Jump to content
lukej

Building My First Race Car: TT-02 Spec Racer

Recommended Posts

Hey guys!

So it's been a week, and a lot of the parts I'm waiting on still aren't here, but I have been tinkering.

AxkGUgy.jpg
I got set up to build the SR (Chassis #2).

NTWVq56.jpg
And kept #1 alongside for comparison.

7jX1fyi.jpg
Copied RC Racer's weird suspension setup.

Bcv9hPx.jpg
And moved from the dining table to my office.

After some shipping delays, I'm expecting my second Tamico delivery tomorrow. With this I should be able to get #2 much closer to running. There's plenty of blue screws to be putting into these cars, but they can be swapped out later.

Oh, I also have to start building up stocks of shims to remove play, and go collect another body from Model World in Sittingbourne. The plan is to have that painted up to recreate the livery of one of my real world race car designs.

Anyway, that's it for this evening, I'll probably do some more to the cars on Tuesday so hopefully they look complete-ish by then.

Luke

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Can an admin move this to the builds forum please? I realise it’s in the wrong place and perhaps it’s better over there.

Thanks

Luke

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My second Tamico delivery arrived!

This one was basically the "Luke F'ed Up & Forgot Stuff" order so there were few suspension components, wheel hexes, a rear suspension mount that's actually a front suspension mount (RC Racer style), and some electronics (ESC & receiver).

oa0jXXo.jpg
Here's the cause of my second mortgage.

4JZMgYm.jpg
And after half hour tinkering to put some of the parts on #2.

Having left the house at 5am today, I didn't feel particularly motivated to clean the workbench off and spread the parts out for a proper photo. I'll get on it tomorrow afternoon no doubt. Anyway, no real change but a little bit of satisfaction knowing that the suspension can be roughly set tomorrow.

Luke

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hey Scott!

All quiet here I'm afraid, there were some event cancellations in the last month so I didn't get to race, and a bunch of parts supply issues.

I do have some cool stuff on order from Kevin, and I did get to a race track last weekend, but that's more to do with the day job as my clients were racing. Here's their car:

JoP2sMI.jpg

Cheers,

Luke

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 3/18/2022 at 8:49 AM, lukej said:

Hey Scott!

All quiet here I'm afraid, there were some event cancellations in the last month so I didn't get to race, and a bunch of parts supply issues.

I do have some cool stuff on order from Kevin, and I did get to a race track last weekend, but that's more to do with the day job as my clients were racing. Here's their car:

JoP2sMI.jpg

Cheers,

Luke

Now that looks like fun! I’ve always been into cars and bikes and have worked as a tech for Aston Martin and currently Jaguar Landrover. Always wanted to get into motorsport myself. That looks like a really cool job!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Finally getting back on this project after some work & motivation related delays!

Over the past weeks, I've been assembling a large stock of parts for all of my builds ready for a couple of days off when I can do some proper building, with most of these acquisitions showng up in the Postman threads.

The first acquisitions were mostly for my KRv4.1 build that's coming soon. TT-02 based it may be, but legal for Sidcup it is very much not!
y1CqffK.jpg

There were a few packages exclusively for that build and my TRF 420X that came after, before a pair of anti-scratch pliers arrived off the back of a @qatmix article that I was reading
yqZHjOR.jpg?2

Next up were a sequence of parcels that my OH would be very disappointed in the cost of, if she understood the expense of blue crack...
0RDRkxl.jpg

vP1qBl9.jpg

r7WieA3.jpg?1

TvzIDoe.jpg

9IiDu8h.jpg

So yeah, I've been having a splurge! Anyway, that brings us up to where things were before I got building this morning.

Luke

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Insomnia is good for few things, but being up early on a day off so that I can build RC cars might possibly be the only silver lining I need!

mxMbzoL.jpg
I got myself set up on the dining table with a cup of coffee and a fizzy biscuit.

brCdk1M.jpg
Set out the build boxes in a slightly OCD fashion.

Q5W1phQ.jpg
And it was finally time to begin.

As can be seen in the above post, there's a lot of blue parts that will find their way into this build so I'll dip in and out of the regular instructions as needed. The laptop is also helpful so that I can cross reference the club's rules, The RC Racer website and various spreadsheets and documents I've assembled to plan my build.

