Nicadraus' FF cars

[Nicadraus 6198]

On 9/23/2020 at 3:06 AM, Carmine A said:

I SWEAR if I had the money.... I'd buy a Car worth of bits off of you! 😊 It's pretty well known how bad I want one. It's almost unhealthy, if you ask my Wife!! - I am looking forward to getting one next year, what my fortunes will FINALLY change - for Good!!! 😊😊

FIRST thing I'm getting is a FF-03, then M07, M08, then M1-4, to have a full collection of Minis. THEN I start Shopping!!! 😁

[Nicadraus 6198]

RR got another upgrade...

84376

[Nicadraus 6198]

Some recent shots of my FF trio

FF-03 RR - FF-03 Pro-R - FF-01R

[Carmine A 2046]

Works of ART my Friend!! Another one of the draws for me to the FF Chassis Cars. 

And why I'm so happy to finally have my FIRST!!! 😁😁 

I'll be taking a LOT of clues from you and @wtcc5!!

[Nicadraus 6198]

4 minutes ago, Carmine A said:

Works of ART my Friend!! Another one of the draws for me to the FF Chassis Cars. 

And why I'm so happy to finally have my FIRST!!! 😁😁 

I'll be taking a LOT of clues from you and @wtcc5!!

Glad you finally have an FF car to tinker, enjoy and drive. Don't rush the build. The slow build, improvements and testing is what makes this hobby even more interesting and fun.

Congrats on the FF-03.

[Carmine A 2046]

5 hours ago, Nicadraus said:

Glad you finally have an FF car to tinker, enjoy and drive. Don't rush the build. The slow build, improvements and testing is what makes this hobby even more interesting and fun.

Congrats on the FF-03.

Thank you Sir.... 

Yeah, I would normally be DONE with a Tamiya Kit by now. Partially I'm savoring it and measuring EVERYTHING!!  

I'm running this Diff Oil... And I hope it's thick enough. There is good resistance when turning the Drive Cups in opposite directions  It's all I've got for now.  Hard to see in the picture... but I was taught to add some Oil BEFORE fitting the Spider Gears. I actually like this Yeah Racing Gear Diff. I know many People here are "Tamiya Only" but in quite a lot of experience, I've found YR Parts to be good quality!! 

Here's where I had to end for now.....  I just can't get any further without that Gearbox Case.... STILL in China!!! 😠😠 

Still, except for the Ball Diff.... A very pleasant Build!! 😉👍👍

[Nicadraus 6198]

@Carmine A if only you lived near, I would have given you parts. Also our local Tamiya hobby shop here still carries FF-03, TB-03/04, TA-05/06, TRF-415/16/17 parts. Many of which shares parts. Although my parts were 50% locally purchased and 50% from RCMart.

[Carmine A 2046]

I really appreciate the thought! 😉  I've got NOTHING for a Hobby Shop here in Tucson.... 

My best shot at a decent Store is 500 miles away - in California!!! 😖😞😭 

I'm about to try an experiment.... Stealing the CVDs and Steering Knuckles off of my CC-01. The length is correct, the main difference is, the CC-01 has a big inner Bearing on the Knuckles. 

But if those Knuckles fit on the FF-03 - I might actually contribute my first valuable trick for the FF Chassis Car Club!! 

..... If it doesn't work, I lost nothing but time. I have to wait anyway.

[Nicadraus 6198]

17 minutes ago, Carmine A said:

I really appreciate the thought! 😉  I've got NOTHING for a Hobby Shop here in Tucson.... 

My best shot at a decent Store is 500 miles away - in California!!! 😖😞😭 

I'm about to try an experiment.... Stealing the CVDs and Steering Knuckles off of my CC-01. The length is correct, the main difference is, the CC-01 has a big inner Bearing on the Knuckles. 

But if those Knuckles fit on the FF-03 - I might actually contribute my first valuable trick for the FF Chassis Car Club!! 

..... If it doesn't work, I lost nothing but time. I have to wait anyway.

Well sorry to say but it won't work. The knuckles won't fit the c-hubs and I wouldn't recommend trying to fit it as well.

[Carmine A 2046]

58 minutes ago, Nicadraus said:

Well sorry to say but it won't work. The knuckles won't fit the c-hubs and I wouldn't recommend trying to fit it as well.

OK.... I believe you. Even though I've been building RC Kits for almost 40 years - I DO NOT take it for granted or think I'm a Know-it-all...... 

This is my first FF Chassis Car. Like anything new, there's a learning curve involved!! 😉  The ONLY thing I've been able to build without looking at the Manual, was the Dampers!! 😜 

Which I'm SURE will need some adjustments.... I made all 4 the same. Stock (I feel are WAY TOO stiff) Springs, 2 Hole Pistons, and Tamiya Clear Shock Oil (900 CST). I used Team Associated X-Rings instead of the leaky Red Tamiya ones, and I always use Green Slime. My Shocks haven't leaked in over 8 years!!! 😁

Nope, I'll have to WAIT until I can get the right CVDs (DCJs would be a waste for how I'm using mine), and when that STUPID Gearbox Case finally arrives from CHINA!!!  I think it's coming by Rowboat! 😜😂😅

[Nicadraus 6198]

I'm using blue grease for my shock builds (on-road, rally, crawler, etc). So far no leaks too.

[Carmine A 2046]

Some are better than others, but I don't believe that any one Shock Seal Lube has a "Magic Formula". 

NOT Greasing the O-Rings is BAD. Greasing them with really thin Shock Oil isn't much better.....

But, and I know I don't have to tell you - the key is careful assembly and QUALITY O-Rings!! All the Lube on Earth wouldn't make up for that.....

[Nicadraus 6198]

Since more and more people have been sharing their FF-01 cars, I decided to just add it in this build thread instead of posting a new one.

So this kit has been with me since 1996. Bought it new, upgraded the chassis to FRP and did only a few runs (less than 20 maybe) with it. Since the original Renault Clio body that came with this have been badly scratched and have some cracks already, I replaced it with the Corolla WRC when it was released. Then kept it as a shelf queen after 1998. I did run this on the track again in 2005 but only twice. No racing. Then back on the shelf. In 2018, I resumed back to RC cars after an 11 year hiatus. Bought a couple of cars and decided to upgrade this one little by little.

So here are the  pictures in progress.

So here it was in 2018 with the Corolla WRC body.

I bought a set of TRF dampers and installed.

Then last year I ordered aluminum c-hubs, knuckles and universal shafts for CC-01. Fits the FF-01 but I just had to add spacers for the c-hubs.

Installed them and upgraded the bearings to rubber sealed type (Abec5). Also upgraded to 5mm aluminum hex hub.

I also fabricated a small piece of carbon fiber (2mm) to reinforce the shock tower mount avoid cracking since these old plastic parts are fragile already.

I removed the TRF damper and installed it in the FF-03RR. The YR shock gear 60mm dampers that were installed in the RR went to my XV-01. So I bought a new set of YR 55mm dampers for this kit. As usual, this set works great and looks like a TRF. I used the TRF springs for this YR 55mm dampers and used the YR 60mm spring for the TRF dampers in the FF-03RR.

Built it. The nice thing about YR dampers is they come with so much spares and options. 4 sets of springs, lots of pistons, o-rings, and e-clips. Something that Tamiya should also consider.

Fluorine coated piston rod too.

Settling the oil and releasing the bubbles

Installed and works great with the TRF springs!

[Nicadraus 6198]

I also switched the aluminum YR universal shaft here and installed the steel universal to the CC-01.

Replaced the stock screws to Tamiya blue aluminum hex and all turnbuckles to Tamiya blue aluminum.

I also revised the rear stabilizer using an extra one from my XV-01 and clapms from the FF-03. Then used new turnbuckles and ball caps too.

Then it happened. The mounting of the ball connectors in the rear shock tower began to crack and broke. It was already supported with cable ties but couldn't hold it any longer due to age. So I decided to create a reinforcement from a 2mm CF board. Cut and shaped it manually using Dremel bits. 

Here I completely cut the mount.

The CF shock tower reinforcement...

Test fit...

Perfect! I used a longer screw to mount a new ball connector from the YR damper set.

[Nicadraus 6198]

Installed. Looks good!

Now I don't have to worry about the rear shock tower from breaking

I now call this, the FF-01R.

[Nicadraus 6198]

With it's younger FF siblings..

My front motor cars. FF-01R, FF-03 Pro-R, FF-03 RR and XV-01RS

 

[Room335 738]

Your wiring...is inspiring @Nicadraus. The color-coordinated brading, the shrink-tubing, the shortened servo wiring...really great work. Have you ever considered doing a tutorial?

[Nicadraus 6198]

5 hours ago, Room335 said:

Your wiring...is inspiring @Nicadraus. The color-coordinated brading, the shrink-tubing, the shortened servo wiring...really great work. Have you ever considered doing a tutorial?

Thanks for the appreciation. Sure I'll make a step by step tutorial/guide in wiring and shortening wires.

[Fabia130vRS 2098]

What are the rally  tires you are yousing on the Ff?

[Nicadraus 6198]

3 hours ago, Fabia130vRS said:

What are the rally  tires you are yousing on the Ff?

It's Austar 4Pcs/Set 1/10 Grain Run Flat Rally Car Tyre.

Got it for $6 for the set.

[Nicadraus 6198]

Did some speed runs with the FF-03 Pro-R

[wtcc5 4896]

All that dust 

Outdoor onroad is as bad as outdoor offroad 

Hope you had fun!

Thanks for the video!

[Nicadraus 6198]

6 minutes ago, wtcc5 said:

All that dust 

Outdoor onroad is as bad as outdoor offroad 

Hope you had fun!

Thanks for the video!

Thanks! 

Yup it was fun indeed. It's been more than a year since I last ran the FF-03. I missed the speed. Unfortunately, the surface was a bit slippery for the FF. So I just did speed runs around. But we did a course for the on-road rally which we really enjoyed too.

Didn't expect the ground to be that dusty though. 

[Carmine A 2046]

That was QUICK!!! 

I was wondering how they ended up looking like they were run HERE in the Desert!!!🏜 🌵😂😅

[Nicadraus 6198]

Could not resist not running my FF-03 Pro-R in our weekly on-road rally bash. Our make shift track is our village covered court. The ground (as usual) was a bit dusty and slippery (but not as dusty as last weekend) which caused a lot of understeer. But on normal asphalt track, this baby performs just the way it should.