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ChrisRx718

3Racing M-Chassis TT01 Conversion

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My first foray into the Build forum for quite some time. To get up to speed we need to go back a couple of years to an idea which I had to create an M-chassis drift car, since there were M-chassis sized drift tyres available (even from Tamiya themselves).

The TA05-M-Four was a limited-run, expensive, not-so-great unicorn of a chassis from Tamiya, it came and went without barely making a ripple. I couldn't afford one then, and I can't even find one now.

My solution was the newly-released MF-01X chassis, originally shown as the off-road-ish Jimny JB23. I gathered enough parts and Hop-ups to build my very own MF-01X Drift car:

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I threw a bunch of money at this thing, it had TRF dampers, ball differential, front one-way, Type RZ Motor, 3D Printed rear uprights for better suspension travel - all sorts of thought went into it.

And the result?

It was terrible. Literally the worst drift car. The rear-mounted motor was difficult - no, impossible - to contain, once it started coming around it was like a big pendulum and the car just swapped ends. The suspension geometry was also bad, even after all the mods. I had extreme forward-rake (rear of chassis sits higher than front). This despite throwing money at carbon suspension mounts and changing damper lengths front-to-rear. I even added some racing lower control arms from an M-03. Nothing added up!

After this I took a long break from RC - I dabbled with Kyosho Mini Z cars, particularly the drift aspect, because this was much easier to 'pick up and go'. 

The MF01X-D sat un-used on a shelf for best part of 2 years. I still have about 4 sets of M-chassis drift tyres sitting doing nothing too!

The other night I was browsing RCMart (dangerous). I spotted the 3Racing TT01 M-chassis conversion kit was back in stock, something which I thought had been long discontinued. Originally I thought this might be an error (what with their new website format etc.) but without hesitation I went through the checkout process and my PayPal balance disappeared. I didn't get the usual confirmation emails and was worried my order had gone missing altogether, then this morning I received this:

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Inside the parts bags are all neatly numbered up:

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There is a chunky instruction manual (link here for anyone interested in how it goes together) but the steps are nothing like on-par with Tamiya. They tell you what hardware is needed for each stage but it requires a bit more thought when building.

Wheelbase wise, 210-225mm is achievable. I'll be going for the latter, so I can use the same Mazda MX-5 body as seen above on the MF-01X.

The donor chassis is a battered TT01 'parts build' which was recently un-ceremoniously dropped down a full flight of stairs by my dearest child. Apparently my fault for leaving it at the top of the stairs, but we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. 

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Now I've been doing some reading about the 3Racing conversion online and consensus is that the turnbuckle tie-rods are terrible quality, so I'll try to use Tamiya replacements here. Also, the stock propshaft is 'garbage' (it's naturally shorter than the stock TT01 item). See below:

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Now when "Internet People" say something is garbage it's usually an exaggeration and back when the posts were made online (2008-2013) the lovely blue aluminium 3Racing hop-up propshaft was readily available and cheap. This is now impossible to find, so I figured I'd stick with the stock plastic one for the purposes of this build. 

But...

49655881157_78f5a6cb20_b.jpg

...Yeah, perhaps those "Internet People" were on to something. That's going to chatter like mad (if it even fits)!!

You'll notice the donor car is sporting the Tamiya upgrade Propshaft in blue anodised glory. I am also in the possession of a Dremel. I think you know where this is going.

In the meantime I put it to you TamiyaClub readers; should I take the time to carefully re-draw the chassis plates in AutoCAD and send them off to Fibre-Lyte for carbon-fibre loveliness? That will undoubtedly slow my build, but it would be...well...pretty?

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This really surprises me that they're back in stock, unless they are new old stock...  Back in 2013 I built one with all the hopups available (yeah, carbon makes it pretty B)):

img37537_820201633224_4.jpg

The only word of advice I have is to be careful with tightening the top screws that hold the gear cases together (the bottoms of the cases fit into the lower deck).  The two halves of the gear cases didn't meet perfectly, and tightening the top screws to close the gap caused a hole or two to strip.  I had to get extra gear case parts and work more carefully the second time; I doubt those spare parts are available any more.

