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Thommo

Super Astute-X / Super Astute Mid

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Assembled the rear end with used parts, Top Force suspension arms, hubs and driveshafts.  Made up the upper arms / links with SA shafts with some 6mm ball ends and adjusters.  New parts are the hinge pins, YR titanium screws, TG10 wheel axles and the Manta Ray rear shock tower that came with the gearbox parts.  A Top Force or Evo rear shock tower would also work but lets see how this looks with the rear damper and wing positioning.

      

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 Mounted the rear gearbox to the Astute chassis so it's officially a mid conversion now !  The wheelbase with Madcap front arms is 270mm. 

 

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I swapped out the Aeration Dampers from my DB01 and fitted those up with some damper bushings.  Added the rear wing stay mounts after adding an O'ring and bushing inside the Manta Ray shock tower.  Then an OG Egress wing stay and the Top Force wing mount that came with the J parts tree.  Also added a carbon (Xtra Speed) Top Force battery holder to the posts using new hex mounts.  55mm across the battery posts so zero modification required here... another win.

 

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I dig the bright orange of the TF Evo star dish wheels so got those and fitted new oval block tyres and foams.  There is something nostalgic about oval block tyres I really like so another easy choice for this one.  The DT02 star dish wheels black and soft groove tyres are out of the spares box, used but in good condition. 

Flipped upside down you can see the 2 x new holes drilled for the gearbox conversion and how neat the gearbox sits in the Super Astute chassis.  The cut-out in the chassis is unchanged and the square pan shape underside of the gearbox sits in the cut-out perfectly.

  

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I had to get a visual on how this is going to finish up looking so back onto the body with a little work elongating the hole for the front body post.  Next will be mounting the undertray and some more work on the body with reinforced body tape, velcro and some detailing.  I still need a low profile servo, all of the electrics and a shorty battery so there is more to come to this build in time.  The gearbox runs super smooth as expected and everything feels right.  I just had to pop the body and wing on for now and see how it presents.  The wing position actually works pretty well and doesn't look too disconnected from the body.  

    

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Note the cut-out in the left side of the body to clear the motor.  Not much of the body is removed for the open ended brushed motor, however a full size can or a BL motor would require a little more trimming.  

 

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I'm sorry to say that this thing will not work, without slippery clutch you will break gears and gear case in seconds.
I'm experienced about TA01/TA02 on rear wheel drive.
No way.
Why didn't you reversed the original Super Astute gear train?

Max

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4 hours ago, kontemax said:

I'm sorry to say that this thing will not work, without slippery clutch you will break gears and gear case in seconds.
I'm experienced about TA01/TA02 on rear wheel drive.
No way.
Why didn't you reversed the original Super Astute gear train?

Max

 

Hi Max and thank you for your interest.  I hope that the ball diff would slip first if the load on the gears and diff is too much.  I will run this with the GT Tuned motor only and I believe this is not too much power.  The intention for this Astute is low cost and uncomplicated gearbox conversion.  The TTC gearbox is outside of my budget for this project.

I respect your feedback Max and I do believe it would be a problem if over powered.  Hopefully the GT Tuned motor is within the limits but maybe I do consider lower gearing if needed.

I will add that this Astute is very light weight and will run a shorty battery which should also help keep weight to a minimum.

 

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God knows how much I love clean works and this is one that I love, well done!

P.s. please do not ruin it using chinese crap as Quicrun ESC :D

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14 hours ago, jeekelemental said:

God knows how much I love clean works and this is one that I love, well done!

P.s. please do not ruin it using chinese crap as Quicrun ES:D

So what ESC do you recommend that is not made in China?  I mean I run a bunch of HobbyWing ESC's including 1060 and they work fine.  My iPhone and iPad and MacAir and many things I own are all made in China as well.. 

Even the CF deck is made in China, no?   I'm getting ready to build my NIB soon.. running a 1060 (motor is SuperStock BZ).

IMG_2022-5-6-122608.jpg.b808777009171137e31d92d6eeb2433a.jpg

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19 hours ago, Thommo said:

 

Hi Max and thank you for your interest.  I hope that the ball diff would slip first if the load on the gears and diff is too much.  I will run this with the GT Tuned motor only and I believe this is not too much power.  The intention for this Astute is low cost and uncomplicated gearbox conversion.  The TTC gearbox is outside of my budget for this project.

I respect your feedback Max and I do believe it would be a problem if over powered.  Hopefully the GT Tuned motor is within the limits but maybe I do consider lower gearing if needed.

I will add that this Astute is very light weight and will run a shorty battery which should also help keep weight to a minimum.

