neverfollow 599 Posted February 9, 2014 Grastens, Dave..thank you guys. Both of you have been a great help throughout this build. If I had more hands, I'd give you gents more thumbs up! I was on the fence about the wing, I thought the Awesome! was a little pompous..lol. But it does fill the space nicely. I also thought since it's not 100% Astute, I'd do something different. Like the decal differences between an Avante and an Avante Black Special. Who knows, maybe i'll change it in the future because the Awesome! decal fits the space properly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sidewaysdave69 188 Posted February 9, 2014 neverfollow why did you go for the kamtec body and not the *****? just wondering as I need a new body for mines. after a disastrous paint job a few years ago. I was using Tamiya anodised aluminium and it turned to poo, so it ended up orange on the outside. thank god it wasn't a Tamiya body. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neverfollow 599 Posted February 9, 2014 Not too sure what the ***** body is Dave. Went with Kamtec because I thought they were my only choice. It is a nice shell though I must say. Pretty much spot on with the Tamiya shell, besides the Kamtec being thicker and stronger. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neverfollow 599 Posted February 9, 2014 Can't forget to thank Kontemax. Max, without your detailed write ups, I wouldn't of known where to start. Additionally, Percymon and Jesse had some great info for me. Everyone so kind and willing to help. I am very thankful to all, and I am so happy to be a member here at Tamiya Club. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
InsaneJim69 1584 Posted February 9, 2014 Same decals I purchased for my Vantage body, and tbh I found them utter rubbish after 2 runs they are scrapping away revealing white underneath Ended up buying proper Tamiya Astute decals, but the whole car does look fabulous. Love the whole work that has went into this build James 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neverfollow 599 Posted February 10, 2014 Good to know, thanks James. Sourcing out original decals proved challenging to me, so I went with the easier option. And thanks for your kind words! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crash Cramer 617 Posted February 21, 2014 Holy cow, who would have thought of all these upgrades to an Astute. I sure hope you find yourself a whole new set of tires and wheels as those are the things you can't get more of without spending a good amount of money. If you want to go old school, HPI stars would do the trick, have the hex fitting for the rears and the bearing mounts for the fronts and will use all 2" tires. You could go with some newer Tamiya 2WD wheels and tires too, just have to make sure the offsets will mesh and not foul against the uprights as well as getting those fronts with bearing mounts. A&L are still in business??? I meant to get one a few years back for my Astute, but seemed I didn't have the same luck you did with contacting them, but mind you that is at least 5 years ago now. I have a full set of Robinson gears to go into my Astute runner, but I don't plan on running it too hard since I shattered my D parts that mount the rear arms to the chassis, bought alu replacements and will run it mildly, probably with a silver can when I rebuild it and will need to fit my Super Astute battery stay into my Astute chassis as well. Great looking Frankenstute you have built. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tamiya Era 778 Posted February 21, 2014 What a lovely look!!!...sexy.. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EddScott 134 Posted February 21, 2014 How do you find the Manta Ray alloy steering cranks? I have them, at the moment, on my astute build. The cranks themselves are not dead straight and to mount the cranks in the positions the astute requires the angle is pointing in. How do you find the steering angles on your car? I've not been happy with mine so far. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neverfollow 599 Posted February 21, 2014 Thank you fellas for the kind words. EddScott, I did notice what you mention, so I used a turn buckle between the two cranks to try to get it right. Seems ok, but I haven't really driven it yet. Just around my basement, but it seems like it will be ok. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neverfollow 599 Posted February 22, 2014 While looking over the build with a fine tooth comb, I noticed a small crack in the front D part, where it mounts to the front damper stays. So I replaced it, and reinforced it (hopefully). We'll see how this turns out. New part Front suspension removed D part removed New D part ready for install Assembled with mounts for reinforcement Turnbuckle installed to tie in the two points Also tied in these two points to eliminate any torsional flex All done Can't wait til the weather here improves..I need to run the pants off of this guy and see how he does! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jesse James 13 Posted February 28, 2014 Hey mate. I'd be interested to hear how much your buggy weighs fully loaded ready to run Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neverfollow 599 Posted February 28, 2014 Hey Jesse, just weighed it now on a home scale. Not sure how accurate it is. But I got 2lbs or about .9 kilos Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jesse James 13 Posted March 1, 2014 Kool yeah doesn't sound too accurate. I think with battery etc your car should be closer to 2kg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rusty Controls 1 Posted March 13, 2014 WOW! Very nice build lots of work in this Astute. I watched the video of the car on the stand - I need to say you have too much brake dialed into the speed control, the brakes should only stop the wheels that fast if you push on the brakes. You will wear out the belt and top gear needlessly fast with that much nutural brake in the speed control. Should be able to get 150 runs or so out of a belt and top gear with everything set correctly. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neverfollow 599 Posted March 13, 2014 Thanks Rusty, and yes you are correct. That motor and ESC came out of one of my touring cars and was set up accordingly. Since that video the "tuning" of the ESC has been changed, but thanks for noticing! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rusty Controls 1 Posted March 13, 2014 Let me know how it works for you, and if you have any issues. The is a racer running a LW equipped Astute in Australia - he is doing well with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neverfollow 599 Posted April 7, 2014 Well, I got to send my Astute on it's maiden run. Unfortunately, it wasn't pretty. Got about 10 minutes out of it before both rear control arm mounts cracked, and the slipper clutch had a melt down. But I must say, it was fun to drive. I was running it on short grass and it accelerated and handled really well. It pulls the front wheels up at speed. I put in an email to Darly at A&L, hopefully I can get the clipper clutch parts I need separately. I had new rear control arm mounts, so that's already been fixed. Here's a couple of pics of the damage. Here you can see how the spur gear melted to the clutch plate And also spit out the friction material Spur gear welded itself to the clutch plate And the broken rear arm mounts I was preparing to take video but that's going to have to put off until a later date. Hope to have it back in action asap. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crash Cramer 617 Posted April 7, 2014 OUCH OUCH OUCH. I don't remember who made them, but a few years ago I snapped up some Alu D parts for mounting the rear arms to the chassis. I hope you source some of those since that D tree isn't all to easy to find cheaply these days. I didn't have more than a stock motor in mine and it cracked those bits nearly identical to yours. I do need to motivate myself to getting mine back together and out on some dirt. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kontemax 1725 Posted April 7, 2014 Use Madcap parts, they are perfect fit and are stronger. I don't understand how did you melt the friction plates. Max 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MetBoy 22 Posted April 7, 2014 Expensive, but very nice. http://www.pargustore.com/tamiya-astute-rear-arm-mount-set.html I thought mine were silver. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo 1217 Posted April 7, 2014 Notice how the cracks originate from the press nut mounting point which is the weak spot. This is always the way with Astute D1 parts. They were possibly already hairline cracked even from normal tightening so be very careful if you are using Astute D1's as replacement. These guys are all spot on with their suggestions, either Pargu alloy or Madcap C1 parts if you have them. The Madcap C1 part is more robust and you can m3 tap thread into the part and use m3 x 10mm long counter sink screws (no press nuts required). 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neverfollow 599 Posted April 7, 2014 Thanks for the advice guys..I believe I may have replaced them with either super astute or mad cap mounts. I have a box of parts trees I collected during this build, and unfortunately I didn't do a good job labeling them. If the break again, I will definitely go the alloy route. I think they were the only original parts of the car besides the chassis plate. So it was no surprise that the 25 year old plastic didn't hold up. I'm assuming I didn't have the clutch set up tight enough, caused a lot of slip, and over heated it. Either that, or my ratio. Can you wise men tell me what ratio pinion/spur you're running? Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kontemax 1725 Posted April 7, 2014 If you have an hot motor the gear ratio must be 1:10 or more. Max 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neverfollow 599 Posted April 7, 2014 83T spur and 25T pinion give me a ratio of 3.32...is that correct? Maybe I should go with a smaller spur for less load/heat? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites