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Bomba01

Astute The Rebirth

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Hi All,

I'm very excited to share my latest project B)

Many of you will recognise this car, I won it on fleabay a couple of weeks back and after contacting the seller it turned out the seller was fellow member neverfollow.

Link to his original thread http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/71961-astute-restoration-with-modifications/&page=1

I'll start with a brief run down of where it's at and where it's going.

All cars start somewhere and this is how it was when neverfollow acquired it from japan

Japan.pngNew Jersey.jpg

Current parts:

A&L lethal weapon trans (soooo much sexy :wub:)

Stadium Blitzer front + rear hubs

F103 carbon reinforced front uprights

Super Astute G4  support

TA-04 Pro steering linkage

TA-04 Pro aluminum servo mounts

Super astute front + rear arms

DF-03 CVD's

Super Astute battery tray

Avante upper links front and rear 

Front carbon fibre turnbuckle brace

Alloy D1 suspension blocks

Standard yellow kit shocks (neverfollow kept his Hi-caps for obvious reasons)

Standard kit wheels

Pictured is how neverfollow had it when completed his restoration

3AA3E4A8-6016-48F4-93DA-1A70067FBF25_zpstw00imou.jpg

Here is where it's at now:

Other than removal of the shocks I haven't touched the frontend and the rear end has only been stripped and put back together whilst I contemplate upgrades.

I will re strip the car and clean up everything once I'm happy with it and post more pics as I go.

IMAG2946.jpg

Test fit of battery and servo.

IMAG2947.jpg

As it is an Astute, holes will need to be drilled for the Super Astute battery tray. Bel (neverfollow) originally drilled holes for various mounting trials but they aren't suited to where I want them for my particular battery option.

Planed upgrades are as follows:

Modern turnbuckles

Rear carbon turnbuckle support brace

Modern wheels and tyres

Lipo battery

BZ superstock or similar motor (I have a few vintage motors I may throw in for fun depending on my mood)

TBLE-02 ESC (have one leftover from my re-re monster beetle purchase) 

Shocks... This one is tough, I've always loved hi caps and am leaning towards them but as it's going to be a runner I feel the TRF aeration dampers could be a better option with a lot more tunability. I'm open to suggestions/opinions here :)

Please feel free to add any other suggestions keeping in mind I'm after reliability first and foremost. I know the A&L can handle a lot more motor and I may increase motor options as I grow confident with the car. One thing I love about it is the ability to run any 48p spur and pinion combo so gearing options are endless. FYI internal gear ratio is 2.22, pretty close to most buggies 2.6 :)

That's it for now, stay tuned for progress updates :D

5D08521C-438F-4A7A-A269-A214BEA353F7_zpsteftlnza.jpg

A&L1.jpg

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Found some time to disassemble the car and clean all chassis parts and plastics

chassisparts1.jpg

Polished the chassis as best I could but it's a well used part and this is about as good as it gets for now...

plastics1.jpg

Plastics came up well :)

All bearings are cleaned and oiled, rods and shafts are cleaned and all screws, bolts and nuts have been cleaned or will be renewed as necessary.

As this is being built as a reliable runner I have ordered 3D printed parts from ORB racing for the D4, D5 bulkheads and the G4 super astute brace.

This way I can keep the original parts safe from breakage and can go back on if/when the car gets retired.

New modern turnbuckles are on order and will help with lowering the weight of the car.

Current setup with Stadium Blitzer rear hubs means it runs DF03 CVD's but I am investigating using TRF201 CVD's so that I can run TRF wheels. I currently have plenty of wheels and tyres from my TRF201 racer and this will help with costs

CVDs1.jpg

Top TRF CVD, Bottom DF03 CVD.

As you can see overall length is the same but the outdrive part is very different in length. I feel with some correct shimming it should work, but I will work on this once all parts on order have arrived and things start going back together.

I have decided to go with Aeration dampers as I have a spare set with plenty of spring choices and this will allow for more tunability and help keep costs down.

I also have a sheet of 3mm carbon fibre on the way and will be making my own shock towers and some reinforcing braces. This will allow me to adjust for the slightly longer TRF shocks and also as with the plastic parts allow me to keep the original towers for retirement. 

That's all for now, just playing the waiting game on parts arrival....  -_-

workbench.jpg

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I'm curious about your setup for carbon cutting as I want to invest in this too. 

So I expect soms pictures :-)

This Astute will be awesome.

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I'm just as curious <_<

I'll be starting with the basics of masking tape template and the trusty dremel. I've done some research into carbide bits but I have plenty of standard dremel cutoff wheels, router bits etc so I will see what happens!

Obviously any tips/tricks will be mucho appreciated B)

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So some parts finally turned up :)

DF-02 turnbuckles, I have these on my Gravel Hound and prior to disassembly I test fitted them to see if the fitment was right and they are spot on.

Turnbuckles.jpg

Shaved the rear Blitzer Beetle hubs as per Max's suggestion in his astute guide, this allows clearance for the shock bodies.

rearhubs.jpg 

All ready for install, just waiting on more parts....

rearset.jpg

That's it for now, next update will be bigger as the 3D printed parts should be here, living in Australia does have some distance drawbacks... (everything else is awesome though :P) and the build can begin!

 

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On August 28, 2016 at 5:27 AM, Bomba01 said:

I'm just as curious <_<

I'll be starting with the basics of masking tape template and the trusty dremel. I've done some research into carbide bits but I have plenty of standard dremel cutoff wheels, router bits etc so I will see what happens!

Obviously any tips/tricks will be mucho appreciated B)

That's the route I went when I made a CF chassis for my TG10 brushless conversion. I used the original chassis as a template, bolted the two together, and cut with the dremel and smoothed it all out with the router bits.

7BF2B9EC-2F5D-41F3-90AD-1445549D375C_zps

E58518DD-150E-422A-903B-98E1FD656AB6_zps

8318CD31-07D6-4DC9-85E1-05271568421B_zps

164727AA-5A5D-4FFC-9705-849E2C84C58D_zps

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1 hour ago, TamiyaBB said:

How do you collect the dust?

I was in my garage and was wearing eye protection, long sleeves, gloves, and of course a respirator mask. When done I used a small vacuum and a damp cloth to clean up my mess :D

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Thanks Bel,

I as going to experiment with the dremel. I have a semi enclosed outdoor area and all the protection you have stated. Hopefully the bits come up well and I can make a new chassis too...

Still waiting on the sheet to arrive as well as some other bits -_-

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Got home yesterday to slip in the mailbox for a parcel pick up on Monday :angry: Whole rainy weekend off and no parts to play with!

1 part I've been waiting for did however arrive during the week.

As I would like to preserve as many of the hard to get super astute parts as possible I searched for a runner replacement for the SA battery holder and came up with a 150mm x 50mm universal tray from Tekno RC.

batt1.jpg

After measuring the chassis distance between the servo and gearbox I decided it would be a perfect fit. However I neglected to account for the mounting holes for the tower stand offs and also the rear arm clearance..

.battfit.jpg

Simple solution was to trim one end down and shift it forward

battshave.jpgbattfit2.jpg

battfit4.jpgbattfit5.jpg

battfit3.jpg

I still haven't drilled the mounting holes just in case I change my mind. I will wait till the ORB racing parts arrive and I can do a full mock up but I am fairly confident this will be the end solution.

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Parts have arrived :D

3Dprint1.jpg

Extremely happy with the quality, ended up getting the steering arms too as I was unhappy with the restrictive steering lock of the ta04 parts.

Test fitted the stock towers to check for clearances and fitment

3drear.jpg3drearfit2.jpg3drearfit1.jpg

Due to the much beefier rear support my original idea of following Max's design for a rear brace (between the turnbuckle attachment points) wont work but I believe it will now be unnecessary anyway.

3dfront.jpg

Front fitment is spot on, much happier with the steering arms, ta04 arm was too low creating a large downwards angle between the servo saver and the arm. The arm also clashed with the G4 rear mount and no amount of spacing rectified it.

Test fitment of a front assembly went well, all parts lined up and the DF02 turnbuckle looks right at home. When I design the new tower I might move the turnbuckle mounting point out a bit to shorten up the turnbuckle length and create a slightly stronger and less flexible connection. There is plenty of thread inside the ends but rears are less flexible with more thread inside the ends.

