Newbie With A New Project!

[jungleistmassiv]

Hi everyone

Just a bit about me, I'm Rich, 24 and work as an aircraft service engineer. I live in Corsham, Wiltshire. Have been into RC modelling for a few years now, but havent done a lot for the last couple of years. I thought i'd get back into it with a new project, so here goes!

I have always been into the M03 mini, i really like their chukability, far more nimbler than a touring car due to their short and narrow wheel base and their light weight. What I didnt like though was due to them being fwd, getting off the line quickly is difficult, and going round corners is understeer heaven! So I thought it is about time i did something about it.

I thought a 4wd ta02 would be a good base, as parts are readily available, and are cheap as chips. So, i bought this from a passionford.com member!

I would now like to apologise for the quality of the next pics, they aree off my phone.

Here is the m03 chassis mini that i will be using as a donor for all the suspension components, and other bits i may need along the way.

I firstly needed a chassis. With a bit of careful measuring of the 4wd chassis I marked up and cut out a new chassis from aluminium. This is shorter than the original, to account for the shorter wheel base.

Here's the careful calculations I needed to do!

After the chassis was filed down and made good, I started on mounting the front and rear gearboxes.

After these were fitted, The mini suspension went on. This proved to be a complete ball ache at the front, because the mini lower arms were a lot longer than the front gearbox could cope with, so they needed modifying to fit, and a few spacers here and there.

The rear suspension went on easy enough.

I needed to make up a custom mount to fit the front suspension top arms. The orignial ones wouldnt work due to the amount of butchering that needed to take place to get the lower arms on, it meant that the mounting holes were way out.

After a few mock ups, this is the design of the mount i chose. It needed to be small enough to fit around the suspension components, but big enough to keep some strength at the front end.

Next, the steering. I thought about using the original 4wd steering system, but due to the limited space, and the amount of space the 4wd servo and linkage system required, it just wasn't feasable. I needed to make up a bracket to raise the servo, so the mini steering system would fit around the 4wd gear box.

Then, a top plate was made up to give the chassis a bit of strength, and so I had somewhere to mount the receiver/speed control.

And thats it for now! It is now a complete rolling chassis. All it needs are front and rear diffs, all the gears for the gearboxes, and the electrics fitting.

Have got a 10 turn motor, so I am expecting this thing to properly shift, have got a huge open area to drive this in, so it should be fun! :cool:

Got an angila van shell for it for now, but it will be replaced with a pukka gen mini shell.

Updates when the postman arrives, and I will use a proper camera next time!!

Cheers

Rich

[matisse]

Nice work,

with a 10t and 4wd, should be a blast to drive.

[blakeatron]

love the background in the 2nd to last pic...!

and what a sweet idea, should be an absolute blast! hope you have lots of spare tyres!

[terry.sc]

Nice job, it's good to see these creative projects. You might find this interesting

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...251&id=4190

[jungleistmassiv]

thanks for the positive replies guys!!

That was what gve me the inspiration in the first place terry

[fatboyslim]

love the background in the 2nd to last pic...!

Got to agree with you

and what a sweet idea, should be an absolute blast! hope you have lots of spare tyres!

Yeah looks quite an interesting project

[mymonsterbeetleisbroken]

Thats some nice fabrication work!

love the background in the 2nd to last pic...!

Yea, Dell make really good laptops

[fatboyslim]

Yea, Dell make really good laptops

Well what else would we of meant??

[Butler]

10turn 4wd Ford Anglia Estate. Love it.

[Mad Ax]

Welcome aboard junglist!

I live just down the road from you in Radstock, Somerset.

If you ever fancy racing, the West Wilts Model Car Club isn't too far from you - indoor carpet track for electric touring cars (27T Stock class). I must admit I haven't had time to go there this season, but will probably start again soon.

Also keep an eye out in the Meetings page - we often arrange days out in Yeovil, you're welcome to convoy down with me on the next one (although I have no idea when it'll be, what with the winter rapidly approaching!!)

Best of luck with the project - looks really good so far

Ax

[jungleistmassiv]

Ok ax, cheers for that, sounds good!!!

