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Juls1

FF-01 Opel vectra sympathetic restoration.

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Back when I was 17 I bought a new in box FF01 chassis Opel vectra from a guy at work. I built it up, did a dodgy red paint job and ditched 99% of the stickers. Dropped a 12x2 brushed motor in it (actually there was no brushless or Lipo in those days!) and basically burned rubber in straight lines everywhere and drove into curbs and walls while having nearly no control of the car in a continuous fashion. I never really got the car, it didn't turn, it didn't slow down, it didn't grip.. it just didn't. So by the time I was 18 the car was dumped in its box never to be looked at again. Fast forward 18 years and I don't know where the rest of the car went, but I think it deserves to be made into the car it should have been. With the release of the ff03 has ment I can buy the Opel vectra shell again and start this process from scratch, of course ff01 parts are a bit thin these days. Pictures below show what I'm starting with. I've got about 10 orders coming from all corners of the earth to get this thing back up and running in the coming week. 

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Good luck with the resto;)

I don't really get FWD, but I think you should fully hop it up! should only cost £££££££££££££££:o

sven

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I really dig the ff chassis , as long as your front gearbox is in good condition it should be fairly easy to find .

When I rebuilt mine I pretty much had to replace all the plastics but since it came with a bunch of hop ups I went for it.

If you are needing any bits for the rebuild drop me a pm and I'll go through the boxes

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So a new frp chassis kit from Tony's, I assume broken out of a Porsche yagermeister kit. I have the other spare parts I need from a second hand chassis I bought. But saw the fresh plates and plastics fairly cheap and went for it. 

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Some fresh plastics from 3 different sellers, my freight bill is mounting, and the parts where hardly good value, especially the fresh gearbox. Price I pay for waiting 18 years to do this, oh well, I've actually got the funds to do this now though. 

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Some more bits arrived.

TRF shock set 42102

Top force SS hinge pin kit

yeah racing bearing kit.

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5mm Fluorine coated ball connectors 53598

Tamiya Anodized blue turnbuckles and ball connectors.

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Fwd touring gear set 50493

Manga ray diff ball and plates 53072

hardened drive cups 53217

cc01 universals 54608

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Yeah racing bits

TA-01/2 rear hub

TA-01/2 Front C Hub

CC-01 Front knuckle arms

Servo mount

lock on drive hexes.

also got yeah alloy kingpins but wrong size, my bad. Have to go with tamiya ones.

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Started putting her together I’m still waiting on a few bits but can get most of it done1C1586CA-6F8A-489F-9E98-4DD158A96E44.jpeg.62a23baaa06ca03c290bfa9198003368.jpegfirst we start on the frp chassis. 

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Ive got a blue steering rack coming, but this will do for now. 

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Hook up the front end rear.

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Freshly rebuilt ball diff, new front arms, hardened diff outdrives

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On goes some adjustable turnbuckles and yeah racing c hubs.7A34D3EB-DDFA-4DD6-B958-AAC82B765BBA.jpeg.03f0d7da6abde55d6a03589365fcc248.jpeg

CC01 universal shafts, and yeah racing cc01 knuckles. Tamiya light weight kingpins.9AAC5E45-0419-412C-8239-F3EF47118244.jpeg.08893b366cf3d75c2e852991168b9e40.jpeg

installed, with yeah racing clamping hexes.5AA4082E-3A89-4265-8260-72EDB01FF191.jpeg.3a381bff629c4e284ceca333d38a2a3c.jpeg

Yeah racing rear knuckles and hexes. Hinge pin kit from tamiya top force. Tamiya adjustable turnbuckles.126DD3DC-B1D5-40D4-955E-443F61804623.jpeg.1f96b8678f9f9404a78a8dfffa87a97a.jpeg85269ADC-240D-4FF6-A9EB-9B979DB16B1A.jpeg.5e909668b764d3bc1baa61225e46b4e0.jpeg

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Set of 55mm trf touring car shocks.

