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Champ85

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About Champ85

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    http://fun-with-rc.blogspot.com/

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    NH, USA

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  1. 4 of the 6 pending charges did drop off, leaving the remaining two to finally post. And I received both kits last week. I thought everything was finished. But then on Monday March 4th Tower added another $364.99 charge and that has now posted today, so I just sent them an email to remove it.
  2. The hilarity of Tower Hobbies/Horizon Hobby order system ineptness continues..... I have two (2) Kyosho Optima Mid 60th kits on pre-order for US $364.99 each after coupons (remember those? Yeah, I pre-ordered before they killed those). This is what my credit card has for pending charges: I ordered two. Not six. Just two. Yes, all but two of these should drop off after a few days, but still... what if I had a low credit limit on my card? I could be maxed out and not be able to make another purchase due to these "pending charges". Total stupidity. Tower, if you ever see this post and want to know why I won't be ordering from you ever again, this is one reason why.
  3. Well, I freely admit it may not be as easy as I wrote it. It's likely taken me many years of building shocks to refine the exact movements that I do and it is hard to write it down on paper. The nuances of it are hard to recognize and then explain to another person. I may be doing things I do not even realize I'm doing and then failing to write those things down. Believe me, I'm not trying to say it's a simple thing to do. The e-clip hate is strong with many people and I totally get that. On the other hand, I have no problems with e-clips in kit builds because my technique (whatever that is, heh) makes it a non-issue in most cases. The part that shocked (maybe too strong of a word but I can't think of another right now) me about your original post was the mention of mangling of the piston itself. You really shouldn't be touching that at all while removing the e-clip. Just slip the tip of the screwdriver into the tiny slot that exists between the e-clip and shock shaft and twist. The e-clip should pop off with no drama. Last year I bought 16 vintage Kyosho gold shocks from eBay (4 complete sets) and rebuilt them all in one sitting. That was 16 circlet clips (anyone remember those? I use the same technique with small flat blade screwdriver to remove them too. They can ping really well too if not restrained and you'll NEVER find it on the floor) removed from the bottom of each shock to remove the bottom o-rings and spacers, then 16 e-clips removed to be able to remove the red pistons from the shafts (I left the 16 other e-clips on the shafts since they did not interfere with the cleaning process), then re-assembled them all with new o-rings and fresh oil. The worst part of rebuilding Kyosho Golds are the white plastic spacers in the bottom. Often they get stuck in the shock body and won't come out. I've mangled many of these over the years, much to my frustration. I've found that patience and a wooden toothpick is the best way to preserve them.
  4. I've never used an e-clip tool. To remove e-clips, I use a very small flat head screwdriver. The e-clip pops off easily when you put the tip of the screwdriver into one of the e-clip slots and lever or twist it while smothering the e-clip with my fingers on my other hand. No damage to the piston or shock shaft, ever. To put e-clips on shock shafts, I use a small pair of pliers with fairly aggressive but tiny teeth on the jaws. I use my left hand fingers to hold the e-clip on the shaft and then with my right hand using pliers squeeze the e-clip onto the shaft. The teeth on the pliers prevent the e-clip from sliding up or down the jaws as I squeeze. This makes it impossible for the e-clip to ping off somewhere because my fingers are smothering the e-clip and plier jaws on the shaft as I squeeze. If it slips, nothing happens and I re-align the e-clip into the slot in the shaft and try again.
  5. @Willy iine I've bought from Marwan many times over the years and he has always come through for me. His tires are excellent quality, and his bodies and decals are great as well. I've used both. He ships quickly and has excellent customer service. The one time he missed the quantity of tires I ordered, I emailed him and he sent the remainder instantly. He is based in Kuwait, but shipping is very fast because he uses DHL or FedEx, not slow-boat. I will be placing an order soon.
  6. Should be released soon according to Youtube channel TRUE VINTAGE RC. Marwan's site does not yet have it up for sale as of this posting. https://marwanrc.com/shop/ols/categories/tires Video credit: TRUE VINTAGE RC (https://www.youtube.com/@Bormac073)
