Astute 'Restoration' Thread

[Grastens]

My Astute arrived a few days ago from a fellow TC member. It had been a solid runner for some time before being shelved and then sold to a new owner (me). It was a bit of an impulse buy as I was irrationally excited by the possibility of an Astute; it must have been a combination of its shape, vintage, box art... Whatever the case, in spite of my limited budget I bought it. I call this a 'restoration' in quotes because I am not sure if the car is in a sufficiently-dilapidated condition to consider this a full-fledged restoration, and few parts are being truly reconditioned to work again...

After getting hit up with customs fees (which took a neat chunk out of my restoration fund!), I took it home:

Noticing some bits and pieces were missing, I decided to take apart the rear gearbox and inspect the gears, which then turned into disassembling the front end, then rebuilding the shocks, and soon I had this:

I did end up completely rebuilding the shocks, but only had dish detergent, sponge and numerous paper towels to clean. These had to be by far the easiest shock builds I have ever had, though I could be replacing these with the gold Avante 2011 dampers (which I believe are the same dimensions; you will see why I would):

Then the rear gearbox door broke after unscrewing it from the gearbox (no idea where the other piece went):

So far, all of the plastic parts and a few others are washed (except for those in the steering system):

It was a good thing I stripped it down; the chassis was missing some press nuts and the steering system featured a combination of 850 bearings and bushings: two bearings on one arm and two bushings on the other. The left front wheel also had one 1150 bushing on the outside and one 1150 bearing on the inside, whereas the right front wheel had the two switched around.

Fortunately, the gears and gearbox are in good condition, though there was an unknown orange grease solidifying in there. The diff still feels very solid; not much slip is evident.

My plans are to rebuild it using whatever hex-head screws I have around from my F103R, lightweight black wheels as per the original kit, and a Kamtec bodyshell to replace the tired original covering. The paint and decals will resemble those on my Avante:

If I am feeling ambitious, I could even try and add a driver figure.

So far I have purchased the Kamtec shell, wide spike tires for the rear matched to black lightweight wheels, Team CRP spiked 2WD fronts with black lightweight 2WD front wheels, a set of original universal joints, a set of 1150 bearings and another of 850 bearings, a box of press nuts, a new 'A' parts tree and alloy rear arm mounts (to replace the one Astute and one Madcap equivalents out back)... So much for my budget!

Tentative plans also exist to run the car with an Ansmann Sirius 12T waterproof ESC, a Traxxas waterproof servo and a Spektrum SR300 receiver matched to a DX3C (which I already own). I am conflicted on motor choice, though, as with the stock gears I want to try running a Super Stock BZ but as I have a new TTC Gear Train system on hold (whatever; money is no object now!) I could experiment with a competition-spec motor or even a brushless setup. What do you think?

I am at school right now, and so away from home, meaning this project will possibly not see a whole lot of progress in between my studies. But when I can do the work, I will keep this thread updated. Tonight's assignment is to sort out the screws and add my replacements...

[Grastens]

Today's progress:

A distinct lack of hex-head screws had me reusing many of the original screws, which was not such a bad thing. The diff proved to be in great condition when I took it apart, but when I rebuilt it the unit seemed very loose. To duplicate the feel of the gear when I first received it I used a combination of Ball Diff Grease and Anti-Wear Grease, which should do a bit to save the notoriously-fragile diff. I should think about if I want to put a unitized gear in there like in the Avante...

Most of my work was concentrated in the front end today, mostly because the rear arms could no longer be mounted. The car arrived with one of the kit mounts and the other from a Madcap, and the Astute part had two press nuts I needed for the rear bumper.

Speaking of which, that and the rear gearbox were mounted onto the chassis as well:

The front end could have been completed:

However, the wheels were mounted with the original bushings, which I was keen on replacing with ball bearings. The front end would not remain like this for long. As an aside, the blue wheel nuts left over from my F103 will likely remain.

I will wait for a week or two for new parts to arrive; once those come in I should be able to make some more headway.

[kontemax]

Any progress?

MAx

[Grastens]

Barely... But I did put a few things together:

The universal joints and a set of 1150 ball bearings arrived recently, so I installed them on the front wheels and rear arms. I cannot join the rear arms to the chassis yet because I require D1 parts, which I ordered in aluminum. They should be arriving next week.

Rear wheels and tires also arrived, so I glued those and attached them to the rear arms.

The rear end is now completely rebuilt, having stripped down and regreased the differential, which is in surprisingly good shape. Perhaps against common sense, I put some Anti-Wear Grease to slow down the diff; with the special Ball Diff Grease the unit was alarmingly loose. That could mean I just have no idea what a mint ball diff looks like, but it rotates smoothly now and should last a bit longer.