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Certainly look nice installed! 0F43BE85-46BC-4B1D-96D1-BD276E540CAA.jpeg.5bf2ab6f6b86133105b8b71ee3ce2a2b.jpeg6E107C82-9BC4-4CEA-9E10-CCA85489FD52.jpeg.4a6fde6149b2ff8facacfcb09959e179.jpego8D9AD7CF-D6DD-42F5-8522-CF75A2E792DF.jpeg.369e86e83599d51609d77eda0ebeefde.jpegC7B1167A-80BD-4267-8432-78A709BD3C81.jpeg.b90ae956b095224cb4092f7da03831c0.jpeg

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So she’s nearly done. Will get the body painted up soon. Hopefully the last few parts arrive soon.1C326103-E6AA-4410-B625-48C21F5DDA53.thumb.jpeg.bcb16bb47d41e38fe79625252393688c.jpeg0B031583-6A92-4E35-92EF-C3FA6CA2C053.thumb.jpeg.f72d5f3216ac1d0954f9b61a680ade0f.jpeg

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If anyone has some spare ff01 alloy front arms that they might be prepared to let go of id be very appreciative!

once you put turnbuckle upper arms on, the stock lower arms flex toward the shock causing negative caster during compression.

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This is motoring along really nicely, it's like FF01 drool!

My used FF01 arrived today looking in good shape, totally stock not sure if it's even ball raced yet.

Great to know CC01 universals and front hubs fit the FF01, I like some alloy on my rides, are the rear hubs for the CC01 too?

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Well that’s a interesting question, if you have another look at a cc01 chassis  you’ll understand why,

in any which case they are TA01/02 rear hubs.

the reason I used CC01 knuckles and bones is because the yeah racing TA02 knuckles are dual 5x11mm bearing like a TA01/Top Force. meaning you have to use there dogbones, this would work but it’s not proper to the kit.

The TA02 and FF01 used a 6x12mm and 10 x 15mm bearing in the hub as the dogbone sits inside that 10x15mm bearing giving more support to the axle stub and using a longer dogbone. The cc01 uses that same front hub.

 

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Thanks I might put this on the shopping list for the future

CC01 universal shafts and yeah Racing CC01 front knuckles ... 

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But you got Yeah Racing CC01 front hubs?

I'm only after something snazzy 

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So you buy the yeah racing ta01/02 rear hub and front c hub. Then buy the yeah racing cc01 front knuckle hubs to go inside the ta01/2 c hub. 

Its purely because yeah racing only makes a ta01 front knuckle and not a ta02 front knuckle. Even though they call it for TA02. 

The cc01 comes from the factory with TA02 front knuckle hubs, so the cc01 part works but you need cc01 driveshafts or original tamiya ta02 driveshafts, the yeah racing drive shafts they claim for TA02 are actually ta01 5mm shaft. But work if you use there knuckle. It’s confusing just because yeah racing decided to not keep things how they actually are. 

 

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Wow that's a headache this early in the morning lol... I'll re-hit this topic when it's time to actually go buy my FF01 some goodies ;)

 

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Managed to get some TA02 GPM arms, The rear arms are dead ringer, fits straight up exactly the same no mods, the shock holes are in identical placements as well. 

the Front arm, was about 1.5mm too far back, so a quick grind with the dremel and some shims, and the front fitted up 100% perfectly as well, with no alterations to the wheelbase, again shock mounts are identical positions to FF01 arms.

The Blue steering arms came, I'm still waiting on the mechanism deck parts sprue for fresh bumpers, The first one I ordered on ebay, the guy cancelled claiming it was broken (told me after he sent the rest of the parts!) now the other one i ordered on ebay has been in the post 5 weeks.. it's all thats stopping me finishing this project.. looks like it may not come. <_<

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Juls have you got your shell yet? I saw my LHS had a Protoform Vauxhall or Opel something for only £18, window masks and Decal sheet too looked like old stock.

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Nah all good with the shell, it’s painted and stickered will get some pics up soon. 

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