Kowalski

I'd pack each drive cup out eaqually with O-rings, till the driveshaft barely moves laterally.

Hello Trev, Not quite yet, Fusion Hobbies say their supplier has some in stock. No other shop I've tried across the globe has them in stock. There is an English guy on the RadioControlZone forum who is in exactly the same position. Elliott.

er, hello again, The Five Star shock towers maintain the same geometry of the kit towers: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/char_aznable0820/ (cool pictures) But this is all academic now as the cheap cheap cheap 3 Racing items are appearing finally on eBay. A front/rear set is cheaper than one of the Square/Five Stars front or rear towers. An absolute bargain. Elliott.

Me again, do the aftermarket CF shock towers from square and five stars keep the shockers in the same place? i.e. inside the car from the towers as per the kit or are the rear shocks moved behind the shock tower?. Does anyone have any pictures of the towers fitted? Elliott.

Good point, I like the Top Force shell. Still not huge on this. I don't think I like the gearbox poking out the top or anthing else about the side pods or 'foot plates' at the front. The cockpit and top vent look ok. I'd like the shell if it looked like the stylised grey sketch that we saw a couple of days before we saw pics of the actual shell. The design is fussy. Elliott.

Boy oh boy, I can't find replacement gearbox parts anywhere. I've tried a whole bunch of places. I hope their rarity means they are being retooled to seal better. I HOPE. Elliott.

Hesitantly raises hand. I said that about the DI though, at first. It is very showy and frivolous.

Wow, thanks DJ Theo, it's the pic I've been waiting for. I didn't realise the shell would be so expansive and intricate. It looks like one of their mini-4WD cars. It's so odd looking I can't form an opinion. Is that a hingepin brace on the front of the car? Elliott.

The 3-racing shocks look really meaty.

I think I'm going to like this new shell, I new I would. It's got an air intake on the top of the cockpit, like some of the recent pro cars. This will work in tandem with the grill over the motor for better motor cooling. I think they've been listening. Although, I'd still recommend the Dark Impact (body) for bashers as that crest/mohican is going to get mullered in a roll over if it is above the line of the tops of the shock towers. If only they'd produce more A-parts. I can't find any anywhere. Elliott. (The Dark Impact flag waver).

I agree about the 3 Racing screw set, they are far superior to the kit philips screws as I've said before. They are stonger and the hex head will last longer. I also agree about the carbon towers. Conversely I was at the Reading bash (pics in Action Shots) and broke my car on the 2nd battery pack. Sadly no action pictures were taken. I took a jump badly and snapped the rear inner hinge pin mount on a lump of wood on the ramp. That's the whole back gearbox section (A part) I need to replace. Now I can't find any on the net. When my car was running it was still a dream. Both cars jumped and handled well. The uprated Tamiya shocks are still rocking. Another guy was thrashing his more stock DI around and didn't break a thing. Is there any sign of the Keen Hawk shell yet? Elliott.

That was fun. Nice to see everyone. I'm bummed my Dark Impact broke. I forgot how excellent the Lunchbox is to drive. Allie, I didn't realise Celica's were 'that' small, it ran well though. The photos are brilliant. Rad's 3-speed was cool. Elliott.

Thanks for your help. I just wanted to be certain. Elliott.

Hello, can someone explain the system Tamiya use to denote its bearing sizes? I'm almost certain the coded number (1150, 850, 630 etc) relates to the size of the bearings. Thanks. Elliott.

Do you fancy a LB/MP race Allie? Once round the bowl? I'd like to take a look at your Celica too. Elliott.

DI wheels and tyres are a teeny bit bigger than standard. Ballistic Minispikes REALLY stretch over the standard DI wheels. I fitted a set of their more standard 53728 dish wheels and the standard size Ballistic minispike tyres fit better. The car feels better with them on as well, not that the kit rubber is bad. The rotating mass is a lot lower because of the smaller size particularly on the rear (I weighed them). http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search.dll...ntrypage=search If you want more details and pics let me know. How did I know what this thread was going to be about just from the title? Elliott.

Excellent. It will be a three speed fest I hear. I have three new battery packs that will be intensively cycled to full capacity in the next couple of days. I'll be bringing my, Madcap, Lunchbox, Dark Impact and Vanquish. Elliott.

What batteries WON'T fit in the Dark Impact DF-03 chassis. I don't want to get new batteries that are too big and some are chunkier than others. The smaller dish wheels and minispikes work really well on my car. It handles the bumps, turns and moves a lot better. It looks like a proper racing car. Elliott.

Yeah, I like it. I e-mailed Dunk yesterday. We'll see what he says. Elliott.

Do you guys fancy trying out the CML Raceway between Reading and Basingstoke? I don't have many very racey cars, but I was thinking about giving it a crack, with my Dark Impact or old Associated B2. Elliott.

There's a new track near me (the CML Raceway, in Berkshire). I'm currently debating whether to make a return to competitive racing with the DI. I think I'll be able to handle getting my heini handed to me for the first few meetings. I will certainly need some CF shock towers. The yellow shock oil with the uprated shocks looks slightly thicker than 25wt, maybe a 30wt or 35 wt.

It was Tamiya's ultra nice threaded shockers. They weren't as bad as the kit black placcy ones. But it was disconcerting to feel the wiggle. This could potentially bend the shaft. Although the shafts are thicker than the kit ones (I've bend one of those). Elliott.

I've just cleaned and rebuilt my Dark Impact (with 3 Racing's excellent Ti hex drive screw set). All is very well. The previously mentioned grit ingression has pitted the teeth on the rear diff quite badly. The front box is very clean in comparison. I did notice the rear uprated shocks were very wobbly at full extension at the joint between the piston and body. Has anyone else found this? The car is now sporting the smaller, white Tamiya dish wheels and some minispikes for the winter, rather than the slightly oversized kit items. It looks more like a proper racer now. Elliott.

Gah, that's frustrating. I don't have any answers. Sorry. Try longer self tapping screws. I don't like the other tye of screws unless they are screwing into a nut. Elliott.

I agree with DJTheo. I'd like to add the aluminium looks nasty. 3 Racing will be producing nice CF shock towers for the front and the rear of the DI, they should be cheaper than the other ones I've seen from Japan. They are far sexier than the Elliott.