Tip:  Check into knitting needles to make a replacement prop shaft.  I think a size 10 is 6 mm diameter, and you can use a copper tubing cutter to cut the aluminum needle to length.  Then if you have a drill press and V-block, it's possible to cross drill 2mm holes and insert some 2x10mm pins.  I did this once to make a long center shaft for a stretched DF02.

Other than that, it's a neat build.  Enjoy!

 

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14 hours ago, speedy_w_beans said:

This really surprises me that they're back in stock, unless they are new old stock...  Back in 2013 I built one with all the hopups available (yeah, carbon makes it pretty B)):

img37537_820201633224_4.jpg

The only word of advice I have is to be careful with tightening the top screws that hold the gear cases together (the bottoms of the cases fit into the lower deck).  The two halves of the gear cases didn't meet perfectly, and tightening the top screws to close the gap caused a hole or two to strip.  I had to get extra gear case parts and work more carefully the second time; I doubt those spare parts are available any more.

Tip:  Check into knitting needles to make a replacement prop shaft.  I think a size 10 is 6 mm diameter, and you can use a copper tubing cutter to cut the aluminum needle to length.  Then if you have a drill press and V-block, it's possible to cross drill 2mm holes and insert some 2x10mm pins.  I did this once to make a long center shaft for a stretched DF02.

Other than that, it's a neat build.  Enjoy!

 

PM'd you.

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Finished making the control arms and front gearbox yesterday, what a nightmare this kit is. 

The mouldings need a lot of the flashing removed and the turnbuckles are hopeless. 

Does anyone know where you can get m3 x 14 (or 15mm) turnbuckles from? I've made the kit ones work for now but they're quite chewed up because they're soft. Closest I found were some 15mm Kyosho ones so far. 

Pics to follow!

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Front and rear control arms:

49668669008_2fb3951383_b.jpg

Using those little 14mm turnbuckles was horrible. I've ordered some 15mm Ti ones from RCMart, they'll be delivered in the next couple of weeks.

Next up is the front gearbox assembly, 

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I never intended to use the expensive Tamiya Ball Diffs in this chassis, but found them lurking un-used in a plastic bag at the bottom of my parts stash. Seemed silly to waste them and I can't imagine there's much of a call for them 2nd Hand? So I chucked them in to this build.

Next problem was the driveshaft. As the first pictures show, the kit supplied version was about as straight as Graham Norton. It was also plastic, which would never do.

I introduced my Tamiya Aluminium one to my dremel:

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I then glued-in a 2x10mm wheel pin into a hole I drilled-out, using the plastic shaft as a guide to get the spacing right. There's a lot of tolerance here, fortunately! I'll also have you know that I only glued myself to the driveshaft temporarily and it is thoroughly not recommended.

Skipping ahead a bit now, please forgive the lack of photographs. Handling the 'built' gearboxes front and rear is fraught with problems, since they have loose parts before they're fixed to the chassis plate. On a TT01 / TT01E you have to attach the propshaft prior to the rear spur cover, which 'holds' everything together. On the M-chassis conversion, you'll note this key part is omitted. 

It's like doing Cat's Cradle only with more screws and a bunch of swearing. Oh, how delighted I was when the front propshaft connector dropped out of the gearbox and left the bevel gear rattling around inside. Oh, how I laughed.

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More to follow!

 

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Looks like you have been a bit Spoilt by Tamiya😉

Intresting build mind and yes there could be a call for s/h ball diffs.... I need a couple 😳

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On 3/13/2020 at 5:18 PM, ChrisRx718 said:

The other night I was browsing RCMart (dangerous). I spotted the 3Racing TT01 M-chassis conversion kit was back in stock, something which I thought had been long discontinued. Originally I thought this might be an error (what with their new website format etc.) but without hesitation I went through the checkout process and my PayPal balance disappeared. I didn't get the usual confirmation emails and was worried my order had gone missing altogether, then this morning I received this:

Looks like they have 7 of these currently in stock - maybe back in production, or just old stock recently discovered. Interesting, though with the pound heading towards parity with USD, now looks expensive. Nice little kit though.

I too didn’t get a confirmation email on ordering and when dispatched having purchased some items a few days ago on the new site. I had to check back in my account to see that it had been sent, so looks like another area in which rcmart need to improve the site functionality.

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6 hours ago, svenb said:

Looks like you have been a bit Spoilt by Tamiya😉

Intresting build mind and yes there could be a call for s/h ball diffs.... I need a couple 😳

Make me an offer! I've no idea what they're worth! Seem a bit wasted on this warehouse drift pig...!

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Next I installed the dampers - some I've stolen from my M-06 chassis, as they were made by 3Racing I thought it made sense to swap them onto this so it's all uniform:

49668668758_3124cdaf0b_b.jpg

You'll notice I've also installed the upper deck, instead of using the supplied 'dogbone' shaped piece of flat aluminium to retain it at the gearbox ends, I used some fetching 'cone' washers. I'm still not sold on them - I much prefer the countersunk style washer but I didn't quite have enough of them left in my box :lol:

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Next was on with the electronics. 

I panicked a bit here because it wasn't obvious whether it would be easy to thread the motor-mount screws through the wishbones and driveshafts of the rear gearbox, but it turns out everything just about fits. Of course, some obligatory swearing as I kept dropping the lower screw as it caught on the driveshaft.

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A Tamiya brushless 10.5T motor and TBLE02S ESC. Notice the schoolboy error? I fitted some lovely banana plugs to the motor and ESC but have used so much shrinkwrap it's gone rigid :lol: Now the wires are too long to position the ESC in such close proximity to the motor.

I'm actually having second thoughts on brushless power at all, especially as the TBLE02S can be so problematic and doesn't have LiPo cut-off. I might sack it off and put a trusty HW 1060 ESC in? I seem to have an affinity for these (or at least, when they were around £11 delivered I somewhat over-bought them). 

The body post positions actually lined up with the pre-cut Mazda body, albeit they could do with adjusting rearward by 3-4mm. I'm hoping this can be achieved with some spacers somehow.

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It'll do for a drift beater!

What should I do with the ESC? Go Brushed? Persevere with the TBLE02S?

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3 hours ago, ChrisRx718 said:

What should I do with the ESC? Go Brushed? Persevere with the TBLE02S?

Either.. 

Seriously I'd be tempted to go brushless as the Tble-02 has really good brakes and a Lipo alarm is so cheap, gives you much longer run times and lighter weight for any given battery capacity... 

Having said that its so easy doing a super neat install with a HW1060...

Whichever, ease up on heat shrink! 😁

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Back down off the shelf for the M-TT01.

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Some cheap hop-up parts arrived from Yeah Racing, a rear diff locker and alloy front and rear prop joints.

First things first, remove the ball differentials which are wasted on this "drift missile" so they're being packed-up and sent on to @svenb 

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Now what was weird is that the diff locker appeared to be too wide? It meant that on tightening the 3 diff screws the ring gear warped. Not good.

Fortunately (and, really bizarrely) I had a single DF02 ring gear in the parts stash. Quite how you end up with one, god only knows. So this was employed and all was well, there's no amount of tightening those screws going to make a metal gear warp!

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Perfect.

All finished, I did take a picture of the fact I swapped-out the standard spur gear for a 58T unit, simply because it was black and I didn't like the white nylon stock spur showing up all my blue bling :lol:

Only it turns out I can't use a camera to save my life and it's incredibly blurry. You'll just have to believe me, that with the smaller spur the 19T pinion also didn't work, so it's now got a 23T pinion. I figure the tiny wheels will counteract the high gearing. I also put in a 27T drift brushed motor for the time being, I've put the Brushless setup aside for a TC-01 which I almost certainly can't afford!!