Electronics are on the way; I spent a total of $25 on a Dynamite ECX1070 ESC, and will take one of my standard Futaba servos, a 540 silver can and a radio I took from my Avante (which is now fitted with a Spektrum unit) to cut down on the cost of electronics. It will in time run much better electronics, especially as I have a brand-new TTC Gear Set on the way (many thanks to F2 Stu), but for now I want to see how it does as a budget runner...

Having read Kontemax's fine Astute resource thread as well, I will be on the lookout for Super Astute G parts to brace the front end. I do still need some servo stays and A parts for the gearbox door.

On another note, it appears I started this at a good time as many Astutes seem to be popping up... Plenty of people to ask for advice!

[kontemax]

Hi, where did you find the aluminum rear arms block please?

Many thanks.

Max

[Grastens]

PM sent.

The A parts tree arrived today, so I got some more work done:

The rear gearbox cover went back on after I took the aforementioned 540 silver can from home. A 17T pinion went on there; a perfectly-good 22T from my Avante project was unfortunately wrecked by an overtightened grub screw. It would not have fit with the 77T spur gear in there anyways. The plastic protrusion covering the motor is also a new addition.

This was the main purpose of buying an entire parts tree, though. 3 hex-head screws from my F103R keep the rear gearbox door in, and the rear gearbox to the chassis plate.

Still no rear suspension blocks, but I put the yellow CVA dampers on the rear-arms anyways. They are also still very smooth.

Today I am also going to see if I can find some drill bits for the repro bodyshell I have on my shelf... Currently I am waiting on:

- servo stay pieces

- one Dynamite ECX1070 brushed ESC

- Super Astute G parts to appear, at which point I will buy them

I also require:

- drill bits for repro body, undercowl and wing

- masking tape (see if I can find some Frogtape) for the body

- paint for the body (PS-22 Racing Green, PS-1 White, PS-34 Bright Red, PS-5 Black for the undercowl and maybe PS-13 Silver as backing)

- a place to paint (should not be hard to find)

I can still run the original body, which I may do if the ESC arrives before the body. All in all this is turning into a short project, but then again being able to assess the project does not guarantee a quick finish. Bodywork should take some more time as I have 3 colours involved on the shell.

Edit: As soon as I began browsing, some brand new G parts for the Super Astute showed up... Now I am waiting on those instead of seeking them out. Looking forward to bulking up the front end! I also just picked up a new-to-me Super Astute TTC Gear Train Set... Brushless is suddenly a possibility...

[kontemax]

I don't suggest you a powerful brushless set up for the TTC. The problem with TTC is the dust and the tricky slippery clutch. I ran the Astute with TTC for a long time in off road and I destroyed the iddle gear and differential gear teeth due the dust. I always opened the gearbox and clean everything after every run and always dust everywhere. The TTC gear teeth are so small (0.5 metric) and they are really ready to fast consumption with dust melted with grease. The dust enters from the side ball bearings, from the bottom plate and a lot of it from the polycarbonate gear cover. I partially solved the problem with some greased sponge wires glued where the dust enter. This problem is also present with normal geartrain but less due bigger teeth and plastic gear cover. A powerful brushless motor will increase gears wear on TTC. I ran a mid motor, a brushed 14T (pink Acto Power is a good choice), and it was enough to make wheelies on off road surface with a Ni-Mh battery. I suppose that a lighter Li-Po battery will increase performances and wheelies.

[Grastens]

Good point. I think this was discussed somewhere in one of the threads where people ask if a TTC system can fit into an Astute and the general consensus seemed to be that a lighter-powered brushless system would work. But since brushless systems are inherently more efficient than brushed counterparts and tend to spin at higher RPM ratings, they can work far better with the TTC than the stock Astute gearbox, which I am also told is not saying much...

Edit: On topic, I also bought drill bits and began drilling the holes in the body and undertray by hand. It got painful as I was using actual drill bits and bare hands, but I managed to complete the body and undertray; all that remain are the small holes in the rear wing for the endplates. I shall begin painting when I can find a place and a few hours...

[Thommo]

Looking good mate. As the holes and screws for the wing endplates are so tiny, may I suggest that you drill the forward most hole on each side first. Mount the endplates with the front screws, then align the endplates, clamp them with a bulldog clip and then drill the rear holes through the end plate and wing at the same time. Don't trust the dimple markers in the end plates and wing.

[djmcnz]

It got painful as I was using actual drill bits and bare hands...

lol -

You have bits but no drill? A reamer might be a better option...!

[Grastens]

lol -

You have bits but no drill? A reamer might be a better option...!

