

thanks to all the pebbles and rocketing at 60mph, the shiny ABS bathtub is now all dull- oh well, its not a shelf queen. the tires are wearing evenly, and should at least see 20 45minute runs before needing tires.

Thanks Tamiya, your 22year old chassis (just as old as me) has given me the best on-road experience ever!

The_Shark

This is the body im ordering from Japan.... SO sexy and appears VERY functional as the 1/1 car had one of the highest down-force numbers in it's class. I don't know if im doing black/white or grey/black or blue/black yet...

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

That body is awesome! I like the look of those LeMans style GT cars. Photos please!

Is there a good resource for Tamiya vehicles, specifically the M chassis cars? Ifind odds and ends on Ebay and I came across a random web page or two but not much else.

Phoenix XB Racer

Only if they sold a body like this.

The_Shark

they did!

narwalrus

My Feedback: (4)

...and it was for the Group C chassis. I've been considering building up my F103 into an F103GT with this type of body, but its either a TT01 which could drift or and F103 for grip only.. I dunno what to do

How do you like your Gr. C? I only drift occasionally, but I dont know wether a Carbon Chassis Upgraded AWD TT01 would be better than an older RWD F103.... Thoughts?

The_Shark

IF you have a good place to run where its flat and low dust, the Group C (F103/pan car) will mop the floor with pretty much any touring car, however, if the surface is less than ideal, the 4WD touring car will eat the pan car simply due to grip, Touring cars grip and push under throttle, Pan cars over-steer, Pan cars are a handful at first, but once you master throttle and steering input, its amazing what they can do.

I LOVE my new group C, its so very fun and simple, it really doesn't need any upgrade other than front bearings.

The F103 is the same width as the Group C, but the Group C CAN be much longer (you can switch it from extra long to regular in 2 minutes) The F103 has a more flexible chassis since its single FRP deck, this sometimes makes the car unstable under power or rough surfaces, however its easy to add another deck to solve that problem, one note, the Tamiya Jaguar XJ-12 C body only works on group C cars because the wheel base of the body is very long, unless you can find another manufacture your only option is the Group C with that body.

The GT F103 is not worth it, the touring car tires hurt the performance of the car, i believe they make a GT-1 car that is a toyota GT-1 body on top of a F103 that has regular car body mounts already, the regular formula body F103 needs a front bumper mount to use any body other than F-1


and honestly carbon fiber is overrated, especially one something like a drift car where you almost never get enough grip to twist the chassis, Tamiya's ABS tub chassis are already very ridged, adding carbon (or substituting the tub chassis) isn't going to help at all.

narwalrus

My Feedback: (4)

Well, I think I might finally finish my F103 then. Or at least try to trade for a Gr. C type chassis.. or even a belt driven TC. Or something. Of you ever want to trade F103 for Gr. C...

The_Shark

I still want a F103 but i am void money. If i had cash i would offer you something so you can buy a Group C. The F-103 is a great car.

narwalrus

My Feedback: (4)

I just swapped over the electronics.... time to run it once or twice just to see. This will only be it's third run... I don't know if I like it so I've been keeping it in nice condition

By the way, I have been looking to trade it, and it probably isn't going anywhere soon. Not enough on road grip people around...

The_Shark

I got the P-905B in the mail today! i was going to paint it white/black but to reduce the risk of screw ups, i did it in black/silver. The wing WAS molded on the body, however, i cut it out and made my own wing for the rear pod

The bodywork is NOT perfect and needs more trimming and decal work (i had to make all the masks and decals), but im happy, you can really feel the down-force kick in now, it gets stuck like glue, I just ran it up and down my street as it was starting to get dark.

also, I asked about ABS durability... it is TOUGH stuff, I smacked the edge of a curb doing 30mph with one wheel, it launched then barrel rolled and flipped about 10 times in mid air and landed smack dab on all wheels, I limped it over to find out NOTHING was broken or tweaked.