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6 minutes ago, ChrisRx718 said:

I've put the Brushless setup aside for a TC-01 which I almost certainly can't afford!!

Order one now off modelsports website for expected delivery in august.

Then not being able to afford it will be a problem for Past Chris not Future Chris who will now have an awesome TC01 and not care anymore.

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5 hours ago, Superluminal said:

Order one now off modelsports website for expected delivery in august.

Then not being able to afford it will be a problem for Past Chris not Future Chris who will now have an awesome TC01 and not care anymore.

Does this logic work with your credit card company? :lol: or more importantly; your wife?!

I was idly browsing Facebook and sported this from MST - an upcoming new 225mm body. Yes, it's just another mx5 but with a subtle body Kit and wing. I'm very easily convinced that I need this.

FB_IMG_1588284813617.jpg

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Buy it buy it buy it buy it😂

Looking forward to ball diffing👍

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More bits arrived for the M-TT01.

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Some fatter wheel hexes (6mm), Alloy rear uprights with 0 toe, alloy servo horn. Shouldn't take too long to fit all this, surely?!

First up; alloy rear uprights. Bought for no reason other than the fact they were reduced to $4.90:

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Oh, that's a problem :lol:

Turns out these rear uprights only work with universal / CVD shafts, which are narrower. 

I read that M-Chassis universals will fit, so I pilfered some off of my MF01X for the time being:

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They are noticeably longer - I thought the internet had been lying to me.

Alas, no, I simply need to buy gear diff outdrives to suit Universal shafts. Another thing for the shopping list!!!

In the meantime I set about the front diff on my MF01X, which I plan to turn back into a trail-runner. It had a funky front diff so I wanted to see if it could be transplanted...

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TT01 Gear Diff on the left, MF01X diff in the middle and a spare diff case on the right.

Inside that MF01X diff there is...

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This little nugget.

It's a front one-way differential, I've no idea what its' original origins are (it's clearly a Tamiya Part)

Being as this fit inside an MF01 diff case, which effectively is a TL01/M03 diff, and the innards are generally the same size and shape of those in a TT01 diff, it should all fit together nicely?

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So that's where I had to draw a line, I now need:
Gear diff outdrives for universal shafts
2x M-chassis Universal shafts

More expense and we still have yet to turn a wheel!

And now neither of these will run:

49861776013_49379a1228_b.jpg

 

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Back on it!

Waiting for post from China is really painful at the moment :(

These bits arrived much sooner, courtesy of @svenb again! 

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That was the rear end sorted, for the front end these M-chassis universals finally turned up from RCMart:

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Next up I installed some electronics, a rather un-tidy job at the moment whilst I test everything out:

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I used a trusty FlySky receiver, HobbyWing 1060 ESC and the 19T Yokomo motor from my TA05-R project:

Immediately drifted it around the kitchen floor and sideways into the oven, confirmation that
1. It works
2. I'm quite rusty
3. Oven is hard

I need a better means of securing the battery. The flat nature of the bottom deck with no uprights to retain a battery and just a simple velcro strap means the thing slides out sideways all too easily, even if you really tighten the strap:

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Is there a generic battery tray or perhaps another chassis has some form of 'retainer' to stop the lateral movement of the battery?

I can drill the chassis deck to mount something, but what?

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What about the battery retainers from a tb evo iv? Need to drill a few hole though. 

I'll send a pic 😉

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Kamtec seem to have come back to life - how about one of their black ABS battery trays? They have a few different designs. 

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13 hours ago, TurnipJF said:

Kamtec seem to have come back to life - how about one of their black ABS battery trays? They have a few different designs. 

Thanks, I think I might have sourced some brackets on @svenb's recommendation (from the 30th Anni Porsche of all things).

Now how long will it take the Royal Fail...

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