necronomicon

Hi guys, can anyone give me any hints on waterproofing electrics for cars like the blackfoot, madcap and grasshopper. I have waterproof ESCs, so they're OK, but a bit worried about the receiver and servos. Have tried putting receiver in a balloon and cable tying the end, but wondered if there are any other ideas people use. Are acoms servos ok in water/ splashing or do they rot from the inside out, ?? Also motors, do they get damaged if in contact with splashes of water, i suspect not but would love some advice thanks for your time Neil

The body mount points for the TT-01 and TA-05 are the same at the back, but the TA-05 front ones are further forward than the TT-01 ones. If you put holes in for the TT-01, you will have to drill new front ones when you get the tA-05. Hope that helped Neil

without going into longer suspension arms from the baja champ/ king etc the TL-01 can be used on road with hard springs and the spacers inside oil shocks to reduce ride height, and slick/ tarmac tyres, or off road with softer suspension springs, no spacers inside oil shocks to raise ride height, rally tyres and body shell mounted higher. Obviously it is a compromise on both and a TL-01 will never go through long grass etc without beaching, but mine has performed OK over gravel etc- see my showroom for TL-01 rally video to see. hope that helps Neil

Those dimensions sound too small for most 1/10th scale Tamiya touring car chassis. Perhaps a mardave 1/12 or a tamiya M03 (wheelbase 210mm, width 167mm) would fit, but you would need to check your shells wheelbase.

I would agree that the TL-01 is a great basic chassis. Can be set up for on or off- road use, takes a 17 turn motor OK and is strong. I would always try to ballrace the car, add a eurathane soft front bumper (standard hard bumper trasfers front end shock energy right into the chassis), and oil shocks. One con with the chassis is that the motor sticks out of the side and is exposed to damage/ wear. (see my showroom for a mod to fix this). Gaining access to the gears etc is a pain as you have to take the whole car apart. I love mine and it is my favourite car (also have TA-05, TT-01, TA-01) cheers neil

The noise is one of the main reasons I dont get a nitro too, its pretty loud. My other hobby is airsoft and I gotta be real careful with that one as well, especially as they are full sized full- auto assault rifles. With electric cars its nice to be able to go out, not get hassled and not hassle/ scare anyone else! What gets me are the number of people who make comments like "you're too old for that" or " big kid" etc ( i am 37) Neil

You guys make me feel so old, my last revising was 20 years ago!

If still relevant, you can get thermal self adhesive memory chips in anodised blue on ebay, they are meant for computer memory or chips, but may help drag heat from your TEU 101, example link is here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Thermaltake-Ram-Memo...VQQcmdZViewItem Neil

That is one wacky RC vehicle!

If the motor is spinning, could it be a loose pinion gear?, are the gears meshed properly?- just a thought Neil

Done the same myself (though not with an RC car)- ebay always say bid the maximum you will be prepared to pay (but of course they would say that), on the other hand its easy to get carried away in the heat of the bidding, panic and end up paying more than perhaps you should have (Done that too!)- my commiserations to you, hope you get that car some other way mate!

Hi irenL, Thanks for taking the time to answer those questions for me, that helps a lot. Cheers Neil

Hello Guys Just got a TA-05 second hand and not quite figured out a few things about it yet, any help/ comments/ answers would be very much appreciated. Thanks for looking anyway. 1)- Lubrication- with open drive belts etc do i just run it all dry ? (except inside diffs, ends of driveshafts etc, as in manual) 2) Gearing- i know this depends on what i want to do with it, but it will be mostly informal racing on smooth tarmac, i currently have a 21turn motor and 22 tooth pinion and standard other gears- any suggestions on combo's? 3) openings underneath showing the gears!!!!- this fills me with dread as i probably wont be racing indoors on carpet- is this car a no- no for outdoors then or do people just cover the underside with tape or something and only drive on 'good', non dusty tarmac, and clean / strip it all regularly- I'm used to throwing the TL-01 and TT-01 around with their sealed gearboxes. 4)- any other hints/ tips appreciated guys. Thanks again Neil

If you're good with modifying stuff you can fit a lot more to the grasshopper/ hornet chassis- i am using a Beetle shell at the moment (check out the movies to see it in action)- but does require extra body posts and some butchery of the chassis in places!!- be warned.

Thanks for that clarification sosidge, i have never been hit but now i understand why, never purchased anything over £36 in one go as only ordered parts etc from stella models (who IMO are excellent BTW) Thanks Neil

I cant see how hes got the steering arms attached if the servo saver is not there?

Not recommending it, just stating that was the product used and it was fine for enamel paint. Shell still in use now and no crackig/ crazing at all. Maybe not all oven cleaners have the same agents in them!- If your in the business of stripping well cured paint from an old shell, you gotta expect the occasional disaster in my opinion!

I love the TL-01 and its versatile as both a rally car and on- road. Spares and stuff still readily available on ebay etc9 i have spent a small fortune on mine!), but i would agree that if your only going on car parks etc and not off road, the TT-01 kit/ deals around are probably the cheapest way into the tamiya thing, but the upgrade bug can be an expensive thing!

Hi Dee Thanks for those tips, its a steep learning curve alright, an expensive one too! Having problems finding large volumes of epoxy resin, polyester resin seems common enough though- i suppose main problem so far is parts seem a little more brittle than i was expecting- thats for 3 layers CF cloth compressed into a sheet about 1.6mm thick. cheers for help Neil

Thanks for the tips Gee, will try that, the polythene sheet seems to react a bit with the resin, making the surface wrinkle a bit. trying a 3 ply sheet now, just wai ting for it to cure. The first attempt was ok and got some parts from it, but they seem a bit brittle. cheers Neil

mr. muscle wont harm the lexan at all, i used 5 half hour applications to remove enamel from a shell and it was fine. wont work on polycarb paint though as stated above. neil

Mr muscle oven cleaner works well with enamel painted shell, but no good for polycarbonate/ acrylic paint- as stated above.

Well, got my first sheet of carbon fibre!- rushed it a bit and didnt get as good a surface finish as I had hoped for, its got a slightly rippled surface finish from the polythene sheet used as a release layer getting buckled a bit. Its light and strong though- 2 layers of Cf with polyester resin holding it all together. Just letting it cure now for longer, the next one will be better!!

Hi there, you could try the Australian E-bay for sheet to cut yourself, just needs a dremel.

Hi all, Gona try to make some wet lay carbon fibre sheet and then cut some one-off parts for my TT-01 and TL-01, nothing fancy but just a new project to see how hard the carbon fibre is to make and work with. Obviously wont be as stong as the professional pre- preg. stuff or sheet made with vacuum pressure etc, but should be OK for battery cover/ top deck/ other low stress areas. Just been looking into how to do it and it looks reasonably straight forward- lots of safety considerations to think about as well. Got my 300g/sm carbon fibre cloth (looks well cool) and resin, just need a nice day and gloves/ measuring cups/ glass plates etc and I'm away......wish me luck!- If all goes well i will do a tutorial on it so you guys can have a go, if its a disaster, will share that too!