wtcc5's FF-01 addiction

Carmine A · August 3, 2020

Agreed! You can't even tell that the Heat Sink was hacked... Of course I know it's your Car - YOU know! But it honestly looks GREAT!

wtcc5 · August 3, 2020

Thank you. I think I can live with it, at least for the moment, as I also like the look.

As I have holidays now, I cleaned the Runner from all the dust of the last schoolyard race. Incredible how much dust the ball bearing eat everytime...

And while tinkering with the chassis, my eyes stumbled over the rear topdeck section of the car. It is very simple and only is there to make a connection to the front of the car. I thought to myself, if it would be possible to make a kind of vintage tuning to replace the plastic part and without having to hack a part or use something special. Well one simple special part was needed, but I build it myself, which was part of the fun.

After measuring was done, I made a drawing and a paper sheet model to check the fitment:

Then the dirty part began, by milling the carbon fiber by hand. Everything went on without problems, I even hit all the holes perfectly and didn't need to make any corrections. I took the Tamiya 53596 short servo stay to connect the rear topdeck with the shocktower. The lower suspension mount is now attached by using nuts. And that is basically it.

The chassis has gained some flex, which is welcome.

Carmine A · August 3, 2020

That's awesome and clever!!! 👍👍 Looks more complete, and gives you the Chassis Tuning you want. An elegant solution indeed.

I haven't fiddled with Carbon Fiber in quite a while. I do remember those evil tiny Fibers that find their way into the most inconvenient places!! 😖

wtcc5 · August 5, 2020

Thanks! Yeah working with carbonfiber is no fun. I do it outside, with the wind blowing the fibers away. If there is no wind, I use a fan.

Right now I am working on the damper setup of the car. Finding the right length, right amount of internal shims for droop and the right oil and springs took me three to four hours, today. My FF-01 damper setup.

Front:

600cst oil (54714)

blue spring (53163)

X-rings (42214)

4mm ride height clip

internal shim on shaft 2mm

damper retainer 1mm down (53876)

Rear:

450cst oil (54711)

flourescent red spring (53163)

X-rings (42214)

1mm ride height clip

internal shim on shaft 4mm

damper retainer 1mm down (53876)

lower ballcup 1mm cut down neck

I have 6mm ride height and around 1.5 - 2 mm droop over ride height with Tamiya Reinforced Slick tires Type-B (53294) and the Hard Inner Sponge Set (53156). That should work fine on unprepared asphalt surfaces.

And then „stuff“ arrived

Isn‘t this awesome? Now, I can complete my „Upgrade Special“ project. :wub:

Carmine A · August 6, 2020

I love when "stuff" arrives! Really gets the juices going, doesn't it? 😁

wtcc5 · August 6, 2020

😊 A lot!

A lot of detail work... is followed by more detail work.

After two days of running, I took the differential apart. It also sucked up a lot of dirt, even though is still was pretty smooth.

I upgraded it with the ceramic balls and the one piece ball thrust bearing. It is perfectly smooth now 😁

wtcc5 · August 6, 2020

For the archive. This is my runner chassis to date:

More pictures can be found in my showroom.

Carmine A · August 6, 2020

WOW!!! That thing is NICE! 👌👍👍 Yup, the FF-03 has stolen my HEART❤!!! No, I still can't get over the BIG Lump sticking out in Front... But then, I've seen it perform, WELL!! FWD and AWD versions. Just brilliant to watch. Sooner or later, I may actually get to DRIVE one!! 😁

wtcc5 · August 7, 2020

In fact, it is impressive what the FF-03 is capable of. A good friend made a very cool video some years ago of me running the FF-03 indoor:

The car felt not so good on the remote for my liking, but is fast!

For the FF-01 runner, I printed new battery mounts. The problem was, that the sub-c style lipos are larger in all dimensions, especially in length. Together with the way the cables come out, this prevented a use of the original mounts. Until now I used tape to secure the battery, but I don’t like it...

I made a special shape to allow the cables to pass without letting the battery out.

This side got a Tamiya branding 😅

With battery mounts, the chassis looks more like a 90s car.

