Newbie - Hello All

[pastymaster 0]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie here after my girlfriend bought me a Tamiya TT-01 Expert Build chassis for my birthday last week.

The chassis came with an Impreza shell which you can see below:

I've started working on an Evo VI shell already, as everyone knows Evo's are better than Impreza's

Any advice would be great as I've never modded one of these before, and I'm still getting to grips with the basics to be honest. What should I swap first?

I hope to get to know you all soon.

[skywhelp 7]

hello there, can't help out i'm afraid but welcome. i'm sure someone will be along shortly with some good advice. there's a lot of really helpful people on here. enjoy you ride nice example and yeah evo trumps scooby

[TA-Mark 195]

Welcome to the forums.

On the TT01 the first thing you need to take care of is the soft Tamiya aluminium AV pinion gear (the gear on the motor). Replace it with a steel RW Racing pinion of the same tooth count. RW Racing pinions can be purchased from modelsport.co.uk. Look for 0.6 module 'Ansmann' RW pinions.

If the kit never had full bearings fitted when built, replace the white plastic bushings with metal ball bearings. The kit uses 1150 (5x11) size bearings. Fitting bearings will require you to dismantle most of the model and re-assemble. It's also a good chance to learn how the chassis works and goes together (what you normally would get if you built the model from a kit).

[mike_o 35]

pastymaster,

welcome! Good advice from TA-Mark - look for the 1150 bearings on Ebay. There's a guy/shop (rcbearings) based in the UK who sells these at a very good price (10pcs 1150 for £4,75). Don't ruin yourself on "original Tamiya" bearings. Does the XB "kit" come with CVA oil shocks? If not, that would be a nice 18,50 USD (Ebay seller: captain.hobby) get-rid-of-the-bouncyness upgrade as well. I think the part is: Tamiya 53619 - OP 619 - RC CVA Mini Shock Unit - let me just double check if it's for the TT01.

Oh, and stick to the girlfriend!

[Neo Tamiya 0]

Awesome car Pasty!..& a warm welcome from me ...you cannot beat Tamiya scale detailing!..looks almost real.

Don't let that girl go!!... she may have kickstarted you into the tamiya world..from which there is no escape!!

Err...can i have your Vw Camper van please!!.

[pastymaster 0]

Thanks for the warm welcome and advice everyone It's certainly good to know you have a friendly forum here

I'll have a look at replacing the pinion gear (even though I have no real idea what that is , some research needed I think) and the bearings. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction of where to buy them. I'll get them from where you say to make sure I get the right parts.

I'm not sure on the shocks though mike_o, I'll have to check as to what I have. This is where I wish I had built it myself so I know whats what .

As for the camper van Neo Tamiya, no chance We've got the van forever (I hope anyway ) but that's very well spotted. I do get quite addicted to things so hopefully I'll be in for the long haul. I always thought I'd never get into modding cars but I've got well addicted to that. I bet this will be no different

Hopefully this hobby will be a little cheaper though

Thanks again for the welcome and keep any advice coming

[VinceVegaUK 0]

Thanks for the warm welcome and advice everyone It's certainly good to know you have a friendly forum here

I'll have a look at replacing the pinion gear (even though I have no real idea what that is , some research needed I think) and the bearings. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction of where to buy them. I'll get them from where you say to make sure I get the right parts.

I'm not sure on the shocks though mike_o, I'll have to check as to what I have. This is where I wish I had built it myself so I know whats what .

As for the camper van Neo Tamiya, no chance We've got the van forever (I hope anyway ) but that's very well spotted. I do get quite addicted to things so hopefully I'll be in for the long haul. I always thought I'd never get into modding cars but I've got well addicted to that. I bet this will be no different

Hopefully this hobby will be a little cheaper though

Thanks again for the welcome and keep any advice coming

Hay Welcome,

Like ya TT01,

TBH i wouldn't upgrade the TT01 one tooooo much, it's a little limited in high end performance but a great 1st car to get into the hobby and can compete well enough on a basic level. I maxed mine out racing it against the big boys but in the end bought a TA05 to race and run my TT01 as a car park basher and drifter which i love :-)

The main things i would get are:

Ballrace Bearings all around. Check there are bearings all around, unless you have the TT01 D (drift) or TT01 R version i dont think its ball raced.

Aluminium Driveshaft as the plastic one flexes all over

Oil Dampers (you can just buy the cheap CVA damper set)

Steel Pinion 21/20t pinion set

You could go all out on the other options but these are great start ups, to get the other stuff starts changing drive train parts and other pieces and it gets more $$$ for not much gain although the alloy steering assembly is a good choice also.

