Restoring My Old Beat Up Tamiya Porsche To Its Former Glory

[redzone]

yes, ball races are otherwise known as bearings, the plastic ones in your car as standard are hopeless with a hotter motor, actually they're hopeless with stock motors! you also need an alloy motor mount with a hot motor, and a hardened prop shaft, as the standard one will bend and whip with a hot motor installed.

dont be scared of pulling it apart to do it, just lay everything out on a big white sheet, and pull apart one bit at a time. its not hard to build one of these, your average 12-15 year old built them when they were new!

dont forget though, no amount of power will make the rear of this car slide around on bitumen controllably, as i said earlier, they're bad for understeer. one exception is wet surfaces or dirt, obviously.

[slam_it_sideways]

I think I will go for it and try and do all the bearings.

Do you always use Tamiya grease and never anything else, I have this grease (see pic) it says on the label. "Castrol CL Grease: A soft adhesive lime based grease with excellent water resistance. Suitable for exposed chassis points, and other 'wet' applications such as outboard motor controls etc."

Used to use it on my skate bearings. Is it any good for the RC car? Do you think its safer to go with the Tamiya stuff?

I just found a little list of hop ups in the column in my instruction manual. It says:

MB10 - 1260 sealed ball bearings (53065)

MA29 - 1150 sealed ball bearings (53008, 53029)

MA30 - 850 sealed ball bearings (53030)

MB9 - 1510 sealed ball bearings (53126)

Will that be the ones im changing and will those part numbers still be right?

[redzone]

dont bother with the tamiya bearings they're ridiculously expensive, take the advice of the members here and go to ebay....

[skip665]

I'm no grease expert so wont try to advise you on that - bearings though - like I said - type "Tamiya TA02 Bearing Set" into an eBay search and you wont go wrong - Goldstarstockists offer a great service.

[slam_it_sideways]

Ordered some bearings. It threw me a bit on the ebay page because it said "This listing is for a complete bearing set for the Tamiya M04 (M04M, M04L etc) series cars." then I actually looked at the type of bearings (1260, 1150, 850 and 1510) and counted them and it all adds up so they are on their way hope it will all turn out ok in the end.

After all theres no point restoring it if im just going to stick the shell together, need to do it properly and get stuck in eh! Now while im going to have the thing apart I may aswell get some other bits done at the same time. Oh I see what you did, you knew I would do that didn't you

What else would be good to upgrade while I got all the bits apart?

[skip665]

Ordered some bearings. It threw me a bit on the ebay page because it said "This listing is for a complete bearing set for the Tamiya M04 (M04M, M04L etc) series cars." then I actually looked at the type of bearings (1260, 1150, 850 and 1510) and counted them and it all adds up so they are on their way hope it will all turn out ok in the end.

After all theres no point restoring it if im just going to stick the shell together, need to do it properly and get stuck in eh! Now while im going to have the thing apart I may aswell get some other bits done at the same time. Oh I see what you did, you knew I would do that didn't you

What else would be good to upgrade while I got all the bits apart?

Hehe - its a slippery slope

Can of worms you are opening there with the "What else would be good to upgrade while I got all the bits apart?"

Check out the link from TamiyaUSA - http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/rcpss.php...;chassis_id=A62

I am no TA02 expert as I have no owned one but I know there are a lot of hop-ups available - the front to rear propshaft as mentioned above is a good place to start.

[slam_it_sideways]

Im going to need some tamiya ball diff grease (53042) I think but is this only for my rear ball diff? The instructions are labelled the other parts as "grease". I think there was a ball diff grease and a grease in the kit. I might be able to get away with a ball diff grease and that castrol stuff for the other parts?

is it ceramic grease I need for the other grease points?

[slam_it_sideways]

Todays post brought me my bearings and shoe goo. Now just waiting for the new ball diff grease to arrive, probably tomorrow.

All bearings accounted for, I really cant wait for these to be in there now, I want the scarey bit to be over!

Both types to see which comes out best, shall I go for black on a small part of the crack and see if it shows up or do clear and then a black layer on top of that or something any ideas? I still need to get some glass tape from B&Q for this yet.

Off with the servo.

Off with the MSC.

I can see how its going to make lots of room in the chassis. Will need some new cable ties, will get some small stuff from b&q.