The_Shark

I finished trimming the body, drilled slots for the chassis bolts to run through so i can lower the front more, and revised the wing support.

amazing, this is the only on-road that sticks to the ground so hard i can run it on my street at full clock (which is almost 60), i can even swerve! it sticks like glue like the gum on your shoe!

love love love this thing! i've lost about 25% of the rear tires and 20% in the front, not too bad considering i have been driving it very hard for over 15 packs at 45 minutes each and no chunking.

The_Shark

im down to 25% left on the tires[:@] I have been running it alot and running it VERY hard.

did you know.... the rear tires are two fronts glued together?? when i buy tires im buying two sets of rears and cutting one set in half with a steady hand and then slightly melting the sidewalls.

2 sets for the price of one booyeah!

still loving this car, however the spur and pinion have had enough the pinion is razor sharp, im upgrading it with a spacer kit, a kimbrough spur and hardened steel pinion

The_Shark

Tires gave out, almost nothing left, rears chunked due to little material. installed new spur and pinion calculated at 83MPH and probably only hit 60mph with the severely worn down tires, but it IS fast.

FahrtAutoRC

vids or nothing happened

The_Shark

I actually have a in-car on board camera clip, but im not happy about the quality and my run (lots of spinning out, did not use traction compound and it was very dusty that day)

when i get my tires i will re-take, hopefully i don't catch a clip of the thing lifting up and crashing

narwalrus

My Feedback: (4)

What motor/gear/battery do you run it on? I run 7.5t stock gears with NiMh.. can't imagine how fast it will be geared right/on LiPo...
By the way, do you know what Pinion/Spur to run on my car? Remember, 7.5T brushless on NiMh

I'm not sure what LeMans car to build. Do you know how I could mount a TC body on it?

The_Shark

im running 20t pinion and 72t spur at 48P, tamiya makes a little bushing adpater so you can ditch the crappy MOD sized spur and use 48 or 64p spurs and pinions.

i assume the motor can put out 6000kv? if thats so i would recommend starting 15/72 or even a little less. these cars are stupid quick.

you can mount almost any 200mm wide body, you must buy a front mount adapter and for Tc bodies you may have to find longer mounts, but they will fit.

if you like the touring look, check out the protoform sophia body.

narwalrus

My Feedback: (4)

Nah I plan on doing a BMW or similar American LeMans Series type of car. I saw them at the Long Beach Grand Prix in the morning practice in the rain and those cars are just EPIC. Way more exciting than the IndyCars there even...

Anyways, I still got no clue about gearing... are the gears F103 specific? Because I stripped my stock spur by using the wrong sharp pinion...

Yeah so I figure just longer post and new front bumper/mount.

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

So, not as cool as a Group C chassis, but here's the M04M that Ifound on CL after I cleaned it up. Found a new set of wheels and tires from Ebay, changed out some electronics and temporarily mocked up the Traxxas receiver so Ican test drive it. It's a snappy little booger; it will spin out if you're too hard on it. The suspension feels like it has a tight spot so I'll have to go back through it and see what's going on. Otherwise it's a neat car.

Ichecked out ABC Hobby USA for bodies and I like their selection. I'm having some trouble because this car is 225mm wheelbase and most of the bodies Icome across are 210 or meant for full 1/10 touring cars. I've only found a handful of 225mm bodies, one of which was a Mazda Miata by HPI. That may be what I end up with but I was hoping for a pickup body.This shouldbe a fun parking lot basher.

The_Shark

cool, just so you know aerodynamic properties are very important on these light cars, find something nice and aerodynamic.

The_Shark

[link=http://www.ebay.com/itm/360440218870?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649]adapter[/link] using that will allow you to use any kimbrough diff spur gear, get one with the balls already in it, and just pick up a 6-pack of steel pinions.

they are much tougher, more quiet and far more efficient than the crap tamiya uses.

its a crime how much the adapter costs because it looks like a a little shock washer and probably cost .01 to make 100 of them! but in the end its worth it.