2018 Manta Ray build.

[Gasquatch 20]

I got this for my birthday in May, but I was waiting for my upgrades to get here. Everything is finally here, so let's get started!

[Gasquatch 20]

Building starts with assembling the rear differential. I used a cotton swab to spread the grease around the gears. I also used the factory steel screws here instead of the stainless steel from my RCScrewz kit. Here it is buttoned up for installation.

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I ordered a 3mm thread forming tap to make it easier to install the stainless steel machine screws from RCScrewz. 

If you use this method, lightly grease the tap. For reasons you'll see in a bit...

Diff installed with rubber shielded bearings from Fast Eddie's.

Alloy gears begone! Tamiya Touring & Rally car gears in place. You can also see the GPM aluminum driveshaft cup behind the spur gear.

Top cover bolted down. That lower right screw doesn't look stainless steel does it??

Remember what I said about greasing the tap? I forgot until it generated enough heat to pull the threads out when I started to remove it. Fortunately, I found a suitable replacement screw to through-bolt the hole with a locknut. Other builds of this chassis and it's siblings say this is worth doing anyways, to help prevent the cover from lifting under power. More on the way when I can get some time! 

[Juls1 1660]

I use the tamiya thread forming tap, I agree you need to be careful with it. The reason is because there is no relief to let the material get out.

Turns out it needs to be without that relief because a normal 3mm tap removes too much material from the plastic and then the thread it makes is quite weak. 

Which is why the tamiya unit is made without the relief to exit the material, as a result leaves a nice tight and strong thread in the material but you do need to exercise restraint, tamiya only intended it to be used on the reinforced plastic not the soft plastic on a df-01. 

Looking forward to seeing your build, my manta ray is sitting comfortably in its box waiting to be built! 

 

[Gasquatch 20]

Found a little time tonight to work on the buggy. Got the rear section assembled.

I recall reading that the last Manta Rays had driveshafts with plastic at the ends. This one has full metal shafts!

Looks like the front assembly is next on the agenda. 

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Ugh. Somewhere in this house is an actual camera.

I'm sure I've seen it.

Somewhere...

[Jason1145 3986]

Nice work pal I’m watching this.... what motor will you run?

[Gasquatch 20]

8 hours ago, Jason1145 said:

Nice work pal I’m watching this.... what motor will you run?

I'll be using a Speed Passion 17.5T MMM that I share with my other cars. It's a great motor, will wheelie my Blitzer Beetle , and is borderline ridiculous in the Midnight Pumpkin. I may eventually source a 13.5T to use in this and the RC10T3 I'm refurbing. I've gotten to be a little conservative with motor power. I got tired of replacing parts every time my TMAXX whacked something.

[Gasquatch 20]

Managed to get front diff built today.

Like the rear, I used the factory screws instead of the stainless steel. Hoping to get the front gearbox assembly done tomorrow!

 

 

[ThunderDragonCy 7873]

10 hours ago, Gasquatch said:

I'll be using a Speed Passion 17.5T MMM that I share with my other cars. It's a great motor, will wheelie my Blitzer Beetle , and is borderline ridiculous in the Midnight Pumpkin. I may eventually source a 13.5T to use in this and the RC10T3 I'm refurbing. I've gotten to be a little conservative with motor power. I got tired of replacing parts every time my TMAXX whacked something.

I ran a 13.5R MMM in my DF01 and found it very slow (compared to my other cars with similar power). I would recommend getting the biggest pinion you can, or even better get hold of the Speed Tuned gearset for a 17.5. These chassis handle so nicely that they smother less powerful motors

[Gasquatch 20]

I was finally able to make some progress on my build. 

Installed the front diff. After this pic was taken, I decided to open both diffs back up. I cleaned out the Tamiya grease and regreased them with Lucas Red N' Tacky to get a little limited-slip feel. We'll see how it drives once I eventually finish this thing.

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Close up of the GPM alloy front knuckle. I went with silver instead of blue, so it left more paint options open for other bodies.

And a few pics of the front assembly...

Thanks for looking!

[Gasquatch 20]

On 7/15/2018 at 12:37 AM, ThunderDragonCy said:

I ran a 13.5R MMM in my DF01 and found it very slow (compared to my other cars with similar power). I would recommend getting the biggest pinion you can, or even better get hold of the Speed Tuned gearset for a 17.5. These chassis handle so nicely that they smother less powerful motors

I took some of your advice here and picked up a 21t Robinson Racing steel pinion. I has originally gotten a 18t, thinking I'd need to gear down for the more powerful brushless motor. Again, I will probably pick-up a 13.5t or even a 10.5t brushless to run in this and the RC-10T3. Thanks for the heads up!

[Gasquatch 20]

Built up the shocks using the kit 400cst oil and some Associated Green Slime on the o-rings. Going with the kit springs until I get some driving in and see if changes are necessary. I've never been a fan of the clamp-type pre-load collar, so I added some of the clip-on style I found in my spares.

 

 

[Gasquatch 20]

In the home stretch now! Electronics installed. Have some tidying up to do with the wiring yet.

Next, installed the GPM steering rack.

The GPM rack feels pretty good. It came with the bearings for the arms , and feels very smooth and slop free. I did have to run a 5mm longer screw on the side that attaches to the servo however, to keep it tight and bind-free.

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Motor install. Using the alloy motor mount from Pargu. Seems like a quality product, well made and has the little tab like the factory one, to prevent it from getting installed backwards.

The Pargu mount and Robinson Racing 21t pinion mounted up.

I did find out that I had the pinion too far out on the motor shaft. It should protrude just slightly less than the mount posts, otherwise it'll contact the opposite wall and bind.

[Gasquatch 20]

Overview shot of the chassis with the GPM center shaft. Didn't want blue, but seems like the only color it comes in. At least it's a nice blue!

And a few shots with the tires and wheels on...

Thanks for looking!

[Juls1 1660]

Looking good! I’m still waiting for parts to start Myn. 

[TwistedxSlayer 1290]

Liking the look of this.

[Gasquatch 20]

Now, the moment all three of you have been waiting for! The finished product!

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And a few pics with all the lights on...

And that, folks, was the first build thread I've done. Thanks for looking!

[Juls1 1660]

Looks great, I gotta get off my butt and paint my factory body now. Kinda cheated buying a pre painted super manta ray shell!

[waterbok 1282]

Paint a factory painted shell?

Those original SMR shells are rare why paint.

[Juls1 1660]

1 hour ago, waterbok said:

Paint a factory painted shell?

Those original SMR shells are rare why paint.

Place I bought the prepainted SMR shell from had a big pile, maybe 30 or so. No wings though. 

Juls

[Gasquatch 20]

Some pics from it's first run!!

@ThunderDragonCy was correct. It's gonna need a faster motor...  But it ran beautifully!