Had a spare few hours today, so got a bit more done

I was a bit unhappy with it to be honest. When the front wheels were turned, the rear inside wheel would lift off the ground. This will cause it to 'diff out' while powering round a corner, thus eventually coming to a complete standstill. This was caused by the angle of the front suspension. You can see how far it leans back in this pic.

To overcome this, i needed to straighten the whole front end up. A lot of head scratching commenced, before I had a brain wave!

As you can see in this pic, the bottom diff cover which also contains the lower arm mounting point is the root of the problem. It needed to be straightened up!

I did think about heating the plastic up, bending it straight etc, but this would be a pretty gash idea. So I just turned it round!

As you can see it fits almost perfectly with a bit of butchering, shall seal the holes up with a bit of sealent

The diff was then refitted, and the suspension went back on. Due to the position of the bracket now, the driveshafts would have been miles out, so the lower arms were chopped about a bit, until they fitted properly

So when the rest of the bits arrive it will be put back together. Just need to make a prop shaft!

Cheers

rich

[acorn]

Hi Jungle.

Out of interest, are you at Rudloe Manor? Interesting place that. Done a bit of research about that place, and a bit of naughty exploring. Fascinating place.

Anyway...... nice work. (I mean this in the best possible way) Judging by the pics, its a fantastic home brew bodge!!! You get an idea, a sheet of ally, mark it out and attack it with a hack saw, file and drill and hey presto, a chassis. No CNC or RC guru in sight!!! And as long a the holes are in the right places all should be cool and groovy. And no new parts either, just old stuff reused. I love this type of project. I made an Avante / Egress chassis just like it!!!.

Thing is, there are so many here are so highly skilled (no me!!) that it can be off putting to show ones work. I've done loads of stuff like this, got a bit better over time, but I feel so dwarfed but the guys here I keep it to my self. !!!!! Your project embodies the true spirit of this type of place, ie have a go and have some fun. It will inspire more people to have a go than some of the incredible perfect projects I see here. So keep it up!!!

Nothing wrong with the high skilled stuff at all, I love it just as much. Its just you look it and think, Oh ******, I cant do that. So cheers, and the best of luck to you

And keep an eye out for weird stuff at Rudloe. I have a foil hat you might like to borrow. Home made of course!!!!!!!!!

[acprc]

Hi Jungle.

Out of interest, are you at Rudloe Manor?

Nah, I would say he is at RAF Lyneham......Check my profile

[jungleistmassiv]

thanks for the replies guys! Yes this truly is a home brewed bodge job! I have bought a few new parts, mainly all trhe gears, motor, ESC, and a few little odds and sods that I needed.

acprc - yes I am indeed at Lyneham, a much hated civvy in the tyre bay! Are you at Lyneham too?

Acorn - I live just down at the bottom of the hill from Rudloe manor! And yes I would agree that there are a lot of strange things that happen around here, although I do cause most of them

Shall get today's update up in a bit, just need to take some piccies!

Cheers

Rich

[jungleistmassiv]

Time for a quick update!

Today I got the new gears i needed in the post, so these have now been fitted. I needed to beef up the front diff cover a bit. As it has been chopped about to allow fitment of the front suspension I have added a steel plate to it to make it a lot more sturdy, and to help protect it.

I have made a new propshaft out of some aluminium bar. Was quite easy to do, although I have lost one of the black plastic end securing caps, so another one was made from one of those screw on nozzles you get with tubes of sealant

I've also modified the top plate to allow easy removal of the front gear cover. I just need to add a few more ball race bearings, make the battery holder and generally tidy it up a bit, but apart from that it is all ready to go!

Anyway, i'll let the pics do the talking

cheers

Rich

[Mad Ax]

Very nicely done - top job!

I really like the TA01/02 chassis, I took my F-150 racing truck (with mildly modified suspension geometry and gearboxes) out to play a few weeks ago and was astounded by its crawling ability, as well as its general stability on the grass. It's a chassis that will do anything - tarmac bashing or racing, scale crawling, custom chassis-ing, buggy-ing - with just a few minor mods it'll be anything you want it to be!

[jungleistmassiv]

got it all finished now, is awesome fun to drive

made a video too!

Rich