8uk9AKm.jpg
Building the prop joints, I came across @qatmix's recommendation to forego the use of the included o-ring and use two red TRF urethane damper bushings. Fortunately, I'd just bought two bags for the KRv4.1 and spares boxes. Thank you past Luke for your foresight to order extras!

yIX0yW5.jpg

sPu1pcD.jpg

At this point, feeling like I was on a roll I decided to use @wtcc5's experience in tapping the TT-02 chassis by pre-drilling the holes as a pressure relief. This worked brilliantly until I got the knocked the thread forming tap on the last hole and stripped the thread out again. F!

u2VyMAm.jpg

At this point, I left for a physio session and to pay a visit to the LHS for a new tub.

Luke

  • Sad 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

After my trip to the LHS, I got back on with the build, but focused on progress rather than pictures. That said, here's a few:

LZTDjAW.jpg
New tub after tapping, I didn't drill the pressure reliefs this time and in hindsight that definitely would have made the job easier. Lesson learned.

auVzTKI.jpg
The club doesn't allow locking of diffs, so the local wisdom is to use white tack. Having assembled the front diff this way, I used 1000wt diff oil for the rear as advised by a front runner in the series. At this point it's probably best to show you the rest of the LHS haul.

CKWN4Z9.jpg
A Corally battery (not my preference but the LRP ones I want are on back order), shock oil, diff oil, masking materials & some paint for the body, this one will be a box art Subaru Impreza Nürburgring 24h Car. The Sidcup rules below meant this was an easy choice because it came with the kit:

"Body shells:
Any shell supplied with the Tamiya kit or bodyshell that has a real likeness of a real road car, GT, saloon or rally car. 

Wings:
Body shell Kit supplied wings only."

FNYELGK.jpg
New drive cups fitted. We're allowed to upgrade the driveshafts front only so its kit rears with plastic 
dog bones.

i0l5uus.jpg
A tidy workspace makes me happy.

gwoOdLW.jpg
Time to build some dampers. I used 88g of 50wt oil in each rear damper, and 78g of 40wt in each of the the fronts. The dampers are 42102 TRF Special Dampers with the 42131 TRF HL Cylinders. I'll add the blue aluminium spring retainers later because blue things.

ChtkA3p.jpg
Not going to lie, it was late and I wanted to feel closer to completion so the wheels went on even though the turnbuckles aren't in for the steering yet. It was very much a case of perceived completion at this point and I'll be revisiting it today to finish off the odd jobs. The car is sitting a little high just now too so I'll need to adjust various settings.

One last act of sanity retention was to ream the body post holes and test fit the body. It's not sitting at the correct height yet but I wanted to take any steps I could to prep it so that I can paint it today and give it time to cure before tomorrow night's racing.

Luke

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So I've not made it racing tonight, I struggle with anxiety, and with a few parts that haven't arrived or some that aren't finished on the car I decided to stay home. There's just something about under preparedness that really affects me.

With the above in mind, I decided to move something forward on the build by prepping and painting the body. It's a Subaru Impreza WRX that was raced in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, and was driven in 1:1 by Tim Schrick, someone I had the pleasure to meet when I spent 4 years looking after drivers racing in the same series as him. To be able to buy the body of a car that I saw race in reality against us was too good to pass up.

On with the photos then!

xLTEC2o.jpg
Masked. Excuse the lounge mess, I've had a Tamiya explosion :lol:

2sLiYws.jpg
 

Next was paint. In my excitement at the LHS the other day, I mistakenly believed I'd be fine with just one can of each colour. Incorrect! Anyhow, I'm taking the OH "shopping" tomorrow so that I can restock...

u87I21d.jpg

pLIYBDL.jpg
2 coats in. 4 to go if the current level of translucency is anything to go by.

Anyway, that's if for tonight. I did build a turnbuckle for the servo too but no photos of that.

Luke

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Evening!

The painting continues, and not without its challenges, but I think they're all easily recoverable. Also, I have some thinners & acetone on hand to help me tomorrow...

EOklrT9.jpg
Here, you can see that the PS-48 Anodised Aluminium Silver went on quite thinly so even at 2 coats it looked quite bad.

12DwJDQ.jpg
Another 4 coats gave me some nice coverage, and I deliberately sprayed behind the blue to give extra depth - if memory serves me correctly metallic paints look very different depending on what's behind them, and best practice when I last painted a shell was to ensure a bright finish by backing metallic paints with silver or gold. That said, I last pained a shell in 2005 so those memories might not serve me well!

geH07p5.jpg
It’s suffering from a little bleed and overspray, but I’m confident I can clean that up. Also, as I say it's the first shell I've painted in 17 years, so I’m trying to be kind to myself.

