Getting an F101 and foam tires for it...in 2023?

[Pylon80 4226]

Hi all,

I would like to get a vintage F1, probably an F101. The goal would be to run it and use foam tires. I would also like the tires to be correct in terms of diameter and width i.e. F104 foam tires wouldn't do.

My understanding is that the outside dimensions of tires are the same between an F101/2/3 although the rims and therefore the inside bore inside the tires at the front of the F101 are different. In other words, F103 wheels and tires when assembled together would fit the F101.

Having asked the detailed questions above about such rare cars as these, I suppose I should have asked first: are there any members here who might still be running these beauties from the past? 😅 Is it realistic to plan on sourcing foam tires on a regular basis or are we limited to expensive NOS lucky finds?

Many thanks in advance.

[wtcc5 5932]

I for myself just restored a used F189 for the shelf. From another purchase some months ago, I have several sets of foam tires for the F101. What condition and number, I would need to look into. If you contact me in two weeks, I will look what I have (I am abroad at the moment).

[TurnipJF 10811]

If you don't come right, RacecraftRC usually have F101/02/03 foam tyres in stock. I run Ennetti ones on mine, purchased from there.

[Pylon80 4226]

11 hours ago, wtcc5 said:

If you contact me in two weeks

I will contact you then, thank you! For now I'm more at the stage of assessing how realistic an F101 will be as a runner, before I start bidding on old cars.

4 hours ago, TurnipJF said:

RacecraftRC usually have F101/02/03 foam tyres in stock

Thank you sir. I checked and the front wheels are available from Ennetti while the rears will be a bit harder to find, unless I procure the wheels and foam tires separately from Tamiya.

So it seems like there's still some support for the F103

Could anyone confirm my above understanding that the F103 wheels/tires will fit an F101?

Thank you!

 

[TurnipJF 10811]

1 hour ago, Pylon80 said:

Could anyone confirm my above understanding that the F103 wheels/tires will fit an F101?

Aye, that they will. The 5mm front stub axles and 14mm rear hexes are standard across the Tamiya F1 range, from the first F101 to the latest TRF.

[Pylon80 4226]

12 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

Aye, that they will. The 5mm front stub axles and 14mm rear hexes are standard across the Tamiya F1 range, from the first F101 to the latest TRF.

Right, I was worried about a large difference in outside wheel diameter that would be impossible to compensate for to get the ride height correct or something along those lines.

I have actually never seen a F101 in real life although I dreamed about owning one as a kid after seeing it in RC magazine advertisements! The same is true of the Group C Jag actually

I have never seen a manual for the F101, F102 or F103 either. My source for manuals is https://www.tamiya.com/english/rc/manuals.htm and they only show modern car and re-release ones. There is an F103 in there but it's for a P34 re-release.

I will probably dig into the Vintage forum here and see what information I can find on the F101's!

[TurnipJF 10811]

Link to F101 manual download page:

http://tamiyaweb.com/manuals/preview/58103

[TurnipJF 10811]

7 minutes ago, Pylon80 said:

My source for manuals is https://www.tamiya.com/english/rc/manuals.htm and they only show modern car and re-release ones. There is an F103 in there but it's for a P34 re-release.

For the ordinary 4-wheeled F103, you'll want the F103RM manual from the above page. The 15th Anniversary version shows basically the same car, but with all the hop-ups. 

[Pylon80 4226]

@TurnipJF seeing as you are building the Group C  I was wondering if you might be able to confirm whether the Group C tire diameters/widths are the same as the F101/102/103?

Reason I am asking is that I was this close || from buying a Group C kit today: it would take me 3/4 of the way through an F102 bits-a-build with only the lower and top deck left for me to CAD and CNC cut. Everything else would be reusable and brand new. Now if even the tires were reusable for that project that would be just perfect; not to mention that with the recent re-release of that Mercedes Group C there is some hope to find tires for it.

[TurnipJF 10811]

3 hours ago, Pylon80 said:

I was wondering if you might be able to confirm whether the Group C tire diameters/widths are the same as the F101/102/103?

Sure, I'll check this evening. 👍

[TurnipJF 10811]

17 hours ago, Pylon80 said:

I was wondering if you might be able to confirm whether the Group C tire diameters/widths are the same as the F101/102/103?

The tyres are quite different I'm afraid. 

The fronts are a fair bit taller and narrower:

 

The rears are a good match in terms of width, but are also taller:

 

Group C wheels are also a tad taller than F103 ones.

[Pylon80 4226]

27 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

The tyres are quite different I'm afraid. 

The fronts are a fair bit taller and narrower:

 

The rears are a good match in terms of width, but are also taller:

 

Group C wheels are also a tad taller than F103 ones.

Thanks for taking the time to take pictures. That's very interesting. I love that F103 by the way!

[wtcc5 5932]

I promised to look what I have and this is it:

 A lot more used than I remembered…

The second set from the left are rain tires.

[Pylon80 4226]

52 minutes ago, wtcc5 said:

I promised to look what I have and this is it:

 A lot more used than I remembered…

The second set from the left are rain tires.

Hi Kevin, thank you for looking into this for me. I have jumped the gun on a group C kit so that is the direction I will be taking  Not that the group C tires will be much easier to source mind you  but as I wrote in another post, running out of tires because you drove you cars too much is always a great problem to have.

I have seen a few very nice F189 on eBay and would love to see yours if you have pictures of it. I remember really liking the Ferrari's back in the late 80's as a kiddo.

[wtcc5 5932]

The F190 is in the top three of the most beautiful F1 cars of all time on my list and the F189 is pretty close. Here is my build/restoration thread for it:

 

[TurnipJF 10811]

The great thing about foam tyres is that even if official supplies dry up completely, you can always make your own by sourcing foam sheets and using a simple handheld circle cutter (or hole cutter attachment for a drill if you are feeling fancy) to cut your own. 

Don't worry if you can't find foam thick enough to extend the full width of the tire. You can make up a tire with multiple donuts of thinner foam glued together. (This isn't a bodge or cop-out. Some commercial RC foam tyres are made this way, including Tamiya's own Group C rears.)

[Pylon80 4226]

47 minutes ago, wtcc5 said:

The F190 is in the top three of the most beautiful F1 cars of all time on my list and the F189 is pretty close. Here is my build/restoration thread for it:

 

Ah! I don't hang out much on the Vintage forum and so I had missed it.

[Pylon80 4226]

On 9/11/2023 at 10:34 AM, TurnipJF said:

Don't worry if you can't find foam thick enough to extend the full width of the tire. You can make up a tire with multiple donuts of thinner foam glued together. (This isn't a bodge or cop-out. Some commercial RC foam tyres are made this way, including Tamiya's own Group C rears.)

I received my group C kit yesterday 😍 and boy are the tires tacky!

Since I enjoy the DIY and tinker side of the hobby more than anything else, it got me thinking about making my own tires.

@TurnipJF would you know what kind of foam would be suitable? I did a bit of research but not surprisingly, this seems like more and more of a lost art these days! Pan cars are still super popular here in the US but people seem to be spending on pre-made tires rather than making and truing their own tires. Not a bad thing as it makes the hobby simpler 👌 but I just couldn't find much info on how to do it myself.

[TurnipJF 10811]

1 hour ago, Pylon80 said:

I received my group C kit yesterday 😍 and boy are the tires tacky!

Since I enjoy the DIY and tinker side of the hobby more than anything else, it got me thinking about making my own tires.

@TurnipJF would you know what kind of foam would be suitable?

EVA foam works well, and is quite readily available online in a variety of thicknesses and hardnesses because of its popularity within the cosplay community as a material for making costumes and props.

Cosplay suppliers will also typically stock the circle cutting tools and adhesives for working with EVA foam.