[slam_it_sideways]

Hi long time no speak. Been busy and broke so the car has been sitting up on the shelf unfinished for a while but still there in my mind everytime I set eyes on it. My big bro is a natural sparky by trade and I mentioned to him about my car and he was interested but I thought that was all I would hear of it. I spoke to him last weekend and he told me he had got himself 3 RC cars off of ebay hehe. So that was it, now had a partner to sit down with and do stuff!

My bro did most of the work but as a team we made sure it was all done properly and nicely cleaned and regreased. The bearings went in well and no odd screws / bearings / parts were left over and it ran sweet on its first run on my old MSC and batteries. For about 10 minutes anyway hehe.

My brother got a tamiya 2001 scooby on a TL-01 chassis and I mentioned about the ESC and how it would be much better than the MSC, he was hooked line and sinker. We went down to the local model shop to poke around and see whats what, we both decided we wanted an ESC there and then. We got ourselves an LRP AI runner (83060), which the lady in the shop recommended. We might have got cheaper from ebay but we kind of took a chance with what the lady said and put faith in our local model shop.

Fitting that was fun, we found out that there was no switch with it to turn the car on or off. So now my brother is trying to find out how we can bodge our switches, or fabricate a new switch for the car so it cuts battery power. Anyway, we fitted them all the same and then took them out for a spin and had a good bash around outside his house. It was cool racing another car, much more fun than out on your own! Mine seemed to go a bit quicker but we put this down to the new bearings but possibly just the differences in chassis and diffs etc.

We had a bit of a collision which broke the front shell off of my brother subaru I think my bumper worked for me but not for him hehe. Then I noticed something loose in the car and a strange noise and a little wobble on my rear wheels, a minute later the rim of of the two peice was completely loose. I sheared off my wide rear wheels at the screws! I was gutted. Its been super glued but havent tested it out but I fear it just wont last. Im not sure if I did it hitting a curb or just from the strain of throwing the car sideways at top speed. Maybe it got fragile in the cupboard over the years.

We patched up the shells using that shoe goo and some bandages from a first aid kit for reinforcing, both of the shells are now pretty much repaired and mine is looking a lot sweeter and stronger than before, thanks for the help with that guys. Got some stickers on it and things so its had some TLC there, and a new illuminous aerial cover (bit of an impulse buy in the shop ).

We just need a bit more advice from you guys on some stuff. My brother has purchased an Ansmann 21 clash 540 motor to replace his stock 540 and is looking for a pinion to go with it. He would also like to know if a TT-01 chassis would be better than his TL-01 as he likes the look and availability of parts for the TT-01. Do you recommend he upgrades his chassis? The other thing is how have other people made switches for their ESCs? We have the original tamiya switches but no way to get them to turn the ESC on or off so we thought about using the switch to just cut the battery?

And for me I would like to know about my taisan wheels and their odd shape and how it affects me getting other wheels? My rears are wide and I guess other wheels will look strange on the car?

I know its a lot of questions but I just know you guys are the ones to ask

Thanks

Rich

[dwayne]

We just need a bit more advice from you guys on some stuff. My brother has purchased an Ansmann 21 clash 540 motor to replace his stock 540 and is looking for a pinion to go with it. He would also like to know if a TT-01 chassis would be better than his TL-01 as he likes the look and availability of parts for the TT-01. Do you recommend he upgrades his chassis? The other thing is how have other people made switches for their ESCs? We have the original tamiya switches but no way to get them to turn the ESC on or off so we thought about using the switch to just cut the battery?

And for me I would like to know about my taisan wheels and their odd shape and how it affects me getting other wheels? My rears are wide and I guess other wheels will look strange on the car?