Also if you havent got a fast charger yet and would like it to go a little quicker i would recommend these AFTER buying the above options

These can all be found quite cheep on ebay

iMax B6 charger + 12v mains adapter

x2 Battery Pack Yeah Racing 3200 20c LiPos (with lipo bag)

13t EZrun motor combo with 35amp ESC (Electronic Speed Controller)

For parts If your in the UK i would recommend

Vellrip (ebay & online)

Tony Tamiya Parts (ebay)

Dinball / RC Mart (ebay / online)

All can be found online or as an ebay store.

If you need any help give me a shout!

Later

VV

P.s

Ooo and a tip to keep all you screws/plastic holding up!

Dont forget Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosy!

When screwing back in a screw, gently screw it lefty until you feel it drop into the thread then gently guide it righty into the thread and dont over tighten.

If you dont do this when taking apart & building you will eventually end up with a little spiral of plastic around the screw and no thread for the screw to grip, dont stress though spare parts trees a quite cheap.

[VinceVegaUK 0]

Oh annnnnd! Dose this kit come with a light kit?

If so :-)

Get a solder iron set (or buy a cheap one from maplins) get some Brilliant Blue 5mm LEDS (x4) and two bic biros and some wire!

Then solder the wires up stick two LEDs in either end of the empty biro case and back half with foil using clear double tape, and same for the other side. attach to the prongs on the light kit and tape to the inside of the shell

= underfloor neons!!!!!!!! :-p

I also got 3mm flashing brilliant blue LEDs for the front :-)

[pastymaster 0]

Thanks for the awesome write up VinceVegaUK. I'll work through everything people have said over the weekend to make sure I've not missed anything.

It does look like you can tweak away at the TT-01 chassis to your hearts content. I certainly like that It does come with the light kit! The lights look cool, and much brighter than I thought they would. I like the idea of the home made neon's. Its always good to find another use for a Bic biro

Another couple of quick newbie questions:

I know these are going to be covered elsewhere on the forum, but where can I get some decent lexan paint on the internet? Is there anywhere that you guys would recommend?

Also, I'd love to buy an Evo VIII (Evo 8) shell for on the TT-01 chassis. Does anybody know where I can get a reasonably priced one?

Thanks in advance, and thanks again for all of the advice

[pastymaster 0]

As it's daft question time, how can I tell what the exact chassis is that I have?

Looking at the box it says it's just a TT-01, but when I've done some research on the internet it says that it is the TT-01D (drift). I'm more inclined to agree with the box to be honest.

Is there a definitive way to tell?

[simondo 0]

Hi there

Can`t help much with the modding, i`m currently more into my vintage buggies

I`m loving the VW camper in the background..............looks like an early bay cross over model, about `72? ..into my Vw`s too and got a baywindow camper similar to yours, an orange and white `75 with early bumpers

[nosthevamp 1]

As it's daft question time, how can I tell what the exact chassis is that I have?

Looking at the box it says it's just a TT-01, but when I've done some research on the internet it says that it is the TT-01D (drift). I'm more inclined to agree with the box to be honest.

Is there a definitive way to tell?

I recently got a TT01D as my first new Tamiya since the FF01 Mondeo. AFAIK the differences from the TT01 are the D has ball races, oil shocks, a blue aluminium engine heat sink and adjustable susupension (upper wishbones have turnbuckes on them). Oh yea it also has drift tyres, which are basically hard and shiney instead of soft and tacky.

EDIT

It doesn't look like yours has drift tyres on it so unless you've put those treaded tyres on I don't think you have a D chassis.

[yanknuk 0]

Welcome to the forum from a fellow newb. Try Philshobbyshop.com they have highly discounted Tamiya Kits and hop-ups/parts. And all their shipping is free on orders I believe over 100 dollars. I have ordered tons of items from them and I reside in the UK. Very fast shipper too. I get items in 3-5 days all the time. I also have a tt01chassis that i am currently doing a massive build up and expensive LOL. Going brushless and Lipo this weekend....I'll keep you posted.

[VinceVegaUK 0]

Hay

Not sure about online paint but ModelZone in the Trafford Centre has loads of Tamiya spray cans for Lexan at about £5 a can. They also have loads of tamiya acrylics which are good for doing details with.

Later

VV

[Tamiya Era 778]

Welcome here mate