 

Hope you are right, be careful when you will drive it and release the throttle every time you jump.

Max

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Cheers @kontemax !   Great to have you visit this thread.

I think there should be less load on the gears with 2WD and off-road there is a better chance for the tyres to lose grip.  

 

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12 hours ago, Willy iine said:

So what ESC do you recommend that is not made in China?  I mean I run a bunch of HobbyWing ESC's including 1060 and they work fine.  My iPhone and iPad and MacAir and many things I own are all made in China as well.. 

Even the CF deck is made in China, no?   I'm getting ready to build my NIB soon.. running a 1060 (motor is SuperStock BZ).

Of course I was only joking (the use of the smilie should be never casual and more or less I'm used to spread nonsense as Chandler Bing).

It wasn't my intention spiting out judgementes, or argue about choiches of others. I'm here to talk about rc cars and, if possible, to make a smile or a laugh together... I guess it's my fault thinking it's the same for all.

For the use I do of my cars probably the cheap HK ESC is also enough but I'm a nostalgic so and I prefer to see on these small cars electronics that in a way or another are linked to my nostalgic heritage... if possible I would continue to use Novak, Tekin and KO brushed ESC for a life attempting to keep the golden era aura alive but they cost a fortune so I use mainly Robitronic Speedstar II ESC.

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13 hours ago, Thommo said:

 

Cheers @kontemax !   Great to have you visit this thread.

I think there should be less load on the gears with 2WD and off-road there is a better chance for the tyres to lose grip.  

 

No, it's the opposite, all load is on the rear gears, at the first bump where you lose traction on the rear wheel you will break the gears.
Sorry.
As I said I'm experienced about TA01/02 on RWD...

Max

 

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Thanks again @kontemax   I will be very careful with the trigger and now also thinking about reducing to a 17t pinion. 

Undertray now fitted.  I am still undecided about the rear shock tower so I cut down and drilled the FRP - Super Astute rear tower to see how that would look... result !  Added some decals to the side pods but not much else to do now until I can order electrics and a battery.

 

 

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Shorty battery and low profile servo ordered.  Decided to do the old swaperoo and pull the HW 1060 out of my Astute Runner.  That one gets a nice Futaba MC330CR in the exchange so win win.  That's 2 wins !

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I had to comment on this build: absolutely amazing. I love the idea of trying to modernize the Astute to mid-motor trim and by using the TA02 rear transmission, you've effectively created a "laydown" trans much like the state-of-the-art race buggies use. SUPER cool.

Do you plan on running it on any high-grip surfaces? I'd be curious how it handles compared to a modern buggy on astro or carpet...

Also, what are you doing for a battery situation? I'm assuming you'll run the battery transverse immediately in front of the motor, but you MIGHT be able to fit a shorty, low CG lipo running longitudinally...

Great job!

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I appreciate your interest @Unknown Driver    This will only be a casual runner, put together more out of necessity than performance.  Original or re-re gearbox, diff and parts for these are either hard to find, expensive or both. 

Its definitely lighter than a stock Astute and I'm running it pretty low and with soft springs front and rear.  I'm expecting it to be pretty well balanced and hopefully it slows down and turns in better than the Astute. 

Yes it will get a shorty battery longitudinally and a low profile servo, (I have both on the way).  Running the battery transverse is entirely possible but would have needed extra holes drilled in the chassis plate.  I'll update once I have the battery and electrics all mounted and we'll see how it looks then.  

 

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Update with the HW1060 ESC and rx fitted.

 

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... and finally the shorty battery and low profile servo to bring it all together.  I'm looking forward to the shake down run when possible so the next update should include some dirt !

 

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Hi Mate.   I stepped away from this one and just recently picked it back up again.  I've played around and made some changes to rear suspension and the wing mount.  It's pretty much time for a shakedown run.  

 

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16 minutes ago, Thommo said:

It's pretty much time for a shakedown run.  

jZRMSTC.gif

😂

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On 1/16/2023 at 11:53 PM, jonboy1 said:

any update on this @Thommo? Would love to know how this ingenious build ran :) 

 

Almost one full rotation around the sun and I finally got out for the shakedown.  Exactly as expected..... it's fast, quiet and well balanced with no issues.  I'm calling this a success !

 

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7 hours ago, Thommo said:

 

Almost one full rotation around the sun and I finally got out for the shakedown.  Exactly as expected..... it's fast, quiet and well balanced with no issues.  I'm calling this a success !

 

Nice one @Thommo😎 Any plans for further tweaks or mods or run sessions etc.?

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