Mulsanne

Here is a link to my auction for my old (Vintage?) Riko 12v/Mains Fast and Slow charger. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...=STRK:MESELX:IT

I have Proline Dirt Hawgs on my DF03. They are very grippy, in fact it now rolls over instead of sliding on tarmac, which is not what I wanted. This might be related to the foam inserts though which don't seem to fully fill the tyre. I think they are great on gravel and stoney terrain though.

I don't know anything about model boats, but someone recommended these for good starter kits on another Forum I visit. They do a Torpedo boat. http://www.angliamc.fsnet.co.uk/index.htm

I've got a buggy turbo too somewhere, but the body isn't the same as that one, looks more like a Frog but black. The turbo meant it had two forward speeds on the transmitter.

I too got into Tamiya through looking in Beatties shop window in the late 80s my previous experience of RC was Tandy. I was already into building Tamiya static model motorcycles. Then my best pal got a Michelin Pilot Escort Cosworth when they were released. I had to have a Tamiya RC then. Couldn't afford the Cosworth so bought an FF01 Golf Vr6 that I still use to this day.

Your right, the DF03 is way too long, but I have the beginnings of an idea that should make it look ok if I decide to do it. Basically involves re shaping the wheel arches. Incidentally the body is almost precisely the right length to fit snugly over the front and rear shock towers. I do know what you mean, and that's why I haven't gone further than unscrewing the shell for a look inside so far. I just can't see the point in having it gathering dust for another 20 years. The thing is, it's not in great condition, the front bull bar is wrecked, the body is scuffed and the stickers are peeling off. If I don't make use of it I'd rather sell it to fund some bits for FF01, but I can't see it having anything like the value to be worth doing that. Anyone want to swap me for an BTCC Volvo 850 shell

If you want on-road looks but more rugged, what about a DF03RA? They are based on a buggy chassis but take touring car body. Best of both worlds and loads of hop ups to make it faster.

Whatever happens, the duck catcher will be staying! Took the body off and have been sizing it up on my DF-03 and FF01 chassis. FF01 would just be wrong and I reckon it could make a stadium truck on the Df03. Will require qute a bit of hacking about to fit nicely though.

I have had this since it was brand new in the 80s, and recently rediscovered it at my parents house. I can remember getting it from Tandy as a small child. It's far from mint, but would I be committing a heinous crime if I took it to bits and maybe used the body for a Tamiya based project? I can't decide if transforming it into something I'd actually want to drive is better than just putting it in the loft for sentimental value.

Thanks to terry.sc identifying the probem, I have spent the day trying to relocate the antenna so it doesn't pass through the high point on the body. Here is the problem... The solution I've come up with doesn't require any drilling in either the body or the chassis and requires just a short ball joint connector and a washer. The new mount screws onto one of the heatsink bars, if you have that option. What you need is an old ball joint connector and a small washer. Both bits I had left over from previous builds. You need to carefully drill out the thread in the connector so that it's an interference fit with the antenna pipe, and the drill a small hole in from the side to feed the antenna wire through like this... Then you need to shave off the back of the connector so that it wll sit flat against the motor plate.... You then need to srew it to one of the heatsink bars, I chose the lower one as this means I don't have to trim the body. If you want to mount antenna more up upright, and don't mind cutting the body it would be easier to screw it one of the top heatsink bars... Then you can thread the antenna wire, and fit the tube... Job done...

Spot on! Now I think about it I can see what you mean, it lands directly on the point where the antenna leaves the body. So if I can remount either to the side or even a bit further back I should be ok. Thanks a lot.

I tried ptting the antenna inside the chassis but I got a lot of interferance. It's probably because the receiver is butted up to the speed controller. I'll see if I can run the antenna wire neatly down the opposite side from all the other electronics.

I'm really rubbish at driving, so my DF03 end up on it's back quite a lot. A result of this is that I snap loads of antenna tubes. The stock Tamiya ones don't snap, but they permanently kink. I tried some coloured Ansmann ones but they break in two. The obvious answer would be to get better at driving, I'm trying. In the mean time what are the most flexible, snap resitant antenna tubes?

Xbase that is 12V only has discharge, the one that can yun off 12V and mains doesn't for some reason.

I would suspect the Ebay batteries myself. I've never used them but heard some bad things on here about the cheap ones. They may be "false peaking" if that's the right term. You could try charging them at a really low current, although if it works they'll take ages. Maybe you could try them on someone elses charger?... There might be someone else on here who knows a bit more about the technical side of batteries who can help more. If your convinced the batteries are OK there's always the chance the charger is faulty. I've been really impressed with my Xbase, and not had any problems with it.

How old are the batteries?