LjniAmv.jpg
I got a nice crisp edge using the Tamiya's masking tape for curves. The paper worked fine, but I probably need better technique here, the white vinyl tape is much more forgiving.

TEFoAu6.jpg
Where I'm leaving it for tonight, black paint, tint spray and decals to go on tomorrow!

Luke

 

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Trust me those decals will be a tomorrow and the day after 😁 I gave the black a spray on the outside as well to give it a matte carbon effect Looking good though, have some inspiration that the finished product will be well worth it 👍

98DFDA1C-FBE7-4EE6-80A0-1B96D04DB9ED.thumb.jpeg.5a2484902d569fd13d176afbd92377b5.jpeg

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

BTW will the race regs let you use the reinforced TT02D bits? Part number 9000614/19000614, they are grey in appearance, have a google.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 minutes ago, Shergar said:

BTW will the race regs let you use the reinforced TT02D bits? Part number 9000614/19000614, they are grey in appearance, have a google.

Nice shell!

Yes, I've seen that, handily I have a TT-02D on order that needs to be a touring rather than drift car so I'll be robbing the relevant parts trees! Unfortunately, those and other upgrades will have to wait now though, as will become evident in about 5 minutes...

Luke

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Evening all!

So today has been a day of ups and downs, and if I'm honest it's mostly downs, but I'm going to look for positives in all of this I guess.

Mistake No.1 - Checking the front diff for play. It turns out I'd used so much white tack, and the diff was locked, which is expressly against the rules.

Mistake No. 2 - Not checking this before I'd installed the entire front end. I appreciate that Mistake No.2 happened some days ago, but as I only discovered it today I'm calling it what it is.

With the above in mind, I proceeded to tear down the front end, pull the diff out and pick out the white tack. This was a tedious task and I was in no mood to photograph it, but I trust you'll understand that it was not an enjoyable experience. Never mind though, it gave me a task to occupy the time between sending invoices for work and waiting for Amazon to deliver some parts.

CuxUgma.jpg
Said Amazon delivery. The thinners, I hoped, would help me clean the overspray from the body and finish painting today, and the motor heatsink, well it's summer and maybe the motor will get hot whilst racing indoors. Fans are not allowed so passive cooling won't hurt. Also, if it's not allowed, I can slide it right off.

Genius Idea No. 1 - TA-05 Battery Holder. This one came to me at around 7am this morning, but I didn't action it until much later and after the frustration of the diff cleaning, when I wanted an easy win. In the regs, we're allowed to use the TA-05 body posts on the front bumper, and from a prior visit to the club I'd noticed people using various battery fastening solutions. In a happy coincidence, the TA-05 body posts are on the same parts tree as the battery holder, so let's see if there's a weight saving to be made here.

3Up13Cb.jpg
TT-02 Battery Holder - 16.81g

vKipu33.jpg
TA-05 Battery Holder - 8.10g, a nice cheap saving!

With those hefty 8.71g removed from the car, and the TT-02 battery holder in the race box just incase the scrutineers are being fussy, I decided to reassemble the front diff and fill it with the same 1000wt oil as the rear diff for now. It's compliant with the rules, unlike the white tack, and will allow me to test whilst I wait for my other diff oils to arrive in the post.

Unfortunately, what comes next is an unhappy result of the previously delivered thinners not having the desired effect on the overspray.

Genius Idea No. 2 - Wondering "Will super glue debonder remove overspray?". The answer, friends, is a resounding yes. Unfortunately, it does not happen without the consequences that follow.

Mistake No. 3 - Not realising that super glue debonder contains acetone. Whilst remarkably efficient at removing overspray, acetone is also incredibly good at destroying polycarbonate bodies. F!

aA7g9UU.jpg
Exhibit A.

XRuRaks.jpg
Exhibit B.

ApnxXWF.jpg
The Offender's mugshot.

So, it was at this point I had a minor crisis, and it is at this point that I shall also pause for breath.