  7. Breaking news: Marwan has recreated the W5031 tires, if you are looking for that true vintage tire look. Release date not known yet, but should be soon(tm). Not quite up on his website yet as of this posting (https://marwanrc.com/shop/ols/categories/tires): Video credit: TRUE VINTAGE RC.
  8. Totally agree with you. If I didn't have the car, I wouldn't buy them. Pink isn't really my color, heh.
  9. Yeah but they are cheap enough to get just for the label difference. I preordered them from Banzai for US ~$19 each. Shipping costs as much as the motors.
  10. Good question @tamiya3speed. I want to know WHAT spares I should be buying, too. I know nothing about Yokomo so I have no idea what might break or wear out.
  11. I asked Tower support for help with my backorder for the Tamiya Super Sabre from September 20, 2023. I noticed that the Super Sabre was in stock according to their website yesterday (it now says backorder), but my order status still showed 'Awaiting Shipment'. Horizon Support responded quickly with "Unfortunately, the system was not able to process your order and you will need to re create the order. We apologize for any inconvenience." What a crock of crap. So, even months after the merger of ordering systems between Horizon and Tower, on a brand new order with a coupon code (remember those?), their system was "not able to process the order". And no, there is nothing wrong with the credit card I used for the backorder. Of course if I order it again from Tower, there are no coupon codes so it's full price. Instead, I ordered it from AMain instead and used a coupon code for $20 off. Cost $15 more than the Tower backorder, but at least I'll get it.
  12. Oh I just noticed your Optima has the belt drive conversion. I've never had one of those. All of mine are chain drive. Cool. Is the belt in good shape? From the picture, the final gear looks pretty worn. I'd get a Pargu hardened final gear (or OT-76 if you can get one cheaper than Pargu's) to ensure the rear diff gear doesn't get stripped out, if it isn't worn out already. The front plastic bumper brace looks a little bit bent, but should be good enough to use again.
  13. Ugh, I hate when someone decides that making random holes in parts is a great idea. It saved what, like 6 grams of weight with those tiny holes? And the chassis rails are now weaker from them. The good thing is some of those side plates are cheap on eBay, usually. Maybe other parts, too. I envy you right now. I would enjoy restoring another Optima, but I am running out of space. I love the Optima. I've rebuilt 6 of them in the last few years. It's weird. When I was younger I avoided the Optima because to me it was a complicated beast, thinking that if I bought an eBay wreck I would be getting myself into a quagmire of problems with no solution. But I could not have been more wrong. They are just so much fun to tear down, clean, and rebuild. Parts are usually found pretty easily and not for ridiculous prices, well except maybe a few select parts. I use a few aftermarket parts like hardened final gear (because that gear in the car when I get it from eBay is almost always completely destroyed, worn away from lack of grease because the original manual didn't say to grease those gears), black anodized aluminum front bumper mount (the original one is often cracked/bent permanently due to previous front end crashes which bend the front bottom chassis plate/bumper mount "under guard"), and shock clamps from Pargu (because the stock red shock spring clamps are almost always broken). For the rest of the chassis, through, yeah sure, you can use a re-re parts in a pinch, but I like to keep them vintage if at all possible. Oh, and re-re body of course, or just re-use the one from eBay if it's in decent enough shape. I end up spend an hour re-bending the front chassis plate where the bumper mounts (called "Under Guard" in the OG Optima manual). It's a pain to bend back into the original shape and get the angles correct, but it can be done well enough to allow it to be re-used with a vice, pliers and some flat wood pieces to prevent scratching up the metal. As for those Chinese wheels/tires, I have a set of those exact ones on one of my Lazer ZXs and they are actually pretty good for running. Soft, but good traction and they wear like iron for me compared to some other tires I've used. I like them and the tread design is good for asphalt running which is where I usually drive. Mind you I don't drive crazy and do burnouts, just gentle stuff since a lot of what I have is vintage. I only wish they came in a 2.0" size instead of 2.2" to more closely match the original wheel/tire diameter.
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