Most likely! haha

I used drill bits after reading about how someone drilled body mount holes with them, and used it on my Avante. I succeeded (more or less) there, so thought I would try it on this project. The Lexan appears to be thicker, though... I own a Dremel, but do not have it on me as I am at school; chances are it will be making it back to me when I next go home!

And speaking of which: I also managed to cut the body and undertray today!

I may clean up the edges when my Dremel returns. None of my paints made the trip with me after the Thanksgiving break as I flew back to school, but my family visits on the 26th and are travelling by car; I could ask them to bring the paint and Dremel by then. For now, though, I am happy with how the large cut surfaces turned out and not so much with the more complex curves.

However, I did bring one can of PS-22 Racing Green and one of PS-5 Black, so my undertray is actually ready to paint once I mask off the outside (no overspray cover).

[Grastens]

Some work today, enabled by the arrival of the rear suspension blocks! The website had them finished in red, so I was a bit surprised to see them in this polished finish. Not complaining, though!

The first time, I installed the block first but it led to difficulties sliding the suspension shaft through the holes and securing it with the c-clip. On the other side I fit the shaft in the block and rear arm and then attached it to the chassis, which was a bit simpler.

I was missing one lousy c-clip, but by complete luck had four shot Buggy Champ dampers, each of which used the correct c-clips. After one shot into space when I was removing it, I took another; hence the two missing clips in this picture.

This picture was taken as I was attempting to identify which screws went where. This one fit the rear upper arm link; again this car had the Madcap rear suspension conversion and so I had no reference in my printed Astute manual, and my electronic Madcap manual failed to bring up results!

Another view of the rear suspension, useful if I have to strip the car down again! The few pictures I took when I first received the car have actually proven useful.

And now the chassis is almost complete, or it certainly looks more that way compared to how it was before the rear suspension blocks arrived.

I still need servo stay pieces, and am waiting on the Super Astute G parts and ESC. The body and undercowl again have been trimmed and drilled; the rear wing still needs the smaller endplate holes drilled and cutting. Once I cover the undercowl on the outside (no overspray film), I can actually begin on that part, while I will wait a bit for the shell due to my plans for a tri-colour scheme.

Idle observations: I am not really liking the sheen on the CRP front tires, but original fronts are very difficult to find and rather expensive, and after use the tires should be dirty enough anyways... I am kind of curious to see how I can route the motor cables so they do not interfere with the rear suspension; either receiving the ESC or reading the manual will solve that for me... I wonder where that c-clip could be?

[Grastens]

The ESC AND servo parts arrived much earlier than expected today:

So I got to installing the servo, ESC and receiver. The manual actually suggests to loop the motor cables in between the rear bulkhead and the left rear damper, which makes sense and does not appear to compromise anything in the suspension. But then again, where would the cables go?

The receiver was put in:

And now it gets exciting:

However, I am missing a servo saver. There is one from my Avante sitting in my parts bag at home, but I am not exactly at home right now... It is just as well, since the steering bellcrank is too long for my currently-mounted servo, and I will probably fashion one out of the spare threads and connectors in said parts bag if I get a hold of it anytime soon.

So the Super Astute G parts are the only new pieces I am waiting for, and then paint comes (with hopefully my spare parts bag as they will be brought up with family when they come to visit). Chassis-wise, this was a quick project; it will probably be more rewarding when the bodywork is finished!

[Grastens]

G parts arrived, so the front reinforcement part was fitted. Thanks again to kontemax who pointed out its usefulness:

I did not get the required screws, though, so once again my Buggy Champ parts came to the rescue:

The number of tools I need for this car keeps growing, as I put the shell on the chassis to make sure the ESC and receiver did not foul the body:

But the big news today is the painting of the undercowl!

I spent a lot of time masking the outside with automotive tape, and it worked beautifully.

Some light bleeds through the cowl, but I figure the paint will more or less get chipped off by rocks making it between the cowl and chassis plate. My preferred colour was PS-31 Smoke, like my Avante's undercowl, as paint chips are less visible and the chassis plate is semi-visible.

It was a windy day and I set up too close to a field; very fine dirt stuck to the undercowl. Phooey...

I never thought extra Velcro strips could prove useful for an RC car body, but here they are on my newest project!

Great value indeed...

I will be getting the stock servo saver from my Avante and a host of other parts in about a week, and no new parts are coming in through the mail (yet), so the next step will be to attach the undercowl once the paint has cured.

[Jesse James]

hey there, nice work on this project mate

just a quick word of advice on the alloy rear pivots, i'd personally run longer screws and put a 3mm nut on to lock the pivots to the chassis or use a little threadlock. but the best option is to use screws about 4-5mm longer and then some locknuts

cya

[GTodd]

Looking great bud!!!!! For your SA when I rebuilt the diff it was rebuilt with per the manual, I only used tamiya ball diff grease for the diff. Nice re-build, doing the old girl proud!!!!

