ChrisRx718 4464 Posted March 13, 2018 I took stock of my TA03 collection earlier and wanted to share with you some pictures. This doesn't really belong as a 'project thread' since they are all projects and starting a separate one for each right now seems a bit mad... So what's in my 12-year old collection? 5 Cars - Front row left-to-right: TA03R, TA03F & TA03F - back row are a pair of TA03R-S (shorter 237mm wheelbase) TA03F in the foreground probably has the most 'value' if you were to break them for spares. This one is a runner and I had to take the rally block tyres off and clear all the leaves off it for these pictures! There's also a lot of dust There are a few bits I don't have - no Tamiya alloy front or rear knuckles for instance. I also think this is the only chassis where I remained faithful to Tamiya and didn't corrupt it with aftermarket parts (servo excluded). It even has a Type TZ motor and TEU-302BK ESC. Alloy motor mount was a nice find for £30. They fetch even more money now The chassis uses mostly plastic parts - albeit with really little 'slop', the tolerances seem good. It does have Tamiya alloy C-hubs. The outdrives are the hardened type, which mate up with ball differentials front-and-rear and some rather rare universal driveshafts on each corner. TRF dampers and some blue screws (never again) make up the rest. The eagle-eyed will spot another rarity - the M-Chassis Quick Release Battery Holder. No, sadly this isn't the commonly-found version which fits the M-03, TL01, WT01 etc. It's ever-so-slightly different - annoyingly so, and about 10x more rare; it took me ages to find one for less than £50! The bodyshell has definitely seen better days. Big split across the front there I don't run this body but I can't bring myself to bin it either, despite the overspray, damage, peeling stickers and general grime. This was my bodyshell of choice when I was running in the D1-RC competition. Possibly a contender for 'worst body on expensive chassis?!' Next up is another F, this one not so faithful to Tamiya. This one has some unknown brand alloy dampers (which I may get rid of as they're too hard), GPM damper braces, GPM motor mount / heat sink, GPM steering arms and support bracket, GPM lower suspension arms all-round and the lower gearbox pieces (where the lower arms mount to) are also big bits of GPM alloy. The top deck is a rare part from KAWADA and is carbon fibre, which is obviously better... Bodyshell on this is a Paul Walker R-34 GTR. Yes, it even features the correct California license plate - cheesy! Bodyshell was destined for the shelf but I screwed up the paint. It's Tamiya Clear Pearl with Brilliant Blue backing - but there's a smudge on the drivers door. Hey-ho, better give it some tarmac rash! Onto the R versions.... First up is a full-length TA03R So again I've committed sin and installed aftermarket parts. Questionable ones too - the whole suspension is aluminium and from Yeah Racing - a brand which didn't get off to a good start back when this kit was around. The parts I have here seem fine though and seeing as this doesn't see competition or too much high-speed it should be OK. I think I have enough parts to replace everything with kit plastic if I needed to. You'll also notice I haven't gone and attacked all the standard screws yet and replaced them with button-head socket screws like all my other models. I must get around to that... Bodyshell is a mish-mash of Europe meets Japan. 911 GT3RS body from the TL01 kit. I wrecked the original decal sheet so did what I could with the remains. Colour is Anodised Blue Aluminium. Dusty! Likewise I screwed the paint up on this body, so it too has been run. Next up is the first of the babies - TA03R-S #1 This started life as a PIAA Porsche 911 kit, I added the Carbon Chassis Plates and required J-parts to turn it into this beauty. (Still on the lookout for another one of those quick-release battery holders....or just another battery retainer!) It is otherwise pretty kit-stock. The CVA's got new springs and I added front and rear stabiliser bars. The kit actually came with the Sport Tuned motor installed today. Bodyshell-wise things are not-so-great: Bit of a state, ain't she? I'm going to salvage that rear wing - it's the PIAA kit version and much rarer than the ridiculously-tall Taisan Porsche or Road-Going GT2 version (in the latest TA02SW re-release). I have a new bodyshell to paint up for it. And finally.... My other TA03R-S. This one built from parts - you can read my short build-thread here: As the thread title indicates; this is a build of all the spare parts I had - Tub chassis from the PIAA Porsche and a load of other stock parts. GPM shock towers the only obvious modification - although I might put them back to standard. Oh, and the dampers are Boom Racing I think. No bodyshell on that one yet, I'm going to see what I can salvage of the Blue GT2 and turn that into a runner. Thanks for reading! Please show us your TA03... 11 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jason1145 3984 Posted March 13, 2018 Ok this enlightened me a lot about what a TA03 looks like, that it can have 2 wheelbase lengths and it’s oullsd along by ropes, no, strings, no.... belts! Nice collection Chris! So am I correct thinking a TA03R stands for Rear motor mounted... and TA03F denoted front motor mounted? Yeah.. that’s the exact same M03 quick release battery holder I have too... unless you can prove it’s a £50 special one lol?! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waterbok 1282 Posted March 13, 2018 Ok here is mine, not much to tell, bought it with a FF01 out of curiosity. All cleaned, spot the extra's that came with it. Choice of motor, I went for the standard 23T 48p? it came with the black gears for a 23T mod .6 conversion Back together with shell Had some damaged parts, both front steering knuckles balllink eyelets, steering link left and rear upper arm attachement to gearbox had hair line fractures. Drilled it to 3mm and used M3 screws and a nut. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waterbok 1282 Posted March 13, 2018 I think damper braces and alloy steering arms may be a good addition, and I am thinking of drilling the upper damper attachment to 3mm and use M3 and a ball nut before these start to crack as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edeneen 23 Posted March 14, 2018 used to have one but I sold it, a great design Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edeneen 23 Posted March 14, 2018 1 hour ago, Jason1145 said: Ok this enlightened me a lot about what a TA03 looks like, that it can have 2 wheelbase lengths and it’s oullsd along by ropes, no, strings, no.... belts! Nice collection Chris! So am I correct thinking a TA03R stands for Rear motor mounted... and TA03F denoted front motor mounted? Yeah.. that’s the exact same M03 quick release battery holder I have too... unless you can prove it’s a £50 special one lol?! yep, also had the TA03F, front engine, very fun to drive 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tamiya3speed 461 Posted March 14, 2018 I'm not an on-road person for the most part but I always thought these were cool looking cars. Are they getting rare these days? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grastens 2795 Posted March 14, 2018 I think it is nice to keep that R-32 shell as-is - a throwback to some of the glory days of your RC career Nice collection! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SEB_TA03 17 Posted March 14, 2018 I need to post in this topic! Will do when I have some decent pictures. And awesome collections guys. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shodog 1835 Posted March 14, 2018 Quite an impressive collection of TA-03’s Chris. I always thought the engineers at Tamiya were in a battle over the TA03. The powerful gear union was not going to give up their transmision designed with way too many gears. They’ve been designing transmissions like this since the hotshot/ 959 days so why change the recipe? The new fledgling belt union were determined to bring efficiency to the drivetrain. A war ensued and in the declaration of their treaty, each faction was given a part of the drivetrain. Here is my TA03. It’s a Piaa Porsche GT2 I’ve changed the dampers to ones from GPM. I also switched out the chassis to the optional dual deck FRP one. Some seller on eBay a few years ago were blowing out the chassis kits at some insanely cheap price. Eventually when I do a big chassis shuffle this is going to sit under my Porsche GT1 body 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GooneyBird 938 Posted March 14, 2018 I posted up some pics here, but here's one of my TA03F David Jun. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firefoxussr 482 Posted March 14, 2018 @Shodog fix your 911s! the GT1 needs the mid-motor chassis. Buy an M06 for the rear-motor 911 GT2, far more realistic and fun! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trexfan 56 Posted September 9, 2018 hi all , just wanted to know if anyone knows if i need anything else to upgrade my ta03r chassis to carbon fibre, i have these already !!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OCD 514 Posted September 9, 2018 This will depend entirely on what your current chassis is outfitted as -- namely whether or not you currently have the FRP chassis plates. If you have the tub version, you're going to need the plastics and hardware to do the conversion from tub to plates. The small carbon bit in the last picture is for the tub chassis only. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trexfan 56 Posted September 9, 2018 ive got the complete ta03r kit i just want to get rid of the tub chassis and replace it with the carbon,but because theres no instructions on how to do that im not sure hi all , just wanted to know if anyone knows if i need anything else to upgrade my ta03r chassis to carbon fibre, i have these already !!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OCD 514 Posted September 9, 2018 Okay, so it sounds like you currently have the tub chassis then? If so, you will need the plastics and hardware that comes in the 53358 conversion kit. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ernieks 130 Posted September 9, 2018 You need the 50703 J-parts. It‘s the battery holder and steering mounting part. A few bolts and nuts, but maybe you got them. Everything else will be used from the tub version. ernieks 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waterbok 1282 Posted September 9, 2018 Battery mount. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ernieks 130 Posted September 10, 2018 You can use this Hop Up battery mount too, but you will need the steering mount of the J-parts ayway. The nuts and screws you will need are available seperately. ernieks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fabia130vRS 2098 Posted September 10, 2018 Nice topic, I really like the body shells posted in this thread, would be nice to see a re-re of this chassis with a Audi A4 STW. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RestoModGod 12 Posted April 9, 2019 I must chime in as I ended up with 2 of these, and the ta03F is now in florida Ta03R I kept Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RestoModGod 12 Posted April 9, 2019 On 3/14/2018 at 12:20 PM, GooneyBird said: I posted up some pics here, but here's one of my TA03F David Jun. So I am inclined to assume the david June has carbon fiber rather then the frp material chassis plates ? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1812 Posted April 9, 2019 Yep Jun should have CF plates. Genuine factory FRP top plate for 03F has less holes & slightly different overall shape too... hard to notice until you've got both plates together in hand & overlay each other. As for material affecting performance... meh... IMHO it don't do much. Been testing out top plates from much more flexible plastics... they still work to hold the chassis ends apart. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RestoModGod 12 Posted April 10, 2019 23 hours ago, WillyChang said: Yep Jun should have CF plates. Genuine factory FRP top plate for 03F has less holes & slightly different overall shape too... hard to notice until you've got both plates together in hand & overlay each other. As for material affecting performance... meh... IMHO it don't do much. Been testing out top plates from much more flexible plastics... they still work to hold the chassis ends apart. Yeah I have an upper aluminum blue new GPM... beginning to wonder if I should convert to Ta03: F. So I must ask what pulley combination do you recommend and why? i have double 15, 16, and 17 in aluminum... I want pure top speed. then I agin I feel my 15 and 17 combination as instructed in my F was fun. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites