Miggers

Well,here it is again after it's last re-build. It now sits on a Cobra chassis and has a complete Cobra front end on it. more of a Cobeor than a Meteor now though. I'd like to change the wheels(some CML/JC Racing 5 spokes) and I need to get my mitts on 3mm L/H and 3mm R/H die nuts to make my own turnbuckles for it. I spied a sheet of aluminium at work just before we broke up for the holidays,so I reckon next up will be a set of ally suspension mounts Mark

BTW folks,the rear axles I'm after are 50823's to suit TA01/TA02/TL01/TB01/TA04 chassis. If you have a pair that you can spare then give me a pm and we'll sort out the details. Many thanks. Mark

Yes I am matey.PM me with the details.

I've had a good laugh at that little tale and must admit that's the kind of thing that'd happen to me. There I'd be thinking I was looking pretty dapper and end up looking a complete tw*t. Mark

How 'bout a Mardave Cobra? There's a few on E-Bay at the mo for £20ish. Nice tidy re-built one under £40 on there. They're well thrashable,bung on some better shocks and fit a hairy motor. Should you break owt,spares are dead cheap and quickly delivered from Mardave. Mark

I was going to suggest Mardave myself. Bought some parts off them a few weeks ago,cheap parts,cheap postage,excellent service. Chris Wilko and his crew at Mardave are brilliant. Mark

Cheers kaiser,bit too long for the top links and too short for the steering links,rats. Looks like I'll have to persuade the machine shop at work to buy an LH thread die-nut and get them to make me some up. Cheers,Mark

I'd have left the front end as it was personally,but it looks awsome. Fancied doing a similar thing with a Mardave Cobra TBH,they're well cheap over here second hand. Oh and my tip for drilling ally? Not much speed and lots of feed. That lets the drill tip cut quickly by turning slowly with plenty of pressure on it. Mark

Sheeeeeeit!!! Not wrote off your 10B4 I hope!! Seriously though bud,good to know she's ok. What's your ride like though?is it repairable or totalled? Don't worry too much about those measurements,do 'em when you get time. Make sure your Boss is all a-ok(car crash injuries can manifest themselves a few days later) and get the insurance claim for your ride well underway. All the best matey,Mark

Hey,hey,what're you doing in here Stewie? You've kept this one quiet over at "our" forum matey,but I must say it looks the dogs,especially with that Jagd on the back. Quite a bit like Mike Gibbs' beauty infact: Well done matey. Mark

Lo there kaiser,yeh that,d be good. I can guestimate the length of the shafts themselves from that. Needing some turnbuckles for my latest homebuilt so I'm looking around to see what'll fit. I need 45mm for the uppers,but a hooje 80mm for the steering links,all with 2.5-3.0mm threads. Cheers,Mark

Would one of you jolly gentlemen that own's a B4 do me a small favor and measure the length of the turnbuckle on the front top link please? Many thanks,Mark

Smashin'Martin,many thanks. It's TT01 rears I'm after from,say,a Baja King or similar. Cheers,Mark

They look like the driveshafts that fit inside the back axle Martin. The ones I'm after are about 40mm long,have a thread on one end and are the bits you slide the front wheels onto. Once the wheels are on you put a nyloc nut on the threads and tighten it up. Mark

Thanks Martin. That sounds good. Mark

Hello Martin. I reckon the front axles on the G2 are the same,stickerbod had G2 front wheels on his Meteor. It's a pair of front axles for either a G1 or G2 I'm after. A pair of G2 front wheels wouldn't go amiss if you have a spare pair of those too..................... Cheers,Mark

It's fiddle with it time again. After seeing stickerbod's very nice Meteor for sale on E-Bay with it's different wheels..... I'm looking for: 1 off pair of TT01 type rear axles and 1 off pair of Grasshopper(or similar)front axles. Cash waiting. I've scoured E-Bay but there's nowt on there. Cheers. Mark

