It's all about the chassis.

[kanerdog1x1 36]

Ever built a car based on one single, special part? I've got to admit, I haven't before. I have had ideas of building kits with all the option parts, I've had ideas of building cars from scratch with raw materials. Some of these do happen, but I've never had a single part start and dictate the path of a car. 

 

A while back I was browsing on this here website, and stumbled across the thread detailing the Japanese action service, 'Jauce'. I took the plunge and bought this little gem with the aid of Buyee:-

 

 

I first saw this part a few years ago, possibly 15, in an imported Japanese magazine. I can't for the life of me remember where the magazine is now, having moved house a couple of times since. It is a billet aluminium lower gearbox cover for a FF01 chassis. The FF01 is my favourite chassis, and I now feel I have to build a special one, around this very special part. 

 

I have started to gather gather parts already, and am only waiting for the final pieces of the puzzle. I am however fighting with potato bucket, so will have to continue this thread later. 

[svenb 3778]

I built my hopped up tl01just because I had carbon prop shaft! The only standard parts left on the chassis are body mounts,bumper,prop gear covers and pinion cover.

just because I had the hop up prop😲

[kanerdog1x1 36]

Glad I'm not the only one then. 

 

I'm a bit unsure why this thread has been moved to the 'general' section, it's definately a build thread. 

 

While I am waiting for parts to arrive, mostly from Japan, I am able to do a few little jobs. First up is to build the diff. I started with a gear set, item 50493, and added a 53072 manta ray diff rebuild set, and the pressure plates from a TA03F Pro. I prefer the TA03 pressure plates as the parts are lighter and the fit of the hex parts is generally much nicer than manta ray parts. 

 

 

Even though all the parts are new, I like to build the diff properly. Firstly I sand the plates, even the thrust plates. This ensures any tight spots are eliminated. P400 waterproof finishing paper and little squirt of lighter fluid as lubricant. 

 

 

Then the build. I thoroughly clean all the parts with IPA, again even though they are new. I build the main balls with the smallest amount of Associated diff lube, and the thrust with normal moly-slip. After tightening the diff down fully, I back it off a full turn, and make it 'slip'. I bought the blue diff tool years ago, any to be honest I didn't think I'd use it again as all the new cars come with oil filled gear diffs. 

 

 

Making it slip beds the diff balls into the rings and scores them a track into which they can grip. Upon retightening the bolt fully, you are rewarded with a buttery smooth diff that still has plenty of resistance. It has been a long time since I have built a ball diff, but it is a very rewarding exercise.

 

The other little job I have done is to convert the aluminium wheel hexes to captive. I love the aluminium parts that are now more easily available for these older models, and I also love to modify parts to make them more user freindly. 

These wheel hexes are from eBay user precisiongeek, I have more of his parts that I will use later in the build. After drilling one of the flats on the hex on the pillar drill at work, I sent an m3 tap up it, so that I can install a grub screw to stop it falling off while the wheels are removed. This is something that we used to do to the tamiya hexes, but they didn't last long as they were pocketed to save weight and you had to be careful not to strip the threads. 

 

 

I will take stock of what I have, and what I am missing over the next few days, but I should be able to continue the build soon. 

 

 

[Grastens 2795]

11 minutes ago, kanerdog1x1 said:

Then the build. I thoroughly clean all the parts with IPA, again even though they are new.

I have this weird vision of parts being washed in India Pale Ale  I mean, while it is not everyone's favourite beverage, surely it cannot be that strong?

More relevant: this is an interesting approach to a build. I look forward to seeing it unfold!

[kanerdog1x1 36]

Brilliant! 

 

I once got IPA in my eye. It says on the can, 'Causes serious eye irritation'. They aren't lying. Serious business folks, wear safety glasses. 

[ChrisRx718 4470]

Aw fantastic. Never really followed the FF01 chassis and haven't ever owned one - the FF02 was already established when I arrived in the Hobby. 

I've just recently gathered all the parts to build another TA03R-S purely because I had a chassis bathtub. For anyone who's ever built a TA03 you will be aware of just how many parts I have had to procure. Madness really - would've been more sensible to buy a donor chassis!

