PandaBear

Ballraces are a must - they're so cheap these days there's no excuse. Even shelf-queens deserve full BBs. Capacity of battery only affects run-time; a 3000mAh doesn't go any faster than a 1200mAh. Gearing makes a difference (although some old Tamiyas haven't got much gearing freedom) and the stock 540 can be geared pretty sky-high for good top speed. Just getting there takes a while... Mod motors generally should be geared lower. They make their power from high RPMs so they should be allowed to rev & not be overburdened, otherwise they will overheat. Higher gearing makes the motor work harder, thus draw more amps - meaning less run time.

A 3-speeder is a must have, Boys... but maybe not driving up the aisle at your own Wedding

Replacing the rear shocks probably won't do much. Suspension travel isn't fantastic and half of that is unusable anyway - the car just bottomed out. imho Keep the stock shocks with some softer springs if you can find some, use a soft oil maybe. Might be an idea to remove the pistons' diaphragm too... not too sure on the "non-rebound" setup. Frog version of the shocks have cute finning...

Could be worn bearings, or (on a severe overheating) could also be a melted plastic endcap. The rotor can heat up & melt the plastic around the endbell bushing enough to move it off-centre... thereafter you'll have brushes arcing & regular overheating. Quite a common problem with the black endbell Mabuchis.

The waisted Cortina is a "TC" model... then there's the big square "TE" one that came after (as seen in James Bond). Driven both before, handling on neither is not impressive. (Its a wonder that its predecessor could have been the 4cyl Lotus Cortina.)

oh great, don't tell me you guys have gotten hooked on BCGs too..

Oh, were you referring to the tyres? Yeah, someone's taken them out before, had a look and put them pack wrongly... this ain't no virgin anymore, ma'am. Some countries' Top Force had MSCs included, complete with big fluoro sticker on the box top. This one apparently doesn't. Also does the TopForce have some top for the internal box? Or is that the one with the chassis & parts. Sorry, I haven't looked at a NIB #100's contents for so long, I can't remember anymore.

$1.04??? wow, I'd have gone $1.09 for sure...!! quote:It's high time I stop collecting 1/10 and start 1/1. id=quote>id=quote>Better not, RC is still cheaper.

How big is the pinion? If its a 10-tooth 32-pitch, you might find that the Blackfoot's 10-tooth will fit too - just adjust for length maybe. This one is attached by a grubscrew.

Looks better than some examples "owned from new, by little kid". Headlights OK, but the real pain part is the headlight covers. They're impossible to reproduce in any other way.

quote:The Hotshot (1) manual tells that W1 and W2 plastic bearing can be replaced by ball bearings. Fine, no news so far. However, then the manual lists all the following; no. 5036 Ball Bearing Set (2 pcs) no. 5073 Ball Bearing Set (4 pcs) no. 5241 Hotshot Ball Bearing Set no. 5242 850 Ball Bearing Set (2 pcs) This is a bit confusing. As I understand, the 5241 HotShot Ball bearing set had 13 pcs of 1150 ball bearing and 5 pcs of 850. By the way, are those correct sizes? id=quote>id=quote>Yes. Tamiya sold BBs in various packs & little square boxes of 4 pcs. Back in those days they were approx equivalent of $10 each... a full set of BBs for the Hotshot cost about the same as the whole new kit. (A tad dear for dreaming kiddies back then.) quote:Does anyone know what is the size of the Ball bearings used in 4 gear box joints (of course I can open it, but if someone knows it, it saves some time)? id=quote>id=quote>They're all 1150s. quote:How about those 5 mm metal rings (Blister pack A). Can they be replaced with some size ball bearings? id=quote>id=quote>You use "thrust bearings" for these - instead of looking like 'donuts', these bearings are like 'bagel sandwiches'. Oooh, its lunchtime here!!