3mm ID and 6mm OD sounds about right Terry. I cleaned and re-greased the 'box and diff in mine a couple of months ago after many months of it being worked on and not run. Here's mine ships: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=51348 Have you tried Mardave?,I know it's changed hands a couple of times since the Meteor was built,but it's surprising what might turn up. Also keep an eye on E-Bay,the guy that bought the firm from Wes Raynor(can't remember his name at the mo) still has a few spares and puts 'em up on there now and then. Mark

I'm itching to give this thing some beans on the dirt too. I'm on the Cheshire/Staffs border. Mark

Cheers gatmix. When I got it,the chassis had been seriously shortened and a wide 1/12th Mini shell fitted with Mardave V12 front arms,stub axles and wheels. I popped in one of my 27t Cyclones and needless to say,it was a real handful to drive. Virtually all the original parts were there apart from wheels,body and wing. Mark

Been fiddling with it for the past 18months. It nearly went in a carrier bag to the skip,but then it came to me. Yep it really is a 20+year old Mardave Meteor under there. I've included as many period mods as I can get to hear about and fabricate. It sports a fully ballraced gearbox and rear axle mounts,homemade LWB chassis done to dimensions supplied by Terrysc, Option House Gold front shocks,Traxxas Grey rears,modified rear shock mount(again courtesy of Terrysc) and front suspension mounting strut brace. Tyres are Schumacher pins. It has genuine 1987 Futaba Attack R radio gear,Mtronics S250HF 14t limit race ESC and a Parma Cyclone Stock 27t. The only "late" parts are the body and wing.These were bought from E-bay and are RC10B3 jobbies modified to fit. That undertray you see is a one off homegrown fabricated to fit the Mete's alloy chassis and the RC10 body. Mark

Hmm,I certainly don't want to go brushless with it,it'd lose the idea of "period mods"going down that route. The gearcase is well lubricated with CV joint grease(always used that),but what's this "ballraced red spur gear"malarky?? Please tell more Mr Creswell,is this a special gear that could be bought?or is it another "factory mod" of the time? Mine is ballraced,but only because it made sense to do it whilst doing the rest of it. It's bored slightly oversize to the shaft and then bored at each end to take the appropriate size bearing. I like the idea of the heatsink,I'll be looking into that wheeze alright(another "factory mod"??). So what we're basically saying is that it'll easily handle a 23 or 19t single and hotter winds for short periods. Mark

Just wondering what the Meteor gearbox(fullyballraced and new diff)will stand reliabley without scoffing the internals?? I've been using it with a 27t Parma Cyclone stock on a 12tooth pinion and it goes well. Reckon a 19t would be ok,but what about something a bit more "frisky"?? Mark

After a bit of thinking and yed scratching this weekend I've built one onto the Meteor's ally chassis with good plasticard. It's not that pretty,but it fits the body well and works. Mark

I raced 4WD buggies back in the day and as TA-Mark says they are very point and squirt. My recently rebuilt LWB Meteor is a whole lot more fun though.Like you,I've filled it full of bearings,the gearbox is now fully ballraced including the "factory" red spurgear mod(bored through to clear the shaft and then bored to take bearings),the axle ends are done too and a rebuilt and carefully run-in Parma Cyclone Superstock 27t period motor fitted with a 12 tooth 32DP pinion. I thought of putting more motor in it,but once I'd retuned the ESC it soon showed itself to have plenty of urge. It runs the standard Meteor rear wheels with Schumacher mini-spikes siliconed on. It'll light up the tyres with ease,hang the back end out, does big donuts(owing to the LWB chassis),it's generally a good fun hooligan machine. Straight line speed is pretty good due to there being no front gearbox to rob the horse power. But and this is the big but,it takes far more skill and care to keep it under control than the Optima Mid Custom 4WD I used to race. Drive it like you'd drive a good RWD car(like the old 60's-70's Ford Escorts or big inch BMW), be gentle on the go and you'll soon learn to handle it like the old school rally drivers. Mark