Edited June 19, 2016 by ChrisRx718
Can't spell for toffee

[kanerdog1x1 36]

I feel your pain, the TA03 was a very parts hungry kit, being both a belt and gear drive car made it over complicated. I raced a FF01 back in the day, it was the first chassis a raced with. Luckily I still have that old chassis, I'll get some pictures of it from back in the day and how it is now. I have had a soft spot for them all this time, and buy whatever parts I find in shops as I see them so I have a decent stash of kits and spares. Some parts are hard to find at times, but not impossible to get hold of.

[XV Pilot 1936]

Looking forward to following this build!

 

I too am a former FF-01 racer - it was my first race chassis too. I sold my original years ago to fund an overseas trip, but have since built a replacement that I have kept mostly stock apart from ballraced alloy steering rack and black alloy knuckles. I am interested to see how your hopped-up one turns out!

[kanerdog1x1 36]

This will have a few aluminium hop-ups too, as well as s couple of custom items. 

 

I've been up in the loft gathering stuff together. All I'm short of at the moment is a separate 'B' parts, I have two in kits but not one on its own. Pretty much everything else I have duplicates of. 

 

 

Some of the more interesting parts. 

 

 

 

 

These are the limited edition white  'D' parts, unfortunately I don't have the track rod ends or the servo posts, but I'm going to be using aluminium servo posts anyway. 

 

 

Here you can see the CC01 type uprights, that I have sleeved down for 3mm pivot pins with brass tube and green loctite. 

 

 

And these are the very hard to find 53166 'J' parts. I found these on buyee, and although they cost more than a FRP chassis kit did back in the day, I couldn't do without.

 

 

I'm just waiting now for some M3 JIS machine screws to arrive, there's no chance in going to try and put self tappers in all of these 20yo+ polycarbonate parts. Instead I'll carefully tap them with an M3 tap and just assemble kit as normal. The JIS heads will look just like Tamiya screws. 

 

👍

 

[kontemax 1725]

Many nice parts.

 

Max

[kanerdog1x1 36]

Thanks max. 

 

At last, the package I have been waiting for! I ordered these screws specially from Japan through a contact we have at work. 

 

 

They are *almost* a perfect match for the Tamiya screws. The only difference visible is the colour, the Tamiya screws of course are zinc plated so have a blue colour to them, these stainless machine screws are the classic brown colour. 

 

 

In both cases, the screw on the left is Tamiya, the screw on the right is JIS M3. I have bought way too many, but they will be handy in other builds in the future also. I am very busy this week with two club race meetings, but I should be able to start assembly at the weekend.  

 

 

[kanerdog1x1 36]

Ha! Flerbizky, off of pbmag? Small world eh?

[kanerdog1x1 36]

While I was building the Mini back up yesterday, I found the axles I bought from precisiongeek. I knew I had some, and Iv been searching for weeks for them...

 

Anyway, I took them to work today to turn them down. I want to use them on the rear of the car, so don't need the cup. 

 

 

Easy-peasy when you have a lathe.

 

Still need one part, the 'B' parts, but they're pretty easy to get hold of. 

 

Now just need a spare afternoon to assemble the thing. 

[kanerdog1x1 36]

At last, free time! And as a bonus the weather is kind, so I can do this outside. 

 

It all starts here, the key part of the FF01, the front gear case. It too is starting to become a hard to find part, this one was from a German seller last year. 

 

 

 

And the part that started this whole build, in my mind a beautiful piece of machining. 

 

 

A few minutes into the build and I am very happy, reminded of how nice a tamiya kit is to assemble. 

 

 

These layshaft and idler shafts I made at work from titanium. I completely forgot I had these! 

 

 

Hand ground to size. 

 

 

Op144. This is a fantastic option part, and I use these parts on many builds. 

 

 

It replaces the step screws which can work loose and end a race run. Much more reliable. 

 

 

And the front module almost complete. I was worried the aluminium and white parts would look 'too much', but I am no longer worried. 

 

 

More later, as I move onto the middle and rear ends. 

[kanerdog1x1 36]

It was hard to open these packets. Almost as hard as it was to track them down. 

