Quailane

Thanks! It was the strongest way I could imagine. If it ends up breaking, the shock tower is truly cursed and a hopeless design. Thank you. I got the inspiration from the XV01, which has a similar parts layout to the FF01. I was lucky to have these parts extra and not need them. Not sure how I could have sourced the separately. All of the screws in this build are titanium except for these. These are stainless steel original Tamiya screws. I prefer JIS to hex. I didn't use titanium because of a possible corrosion problem touching bare aluminum. I've had titanium and anodized aluminum in contact for years with no corrosion, but never tried bare aluminum and titanium. The aluminum parts I used for the shock tower are anodized except for the very wide flat cylindrical piece that looks dirty. I had previously removed the anodized layer in a sonic cleaner, but it was the perfect size and shape for this project. I figured better safe than sorry to mix the metals together.

Here is how I fixed the front shock tower. The opening was 4.72mm, and it just so happened to be that part of the ABS sprue from fiberglass chassis accessories was 4.72mm in diameter as well. I cut this sprue flat, put some ABS glue in the hole, and then put the sprue in. Later I cut the sprue flush with the rest of the shock tower. Then I did my best to drill a 2.7mm hole straight through it, using the small hole on the other side as a guide. Finally I tapped this hole with the 3mm Tamiya thread tapper. After that, I made sure to get the opposite side as flat as I could. Finally I used some aluminum bits to build as strong of a shock post as possible. The ball connector is 2mm shorter than the original, but that different is minimized by using a short ball connector in the front lower arm. The final result is very strong with the plastic sandwiched tightly. The ball connectors ended up being about 1 millimeter off center from each other, but that is close enough.

Work is progressing, but I keep getting caught with little things on the suspension.

The M05ra rides pretty high and is 2wd. You can also raise the ground clearance on the M05 and M06 by using the M05ra uprights. They have two ride height options with different mounting holes. The lower mounting holes keep the stock ride height, and the upper mounting holes raise the ride height by 5mm. Here is a link: https://www.tamiyausa.com/shop/spare-parts/rc-m05ra-f-parts/

Starting to make visible progress. I needed to flip between the FF01 and 40th Anniversary 934 RSR instructions and double check everything. While inserting the screws I noticed a couple of things that seemed unusual to me. 1. The screw dimensions in the directions are spot on. I always try to use the longest screws that will fit, and it is almost always longer than what the manual says. Sometimes it is a lot longer. Here however, there was very little extra space, sometimes only 1 or 2mm of extra wiggle room, and in one case even less. I need to order some more screws of the precise length! 1. The deep screw holes were loose near the opening and very tight deeper inside. I haven't found this to be common on more modern chassis. I feel like more modern chassis toolings have holes that are more uniform from the opening to the bottom. It being tighter the deeper you go can make it seem like it has bottomed out when it has not. That isn't a big problem with a screw whose length you know and when you know the depth of the hole, although it can take undue effort to get the screw in the last bit. It is a problem for tapping the holes as it is more difficult to gauge the depth and feel when the tap has bottomed out. It took way too much force to get some of the M3 screws in all the way, so I had to go back with the tap and try again in a few spots.

Again no more pictures today, just have been sorting through pieces looking for all of the bits. I found some but I am missing the metal bracket for the motor. I spent a couple of hours sorting and organizing small Tamiya bits yesterday and I don't think I have it anymore. I think I used it on a TA02 I built in 2020 that I don't have anymore. I was searching for a replacement, and I found a piece made by GPM as a heatsink for the MF-01X. That should fit fine. I also tried finishing tapping the screw holes, but I wasn't able to. Should be done tonight and then I can start with some assembly photos. This was the car I bought: https://tamiyabase.com/tamiya-models/58133 I bought it in 2016, and I threw the body away in 2017 because there was some slight damage and sticker peel. I identified it by the wheels which I still have. Problem is that I recently let my son play with the wheels, but he lost one. Hopefully it turns up somewhere!!!!

Here are some examples of aluminum butter gears. On the right is the spur gear from an FF01. It sees fine but was stained by the aluminum deposited from the pinion. On the left and bottom are gears from a TA01. The one attached to the spur gear is in pretty good shape. The loose idler gear isn't as good but seems usable. I don't know how much use these gears had, but they are original to the chassis I bought used and they all had grease applied. I threw away all the used aluminum pinions from old chassis I bought, but I remember that they all showed obvious wear. One of them was so worn that the gear teeth seemed like little razor blades. The spur gear was still usable. (It must be because I never threw any spur gears away and they all look fine!) I also bought a TA01 set up for racing with a carbon chassis and early 90's electronics, but that had the spur gear replaced with a stock TA02 spur gear.