This is a follow on from the thread where I wrecked my brushless motor on the beach. For my next project I want to build a dedicated dune basher. A car that I can use whenever I go to the beach. I've got my Keen Hawk and FF01 for other occasions so it doesn't need to be good at anything else. Although I'll be using it at the beach, it'll only be in the dry, soft sand of the dunes, not in the sea or gettting wet. Because it will have a hard life it needs to have a ready supply of spares, and not be too expensive. So what what would you build? My thoughts are a DT-02 buggy with paddle rear tyres. Locked diff. Rubber shielded bearings. Shock covers to keep sand off the piston rod. Body velcrod all around the bottom to keep the sand out. EZRun brushless with slot for the wires siliconed up (see my other thread!). Comments, suggestions invited.....

Had the pack already been charged/partially charged before? The Xbase detects when the pack is full, rather than charging for a preset time. The charger will tell you on the screen how many mA it'a actually put into the pack, but this is only on top of what's already in there. How hot is the pack when it's done? If your certain the pack is discharged, try charging with a lower current, say 2 amps, in case the pack doesn't like such a high charge rate. Failing that, your battery might be on it's way out, or the charger may even be faulty.

I've got one. First step is tell it what sort of battery it's charging, in your case NiMH. Second step is tell it the capacity of the pack, 3800mA Third step, tell it the charging current you want ©. I think the general consensus is that it shouldn't be greater than the capacity of the pack. So the max you want is 3.8 amps. This will give you a charge time of about an hour. The above is all done by pressing the enter button and the aleft right arrow buttons. Once you've done it once it will remember, so you don't have to do it again. Finally connect your battery and hold the start button pressed to set it going. It'll beep once it's cooked.

Sounds like the motor wires just need swapping round. The reason it's slow might be because the ESC has a low power reverse, but because the motor wires are the wrong way it's using reverse power to go forward. If you get what I mean.

That was the first model that entered my head, but they're a bit expensive for a beach basher unless you've already got a well used example already. A sand scorcher would be even better.I was wondering about a dt02 as they are a much cheaper 2wd buggy and would look good with some big paddle tyres. Not sure how sealed the drivetrain is though, or if it's a bit low. Edited to add: Something like this http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=85161 or this http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...43&id=24261 A replacement motor for the Keen Hawk is going to run to around £35, so I don't want to be wrecking the next one in a hurry. I would like to know the answer to Gruntfuggly's question. If there is no reason not to seal the gap around the wires, I reckon a brushless would be virtually sand proof, more so than brushed motor as there are no other holes in the can.

Cleaned it all out this morning, must of been half a beach worth of sand hiding in there. The bearings, suspension, gears and steering all seem to be unscathed, shame the same can't be said of the motor. I'd noticed it starting to stutter a bit towards the end of our little adventure on the beach, but I thought it was the speed controller getting a bit hot as it's only a 35A one. However, after my clean and inspection, I noticed the motor felt very tight. And I thought the motor would be ok because it's a brushless with no holes in the can, how wrong can you be...... All looks ok from the outside, your bog standard EZRun type brushless. Decided to remove the end cap to see what the problem was. Oh dear, not a pretty site, all this must have got around the wires. Loads caked in the end cap around the bearing. All jammed in between the windings and magnetic middle bit (listen to my technical knoweledge! ) You can see on this one how it's worked it's way all along and scored the magnet. Nicely ground into the windings. I've cleaned it all out as best I can and reassembled. The motor turns freely and smoothly by hand again now, but it's still stuttering and has lost power. Any suggestions or is it scrap as I suspect? I reckon if I silicone seal up around the wire entry slot the motor would be pretty much sand proof. Any reason not to?

Well, back from the beach, the weather cleared up OK. Stayed away from water, in the mostly dry sand in and around the dunes. Really enjoyed it, will definately be going back. I haven't pulled it apart to clean or survey the damage, but a quick look and I'm surprise how little sand got inside the body. In answer to the previous post, no sealed bearings, just the kit ones! I'll pull it apart tomorrow to see if anything got through. It ran very well, quite good traction with the Pro Line Dirt Hawg tyres, but a bit more ground clearance would have been useful in the really soft sand. As long as I could keep the speed up it would climb 45 degree plus dunes and do a nice big jump over the top, like the 1:1 sand rails you can see on Youtube. I've linked a few pics, not very good ones, but you can see the sort of terrain. This whole thing has got me thinking about building something especially for sand? But what would be best? I'm guessing light, decent ground clearance, those paddle type tyres. Any suggestions for a suitable chassis? It would need to have a closed body to keep as much sand out a possible. Might be one for a new topic.

I'm not a racer but was interested to read the comments people made about modifying the silver can. It's things like this that would put me off starting. Could the club not have a pool of silver cans of their own, and issue them to the competitors on a random basis for each event? You could probably get them for free if you asked around the club members, I bet people have got tonnes lying around.

I've voted, all the best mate. I harboured dreams of being a racing driver when I was a kid, now I have to be content with the very occasional track day, sanctioned by the governing body that is my Wife! And people tink the FIA are tyrannical!