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Building Wrenchdogs midmotor Dyna Storm

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Hi everyone,

for those who followed the last month Tom´s thread about the Super / Mid Dyna Storm in his thread "just another Dyna"

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/93616-mid-storm-just-another-dyna/,

I will show here  to my pleasure and Tom´s beg to share my experiences with his parts the build of my Super Dyna!:)

As some of you read, Tom is already completing his chassis, and this week he sent me the last parts for the conversion set! Although time for the hobby is very rare at the moment due to private reasons (my little daughter is just 12 weeks old), I´ll try to do regular updates and photos here until completion. But It will be probably more "2 month than 2 weeks".:rolleyes:.

Anyway, lets start this story:

I´m a Dyna Storm owner since the beginning and still have mine in a good condition. It has a very special meaning to me, as it was the car I used for my first "official" race in 1993. Everything before was just organizing little races with my friends were we competed against each other on self prepared tracks everywhere around our homes. 1993 I was the first time on a real track, just 18, borrowing grandfathers car and drive 60km with 2 friends to our first race in Bamberg, Bavaria. To make it short: The my Dyna didn´t let me down! There where some guys with hotter motors, but they couldn´t bring the power done. I had a 13x2 wind brushed motor which wasn´t too slow either, and with the very good driveability I won the 2WD class on this weekend. I was as proud as I could be, only damage was a torn shock bladder, which I repaired with superglue after one heat. The shock was leaking all over in the rear.

So far the history. I kept my Dyna, with closure of the Offroadtracks mid of the 90´s my Dyna sat in the shelf for most of the time, only running on special days, but no real races anymore. from there I was more an onroadguy, running races from 1997 until today in our local area. But Christmas 2013 I was running finding presents in the town. I came near our local Hobbyshop, when I thought "just take a look". So I went down and looked at the new kits, when I noticed a kit almost hidden in the shelf. A Dyna Storm! Of course, it was one of the rereleases, but being 2013 it was quite a find! But no price tag! So I thought, well will be 300€ and more for sure, and I didn´t really need another kit. Just from curiosity, I asked the employee about the price. He said o.k., this is a special case: Kit was already opened, and parts taken out as spares from time to time. But recently he added all missing parts again and checked the manual everything should be there again!

Then he said: 99€! I swallowed, tried not to smile from ear to ear and 5 minutes later I had a kit, which I didn´t really needed. But I knew, it would be a good investment for the future!:rolleyes:

 

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Thread approval is still pending, but lets start anyway and hope the best!

Here´s the kit I was lucky to get 7 years ago! I kept it as spares for my first Dyna. Some of it will still have this task. My plan is to use a penguin Dyna body shell for the build, as it requires some cutting for the gearbox, and at the moment with no new rerelease in sight It would be a sacrifice to use the original Tamiya shell for it. Also all not needed parts like the FRP plates etc. will serve as spares for my first Dyna.

And here a little reminder to prove that someday, the good/unbelievable Tamiya things can happen to everyone:

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So yesterday late afternoon I did open the kit not just for looking!:rolleyes:

What a great experience, to build another Dyna Storm since my first one in 1993! Nice was also, that I found an additional drive shaft in the kit that will go together with a second one from ebay on my original Dyna Storm to replace the very worn originals. They still did their job last year, when I was driving the Dyna for a nice  Sunday with my friends on Tamiya Eurocup Raceway in Sonneberg. But looking at them closely it´s clear they are done now...

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Packaging separator is a bit torn as well as the box outside on one edge, but hey, it´s no collectors box. 

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Body parts and blister packs are still factory sealed:

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And look at the nice pink spot in the blister box, the Pink acto power (although the rere without label) is still there!

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But now it´s the time, @Colin aka wrenchdog comes into the story!

I came to notice Tom aka Colin´s Dyna love finally by this thread he opened this year for his newest creation:

and stumbled into the project somehow with some other fellas here on TC! Suddenly I made up the decision, that this conversion is what I want to do with my kit!

Tom is after rediscovering of his TR15T from youth some years ago totally into the Tamiya Dyna plattform and works regularly on improvements and 3d replacement parts for keeping this great Tamiyas running, he has now a HP where you can see all the wrenchdog developments:

https://wrenchdog.org/

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After dozens of mails and posts on TC, it seems that Tom, me and probably @bjorklo are going to build a Dyna Storm with mid motor. @Muvro already did a similar conversion and was also quite happy with it for vintage racing. 

I already selaed the carbon parts I received from Tom earlier with cyano, which is not my favorite part of the hobby, but I didn´t ruin the parts:

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I decided to get the full carbon look and got also the 2 shock towers in original shape from Tom, looks just so good! I also want this beast to look a little bit like a original Tamiya conversion, or at least something which Tamiya could have done at the time, when they developed the DS out of their race prototype. So I decided to use the original screws instead of new hex ones to let it look more Vintage.

I could have started the build earlier from the front axle, but I wanted to build the gearbox first, which is somehow the heart of it all. You need at the moment the main shaft from the TR15T gas car to make this conversion, unless you make a full custom shaft for yourself. This is the trick of it all, because the TR15T is mid motor due to the big gas engine. But it actually uses all the same parts from the electric Dyna, so the gear box halves are the same! So if you are aware of all this, it´s only logical to think about a mid motor conversion, isn´t it?:lol: At least for Tom and Muvro!

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After cutting my finger with the knife during cutting the parts tree, I printed me the first 3 pages from the TR15T manual to start the gear box build. It´s actually 27 years ago, that I build my Dyna gear box, and I didn´t have to take it apart since then (edit: one time in the nineties, I had to replace the worn outdrives). And with the inverted build up, I wanted to avoid stupid failures, so this is how it started:

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You can see Toms parts, the very long main shaft with the 3d printed blue TR15T spacer, the custom carbon gear box brace to adapt to the new chassis, the std. gear box cover that has to be be slightly modified, and the 2mm gear box plate from aircraft aluminum. That´s a part Tom isn´t really happy with at the moment, but I was surprised how rigid it is, despite being only 2mm. It´s watercutted, so it´s hard to get the shape right compared to CNC cutting it. I followed Tom´s advice and formed the threads with screwing some greased screws into them and give the bearing seat in the middle a slight grinding with sand paper, until the 1160 flanged bearing pops in easily. Worked great. Then I cutted the gear box cover on 2cm slightly for the extrusion of the plate, so that the cover sits flat agian and can seal the gearbox (hard to spot around the upper mounting hole):

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The good thing on a new kit, completely new gear box parts, time saved by not having to restore old ball diffs and gears::lol:

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The gear box halves, black Dyna Storm ones, the TR15T has grey ones with more carbon fibre embedded, but also the std. ones seem to have a certain amount, like Avante / Egress ones. Some blood and bondage for my finger later they were ready to use, here without blood before::D

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Despite having the TR15T manual beside, I made a little build failure, and put the 850 bearing into the gear box halv first, but correctly you have to assemble it to the shaft first:

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Then pop on the drive gear with the aluminum insert to grip the main shaft, followed by the plastic spacer. Here the pic before, where I missed to put on the bearing first:

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Then the big moment, first dry fit, check!

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So I had to start assembling the ball diff, which I didn´t like back in the days, but nowadays it´s something I can live with. Especially with assembling the DS one, which is in my eyes one of Tamiyas best constructions! Why?

It has enough main balls to distribute the pressure to many single spots, and it has significcantly more pressure discs than the other ball diffs of that era found in Tamiya cars, correct me if I´m wrong! My original Dyna diff was only removed one time to exchange the worn outdrives, but didn´t need any overhaul/ replacements so far. O.k., it´s not as smooth anymore, but still acceptable for bashing. Will be restored when mounting the new driveshafts.;)

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I built it with Tamiya AW grease, because I had very good experince building my SRB ball diff (Rere design) with it. The Tamiya ball diff grease is getting "glue-like" over time and the diffs can get "gritty" (hope this is the correct term) over time. MY SRB diff is still going strong since 2013 or so in my Brushless Sand Scorcher, so it was a straight forward decision for me. Gives a nice additional locking effect, too.

Next good thing is adjustability and the second short "locking" screw to prevent the main screw from loosing. No loctite needed here. The Dyna is really one of the first TRF cars, although no TRF logo still shown anywhere. (I think the Astute is considered as the first real TRF by the way).

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Bad focus, but ready to install!

 

 

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Finally , yesterday I ended up with this:

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Hope you like it as much as me,

Kind regards and stay tuned,

Matthias

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Very nice conclusio about what is so personal about the Dynas for both of us (and for shure many others). 

