retro

The front axles are longer, thats why I said you need to change the front uprights as well as the wheels/tyres. Although, as mud4fun said, you could just add spacers on the front axles to save money.

That looks like fun. Did you have to reverse all the way out of that mineshaft? (remember the 3 point turn gag in Austin Powers anyone?). Hope you didn't breathe too much carbon monoxide.

The Mad Bull tyres are bigger than the Fighter Buggy, but both cars use the same counter gear and 17 tooth pinion. As far as I know there aren't any other gearing options for this chassis (anybody know for sure?). So you don't have to change anything (apart from the wheels, tyres and front uprights), but the top speed of the car will be a little lower. Acceleration should be better though.

Am I missing something here, that looks exactly like the original BRAT body to me. Now I admit I don't have a TL01, but surely they're the same wheelbase as the stndard TA-01, TA-02 chassis (256mm is it?). I have had an original BRAT body sitting around for ages, but no cash for a chassis. In a moment of boredom I thought I'd it on a beat up TA-02 chassis. Now this was a while ago, but I clearly remember the wheelbase was way to long for the body. So, are these bodies different to the originals? do they still have the big wheelarches, or have they changesd the arches to increase the wheelbase. Doesn't seem very likeley to me.

Before I started swapping things around, I would try powering everything up and giving all the connectors and wires a good wiggle. If you can reproduce the stuttering by doing that, then it's likely just a dodgy connection and it shouldn't take too long to work out which one. If you're using Tamiya or similar type battery connectors, that would be a good place to start.

You were not alone in having internet problems yesterday, quite a few of the big internet service providers had problems. I hear that BT and NTL were hit pretty hard, so I'm guessing loads of people lost some or all of their internet access yesterday. Apparently, it was caused by some problem in one of the major transatlantic connections off the French coast. I would guess that people who still had limited access would have been able to use UK, european sites, but not sites from the US. (Yes, I am a goldmine of useless information)

Re: the Sizzler Yeah, that's the car Tony. Nice to see that some still survive in perfect condition. It's good to hear that it ran well, because it looks like such a nice bit of engineering.

I have an old pro 10 car somewhere, I seem to recall that was made by PB (I believe it was called the Sizzler). Looks like a nice car, all carbon and machined aluminium. The rear suspension was an unusual 5 link arrangement with a coil-over damper. It has a broken rear axle, unfortunately so I can't tell you how it handles. I've never seen another one (even back in the day), so I guess they weren't all that popular, at least not over here.

The bodyshell is, as wkl88 said, for the 1/12 Mardave V12 chassis. Having played with the idea of doing this conversion before, I have a bit more info. In the end I decided it would need a lot of work to get the results I wanted. If you're not too bothered about scale looks though, it wouldn't be too hard to get something that works. The way I saw it, there are 3 main problems: - Wheelbase. The M-chassis was just a bit too long. You could butcher the shell a bit to make it fit, but ideally, you would need to shorten your chassis by about 10mm. - Width. The chassis is acouple of mm too wide. It'll still look ok, but if you want any degree of suspension travel you'll have to jack the body right up. Maybe you could find some aftermarket wheels to improve this, but you might just have to live with it. - Wheel diameter. M chassis wheels are too big. They would work, but they ruin the scale appearence and mean you have to butcher the shell somewhat. Perhaps you could find some smaller wheels which would fit, but between the hubs and the ground, there's not much room for manouvre.

I know it's a shame to chop up a classic, but I love that Grasshopper. I like that at a glance it's obviously still a Grasshopper, but than when you look closely it practically a 'state of the art' racer. The only thing that spoils it slighty for me is the wheels, it would be nicer with some more retro looking ones.

Since you mentioned both the Egress and the Top-Forces, it's probably worth pointing out that these are two completely different chassis. The Egress is based on the Vanquish type drivetrain, the Top-forces are based on the Manta-Ray type drivetrain, like your Blazing Star. There are very few interchangeable parts between the two types.

Do you mean that the plastic is discoloured rather than just you normal dirt that comes off with soap and a toothbrush? A lot of plastics can become stained over time, so the oil/dirt/whatever actually soaks into the plastic instead of just sitting on top of it. Unfortunately there is no known cure (though in some cases you could probably sand off the top surface of the plastic. If you have access to a proper ultrasonic cleaner you should definately give it a try. They really are pretty amazing, and shouldn't harm any r/c bits in any way. I believe you can even buy cheap (relatively) hobby type ones now, though they're pretty small and I have no idea how effective they are comparet to industrial ones. Should be good for all those fiddly little parts with lots of nooks and crannies though.

