Astute Rebuild

[pikachoo-75]

I'd struggle to be more impressed if Jenna Jameson moved in next door and asked to borrow my camcorder.

[KalEl63]

I'd struggle to be more impressed if Jenna Jameson moved in next door and asked to borrow my camcorder.

,classic comment and I am impressed by that collection too

[Thommo]

Hey KalEl63, have a good look at the link below. I think that you and others might be interested in the big red question mark. This was recently posted by Twinset and definately supports the Astute re-re rumours. Can anyone out there add to the speculation?

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/pictureframe.asp...009091524_1.jpg

[KalEl63]

Hey KalEl63, have a good look at the link below. I think that you and others might be interested in the big red question mark. This was recently posted by Twinset and definately supports the Astute re-re rumours. Can anyone out there add to the speculation?

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/pictureframe.asp...009091524_1.jpg

That is very interesting will it be the next one.... does it fit the the thread that Tamiya are finishing the rere's with a bang? is the Astute a bang?

[TamiyaDan]

delete.

[Wandy]

so the speculation becomes what was or is the big secret re-release because they already re-released the body set for 58001 about 5-8 years ago.

The car with the question mark over it is the Avante. That photo is ancient and harks from the coffee lid promo. They temporarily hid the Avante (for what reason is anyone's guess) but then quite soon after revealed it.

My theory on the coffee lid promo cars was that the message being sent out was that, at the very least, those were the cars they were 100% planning on re-releasing.

[TamiyaDan]

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[Thommo]

In my mind, Tamiya dual block tyres are 62/35 rears (suit DB01/DF03) and star dish rear wheels are 60/35. Do dual block tyres fit OK onto star dish wheels or sand viper dish wheels?

Sorry to quote myself! Can anyone please help me with the above question? If they do fit, how well do they fit? I am also considering tyres from J Concepts so again if they do fit, how well do they fit?

[bjr250]

Sorry to quote myself! Can anyone please help me with the above question? If they do fit, how well do they fit? I am also considering tyres from J Concepts so again if they do fit, how well do they fit?

The Tamiya Star Dish wheels are slightly smaller than modern 2.2 inch buggy wheels. The difference is small (between 1 & 2mm) and can probably be put down to Tamiya working in metric. Keep in mind that the Star Dish front 2WD wheels are narrower than modern wheels as well. Astral Dish wheels as found on the Desert Gator and Rising Fighter share the same dimensions as Star dish on the rear but have more modern wider front 2WD wheel. I can't tell you where the dish wheels for the Sand Viper fit but they are more than likely the same as the Astral Dish wheels.

On my Super Astute I am running Star Dish wheels and Proline Caliber 2.2inch tyres on the rear and Panther ribs on the front. These do need to be glued to make them work as the tyres are slightly too big for the rims but they do work well. With this in mind the Dual Block tyres should work on the Rear with glue as they are a 2.2 inch tyre and so should buggy tyres from any of the manufactures including J Concepts.

[Percymon]

Thanks guys. In my mind, Tamiya dual block tyres are 62/35 rears (suit DB01/DF03) and star dish rear wheels are 60/35. Do dual block tyres fit OK onto star dish wheels or is there something I'm missing? I'm definately considering Sand Viper grey dish wheels for running as the fronts appear a bit wider (60/19) and I figured the rears would be 60/35 also and would fit straight on. Hex fitment on the rear and the front wheel bearings just slide onto the front axle (I'm using Super Astute knuckle arms BTW). I would then fit some Tamiya wide grooves on the front and maybe square spikes on the rear. I don't have a DT02 and so I am just going on what I see online and guessing. Please set me straight on any or all of this if I'm wrong? Thanks again.

I'm not sure what you decided on in the end, but my resto project arrived via ebay yesterday.

I'm going to need tyres front and rear; given the rears are nigh on impossible to get i'm inclined to just put modern wheels on. Now maybe its just me, but from unpacking the Astute last night i got the impression the wheels are quite a bit smaller than the modern star dish wheels. I also have Fighter Buggy wheels and they seem to be a lot bigger in diameter too (albeit this is purely my recollection handling them, not measuring them).

What effect will the bigger wheels have on gearing, motor and esc requirments - is a pinion change recommended ?

[Thommo]

Well done on the Astute pick up and good luck.

I'm nearly sold on the Sand Viper grey speed disc wheels. They are cheap, neat and have more options for modern tyres.

Yes, the kit Astute wheels are a smaller diameter. You could just fit some Hot Shot type block tyres on the rear and the front original spike tyres are still available. Then just swap to the fighter buggy wheels and compare. Once you are happy with your motor/pinion combo then the gearing will only be slightly taller with a slightly larger diameter wheel and tyre.

[TamiyaDan]

delete.

[Percymon]

Lovely example TD - i can only dream of something that good.

Well i just bought some black dish wheels and spike tyres - i found some made by Reely that were £4 per pair for the wheels and £6 a pair for the tyres. I'll clean the original rims up, and store them for future consideration.

I've decided mine is a runner, it needs too much expense to make it a shelf queen.