Its so great to see this build "from distace". Only to see how well it fits together at the end is really much pleasure for me. :wub:

About the diff grease, mine (MIP I think) is sticky too. Does it mean its done? Cant remember how it was some years ago. But I can agree, DS balldiffs are quiet reliable. My. 18 powered TR-15T gets really beaten and still no signes of excessiv use. 

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30 minutes ago, Collin said:

Very nice conclusio about what is so personal about the Dynas for both of us (and for shure many others). 

Its so great to see this build "from distace". Only to see how well it fits together at the end is really much pleasure for me. :wub:

About the diff grease, mine (MIP I think) is sticky too. Does it mean its done? Cant remember how it was some years ago. But I can agree, DS balldiffs are quiet reliable. My. 18 powered TR-15T gets really beaten and still no signes of excessiv use. 

Thanks for your kind words Tom, I thought it would be interesting for some readers maybe, as the memories is what makes us buy the rereleases today...

Up to now everything went together flawlessly, I just had to follow your comments on the parts! The wishbone mounts will be now yours, as I saw your carbon infused version you included in the package, for sure I have to test this 3d version with the new technique! :)

I don´t think the grease gets old in the package, but the Tamiya grease gets solid especially when the diffs get very warm over time, and is no grease anymore. That will not happen with the AW grease, because it´s no silicone grease. But there are many good non Tamiya greases around, and especially with secret ball diff greases you could probaly write an extra article. I just wanted to share my experience here so far using the "relatively" new Tamiya AW grease in a ball diff...

 

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Exactly, the story around is often what is driving us to play around with this nice toys. Still beeing a child with a good reason :D

About the suspension mounts, its the same with the bulkhead. Once you look at it a bit strict, it breaks. Better save them for rebuild to original and having fun driving the printed ones. Until there areno re-re and new spares I preferw it this way. Does not matter how vintage it looks or not. 

But I like you use non-hex screws, I concidered it as well but didnt made it at the end. My mid DS is still the prototype which will get partly striped from time to time, to try new parts versions.

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2 hours ago, Collin said:

Exactly, the story around is often what is driving us to play around with this nice toys. Still beeing a child with a good reason :D

About the suspension mounts, its the same with the bulkhead. Once you look at it a bit strict, it breaks. Better save them for rebuild to original and having fun driving the printed ones. Until there areno re-re and new spares I preferw it this way. Does not matter how vintage it looks or not. 

But I like you use non-hex screws, I concidered it as well but didnt made it at the end. My mid DS is still the prototype which will get partly striped from time to time, to try new parts versions.

Got your point Tom, maybe I´m too negative about 3d printed replacement parts! :huh: But probably you´re right, an old, aged original part is also really brittle! My kit was stored without sunlight for years, so I think the parts are not really prone to breakage from storage. But You´re right, without a Rere in sight It would be good to have them in the spares box, instead of risking it on a track...

I´ll keep that in mind, for the moment I´ll go on with the kit parts for the first assembly in front.

The screws: actually I came to the same conclusion on my recently restored Vanquish, where I also reused many of the old screws. It reminds me more of the old times. But I can understand everyone switching to modern screws/tools, because of the easier handling and the more sleek looks. And another reason is the time searching all screws as single piece, because I´m not aware of any screw kits for a Dyna Storm nowadays.:lol:

For your Dyna mule it´s for sure a good decision to use hex screws, makes parts changing more handsome!:)

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No time today for real building, but I couldn´t help myself making the next dryfit.:wub:

Added the first sticker to the gearbox, an MCI repro of the Tamiya Multi disc clutch label. Also fitted my shorty pack quickly to check the packaging. Everything looks very promising and aligning, no afterwork required, just like real Tamiya parts. Well done Tom!;)

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Today I had some time again to continue the build. I wanted to test the wishbone mountings, because everything needs to be fixed, before the gear box gets finally mounted from above. With the connection aluminum brace in front of the wishbones, this is a critical area for interfering with the midships mounted motor. But Tom did a great job again, and digged out some HPI shafts, that need only one c-clip and are very slim on one side. I opted for Tom´s wishbone mounts from his 3d carbon filament. Fit was great, the bronze bushings pop in with a little force, snug fit:spacer.png

Then the nice thing on a new kit came: fresh wishbones, and one of the nicest Tamiya ever designed. Such a floating design:

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For the moment I used some locking nuts, but I realized later, that the front one on the gearbox side gets in contact with the cover in the end. So I will use some flat ones probably. But no problems in mounting everything. Just keep in mind to flip the arms front/back, as we build the mid Storm!

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Then I put on the gearbox again and checked the critical areas:

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Looking good already.

I wanted to modify the gearbox cover as less as possible, but there are 2 aspects I noticed in the end: For the mounting itself you just need a little slot for the wishbone brace (in case you want to use it, but I would not leave it out). 

So I started this way:

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Not a big problem for the moment. Check.

Then I followed Tom´s next hint and cutted a tiny edge of the right chassis brace to not get in contact to the gear box cover and make it possible to lift the cover to the side. Just used a knife for it, quick fix:

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Time runout, will post tomorrow the next pics with the final cuts on the cover and the nice assembly of the famous Multi disc clutch MDC. ;)

Have a nice Sunday night,

Matthias

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As promised, I have some pics from yesterday left:

To check the gearcover assembly and disassembly, I needed the MDC on the mainshaft. I digged all parts out and placed them on the manual:

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Still a great design, that is maybe today more than is needed,  but even the clutch housing is lighter than it seems. And the small diameter of the discs keeps rotating masses low. Bare in mind, that Tamiya used this clutch also for the Nitro version of the Dyna series. On my original Dyna the clutch was not opened since I built it 1993. (o.k., I really should clean it out now).

A nice feature from the Rere kit is, that the 1260 bearing on the front is included as ball bearing:

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assembly is really easy and quick, and so it looks in the end:

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I put the spur gear on already in the module 0,4 version for the moment. For longer gearing ratios, I´d like to go a little smaller sometime in the future, as we discussed it in Tom´s thread. Nice thing is, you can put this assembly as a hole unit onto the main shaft, followed by the pressure spring with it´s 2 spring seats and the 4mm flange nut. To tighten it for the first time, you need to secure the diff or wheels to overcome the friction of the lock nut. Tamiya recommends to use the wing mount as tool:

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Coming closer, it looks alright:

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But it isn´t really: Gear cover pops on easily, but turning the gears indicates a little rub inside the housing. No big deal, but has to be sorted. I will fix this with painting the cover inside and turning the gears to locate the exact area, where the friction occurs. Wouldn´t hurt, if I switched to a smaller spur already, but I want to have it perfect also for the stock gear. Tom had to compromise the relocaton of the cover for bigger pinions also, that is the background for the small rub, probably due to tolerances on his and my kit.

So this will be done next! I also tend to make the body cutting for the mid gear box already, as the chassis side panels give the location of the body already. Far more easier to make the custom fit before painting it...

Kind regards,

Matthias

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The gearcover, its somehow impossible to place it centered like the original has it. 

But you can move it a bit around befor you lock all three screws and you will find one sweet spot with no spur contact. Lets say, gearcover and motorplate are 95% perfect but the 5% really sucks : D

Also this is the reason why I did not drilled the third gearboxcover mount yet. I am excited about your feedback then. 

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About the HPI shafts, you did not used any spacer to eleminaze play. 

Also you fitted them the other way around like I did. Probably you cant disassemble rear suspension arms quickley later then because shafts wouldnt go out to the front direction. 

For next steps at rear suspension. used spacers to bring the rear hubs a little more to the front to have a propper position of the CVDs. I sent you different sizes of this plastic spacers. Original are same size on both sides of the hub. Mid DS needs bigger one to the rear and smaller one to the front. Mention rims does not grind against susp. arms when you push suspension up and down. 

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On 8/31/2020 at 6:26 PM, Collin said:

The gearcover, its somehow impossible to place it centered like the original has it. 

But you can move it a bit around befor you lock all three screws and you will find one sweet spot with no spur contact. Lets say, gearcover and motorplate are 95% perfect but the 5% really sucks : D

Also this is the reason why I did not drilled the third gearboxcover mount yet. I am excited about your feedback then. 

Thanks Tom for your remarks. No problem, I knew you had a hard time figuring it out, also to make the use of bigger pinions possible!

I thought so, that you left the third hole out to leave it up to everyone using it or not. I´m not finally sure yet, if I make use of it. Cover is well fixed even with 2 screws.:)

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