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Collin

Astute - Put the wreck to the rack. A shelf restauration.

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Hi there. Lucky me, just stumbled over an Astute first release. It was a bargain, some plastic parts such as front bulkhead need to be replaced.
Super Astute rere parts are sill available. Do they fit in general?

Please let me know what I need to know : )

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Different parts are:

- Front knuckles
- Rear Knuckles
- Front Arms
- Rear Arms
- Rear Hubs
- All upper arms
- Battery tray
- Gearbox

A list of common parts was faster I believe:

- Front Bulkhead
- All FRP parts
- Front C parts
- Bumpers
- Rear Arm Blocks
- Rear damper stay

Bit and pieces alla around

Max

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Ok cool! Going to pick up the Astute tomorrow, striping it on weekend and lets see whats left after.

Is the body shell the same? Found a very nice paintet SA shell but not shure if I should buy it.

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astute_001.jpg

The case was included, all for 25€. Saying thank you. I striped it yesterday, a hand full of broken parts but I will have a closer look on them after cleaning.
Its really funny to see some of those components. Everywhere the brass bushes, creepy gearbox design, chassis flexy as a rubberband.

Not shure what I will do with it yet.

 

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9 hours ago, Collin said:

Its really funny to see some of those components. Everywhere the brass bushes, creepy gearbox design, chassis flexy as a rubberband.

Not shure what I will do with it yet.

I knew the overly complex/fragile Astute parts were often replaced with Madcap parts BITD but not having any hands-on experience with the Astutes until I got my Super Astute was a real eye opener. I put a good many miles on the Astute's little brother, the Madcap, and had little issue with it. As flexible as the monoplate FRP chassis was and knowing the standard Astute's suspension arms were flexy like the Madcap's I questioned just what Tamiya was thinking when they put this car out. In some ways, I wonder if adding turnbuckles/oil shocks/bearings/metal motor plate to a Madcap might not have made a better buggy than the Astute itself.

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On 11/12/2021 at 9:19 PM, Collin said:

astute_001.jpg

The case was included, all for 25€. 

dog-cachorro.gif

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Doggoooo :wub:

Well, 25€ sounds cheap, is cheap but to make it look nice and running you spend another 200€. So even for free would have been expensiv LOL

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I slept a bit over this project and decided, I will wait for another Astute wrack to completet this one.It is a interesting model from RC history but from the tech point it is very uninteresting to me. I really dont want to spend money into this one... :lol:
 

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What?! That’s a shame. Please throw money at it :P I want that restoration content here :D 

Besides the Dyna series, this is the best vintage buggy… Don’t know about the Astute, but my Super Astute has ballbearings in every A-arm B) Can’t wait to run it next spring.

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47 minutes ago, wtcc5 said:

What?! That’s a shame. Please throw money at it :P I want that restoration content here :D 

Besides the Dyna series, this is the best vintage buggy… Don’t know about the Astute, but my Super Astute has ballbearings in every A-arm B) Can’t wait to run it next spring.

Well, this is the only way I can see to get out of this disastrous situatuon.

https://tamiyabase.com/all-ads-2/for-sale/1-for-sale/482-super-rare-and-exclusive-trf-f

 

:wub:

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14 hours ago, wtcc5 said:

What?! That’s a shame. Please throw money at it :P I want that restoration content here :D 

Besides the Dyna series, this is the best vintage buggy… Don’t know about the Astute, but my Super Astute has ballbearings in every A-arm B) Can’t wait to run it next spring.

Completely agree - throwing money at projects is always the best way! :P

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Since I put my focus on early TRF buggies, this Astute makes absolutely sense to me and is a very welcome object of desire.But just not simply as a restauration project. Nylon arms and bulkhead/kickup as Tamiya made it for the racing team should be made. It will take some time, there are still some other hidden projects ongoing which took actually over a year by now.

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Goint trough my parts chest, I found one set of CVDs I am not shure if it is the Astute hop-up OP.61 (Tamiya 53061). Obvious not because OP.61 have one ring.

Left: Top Force / Mad Cap
Center: Dyna Storm
Right: ???

CVDs_001.jpg

Anyone can identifiy it for me? Could it be Avante OP.350? Can anyone give precse measures to the OP.61 please?

 

 

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Left to right

Top Force
Astute Dyna Storm
Avante, Egress Vanquish

Max

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22 hours ago, kontemax said:

Left to right

Top Force
Astute Dyna Storm
Avante, Egress Vanquish

Max

 

Ok, so Astute Tamiya 53061 / OP.61 are the same as Dyna Storm CVDs?

Good god, one pair just get sold for €140 on ebay... :blink:

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7 hours ago, Collin said:

 

Ok, so Astute Tamiya 53061 / OP.61 are the same as Dyna Storm CVDs?

Good god, one pair just get sold for €140 on ebay... :blink:

Yes they are the same and yes, the prices are crazy, you can replace them with modern CDV but you must modify the rear hubs.

Max

 

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I have a feeling all you have to do is replace the outer bearing for a thinner one (3mm rather than 4)

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1 hour ago, jonboy1 said:

I have a feeling all you have to do is replace the outer bearing for a thinner one (3mm rather than 4)

Exactly. But I thinki it was the inner bearing which need to be 3mm... (anyone confirm)?

Anyway, I will start to install aftermarket CVDs on my runners now, just to keep the good original ones for the shelfies.

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Yeah correct, an 1150x3mm inner bearing inside the rear hub and Top Force / DF01 driveshafts, universals etc will then fit.  This is the same for Madcap and Super Astute rear hubs.

Do you have some direction for this one or is it a project in waiting ?

 

 

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7 hours ago, Thommo said:

 

Yeah correct, an 1150x3mm inner bearing inside the rear hub and Top Force / DF01 driveshafts, universals etc will then fit.  This is the same for Madcap and Super Astute rear hubs.

Do you have some direction for this one or is it a project in waiting ?

I have several TRF prototype replica projects in pipeline but I want to keep the Astute as a base for a TRF Astute. Maybe something own with upper deck modification... 

 

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I like that direction very much !  Watching with interest over here.  

That is a  great start point for sure !

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Hi Guys. Now i took my decision to restore the Astute finally. Got some parts already but seems like its near to impossible to find good original plastic parts, right?

Already posted this in the trade section but who knows, maybe someone have compassion with me : )

astute_parts.jpg

 

Good news, I already found D-Tree bulkhead from SA replica and gearboxjoint. A1/C2/C3 are available at shapeways, I would be okay with 3D printed replicas for now.

Also, the gearbox have only one little crack at the front mount, so I can use it for a display model. But A2 really does not look nice to me. Can I replace it with the Super Astute part or any other?

Also found cheap aluminum parts on ebay, I cant imagine the quality is too god because of the price of 50USD for a whole set of suspension hubs and mounts and stuff... :unsure:

 

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On 11/26/2021 at 8:57 PM, Collin said:

 

Ok, so Astute Tamiya 53061 / OP.61 are the same as Dyna Storm CVDs?

Good god, one pair just get sold for €140 on ebay... :blink:

I have quite a good stash of these (new and unused) since I've decided not to race with them anymore. Material is just too weak. Let's sort out our parts swap / interchange soon ;) 

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