I know its a lot of questions but I just know you guys are the ones to ask

Thanks

Rich

For your brothers car and yours only tamiya brand pinions will work, no other brands. As far as the comparison of TT01 vs TL01 The TL is a lighter car which makes it faster and better handling than the TT in some aspects. The TT does have a much bigger aftermarket part selection as it is more popular than the TL. For the LRP's I hate that they have no switches and have never gone back to using them,they also have a tendency to reverse throttle direction on your remote IE:Forward will become reverse,reverse will become forward. This has happened to everyone including myself that I have known to have the cheaper LRP esc, the more expensive models may not have this problem but I'm not sure. Most likely if the ESC was made with no switch there is no way to attach one. There is a chance that if you get a higher model of one of their esc's that has a switch and also is similarlly designed you can pull it apart and compare the circuit boards placing the switch in the same position on the lower model the where it is on the higher end esc. You can get the replacement wheels in the same offset, If you can find them. I need a set for my Taisan . I accidently polished the chrome on the wheel to hard and it wore off. In the mean time if you can't find the original wheels you can try HPI's wheels, they have allot of different styles in various offsets. The Taisan wheels do pop up in your part of the world but they are never here on USA Ebay. Any other offset you choose will sit to far inside the fenders. Speaking of..... Who here knows the Taisan's rear wheel offset in millimeters?

[slam_it_sideways]

Its awkward unplugging the battery to turn it on or off, it was easier with the switch. To unplug the battery you need to take the shell off and that can get old really fast everytime you want it on or off .

Weve had the reverse thing too. It happens when you turn it on and it uses the first input in setup, if you use reverse as the first movement it thinks thats forwards, if you give it a burst of forwards when it goes on itll save it the right way. A quirk well just have to learn to live with hehe.

[slam_it_sideways]

Today I got some new rear wheels for my taisan in the post.

I still havent tested if the glue held on the broken rim but im pretty certain it wont have. So the new ones should keep her running for a bit longer.

At the same time ive been looking at some other wheels for the chassis. After a bit of a search on this forum ive found that kawada wheels can do a fronts and rears that will suit this, so I might get some of those to bash with and keep these older fragile wheels for storage, once I've paid off my credit card this month, anyway. I should have probably just purchased new wheels instead of the old ones but id rather have a set of original rims to go with it if I do decide to leave it out on my shelf. Just hope I dont break these brittle things before I can afford some stronger ones.

[slam_it_sideways]

Saw my brother again and did some stuff on the cars. I took my superglued wide rear out for a few goes and it lasted a while but then I noticed that my trim was out a bit, well I mean the trim was fine but the rear wheel wasnt. It started to bog down on acceleration, the rim wasnt turning but the axle was. The glue didnt hold, but by this time I had busted the other rear too! They both fractured they must have been very brittle over time, or maybe the bearings, esc and my bad driving broke them. So luckily the pack of 2 new rims I bought went on and the car was up and running again, althought a little nervous about breaking more wheels. They seem to have lasted todays bash and ill do a proper check and remove them now until I get some stronger wheels.

This is how my car looked when I got it out the cupboard with old msc. I seem to have strayed from my keep it original thoughts and just made it my current bash car. Still saving up for a new chassis and shell thats second hand and cheaper to bash with before I break too much of this. (Oh and I need a new camera still)

how it was when I got it out of the cupboard with old msc

MSC and its chassis mounts removed, new ESC, receiver moved off of steering servo back into old MSC servo space and an improvised quick release thingy, wires tucked away neatly. New pink rigid aerial pulled tighter and longer into a new sheath with a handy tip for poking thru my shell

switch removed and sealed with rubber

a WIP dustcover that isnt quite finished yet. my bumper might need to be made better im still thinking about this, and my repairs that have made the shell much better

a few new decals and the repairs. ready to go bashing

if only that dust cover was finished!

and

really loved this little day out rallying but now I have to clean it all up

Rich

[redzone]

hey man rather than the kawada wheels, get some HPI drift type rims, and some HPI 4435 tyres, the rims u need are 3mm offset fronts, and 9mm offets rears, the 4435's are way stickier than the tamiya tyres, and these cars handle so much better with even size tread front and rear..

[dwayne]

WOW sideways!!! Are you rally racing that thing? That are looks very dirty and rough judging by the looks of your car in the pics. Thats probably why your wheels break .That area is way to rough for that car, its made for the street.

[slam_it_sideways]

The old wheels broke while out in the street on tarmac, took it out on dusty gravel with the new wheels and they lasted so far hehe. Dont think ill be getting it so dusty any time soon though, it was driving sweet, with some nice 4 wheel drifts and counter steer.