Luke

  • Sad 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Upsides

Today I have learned the following:

1) I am not always smart, and therefore I should read the regs better before I try to out think them. See the diff error above.
2) Unifying the regs across 3 clubs is a great way of encouraging people to build these low-cost racers. Thank you Sevenoaks, Sidcup & Tonbridge Wells RC clubs.
3) The TA-05 battery holder should be a mandatory part, it costs nothing as it comes with the body posts, looks better and weighs less.
4) In the "Battle Royale" between acetone and polycarbonate, acetone always wins. What's the third to this so that we have an RC version of Rock Paper Scissors?
5) I am impatient.
6) I need a new Subaru body shell - please see the WTB or DM me if you can help.
7) My OH is actively supporting me in buying more RC parts. What?
8) I have an order from Tamico inbound. Woo hoo!
9) I can paint cars better, and this was an opportunity to practice, learn and improve. See 10.
10) I should clean body shells better.

fUPesbM.jpg
It would have looked good!

5iihqiF.jpg
Re. points 5 & 10. This was caused by my hasty cleaning of overspray which meant I'd left a residue on the polycarbonate. I am impatient, and had the acetone not ruined the body, pulling the overspray film off to reveal this would have been similarly disappointing.

Luke

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Luke the body is not ruined! Stickers will cover up most of the acetone bingo, and once you’ve flipped it in a race the whole roof will look uniform! The shell is going to get a beating racing I’d imagine.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
13 hours ago, Shergar said:

Luke the body is not ruined! Stickers will cover up most of the acetone bingo, and once you’ve flipped it in a race the whole roof will look uniform! The shell is going to get a beating racing I’d imagine.

It’s going to be my basher shell for the car park I think…

Luke

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As a distraction from the self induced shell problems, I decided to drop some more electrical bits into the car so it's now fitted with the following:

- Tamiya Torque Tuned kit motor.
- Hobbywing Quicrun 1060 ESC (not really fitted, but wired in).
- PowerHD R12 Servo.
- Futaba R304SB-E Receiver.

yXeFhcm.jpg?1
For a static model, I'm fairly happy with it!

I've servo taped the receiver to the top of the servo, this should hopefully bring the COG slightly forwards even though it's only a small thing, & the ESC will be placed strategically once I have the car set up and corner weighted on some jewellery scales. I'm not in the realms of having a proper corner weight scale for it yet!

As you can see, the front is toeing out a lot is I have a set up board en-route to fix that. I'll then follow the basic asphalt set up that @qatmix's site for my first races, and I'll adjust it from there. I know it's not an indoor set up, but it'll do as a baseline unless anyone has other suggestions.

Luke

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Luke, I will post a carpet set-up (To be honest it is similar).

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
13 hours ago, qatmix said:

Hi Luke, I will post a carpet set-up (To be honest it is similar).

Thanks!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I decided that I should probably try and salvage the Subaru shell. Parts availability and paint costs put it at nearly £90 to replace and I’ll be honest, that’s too much not to see if I can repair what I have.

Moving it forwards then, I decided to mask the shell back up & protect the outside given that I’d removed the overspray film.

K3pSSVC.jpg

I then sprayed the black, ordered some Tamiya polycarbonate cleaner, and now I’m having work out how to reinforce the wheel arch.

9MwA50Q.jpg

Luke

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 8/7/2022 at 10:02 PM, lukej said:

It’s going to be my basher shell for the car park I think…

Luke

I really wouldn’t worry about the shell as it’s a race car it will get destroyed. My first Audi Quattro shell lasted about 10 race meetings untill bits were falling off! Maybe you could reinforce the cracked parts from the back and spray the outside of the damaged part instead?!?

For the front diff I use 1 million silicon oil. I just fill the diff up with it and as it’s thick it doesn’t leak plus it tightens the diff up without locking it. For carpet set up I’ve pretty much copied what the “rc racer” has done on his blog and works well. 

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 minutes ago, Scottrc said:

I really wouldn’t worry about the shell as it’s a race car it will get destroyed. My first Audi Quattro shell lasted about 10 race meetings untill bits were falling off! Maybe you could reinforce the cracked parts from the back and spray the outside of the damaged part instead?!?

For the front diff I use 1 million silicon oil. I just fill the diff up with it and as it’s thick it doesn’t leak plus it tightens the diff up without locking it. For carpet set up I’ve pretty much copied what the “rc racer” has done on his blog and works well. 

More diff oils inbound, and shock oils too. I’m treating myself to the MR33 set as Tamiya VG is getting hard to find!

Luke

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...