Pablo68

The pinion itself only has to be the same module (tooth profile/shape) to mesh with the spur gear. No one owns these modules, they are a standard, so brand shouldn't matter.

I have one of these too. Nothing to worry about. Sure I'd have the Tamiya one, if the re-re weren't so expensive and if the Bay wasn't crawling with people selling them at way overs. That is a real bugbear with me atm. Everyone trying to sell what they have at huge prices. It's gotten ridiculous. I know it's the free market and all, but I'm allowed to think it's poo.

I tell myself that all the time......I never listen though.

I feel personally attacked. I can quit any time I like!!!

I wonder if Traxxas have tried to copyright the uppercase letter X yet?

Great thread and even greater project. Enjoying watching this thing take shape. Being perhaps a bit too fair to Tamiya, they were known at the time for making buggies that handled quite a lot like their 1:1 counterparts. I can say with experience that Beetle front ends were quite light. The front brakes and general handling was always a lot better when I had my tool box in the front under the hood/bonnet.

Thx for all that! Most appreciated.

Without knowing for sure, (I don't race but I have an Avante and an Egress) I would have thought that logically the Vanquish or VQS would have been the best being the furthest away from the Avante startpoint. That alot of the issuew would be sorted so to speak. Looking at the responses though it seems that's not the case. I can't speak to the handling of the Avante or Egress as I've turfed the center diffs as I could never get them to work, only tightened down to an unreasonable amount and they still slipped. Hence solid center gears on mine so they are both a tad twitchy and darty in handling. The Egress is easier to work on so far though, and it has been re-re-ed a couple times so I think I'd go with that.

Kinda glad in retrospect that I bought the majority of my Traxxas stuff second hand.

Yeah +1 to the Willy's Wheeler. Don't see em come up often, expensive when they do. Even the re-re with the different chassis.

Well, that thread title sounds odd....

I think that noisier gearboxes tend to have coarser (or larger) pitches on the gears inside them. Like my Hornet for example, that high pitched whine is pretty distinctive. Some of my large scale cars/trucks are very noisy and there is not much you can do about it. The racing buggies I have all run the finer gear pitches and are quieter as a rule.

What is the saying? Perfect is the enemy of good. I once bought (and paid overs for) a 5b Baja that had been converted from gas to electric. Initially I thought it was a bit rough but ok. Then I started noticing things bent worn or broken. The deper I dug the more things I had to replace. It might have been cheaper in the end to buy a whole other 5b, which I did, a Flux this time. Once I fixed the first one I gave it to my younger son. He still has it. That buggy was a real object lesson.

Well, I have an Original Buggy Champ chassis (converted to mount SS body) and an old Kyosho Assault that is now a Frankenstein Scorpion. The parts for those stayed with me stashed here or there for decades. Not even joking. I always have several projects on the go and when they get too much (or I'm waiting for parts...again) I put them aside and work on something else. Another example, I have been arsing about with different ideas for a Hornet with IRS since I got back into the hobby, back in 2007. I'm probably going to take it in a different direction AGAIN.... (the current version is in the TC designs thread) Before that I worked out a bunch of parts that would let you mount Kyosho RB5 suspension and gearbox to and OG Ultima chassis. Those bits and pieces are sitting around doing nothing currently. They may get used again one day. My point? I don't know. I guess it's ok to just put things aside and move on and come back to it later. There is no real pressure other than that which you put on yourself.

These are the deals that make me wonder if the person on the other end is waiting to turn me into a skin dress.

Yeah I found the same thing with Loctite thread lock.

I guess many people have tried to build a what if version of the Hornet, specifically an IRS for it. Here is my attempt. My rationale was to make something bolt on, that would be easy to fit and not alter the look of the original car too much. I also wanted to keep it in house as far as sourcing parts was concerned, so Tamiya parts where possible. Anyhoo, this is what I came up with. Adapter plates/parts to fit TRF 201 underpinnings to the Tamiya Hornet chassis. It kinda worked too, but I just couldn't come up with a decent location and solution for the front suspension links and shock placement. Bump steer was the issue. I am hoping to get back to this project at some time. Prove the concept. 201 parts are kind of hard to find and expensive though these days, so I'll most likely take it in another direction. Edit: Forgot to add, the rear end assembly still fits under the Hornet body without modification. Enjoy!

Here is my spares, odds and ends, hardware container. I often dive into it during builds. Show me yours.

Yeah, I also should have said, I love my Wild One. As it is it's a surprisingly good chassis. It handles better than you think it will. More composed than a lot of Tamiya Buggies.

Hmmm, I think the Wild One gearbox is a tad fragile. There are Tamiya gearboxes that can handle really powerful motor/esc combos, the thing is, like already mentioned in here, the Chassis don't handle well at all. Case in point. A Hornet I put a Traxxas VXL system in. The gearbox was fine with it, but it was constant tumbling, wheelies and backflips. Fun at first but quickly became pointless. Having said all that, you do you.

I hate to do a big wee wee on everyones parade, but the term 'rare' is kind of relative. The 959 might be sought after, comparably hard to find, and priced high, but they aren't really that rare. I can't remember where I read it, but the numbers of Tamiya 959's made and sold was in the tens of thousands afaik. Now if I'm wrong on this I'm wrong and, oh well I'll look silly. I really would like a Willy's Wheeler, or even the re-re different chassi-ed version.

I used a Kimbrough in my Blitzer. I can't remember exactly how though, I'll have to check tomorrow. Works well though.

Nice work. Yeah, what D.Gunn said. Replacing plastic parts with more durable alloy ones is all fine and good, but do take note of where that force is going once that part is no longer breakable.

Nahhh not that Just many of the suggestions. It's actually all pretty good advice.

I feel personally attacked.