One thing i have noticed on mine is how stiff the yellow CVA dampers are - they are fairly slow to recover too so i'm guessing the seller filled them with some heavy weight damper oil. I doubt they'd compress much at all in their current configuration !.

What oil wt do you have in your HiCaps ?

[TamiyaDan]

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[Thommo]

Thanks for your input TD. Yes very helpful indeed and great job with that resto, I like.

Here is where mine is at right now. The suspension and uprights are Madcap, the steering arms are from Super Astute (cut down and then shimmed), new turnbuckles and TRF201 ball cups and then ball raced original steering. Still plenty of work to do. Comments welcome.

[TamiyaDan]

delete.

[Thommo]

Currently I am waiting for several orders and some billet parts. This means more time on TC and not much progress in the shed. At least some kind people here have introduced me to image hosting and my camera.

[Thommo]

This is for anyone who is interested. There seems to be a few Astute fans out there!

Hi guys. I am doing the Madstute hybrid conversion right now and I have just fitted the Madcap arms and hubs. The rear arms and hubs are a direct replacement. The rear arms can be fitted to either the Astute rear arm mounting blocks or the Madcap ones. I have fitted my rear arms to the Madcap mounting blocks (these appear stronger than the Astute ones) using longer 10mm x 3mm countersunk screws. Should you choose to fit Madcap front suspension arms as I have, there is a couple of tricks. The Astute front uprights foul on the arms and hinder droop so can't be used. I have used the Madcap uprights however the Astute steering arms are too big for these. I chose to trim down some Super Astute steering arms however the other option is using the Madcap steering arms. (I found some on-road arms that worked well also, just not sure which model they are from). The Madcap front suspension arms also have a smaller gap where the front shock is mounted. You will have to use something alternative to the original Astute which has a tiny sleeve with a ball in the centre as this is too fat to squeeze into the gap. I used a pivot ball from DB01 suspension. This just popped straight into the lower eyelet on the front shock and was fitted with two 3mm washers. The upper mounting point for the front shocks also needs to be spaced out from the tower an extra 3mm (I just used one of the left over metal bushes and some longer screws). DB01 shocks are also a direct replacement so some of these or some 3 racing DB01 shocks are a good option. The upper suspension links are replaced with modern turnbuckles, ball connectors and adjusters. I hope this is helpful and feel welcome to PM me if you have any questions.

[Percymon]

Got the madcap rear wishbones and hubs on mine now - just need to dig out the article on how to put all the upper links onto the hubs - first glance says i need something more than the bits that came with my Astute.

[Thommo]

I haven't yet bought a new body for this car but I just couldn't wait to run it. I patched up the original body, fitted a GT Tuned motor, TEU104BK speedie with added UBEC and standard am radio. I'm stoked that I chose to run her before she was finished because it went great, the body stood up and I can get some enjoyment out of it and set it up in the mean time. There was plenty of nostalgia on the shakedown run as it's mostly my original car and original body re-run after being MIA for over 20 years. Shakedown only saw it needing a spring change with front softer/rear harder, a few screws tightened and a washer to stop the servo saver from popping off.

The front toe out is exagerated in this shot, I actually ran it close to neutral! Also which LiPo packs fit in this carrier?

Pre Shakedown

Post Shakedown

I will definately paint up a display body and maybe change dampers, just which colours and which dampers? I have thought about fitting springs from the DF03 spring set to the original dampers, does anyone know if that will work? All suggestions welcome, specially body colour and decal combos?

Cheers

[Percymon]

Very nice work, looks great even with that body !

Took mine out yesterday, lost steering after about 20 minutes and 30+ jumps - found i'd lost all four bolts n captive nuts holding the front end to the chassis plate !

[KalEl63]

Keeping those wheels on it? I say Orange/Silver combo.... Sorry I just think those two colours work well.

Nice build BTW.

[Thommo]

Thanks guys

Orange/silver with these wheels and some hi-cap dampers would look sharp. I've already got a blue body so I guess orange is a chance!

I would also like to see this with ps4 blue, ps41 bright silver (silver band on the lower body and wing sides), yellow Holiday Buggy 2010 wheels and tyres and the yellow dampers. At the moment it's likely to get the black CVA dampers from my DB01 or 3Racing DB01 dampers for running. A pair of DF03 rear wheels fitted with dirt hawgs isn't out of the question either!

I would like to keep the yellow CVA dampers on her if I could get the spring rates spot on! Can anyone chime in and let me know if those DF03 dampers or springs suit?

I still have the original wheels too for the true Tamiya vintage look.

[TamiyaDan]

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[Thommo]

I went with the DB01 dampers, the rear needing some very hard truck springs from a friends spares box. I had a spare wing so just couldn't resist a TRF theme. This could easily handle brushless power and the reduced weight of Li-Po batteries would do it a real favour.

I had to go back to the original rear upper susp links for strength. The lighter set up suffered bent screws holding the inner ball connector.

I'm really happy with this set up and will run it like this for a while.

One of my boards is in the background because the surf was ripping today. The Astute is coming to the beach with me next time