3dfrontfit1.jpg3dfrontfit2.jpg

Rear turnbuckle again looks right at home, might use a slightly larger spacer to create a more parallel angle.

3drearfit3.jpgrearfit4.jpg

Did a quick check with the TRF201 CVD and it looks like they won't work as to get the axle to protrude enough to fit the drive pin means they don't slot into the drive cup enough to allow for safe running without coming out. This is a shame as I really wanted to use pin type TRF rear wheels on this build...

That's all for now, starting to look like a car again, just need my carbon fibre sheet to arrive so I can move forward with the towers and shock fitment.

testfit1.jpg

 

  

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Got a lot of work done recently,

firstly installed the battery tray and fitted the battery.

The straps go under the tray which raises it a little but I'm ok with this as I will be running the servo and esc wires under to achieve a more stealth look

battery1.jpg

There is 2-3mm between the servo and the battery and I will attach a piece of sponge tape to the servo to snug this up.

Next post is the biggie as I have finished my carbon towers :D  

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Ok so here is the carbon work I have done

First the sheet (approx a4 size 3mm thick)

carbonsheet.jpg

I then created a template for the front tower.

fronttemplate.jpgfronttemplate1.jpg

I needed more height as the shocks I am using will be longer. I also needed to move the top mount outwards as the bottom spring retainers were fouling on the arms.

I also wanted to shorten up the turnbuckle lengths for added strength and less flex so I moved the tower mounting point out (3-3.5mm), and slightly down (2mm) to attempt to keep the same angle.

Next I set up my work station and suited up!

Long clothes, mask, goggles and gloves for the PPE and offcuts of wood, clamps, mini vice, dremel, drill and shop vac were my tools.

work1.jpg

Clamped and ready for cutting

tools.jpg

Dremel with cut off wheel and sanding drum

mask.jpg

Good quality double filtration mask is must

minivice.jpg

Bought this little baby years ago at the hardware store, has been invaluable over the years.

Running out of upload allowance so next post! 

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Great Stuff !

Mate, you might want to get in touch with the boys at ORB again.  I think I remember Paul was designing a rear hub to run TRF201 shafts on Dyna Storm......  

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Towers done :P

Front tower was a little more complicated to cut out than the rear but I think it came up well.

I roughly cut out the shape then clamped it in my mini vice and slowly and methodically shaped it with the sanding drum. I was very surprised at how well the drum worked. The key was to have a steady hand and sand a little, check, sand check and so on

front1.jpg

Ignore the scratches, they buffed out with some car polish.

frontdone1.jpg

As you can see I went for taller with slightly wider mounting points

frontinstall.jpg

frontinstall2.jpg

Rear was easier as there were less complex curves

reardone.jpg

reardone1.jpg

reardone2.jpg

rearinstall.jpg

rearinstall1.jpgrearinstall2.jpg

I'm very happy with the way they turned out :wub:

Shocks are next,

They are pulled apart, cleaned and awaiting my shock tool and some mounting hardware to arrive before reassembly and install.

Then it will be electrics, wheels, tyres and body and it'll be ready for testing!

Electrics will initially be a brushed setup:

Servo (already installed) is a Turnigy brushless metal gear that I had lying around

futaba mc330cr esc (I like the small footprint and it will handle down to a 13T) 

ORX GR400s receiver (2.4g and very small)

Motor will be either be: Kyosho Le mans High speed (my fav vintage motor) or a Tamiya superstock BZ (cause it's sexy and will look good with my blue bits :rolleyes:)

Battery is a 4200mah 40-80c Turnigy Lipo hardcase which is designed for vintage cars but is actually a little large for most vintage. It's still a very good battery, ROAR approved and I currently run one in my DF-02 racer

Wheels and tyres TBA (I do know but I'm not sharing until it's done :ph34r:)

Body will be a choice of 3, 2 runners and 1 for the shelf. As with the wheels, colour scheme and decals will not be divulged until the final reveal!

Hopefully my shock tool and hardware turns up soon and the next update isn't too far away :) 

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18 minutes ago, Thommo said:

Great Stuff !

Mate, you might want to get in touch with the boys at ORB again.  I think I remember Paul was designing a rear hub to run TRF201 shafts on Dyna Storm......  

I will definitely look into this

Thanks Thommo

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Quick update,

Shocks are built but I'm still waiting on the mounting nuts to finish them off so no pics till they're 100% complete. needless to say I am very happy with them but more on that in the next post. 

However I have installed the electrics

The servo wires are very long so I had to get creative with achieving a stealth look. There is sponge tape between the battery and servo so I used the recess underneath the tape to coil the wire then ran it under the battery tray to the receiver.

The ESC and power switch wires are a lot shorter so it was just a matter of running them under the tray.

The tray is raised slightly with sponge tape and I intentionally left channels just for this purpose as to not squash the wires and possibly break them during running. 

electrics3.jpg

electrics2.jpg

electrics1.jpg

I test fitted a motor and I may still reduce/change the ESC wires and connection as they are very long and makes for a messy install

I have started on the display shell and the runner shells are ready so not long now.

Still waiting on the runner wheels and tyres but I will post completed pics with the stock wheels as they are my favorite of all wheels ever made anyway.

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So all the bits needed for the shocks have finally arrived

Shock tool was the most important! If you're rebuilding shocks a lot then one of these is invaluable

shocktool.jpg

Components of an aeration damper, I had to put a spacer in the rear to shorten the rod length as the current CVD's bind at full extension

shocks4.jpg

All packed and greased up nicely then put together awaiting oil, bleeding and install

shocks5.jpgshocks6.jpg

Installed :)

I went with hard rear springs with a 35wt oil and medium fronts with 30wt.

shocks1.jpg

I do love blue bling :wub:

shocks2.jpg

shocks3.jpg

I've bench tested all electrics with a donor motor and all works well. Initial gearing will be a 25t pinion with the 93t spur giving me a FDR of 8.25:1

Suspension feels nice and smooth and I'm confident I'm pretty close with the toe/camber/ride height settings for an initial run.

Still waiting on the sticker set for the display shell, tyres for the runner wheels and the superstock bz motor but it's basically done. Not long now, stay tuned :D 

 

 

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Got to love it when the postman arrives on a friday :D 

wheels.jpg

Motor and runner wheels and tyres! still no display shell decals but I couldn't help myself so here she is all ready with the runner shell, different wheel options and motor installed :)

runner1.jpg

runner2.jpg

runner4.jpg

runner3.jpg

You can see the difference in wheel height clearly above.

I love the look of the kit wheels and tyres but I like the modern option for running as they will help absorb some of the abuse...

The shell came to me with a "not to my taste" red and green paint job which I stripped with brake fluid and resprayed. I did this shell 10yrs ago as a runner shell for my now shelf queen super astute and still looks great although a bit ratty around the mounts and edges.

oldshell.jpgpost-21800-1188689210.jpg

Colour is PS46 iridescent purple/green which looks very purple with flash photography but in daylight is much more sedate and the colour change is more apparent.  

You only need an couple of light coats then back it in black.

The TRF decals are taken from a TRF201 sticker set and the AWESOME sticker was leftover from Bel's original repro decal set. 

The original wing was in good nic but is now trashed so I opted for a spare TRF201 wing I had that I think works and I think the AWESOME sticker looks right at home on it.

I think this what Tamiya would have done if today's TRF options were around back then B)B)B)

runner5.jpgrunner6.jpg

Motor look gorgeous with the blue bits and hopefully will give me all the punch I need.

motor1.jpg

motor2.jpg

Weighs in at 1465g with the original wheels and tyres so with a full set of runner wheels it should tip the scales @ about 1520g

weight.jpg

weights.jpg

Once I test her on the track I will more than likely add some weight to the front end to get the balance right as she is very tail heavy right now and I have some cheap 3racing stick on weights to work with.

Hopefully my display decals turn up early next week and I can post some more finished pics then go and get her dirty!

 

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I was hoping to find some time to get a run in but I've been a bit busy with other stuff but I did manage to get the display shell done and get some outside shots done

Hope you all like it, The rear wing decal looks a lot bluer in the pics than in real life, mirror decals are very hard to photograph...

Enjoy!

display1.jpg

display2.jpg

display3.jpg

 

display4.jpg

display5.jpg

display6.jpg

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I am so happy it went to the right home! Great work, love all the TRF goodies. It looks like it's going to drive better than it ever did. 

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