Whoa yay - found it!! But just watch the server's bandwidth... 4MB zip. http://zhome.com/Karl/rox&tad.zip Take a close look at the car interior during the top down 3/4 view, approx 40th second.

quote:Monoshock systems work well as long as you have a sway bar attached to it. The Boomerang and Fox used a mono shock in the front. id=quote>id=quote>Hotshot/Boomerang & Fox both used the monoshock front, but the M01/02 Minis are slightly different. Their suspension arms also have little springs on the hingepins below... so even if the shock fell off (don't laugh), the car should not immediately collapse; also helps a bit to avoid 'tipping over' in the corners. See pg6: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/manual.asp?id=155

quote: I know a truck puller motor which has 80 turns, very slow but incredible torque... I also know low turn motors with big torque, now is there a dependence of torque to windings and if yes which? id=quote>id=quote> Is that 80-turn motor of 540/05 size, Theo? quote: Theoretically torque is proportional to magnetic force, which is proportional to the current, which increases with less turns, like Darryn sais, but why then does the truck motor have 80 turns? Am confused now... id=quote>id=quote> That is all true... for a single conductor in a magnetic field. Extra turns means the conductor goes through the field again, thus increasing the number conductorsforce pushing on the rotor (which gives you your torque).

quote:It wasn't a tamiya car but the Nissan Z commercial where GI joe is speeding around the bedroom. Skids up in front of the barbie dream house and snatches Barbie away from Ken. That was the coolest commercial. Jim id=quote>id=quote>Actually I think it was a Tamiya, Jim. There was a 'making of' article on this ad that I saw somewhere. The car is a custom Zed shell built to fit a TA01. In one of the (dark) closeup shots I'm told one can still see the 4WD's driveshaft running through the open cabin... someone from postproduction must have missed that.

quote:In the 80's there was an Australian movie called 'Malcolm', where a guy attached a camera and a gun to an RC car and robbed a bank with it... then got a few more and put them in column-type ashtrays and robbed another bank with those... Same movie also had an early Honda Civic that could split down the middle to become two vehicles... id=quote>id=quote>"Malcolm" just came out on DVD this year. From memory it was a SandScorcher no less. As for the Honda, try smaller. Nup, not "City" even, but "Town".

Heeey... a STRETCH 4-DOOR HONDA WHEELER might be quite unique...!

Guess you *could* possibly rebuild it using a Quattro's tub chassis... just about all the rest of the Willy-shared hardware would be interchangeable. Think the Wheeler uses the Audi's gearing, not the Willy's. So you don't even need a new idler gear and gearbox plate.

quote: My recent HPI M3 GT shell came with pre-cut vinyl stickers. Apparently, they couldn't get the printout to line up THAT precisely with the die-cutter so they opted to make large, vague cuts. I ended up having to re-cut things to a tighter degree with my trusty 'ol X-acto knife... IMO, having Tamiya follow this trend would not necessarily be a good thing. id=quote>id=quote> Share the sentiments too. I've had quite a few HPI shells through my hands since they started diecutting decals, and they're all like that... approx 1-2mm extra clearspace all around. Might be vaguely acceptable on a 1/10, but when you're talking MicroRS4... nup! But I suppose given their current target market of newbie kiddies after an $99 RTR-mobile, the diecut stuff does save a lot of labour & time. But sigh... imho breeding another generation who hold no values for good design nor workmanship.

quote: One colour bodies take lone enough, so when you start doing the ones that take lots of colours or worse still the drivers, which use about 5 colours each. Spraying a coat then waiting hours can make the whole process takes weeks. id=quote>id=quote> What paints are you using?? Tamiya PS cans dry fast enough; 1 coat usually dries to touch in under 2 mins, approx 1/2 can's paint spread over whole touring car body. Usually by the time one has covered the whole shell, the 1st end dried enough to repaint again anyway. Waterbased paints take a bit longer. Best painting tip?? - do more than 1 shell at a time! Always do multiples, its so much faster. Whilst 1 dries, coat the other. Just make sure you label your paintcans clearly - don't mistakenly overspray with the wrong colour...

Oooh... and someone's ripped something (price sticker?) off the box top, where the left rear tyre is pictured. What's those white spots??? Definitely not a "10/10" box top.

For a "never touched" NIB, that 'Top Force' labelled box divider is (1) in the wrong place, should be around the body and (2) looking a little worse for wear... Silver anniversary = 25 yrs (which the 934RSR has passed) Golden = 50 yrs 100 yrs = heck who knows? Not many ppl live that long.

AAARRRGGGHHH... WHATTTT IS TTTHHIS **ABOMINATION***!!!

Hmmm... which reminds me too... I hit the 'apply for membership' button over a month ago now (was busy with a few things in the Sept) and I still haven't even HEARD back from those folks yet. Geez, only thing worst than a knockback is no-reply at all... ----------- Oh... sorry, correction required. I just flicked across and just got sent right through. They must have just flicked my switch without telling me. Nothing like Chris' WELCOME email!! Edited by - PandaBear! on 02 Oct 2002 02:56:39

I thought the Bullhead was scratched years ago...