The offsets ive got written down for the taisan are 2mm at the front and 10mm at the back. I read a post somewhere from someone who tried the TU37WP kawadas (4mm) on the front of the taisan which were too big for the front wheel arch and they mentioned that the normal TU37P (2mm) are the ones that fit properly, although I cant find anywhere to buy them from. With the wide TU38P (10mm) on the rears.

Have you tried the HPI 3mm and 9mm wheels on the taisan do they fit ok under the arches, I see that it would even out the front and rear treads by a few mm but just wondering how it looks once done.

[slam_it_sideways]

My brother has a tl01 subaru 2001 #58276 we repaired his shell after my bumper destroyed it, we decided to make him a bumper too to reinforce his repairs, his sits nice and flush now, I might redo mine it needs some careful shaping to fit inside the 911 nose. He also fashioned himself some adjustable steering arms from some old broken bycmo chassis. This is a picture of it.

Rich

[slam_it_sideways]

As I said I would do, I have cleaned the thing up now, I know this car inside out now as if I original made the kit. Its pretty clean after I stripped every part down and scrubbed with a toothbrush. Cleaner than it was pre rally bash. I re greased everything, even the ball diff. Its all so clean even inside. All teeth checked out, only the pinion seems to be a bit bent. Noticed a few cracks appearing on some screw holes. May replace some more parts in the future as funds allow, but for now she will be retired and only do calm drive arounds and light driving from now on.

Also I got myself a NIB taisan shell and body parts including decals. Turned up today in the post. Woohoo! The shell will be a minter to go on the shelf. New set of wheels are in the post. Just need new tyres to go on them. Hehe. I gave my porsche a real treat huh?

Cant wait to get it done. Although I will practice on another shell first (even though the taisan is black and one colour lol). I have a new kit on its way of a DF03ra so my time will probably be devoted to that before long, I just want to see this car finished and shelved now I couldnt keep bashing with it, eventually id break something I couldnt find on ebay.

My bro also got a TT01 hopped up, will get pics of that soon. (if its worth it with my crappy camera)

Cheers

Rich

[redzone]

nice one. let me know if you want a pic of my taisan with the HPI wheels fitted. they fit absolutely perfectly..

[slam_it_sideways]

I do have some standard taisan wheels in the post that i wont run, but I would still like to see that pic, is it the 3mm ones on the front and does it rub at all when the suspension is compressed?

[redzone]

yes 3mm front 9mm rear, nothing rubs, i am using the HPI tyres though not the squarer edged tamiya ones.

[slam_it_sideways]

a couple of pics of my new stripes. Rushed it (bits are coming off already and the stripe isnt "offset" enough for me) but its the old basher shell anyway so doesnt matter.

I was looking to put some tamiya radials on it maybe but i am open to other tyres that are good for the shelf, with sidewall writing and nice tread patterns, but also that fit the taisans wide rear and fronts. its hard because a lot of shops dont show all the measurements like width, radius, offset, tyre height or what material they are made of. im worried ill order something that wont fit. thats the thing about odd chassis models, buying for it is a gamble. im looking forward to getting my df03ra which will have standard wheels (i think? hmm need to check this out).

also it seems like the tamiya radials tread doesnt quite match up, or is that just me? is it because of the width difference or is that how it should be?

do you think some slicks or semi slicks will look better on this car since its based off of a track racer? the semi slicks are nice looking if not being run I guess as they X pattern will not wear out. anyone know if they have writing on the sidewalls? I want the sidewall writing (either tamiya or real world) as i think that looks nice.

I can find part numbers for the tamiya wide radials and semi slicks but not for the fronts to match up. they appear to be 26mm wide at the front and 34mm wide at the back can anyone confirm this too?

[slam_it_sideways]

my df03 just turned up at the door.

[Bimdapogs]

...and the RC madness started again!

How much did the bodyset cost you?

[slam_it_sideways]

i think i paid more than it has been found for, but i decided that this car means a lot more to me than money. this car has belonged to me since a young age, and most of the stuff I had as a kid either was lost in swaps or sold for too cheap (nes, snes and all my lego and god knows what other toys i had, like the wild weasel gi joe plane, i miss that a lot). i paid £77 and delivery on top, from jasons RC ebay shop. I must add that this turned up before my df03 which I ordered on amazon days before. (dont be afraid of international trades). I also got a PIAA rear wing in the box. nice.

I will be ordering from jason in the future, for sure.