First Kit Ever - TT-02D

[J_Ghost14]

Hi all, working on my first ever RC kit. I have had a few RCs before but never a hobby-grade road car and right now my only other RC is an ECX Ruckus. I chose the TT-02D with an RX-7 body. I saw it online and it looked cool. I know the TT series are entry level cars, but since I am not competing and wanted something I could drive outside, I hope it does OK. I have a few questions, thanks all. 

1) I got to the assembly step where you need to use the snap rings to build the shocks. I can get the first one in fine but after you slip the plastic disc on how do you get the other side on? Its frustrating me a little. Its going well overall though.  I am using the stock parts to start. 

2) For paint I actually went with Duratrax metallic blue and white base cover coat. Never really used spray paint before either so I may just go all blue and focus on spray painting as cleanly as I can after masking. Do I need a different kind of paint for the hard plastic body parts like the wing or would polycarbonate paint work fine?

3) The kit also came with a Tamiya brand LED set. To use it is there anything I shouldn't paint over on the body other than the windows? Leave headlights clear maybe? Never done this before. 

4) I added a Spektrum Dx4C transmitter and receiver and Spektrum 6240 meal gear digital servo. The transmitter says it has AVC, should I use it? I also don't know how to turn it on, it might say in directions for transmitter.

5) It seems upgrades are nearly infinite for this thing, what would you say are important ones? 

Thanks for reading/helping all. 

 

[DaveBuildsRC]

1. Use needle nose pliers and position tip on bc15 and other tip on the snap pin. Press gently it should go on. Never from the side it can bend the snap pin.

3. Check for headlight masks

 

[Percymon]

A good tip if you are not used to the c clips is to put your pliers , clip and parts in a clear sandwich bag when you install the clip - that way if the clip does shoot off it will be contained within the bag - nothing worse than scrambling around on the floor / carpet looking for a 3mm clip (even worse with 2mm ones !!!)

[Kingfisher]

2 hours ago, Percymon said:

A good tip if you are not used to the c clips is to put your pliers , clip and parts in a clear sandwich bag when you install the clip - that way if the clip does shoot off it will be contained within the bag - nothing worse than scrambling around on the floor / carpet looking for a 3mm clip (even worse with 2mm ones !!!)

...and if you don't use the plastic bag, wear eye protection. Those things can shoot off like rockets.

 

After you build it and drive it for a bit, you may want to consider getting the aluminum drive shaft as well as a ball bearing steering kit. I've used the YeahRacing steering kit with good results in 3 different cars now.

[Prescient]

5 hours ago, Percymon said:

A good tip if you are not used to the c clips is to put your pliers , clip and parts in a clear sandwich bag when you install the clip - that way if the clip does shoot off it will be contained within the bag - nothing worse than scrambling around on the floor / carpet looking for a 3mm clip (even worse with 2mm ones !!!)

I have never considered doing this in all my years of RC lol, great idea.

@J_Ghost14

1) with the c clips as above plus don't be afraid to put a fair bit of pressure on with pliers. 

2) you can use the polycarbonate spray on the body parts and it will be matt without lacquer, otherwise Tamiya TS acrylic sprays are ideal.

3) does it not show which bits to mask in the body section of the instructions or light set? Does it come with light buckets to mount the LEDs or internal retainer clips?

4) instruction manual?

5) the drift spec have oil filled dampers so that's sorted. Not sure if your model has bearings but those next. The rest depends on what motor you are running and your budgets. I would say look to match the specs of the TT02D Type S which is now discontinued but info here http://www.thercracer.com/2015/09/tamiya-47301-tt-02d-type-s-build-and.html?m=0

[topforcein]

dont forget tamiya do a e/c clip tool i brought the 2mm one this year as i was stick off snaging my fingers with the pliers and it came in when i was building my trucks as there are quite a few of them pesky little critters to apply.

[J_Ghost14]

Ok thanks all. After I finish the chassis I will pick up some black Tamiya acrylic for the body parts. Metallic blue with black mirrors and wing would look good I think. I have not reviewed the body instructions yet but I will look that over beforehand. My question about the transmitter was more if AVC would be good to use in a drift car, I can probably figure out how to turn it on. 

So far I have about $500 total in this project including everything I needed to get started. As for motor, I would love to stick a Dynamite brushless combo or similar in it: http://dynamiterc.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=DYN_CoS but don't know which to choose. That will be for later though. I will plan on upgrading the driveshaft first. 

I think this car did come with some kind of bearings, those are the metal rings that spin and support the drivetrain right? 

[Effigy3]

23 hours ago, J_Ghost14 said:

So far I have about $500 total in this project including everything I needed to get started. As for motor, I would love to stick a Dynamite brushless combo or similar in it: http://dynamiterc.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=DYN_CoS but don't know which to choose. That will be for later though. I will plan on upgrading the driveshaft first. 

I think this car did come with some kind of bearings, those are the metal rings that spin and support the drivetrain right? 

1

The stock plastic drive shaft should be fine for an upgrade motor but the read bevel gears in the diff might be a weak spot.  I say "might" because you're driving an on-road variant of the TT-02 chassis.  TT-02B and T, as well as rally car builds all benefit from metal gear upgrade in the rear diff.  If you plan on drifting consider getting an ESC/motor combo design specifically for that purpose.  Speed Passion offers the Dokyo line of motors and they aren't very expensive, especially if you buy them directly from SP online.

[Munchbox]

One of my brothers runs one of those Dynamite Fuse motors in his Losi Ten scbe. The thing screams.

The other brother ran through a couple of 15t brushed Dynamite motors in his EcX Ruckus. He swears they named them Dynamite because they're meant to blow up. 

I have the same 15t brushed motor in my Blackfoot project. 2 packs through the car and no problems yet, but 2 packs isn't much. 

[J_Ghost14]

Ok so I ran into a snag in the build. The servo arm that came with the kit does not seem fit the servo I have. At least the screw is too short and none of the kit screws seem to work. I can possibly modify the servo arm that came with the servo, I would need to drill out a hole to make it bigger then cut off one side. This is the servo I have. http://spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=SPMSS6240 Hmm, what to do.....

About the motor, thanks for the tip. I didn't know there was such a thing as a drift motor. I mostly want this car for fun. I don't have a track to run on, but it's worth looking at. I just said those because one came in my Ruckus and my LHS seems to have a lot of Horizon Hobby stuff.