[Grastens]

hey there, nice work on this project mate

just a quick word of advice on the alloy rear pivots, i'd personally run longer screws and put a 3mm nut on to lock the pivots to the chassis or use a little threadlock. but the best option is to use screws about 4-5mm longer and then some locknuts

cya

Thank you; I did use threadlock for the rear suspension blocks but will see if I have some 3mm locknuts lying around.

Looking great bud!!!!! For your SA when I rebuilt the diff it was rebuilt with per the manual, I only used tamiya ball diff grease for the diff. Nice re-build, doing the old girl proud!!!!

And thank you! For some reason the diff felt thick, but I figured it was good as when I rebuilt it the thing was spinning too freely. It loosened up a bit after some static testing to ensure all the electronics were in order, but with my current setup I figure the diff should last as long as I do not trash the car!

Since I could not fit the undercowl to the chassis plate without the cowl flexing excessively on the sides, I filed away a bit of the chassis plate on each side. The Velcro strips I attached did not last long, but with the flexing body and undercowl I may put some of the Velcro spots (pictured in the last post) on to both facilitate removal of the bodyshell and keep the upper and lower assemblies together.

[Grastens]

After a long hiatus I got some painting done:

I admit to poor documentation of this part, as there are no pictures of the shell masked as it was before painting or the rear wing. Here, I have already sprayed the shell in PS-22 Racing Green, altering the body masking and respraying it in PS-1 White. The remaining clear parts will be coloured with PS-34 Bright Red, which is a shade brighter than the PS-2 Red on the Avante I wanted it to match, but close.

The rear wing has been painted with both PS-22 and PS-1, the white section painted as sections on the endplate to stick racing numbers (like the Hop-Up Rear Wing A set from Tamiya). I will go for number 37, seeing as I have a Hotshot decal sheet around.

I will cut the endplates later tonight when the paint has cured a bit more, and hopefully by the end of the night I will have a rear wing!

[Grastens]

Finished the wing last night:

Either the paint was too thick or the Lexan used for the rear wing is thicker, as the endplates were actually difficult to cut. As the car will be run, though, I am not too worried.

Mounted on the chassis:

The team is starting to assemble...

I will probably keep the Astute clean for a bit after I finish it, though that may turn into an entire season if I do not complete it before the first heavy snowfall. I just need to spray the rest of the body in red and put on the decals.

[Percymon]

I like the white section on the end plates - gives a clear place for the numbers and a contrast to the dark green - very nice

[Grastens]

Thanks, Percymon! I think it turned out quite well too... But much to my surprise, I finished the rest of it rather quickly!

The body was finally unmasked after spraying the remaining sections with PS-34 Bright Red. I thought it looked good for a 'blind' masking:

Numbers went on next (I should have planned for number plates like on the rear wing):

A little detail inspired by the aforementioned build:

Then I plastered it in decals. I admit this is not one of the finest schemes as I did not account for the different decal colourings; I just stuck on whatever I had! The Kamtec ones were obligatory:

More GT-One decals were thrown on the back of each sidepod, almost as an afterthought:

And after reattaching some Velcro, she was complete!

I think I did a good job with applying the decals, but this part was very tricky:

No drive figure yet... I will wait to convert it to a standard Astute battery configuration to do that, where I can use the MSC mount to stick a driver bust onto the chassis (this one runs a Super Astute central battery holder):

Right next to the original bodyshell for reference... The difference in condition is more apparent in person:

And now here it is, right next to my Avante - the one that inspired the paint scheme:

Plans? Having not been around a car in such a nice condition for a while, I have entertained thoughts of selling it (make me an offer if you want ), even though the new owner will probably ditch the bodywork in favour of another scheme. But for now it is sitting right beside the Avante on my table, as seen here. I will enjoy its pristine quality while it lasts... until I bash again!

Thanks for reading! (and staying with that image-heavy post!) My showroom entry is also updated accordingly, as admittedly I dropped the ball on that one.

[Thommo]

Well done and thanks for sharing. They look great together those two and your colour scheme is unique and emphasizes the body lines nicely on both. Great job.

Great to see some tyre wear on the Avante from post #1 to #21 too

[Tamiya Era]

Outstanding bro...

[kontemax]

TAmiya Era, you need to have an Astute.

Astute is like a 2WD Avante 2001/Egress.

You must own one.

Max

[Tamiya Era]

TAmiya Era, you need to have an Astute.

Astute is like a 2WD Avante 2001/Egress.

You must own one.

Max

Loool..how did u read my mind??

Just few hours ago I was thinking of getting 1.....