 

 

I'm glad I did though. My other hopped up FF01 has the FRP chassis set, but I couldn't afford the carbon plates all BITD. the quality is very good, they have that 90's dry look to them under the protective film. 

 

 

After using an M3 tap for all of the threaded holes everything goes together so easily, and there's no chance of splitting the ageing plastic. 

 

 

Very happy with the Eagle billet aluminium rear hanger. 

 

 

So close. 

 

 

Just the dampers to build next.

[kanerdog1x1 36]

They're actually pretty much done, but I dropped one of the TGX bushes in the grass. Took me a few mins to find it. They're much more accurate than the kit supplied bush. 

 

 

Part number is 50591, and they fit the standard and low friction dampers perfectly. 

 

 

My trusty tap and wrench, tackling one of the screw holes I forgot!

 

 

The final stages are very close. 

[kanerdog1x1 36]

And pretty much done. 

 

 

Thats as far as I can go. I thought I had the metal posts that hold the steering bell cranks, but I can't find them. That is a very hard part to find, but no problem as I can make a couple of replacements at work. 

 

I am very happy with this build, the parts work really well together. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The motor was a donation from a friend, recently. He used to race BITD also, but years before I knew him. It's a Demon Power motor, unkown wind but probably 27x1 as the end bell is keyed and sealed. I think it suits the pink low friction dampers. 

 

I'll upload some pics also of a couple of my other cars. 

[kanerdog1x1 36]

Some other pics. 

 

 

The first chassis is my first ever proper car, it was a tiger stripe Escort Cosworth. It's a bit like triggers broom, pretty much everything has been replaced at least once. At first it was just a basher, but after getting into racing there was an interest in racing 'old' cars, even 15 years ago so it was raced for a while. That's why it is in relatively good condition now, you can't have a worn out car to race, it has to be well prepared to get the most out of it. I tried it with a TA02 chassis once, but preferred the TA01 layout on the high grip combination of carpet and mini pins. 

 

 

The second car is a recent acquisition, a new build completely standard FF01, it's a shame it's radio gear is a little too modern. 

 

 

The third is my original FF01, this was an Opel Vectra to begin with. It was the first car I raced, I upgraded it as I got better but eventually succumbed to the lure of 4wd and bought a Yokomo. 

 

 

Here is the car BITD. 

 

 

As soon as I get the steering posts made up I can complete the car. I'm not sure I'll put tyres or a body on it, as 'it's all about the chassis'. 

[kontemax 1725]

Very nice models!

Did you race it with exposed gears? Why?

 

 

Max

[kanerdog1x1 36]

Thanks max. I saw the open gears in a Japanese magazine years ago, it looked like a good idea. I only used the car to race indoors on carpet so it was never a problem. I still have that open cover but it was very crudely cut and filed and doesn't look as good as I remember. 

[Flerbizky 225]

On 27. juni 2016 at 10:28 PM, kanerdog1x1 said:

Ha! Flerbizky, off of pbmag? Small world eh?

The one and only (:

[kanerdog1x1 36]

Finally got around to spinning up some posts for the steering arms, and fitted them up this evening. 

 

 

 

The shorter tie rods are made from TA04 upper arms I think, I had these in the spares box. The longer one to join the two bell cranks is from an Avante I think. 

 

 

I have a bit of a thing for Kyosho perfex radio equipment at the moment, this was a new servo I fitted. I have the receiver and an esc to go with, but I need to work out a way to fit them tidy, as there's not much room in front of the battery. 

 

 

 

Getting close to being somewhere near finished now. 

[TwistedxSlayer 1290]

I've not built a chassis around one special part. But I am an absolute softie for the TB-01 and everything about it.

[kontemax 1725]

This model deserves the adjustable turnbuckles upper arms.

 

Max

[kanerdog1x1 36]

Hey. 

 

And max, I don't agree. The adjustable upper arms allow too much flex in the suspension that allows lots of axle tramp, this is true especially on a FWD car. I had the adjustable arms fitted on my original car, and the handling was far more consistent with the fixed upper arms. This is also true with m chassis cars. No one in their right mind would put adjustable arms on the front of an m05, it ruins the consistency.