retro

According to Kyosho, their Mini-Z are 1:28 scale. When it comes to r/c models, there's usually a bit of artistic lisence involved, but 1:28 does seem about right. I've seen plenty of mini-z chassis with 1:24 scale bodies on them, but they have always had the wheelbase extended to make them fit.

Yes, I agree with Terry. The TA01 and TA02 chassis have exactly the same mounting points, but the TA01 chassis is a bit longer. Since the standard FF01 uses the TA02 chassis, it's pretty obvious that an FF01 with a TA01 chassis would have a slightly longer wheelbase. Gary

DerAlex - Yeah, mine is running Blackfoot wheels and tyres, oil shocks, 22 turn motor and a VW Camper shell. It's definately a challenge to keep it rubber side down. To be honest, I prefer the looks of the standard wheels and tyres, not to mention a proper bodyshell, but since I never had them, I just built it up with what I could find. Makes a great runner though.

corsa65 - thanks for the offer, but I'm trying to build it to standard kit spec, so it has to be the stock rally car bumpers. It currently has the touring car / Manta Ray bumper on it, so if anyone needs to do a swap for the rally bumper, we can do that.

Thanks for looking. The bumper is part 3 on the 'N parts' sprue for the Escort Cosworths. I don't know if it has an individual part number, but the part number for the whole 'N parts'is 9115044. Page 23 of the Michelin Pilot Cosworth manual.

It made entertaining TV, but it couldn't really be called good racing. There were a few good moments, but in general the race was a joke. I'm not a particular fan of F1, so maybe I'm biased. I think there is much better racing to be seen in other classes. IMO, this race didn't vindicate the new rules, or give any hope for the future of F1. Instead, it showed up the obvious stupidity of the new tyre rules and emphasised the many problems with F1.

Hi, I'm looking for the front and rear bumpers for a TA-01 Escort Cosworth. The front bumper is the narrow rally car one, the rear one is the little narrow one fitted to all the TA-01 and TA-02 cars. Can anyone out there help me out with either of these? Cheers. Gary

Using a lexan body will help the handling of a runner. The plastic bodies are nice, but all that weight high up means these these trucks have a very high centre of gravity. A light body will help reduce wheelies, and especially rollovers. Personally though, I like the dodgy handling. It's fun and a bit of a challenge.

The XB Mad Bull has chrome wheels which are the right size. The fronts will fit straight on, but the rears are hex drive, so you would have to find a suitable adaptor. They're a bit more reinforced than the (slightly fragile) Pumpkin ones too.

From a purely mechanical point of view, belt drives are more efficient (not because they have shafts, but because they require more gears). If everything else was equal, a belt driven car would be faster, both in acceleration and top speed. But then everything else is never equal, is it?

I think a monster truck would be the best starting point. You want a really low gear ratio, but if you start with a buggy it will be difficult to gear it down enough, then putting big wheels on it will make things worse. Which truck you choose depends on how big and what type of suspension setup you want. Real rock crawlers mostly use solid axle setups, but many r/c trucks use full independent suspension. Looking for the truck with the most suspension travel and ground clearence would be a good start.

I used to lurk around Roby's board.

Somebody recently posted a picture of a Bruiser towing a speedboat on this board. That looked a pretty good combination. You probably saw it, if not, try dong a search. I reconised the boat in the picture (I have one), it is called a 'Scimitar' and is made by Graupner. I've had mine for quite a few years, though, so I don't know if it's still in production.

Hi, I'm looking for a few parts to complete my Michelin Cosworth. Hopefully someone will have some lying around (preferably from the UK, as I don't have Paypal). I have a few trades (pair of Monster Beetle rims, Grasshopper 2 bits, one or two TA03 parts). Used parts are fine. Front bumper (part N3) (can trade for a touring car/Mantaray type one) Battery retainer (part E5) Rear bumper (part E2) Front body posts x2 (part D6) Left hand wing Mirror (part H5) If you can help, post here, or email me at: retroGBid="blue">***id="red">@yahoo.co.ukid="blue"> (but take out the ***id="red"> from my email address) Cheers. Gary

I have a pair of Rough Rider rear wheels, excellent condition (been on a car, but not run) with some used-but-lots-of-tread-left tyres. I am looking to trade for a pair of Holiday Buggy rear wheels and a Holiday Buggy driver figure. Sorry, but I won't trade for anything else, because I don't have any other wheels that will fit on my HB [] If you're interested, post here, or email me at: retroGBid="blue">***id="red">@yahoo.co.ukid="blue"> (but take out the ***id="red"> from my email address)

Make that three versions of the Johnson kit motor. I have one with a white plastic end cap instead of the metal one.

If it looks like a standard Tamiya kit motor, then it probably is. I think I'm right in saying that tamiya 'stock' motors have always been manufacured by either Johnson or Mabuchi. I wouldn't be surprised if the Tamiya branded motors were also manufactured by one of these two. Gary

OK, I'll check back on them another time. Not that it's particularly critical, but I thought I'd mention it for the sake of keeping the archive complete. Also I've just noticed that page 6 is missing from the other Cosworth manual. To make it easier: 51825 Michelin Cosworth:id="blue"> p21 (corrupted) p23 (missing, with pages 24, 25 and 26 incorrectly numbered) 58112 Cosworth RS:id="blue"> p6 (missing)

Cool, I was just thinking that I could do with a manual for my recently aquired 51825 Michelin Cosworth project. The manual is missing page 23 though (there should be 26 pages) and page 20 is corrupted (looks like it hasn't uploaded properly). I hope nobody thinks I'm complaining, (just a bit of quality control []) But if anyone has these two pages scanned in, I would quite like a copy. Cheers, Gary

For a TA-03, 7-9mm deflection doesn't sound too much. Mine has more than that with no problems, but I am using a pretty mild motor. I would suggest you take the belt and pulleys off, and give them a thorough check. These parts can wear pretty fast, especially if your belt is slipping regularly. Often they look ok, but on closer inspection the teeth are quite rounded. In that case, a new belt and pulleys will work wonders. If you are using a really really hot motor, then you could tighten it up a little to see if that helps, but a tight belt will increase the wear quite dramatically. If you have torque control on your esc, try turning it down a bit, or just be a bit more careful with the throttle []

I wouldn't advise using a TA-03 as a rally car. They have very limited suspension travel and the design of the wishbones/shock mounts makes them vulnerable to bumps. Also, the open belt will tend to draw dirt and stones, which will chew up your drivetrain in no time. I would say getting another car is the best option. For rally use, I wouldn't really recommend the TA-04 either. For a cheap runaround, the TL-01 is a good choice, or the TB-01 if you want a more competetive model. If you really want something that will perform well offroad, a buggy might be a better choice, any decent buggy will have better offrad performance than a rally car because of the longer suspension travel, higher ground clearence and bigger wheels.

You have my sympathy. I'm betting you get a good price for it though. I wish I had a bit more cash, I really want one.

That's a nice idea, but even if you could put in the time and effort to do that, it's just not possible to match Tamiya's shell using vacuum forming. You would need a three piece mould that locked together very precisely, and even then it would be very difficult to remove the mould from the body. To get the big undercut's would need a high vacuum and thin lexan (not a good combination). Even then, you couldntt recreate the small details using vac-forming. Tamiya are experts, with a big budget, using a blowmoulding process and even they had a high failure rate with these bodies. Good luck if you try it, but I just don't think it's possible for an amateur to recreate the 959, I guess that's part of the reason the bodies fetch such silly prices.

Maybe Netty should just make the forum's 'Search' link really big []

If it's an exact replica you're after then you'd probably be diasppointed. Basically, Tamiyas will be far more precise and detailed because of the way they are made (vac-forming vs blow moulding). Also, as Theo said, you don't get all the plastic detail parts and interior. There is another thread that went into more detail here: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=913