Well, if you look at it from a scale model point of view, the ascona isn't going to win may admirers is it? Of course, I would still love one, its cool - but in a different way to some of the more scale cars. I can certainly see how some people wouldn't like the look of it.

I have played that game and personally I wouldn't buy it. The physics is pretty sketchy, and the novelty of the stunt mode wears off pretty quickly. Save yourself some cash and buy an old copy of Re-volt instead.

Yes, my brother had a Manta Ray when they first came out. At the time, it seemed like a big step up from his Terra Scorcher. When I posted, I knew there were a couple of Manta-Ray clones I hadn't mentioned, but I'm surprised I forgot the Top-Force. I guess when I see 'TA-01' I automatically think 'plastic bathtub'. Then again, I can't really imagine anyone who had a Top-Force describing it as a TA-01 buggy.

The Manta-Ray and Dirt Thrasher are buggy variants of the TA-01 chassis. I would guess they are just worth typical used buggy prices. Nothing special except maybe if they are new in box. I'm not really an expert on pricing, but that would be my guess. Try looing on ebay to se how much similar cars sell for.

I think 9 and 3 are just your average cheap Tamiya clones. I used to have one that colour in a speedboat. It originally came from some no-name cheapo car that looked a bit like a hotshot but was only 2 wheel drive. I don't really remember too much about it unfortunately. The speedo was alost a part for part copy of the tamiya one though, just different colour parts and wires, and a different resistor.

Personally, id ont think there are any perfect methods. Lots of techniques can work, care and patience is the important bit. Personally, I would mark out the holes very carefully, then use a vbery sharp knife, cut out the centres a millimetre or so inside the lines, then trim back the edges until they follow the lines exactly. As long as you take your time and dont try to cut off too much in one go, you should be able to cut any shape you want pretty much perfectly.

Well done Jimbo. There is a huge difference between remanufacturing a whole kit, and just making a few bodyshells (changing the mould on a vac-form machine is something they will do regularly anyway, and the stock material is the same as for any other body they make) But that said, it's definately good to hear.

TRicky question to answer. They put motor limits on ESC's for a reason, so it's always a risk if you ignore them. Having siad that, the ratins are pretty subjective, one manufacturers ESC might easily cope with a hotter motor, while anothers may not. Even ESC's and motors which appear to have the same specificartions will perform differently in actual use. The car, driving surface, driving style and amount of cooling, amongst other things will all have an effect. The short answer is that yes, it would probably cope, as long as your car is in good shape and you drive it sensibly (dont do all those things the manual tells you not to do). It is a risk though, so don't do it unless you're prepared to buy a new one and don't expect any sympathy if it melts the first time you use it. The other thing worth mentioning is that a 14 turn motor is not a good idea in a low spec car. If you must use a motor that fast, make sure the rest of the car is suitably upgraded.

They made the Lazer in a variety of specs over the years, some were pretty much entry level cars, some were top spec racers. I don't really thing any of them have much collectable value, except perhaps certain new-in-box ones. Maybe in five or ten years. On the other hand, the Lazer was still a good car, and would make an excellent cheap runner with good performance and reliability. I used to race one back in the day and liked it a lot.

Ball diffs are mechanically superior to gear diffs, at least in the world of radio controlled cars. There is no technical reason that I can think of why you would choose to run a gear diff in the front instead of a ball diff. You should bear in mind that ball diffs need more setting up and maintenance than gear diffs. The reason why you often hear about just putting ball diffs in the rear of a car is because that is where they are most effective. As ball diffs are more expensive than gear diffs, just putting one in the rear means that you can have 70% of the benefit, but you only have to buy one. In other words, if money is no object, fit ball diffs front and rear. If you are like the rest of us, just put one in the rear, it's almost as good.

I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that, but surely that Pro-Line body has to be the ugliest beetle ever.

A particularly large bird. You happened to be far from home. It just happened to get locked in your den. The missus was looking pleased with herself. Maybe I'm paranoid, but that sounds like a setup to me...

That body looks excellent and I dont think the wheels wil look at all out of place if they are painted green. I really think you need to get the body a lot lower on the chassis though. That's the only thing that would spoil it for me.