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Ultimate GF-01 Build (Wild Willy edition)

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My nephew has asked for an “awesome” RC so he is getting a GF-01 (comical avante will be the donor for the chassis) with a Wild Willy shell.
 

I am looking for tips and advice in two areas:

1. Performance (focused on the chassis). I know about the obvious things like bearings all around, proper shocks, good servo and electronics. I am looking for additional tips to help the vehicle maintain stability while driving at speed (probably a brushed super stock motor or mild brushless). As an example of a mod that is less frequently discussed, I believe there are aluminum uprights that provide 8 degrees of caster in the front. I think these should improve stability while cornering. I am also keen to learn about the suspension arms. Are the comical buggy arms wider than those on a normal gf-01? I’d like to get some extra width if I can. What about taming wheelies? I am going to tune the esc to soften the acceleration and probably move the battery as far forward as possible to help reduce wheelies (it will still wheelie on command though). Any other tips and tricks for this chassis?

 

2. Appearance (focused on Wild Willy shell): what can I do to help make this shell look better, and hold up while in the hands of a 9 year old? I am nervous that it will get trashed. I usually give him cheap tough lexan shells…

 

Thanks in advance!!!

 

 

 

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51 minutes ago, Willy iine said:

Something like this?  @nicherotors SWB Willy..  4WD, lower CG..

I have his body mounts to also mount the original M38 body as well.

IMG_Dec82021at63400PM.jpg.11f4addd1f613922060d788340c18277.jpgIMG_Dec82021at63416PM.jpg.7a626de97234c7497c5db7a37d37488d.jpgIMG_Dec92021at60046AM.jpg.36c95497736b72f44f77a91a741514ce.jpg

Got more pics of how you set up the chassis and body to get it that low? I kinda want to update my build from ‘21 along those line now!

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5 hours ago, Willy iine said:

Something like this?  @nicherotors SWB Willy..  4WD, lower CG..

I have his body mounts to also mount the original M38 body as well.

IMG_Dec82021at63400PM.jpg.11f4addd1f613922060d788340c18277.jpgIMG_Dec82021at63416PM.jpg.7a626de97234c7497c5db7a37d37488d.jpgIMG_Dec92021at60046AM.jpg.36c95497736b72f44f77a91a741514ce.jpg

This is awesome - would love to read more about this - particularly the why and how of various design details. Beautiful creation!

 

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Thanks @Willy iine for the mention. 
 

I too have nephews of similar age and quite frankly the best ‘upgrade’ I can recommend to start with costs nothing - reducing the EPA on the throttle down to about 60%!  
 

From there, if interest survives, then bearings and a Sport Tuned motor with a 20t pinion and the EPA eased up to 100% seems sensible but tumbles will be expected so no need to go to town decorating the body.

Here is a ‘how to’ converting a Wild Willy 2 to sit atop a standard GF-01 - think the Avante has wider suspension arms which will help with handling and should look cool:

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=137457&id=18923

(Note, my experience with the Comical Avante tyres and the Wild Willy 2 body is not favourable on tarmac - the block design of the tyres digs in at the front exacerbating the chance to rollover. The Comical Frog/ Hornet front wheels understeer with this body so have found wheel/ tyre combos to have a big influence on the performance with this body - your mileage may vary but my favourite for all round fun and speed are the standard GF-01 wheels/ tyres.)
 

We are in the process (near completion) of enhancing the standard GF-01 to allow the body to sit a bit lower as per the 1980’s original. 
 

@Willy iine has upgraded to a chassis whereby the two halves have been 3d printed to shorten the wheelbase and lower the centre of mass (7.2 hump pack is upside down) with some tweaks to the camber which all help with stability. 

The trials and tribulations of designing such things can be found here:


While 3d printing is uber cool it is often criticised for being expensive and some of these items can easily double the cost of the Tamiya chassis and might not stand up well to bashing with a brushless - great for your 3rd or 4th model (or 27th in @Willy iine’s case!!) but not necessarily ideal as your only daily basher (partly due to time delay in getting spares printed).

Experience has taught me that starting out by reducing the EPA on the throttle is possibly the best ‘upgrade’ to get some trigger happy fingers used to driving a body that is heavier than lexan about.

Sorry for the long post but the experience of teaching 9 year olds is fresh in my mind - we are zooming about later today with this - GF-01, Sport Tuned motor with 20t pinion and 100% EPA on the throttle 😃.

Will be fun and educational what ever route you choose with a Wild Willy 2 - please come back with an update on how you get on (and pictures). 

CAC1E21E-48FF-43C9-B263-911E6CC569D5.jpeg

97F02F3E-9419-4176-9B1A-E893E2BAA051.jpeg

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I asked the same question. The Comical Buggy arms are longer than the standard GF01 arms (such as those on the heavy dump) but the wheels have a greater offset, so the whole car is actually less wide than the Wild Willy/Heavy Dump.

I believe that if you use GF01 Heavy Dump wheels on the Comical you'd have something that was wider than either, and therefore more stable. I would say the standard Heavy Dump wheels will match the Willy better too. You can get chrome ones, they are also the same wheels as the rears of the mad bull and Wild Willy 2.

The comical Avante comes with CVA shocks, so IMHO you don't need to upgrade these. 

I've got a GF01 in Jeep form (a Taiyo, not a Wild Willy) and I love it.

zHhGkBA.jpg

QPiYB7x.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

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