Not much to see, but drilling out the holes all the way through and carefully tapping the threads is pretty time consuming. I hope to finish that tonight or tomorrow night, and then I can start putting things together! I think I have enough titanium M2 screws on hand for the whole build. Not sure what other hardware I need. I can put a Manta Ray ball diff in there, but I would hope to put an adjustable ball differential in its place. I think I need M4 screws for the kingpins if I don't want to use the stock steel parts. I'm very excited about this build and I think drilling the screw holes all the way through the casing and using screws that use all of that extra length will help add a lot of strength.

I don't know about the DB01, but the stock chunky plastic dog bones of the TT02 fell out on me a lot. Metal dog bones fared a lot better. If you put some of that pink tamiya foam in before placing the dog bones, that helps hold it in even more. I found that the dog bones and universals pop out at the same rate, all else being equal. Difference is that one of them stays with the car and doesn't fall to the ground.

I got to work putting CA glue around the FRP parts like stated in the manual. I also tapped most of the holes for machine screws. I discovered some hairline fractures in the front gearbox bottom screws and where the rear upper arm connects to the shock tower. I couldn't see these with the naked eye, but they appeared when I placed the tap in the hole. I know I didn't make the cracks because when I saw on one side, I inspected the other side and pried a little. It has also never happened to me before while tapping any holes. I bottomed out the tapper and will install the longest screws I can everywhere. Then I think after completion, a little ABS glue could help. This also means I'll stick to a silver can and drive gently. Thank you, perfect!

Thanks for the information! I like ball diffs, so no complaints from me! A ball diff that is adjustable without removing it from the car would be nice though. An M-chassis ball diff should fit from what I've heard? If not there should be some way to use different newer diff cups with the original white ball diff gear. I'd like to keep the chassis as original as possible, so I will do what I can to use the original front shock tower. I threw away the broken ends a long time ago, but now I'm thinking that I would have liked to try to use them with some ABS glue or hard epoxy with a long grade 12.9 steel bolt providing the strength from the shock tower. I'll get some other metal tube with a bolt through it like the XV-01 handles the front shock tower. I could use your help with something. Can you tell me the length that the shock mount extends forward? Measured from the front or back of the shock tower is fine, and a ball-park estimate is ok. Thanks!

Still haven't had a chance to go play with these! I still think about them though, and what hopups I'd like to add. Also more interested in the orange 40th anniversary body.

Last night I was looking at metal parts from Tamiya that were functionally identical yet manufactured decades apart. It was interesting to see what exactly was identical and what the minor differences were. It got my thinking why they made those changes. There must be a reason.

In 2017 I bought a complete FF01. I was thinking of maybe using it to build a dual-motor TA01. It seemed ok, but discovered that the extensions on the front shock tower were cracked and barely holding on. I wasn't sure what to do and I wasn't really into front wheel drive cars. I disassembled it and sorted all of the parts as spares. Everything besides the front shock tower is in great condition. I think I will fix it by using metal tubes and long bolts all the way through. The only unique piece I can't find right now is the metal bit with two holes in it that helps brace the screws holding the motor in place. I know I have it somewhere, just need to dig through some boxes. I think the FF01 chassis is hideous looking with the plastic TA02 bathtub. I will be using an FRP chassis. Don't know why I put the FRP shock towers in the photo. It comes from a 40th anniversary TA02SW kit that I didn't build because the body shell doesn't fit the chassis. Besides the original unique FF01 parts, everything will be brand new. I'm going to use titanium machine screws everywhere. I'll use a brushed Tamiya motor, just not sure which. Due to the rarity, only want to drive it casually in a clean empty parking lot. Also I'm thinking about standard TRF dampers, but might go with CVA shocks. I don't have any more FWD body shells after I threw away the original Civic that this came with and another Civic body I painted as a street car that I thought was too boring looking. I have too many unfinished body shells at home, so don't need another. Also I'm not really in love with this car so might just sell it afterwards. My main sticking point besides fixing the front shock tower is to figure out which diff to run. The original style ball or gear diff, or try to go with something a little more modern from an M05 or something like that.

Scarcity is how they get you to make impulse purchases.