Grotty Otty · August 7, 2020

Those battery mounts are very cool 👍

Fabia130vRS · August 7, 2020

What a gorgeous chassis it has become.

great work again.

edit: how did you fit the servo in the FF03?

wtcc5 · August 7, 2020

@Fabia130vRS Shoe Goo 😅

wtcc5 · August 7, 2020

Today is maybe the climax of my R/C car "career". I had the privilege to build a Calsonic Nissan Primera body for my "Upgrade Special" chassis. I never was this nervous and cautious working on a body. Luckily I managed to build it without a mistake. Here now the pictures of the build.

The body set:

First cut with distance to the cutting line:

Highlighting the cutting line:

The cleaned and trimmed body with sanded edges:

Masking:

The painted body:

I darkened the windows with smoke, like the box picture. The protective film is removed and the attachment of the decals can begin:

After the first decal sheet is through it looks like normal sedan on the street:

Then all the sponsor decals change the impression:

The last step is the painting of the wing and mirrors.

wtcc5 · August 7, 2020

Aaaaaand... the finished body on its chassis:

Quincy · August 7, 2020

Awesome job!

And congrats for finishing your "Upgrade Special"

ThunderDragonCy · August 7, 2020

That looks fantastic! I have just bought a really nice FF01 chassis from japan. It's all your fault!

Aerobert · August 7, 2020

Absolutely lovely. Such a nice looking body and nicely done. Also love the video, especially the screaming tires in the corners. 👍

wtcc5 · August 7, 2020

29 minutes ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

That looks fantastic! I have just bought a really nice FF01 chassis from japan. It's all your fault!

The pleasure is all mine 😁👍🏻

Pictures please 😉

ThunderDragonCy · August 7, 2020

Looks nice.

Dynatech 02R, pink shocks, carbon chassis. To be honest i want this to be a runner so i will sell the Dynatech and the carbon chassis and run a tub and an Iconic brushed motor.

wtcc5 · August 7, 2020

Nice! Why not keep the frp chassis and just delete all the wrongs (bumper, rear connector)? It also has aluminium kingpins, maybe aluminium pressure plates 🧐

ThunderDragonCy · August 8, 2020

13 hours ago, wtcc5 said:

Nice! Why not keep the frp chassis and just delete all the wrongs (bumper, rear connector)? It also has aluminium kingpins, maybe aluminium pressure plates 🧐

As my chassis get really scratched up because of the bumpy surfaces i drive on, i felt a bit of responsibility not to wreck some vintage hop ups someone else might appreciate on the shelf. Same with the Dynatech motor. No need for me to ruin a nice vintage motor when i can buy a £10 Team Powers Iconic motor for running or racing. I really don't know much about the spec. The ad was translated from Japanese, so i went off the pics and the price was good. I fully expect things to sort out - I hadn't spotted the bumper, is this a specific FF01 part? And it need camber links making and new body posts for my 306, and i am happy enough designing 3D printed parts if it needs shock towers and the like. Will start a build thread as soon as it arrives.

Carmine A · August 8, 2020

@wtcc5 I hadn't seen this in a few days... OMG! SEXY!!! 😁😁😁👍👍 love how Cars get different Names in different places in the World. I could SWEAR that's a Nissan Maxima, in the U.S. Market. Of course I could be wrong, but it sure looks like one.

@ThunderDragonCy You could keep it all Tamiya, and go with the B-Zed Motor... 😜😉 They're solid performers, but possibly more than 10 Quid. 😲 I can understand about the FRP Plate... That's like Unobtainium!!

wtcc5 · August 10, 2020

Quincy and I went playing once more. The cars were hop-upped with 26mm Tamiya B-Type Slicks. These tires are just awesome. So much grip, rotation, traction out of corners on dusty unprepared asphalt, wow! We had fun! Unfortunately we totally lived the day and forgot to make photos of the cars :unsure:

The only downside is the tire wear. Quincys Alfa Romeo ate the tires. His tires got the "ring" on the inside and then developed cracks/tear there. The rest of the surface should be good for another day. Nevertheless, we look for other tires. Mostly because the B-Types are getting rare and are a little too expensive for one day runs.

Some days ago, I was pretty lucky and won two Ebay auctions regarding FF-01 and TA-02 parts:

You may think, why does he buy all this stuff. One reason is my Castrol Nissan Primera full Hop Up project. This car will receive the 53226 Aluminium Front Hub Carrier and the 50473 Hi-Torque Servo Saver.

And then I am going for one last FF-01 project (except for the Runner, that will continue on as project). From all the spares and parts that accumulated my fourth FF-01 will be born. I will post pictures later in the week. I already started building :wub: