GF-01 Wild Willy?!

[BJoe76 571]

Now that I have a No Longer-TR GF-01 and I don’t care much for Beetle body it comes with, I’ve been thinking of looking into putting a WW2 body on it when I finally build it and only need to get bearings and new front uprights ( had to use the kit pieces on my Now-TR MF-01x).  Guess my question are, since Tamiya doesn’t have the instructions up on their site right now,  what part numbers would I need to order to get a full WW2 body put together for it, will the WW2 rear remounts fit without issue, are there any recommended upgrades for the GF-01 and G6-01TR outside of bearings and shocks, and finally, will the chassis handle a Sidewinder with a 3800kV combo? 

[JennyMo 3526]

Looking at this listing on ebay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Choice-Of-New-Genuine-Tamiya-Spare-Parts-For-Tamiya-Wild-Willy-2-II-58242-R-C/313348919089?hash=item48f50d0f31:g:twMAAOSwylpf3K4J

You basically need all the green parts - so the main body tub, plus the H & J parts, plus the K parts roll bar (black). You'll also need the white driver sprue which also has the steering wheel/column, NOS bottle and head/spot light covers to finish detailing the body.

The windscreen is a separate part (in comes in one of the screw bags as I recall, but you could always cut your own from a flat piece of lexan), and if you want to finish it in box art, then the decal sheet too.

Personally I'd look for for either someone selling a complete 'body set'  (which is also likely to include all the screws bag/s you need, although you've probably got a few spares already which you can use...), or if you're lucky, a take-off body from an XB Wild Willy 2, again if you're particularly going for the box art look.

I see there is a complete and painted body on ebay UK at the moment - currently at a bit over £50 - might be worth a punt?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tamiya-Wild-Willy-2-58242-WR02-0335177-10335177-Hand-Painted-Body-Shell/193861300364?hash=item2d2308b08c:g:n90AAOSwaANgDDMa

 

Alternatively, you could always buy a complete WW2 kit, and sell the rolling chassis separately... in fact if I was still in the UK I'd take it - they are a great platform for looning around with!

Hope that helps...

Jenny x

 

EDIT. Apologies to BJoe76 - I presumed you were in the UK when I replied initially... yes, unfortunately the Wild Willy body set/parts appear to cost a lot more here in the US than they do in the UK.

[Grumpy pants 4465]

I priced up the WW2 body a couple of weeks ago and it came in around £50 without the screw bag, but if you then need wheels and tyres it made more sense to me to buy the kit @ £127 and sell on the spare chassis etc as @JennyMo

[Busdriver 6209]

Is this lot any use to you. Missing is fuel can and winch and Willy’s body. I may have the body but I’ll have to look deeper!!!

Say £10 inc postage

[Grumpy pants 4465]

2 hours ago, Busdriver said:

Is this lot any use to you. Missing is fuel can and winch and Willy’s body. I may have the body but I’ll have to look deeper!!!

Say £10 inc postage

I'll have them please.

[BJoe76 571]

2 hours ago, Busdriver said:

Is this lot any use to you. Missing is fuel can and winch and Willy’s body. I may have the body but I’ll have to look deeper!!!

Say £10 inc postage

PM Pending!

[BJoe76 571]

7 hours ago, Grumpy pants said:

I priced up the WW2 body a couple of weeks ago and it came in around £50 without the screw bag, but if you then need wheels and tyres it made more sense to me to buy the kit @ £127 and sell on the spare chassis etc as @JennyMo

Looks like it’s running just under $200 here in the US through Horizon and A-Main. I’d throw the parts on eBay, but it won’t let me post my Legends Car or Vaterra V100 sedan parts on there. I’ve rarely used it to sell, just buy here and there many times with the account laying dormant for years at a time, so I don’t know if that’s why or what.

[BJoe76 571]

After thinking about it, what is the parts interchangeablity  between the WR-02 and GF-01?

[isomer1 175]

Quote

After thinking about it, what is the parts interchangeablity  between the WR-02 and GF-01?

Well. They're *almost* perfectly interchangeable. I regularly purchase parts labeled for both platforms and mix them without concern. Moreover you can use many parts from the other chassis variants. The GF-01 is this wonderful (aka wacky) mini Frankenstein's beast of previous Tamiya chassis. The three notable issues with the GF-01 (which you may well already be aware of) are (1) It tends to front-flip on hard stops - indeed this is considered a feature by many. If you want to avoid that the common solution is to put a one-way roller in the front diff. If you are going to the trouble of adding a custom hard body you may want to consider this (or build one body for show and a second for bashing) (2) working with the diffs basically involves dismantling the entire vehicle - that can make it tedious to dial in (3) the front and rear mounts are ever so slightly different - so you can't assume parts for the rear gearbox / damper mount will fit on the front etc.

Other thoughts:

Steering on the GF-01 has the servo off to the side, whereas in the WR-02 it is centered. Has a few more parts as a result.

Front wheels on the WR-02 can be mounted in two ways: as bearing free-rollers, or swapping the front knuckles to use hex wheels. I prefer the latter, but I think it's largely personal preference.

Battery is sloped to the front in the WR-02, to the rear in the GF-01. Can impact how you trim/mount tight-fitting bodies, particularly the WW body you were thinking of.

As best I can tell, almost everyone in TC owns or has owned the Heavy Dump Truck. There aren't many examples in the main site showroom, but they always show up in the background when people posts images of their latest build.

[Dakratfink 967]

15 hours ago, isomer1 said:

s best I can tell, almost everyone in TC owns or has owned the Heavy Dump Truck. There aren't many examples in the main site showroom, but they always show up in the background when people posts images of their latest build.

I don’t, but It is on my wish list 

[BJoe76 571]

Thanks again guys, I do appreciate it since I’m much more familiar with the Traxxas platforms. I’ve decided that I’ll just buy the Wild Willy 2 kit and use that as a parts source for the needed pieces and keep the rest for repairs with shared  parts, if needed.  I’ll buy the bearing kit from Fast Eddy and build the chassis in the meantime.

 

 I do have few more questions, but on the diff putty that came with the GF-01 kit, though.

First off, does it work like the silly putty I have packed into the diffs of my MF-01x and Traxxas Telluride to lock those, or will it act more like a limited slip if applied as described?
Second, Would there be an issue if I just used it in the rear diff only on the GF-01 since it’s going to be a wheelie machine. 
Finally, would that be ok to use on the Lunchbox and Clod as well as in the planetary diffs in my Bandit and Stampede or in the beefed up diffs in my Wheely King that’s still a monster truck and runs Proline’s 2.6” wheels and tires?

[BJoe76 571]

Got my bearing set and starting on my GF-01 today😁

Starting with the diffs, going to try it without the front one way, but will leave the front diff open and only putty up the rear.

[BJoe76 571]

Main Chassis it built, and it’s time to start building the suspension!

[BJoe76 571]

I’m starting to run out of parts that weren’t included for the TR version, but getting started in the shocks.

[BJoe76 571]

Ok, I am officially as far as I can go without the Wild Willy 2 kit as well as without a Rx and servo!

[BJoe76 571]

I am curious on something though, is it possible to mount these WR-02 kit frame rails to this chassis?!

 

It looks like I can use my Dremel to trim them some and make them clear, but I’m just curious.

[Saito2 6686]

7 hours ago, BJoe76 said:

It looks like I can use my Dremel to trim them some and make them clear, but I’m just curious.

With some Dremeling, I managed to add the frame rails to my old GF01-based Wild Willy.

[BJoe76 571]

7 hours ago, Saito2 said:

With some Dremeling, I managed to add the frame rails to my old GF01-based Wild Willy.

Was it just in the areas where the body mounts appear to be on both pieces that needed to be trimmed?

[Saito2 6686]

2 hours ago, BJoe76 said:

Was it just in the areas where the body mounts appear to be on both pieces that needed to be trimmed?

I sold the GF01 years ago and unfortunately don't remember the specifics of what I did to fit the rails. Sorry. I just remember having the extra rails and fitting them for appearance sake. 

[BJoe76 571]

1 minute ago, Saito2 said:

I sold the GF01 years ago and unfortunately don't remember the specifics of what I did to fit the rails. Sorry. I just remember having the extra rails and fitting them for appearance sake. 

No problem, I think there is info on YouTube, so I may look there as I have the time.

[isomer1 175]

18 hours ago, BJoe76 said:

I am curious on something though, is it possible to mount these WR-02 kit frame rails to this chassis?!

I think you've sorted it by now, but just to confirm: yes it's the body mounts. This shows up on builds from Japan a fair amount. The side rails come in lots of color so it's a fun way to add contrast to the main chassis.

[BJoe76 571]

48 minutes ago, isomer1 said:

I think you've sorted it by now, but just to confirm: yes it's the body mounts. This shows up on builds from Japan a fair amount. The side rails come in lots of color so it's a fun way to add contrast to the main chassis.

Ok, thanks!  I was thinking about adding them so it still looked like a WW2, even if I left them in bare plastic.

[isomer1 175]

This thread got me watching random GF-01 videos again. Here is one that shows the sidebars mounted (starts around the 2:00 minute mark).

In this video he's actually modified the hard chassis mounts so the full sidebar can be used. In most others I've seen they cut the sidebars short at the end, leaving the chassis mounts in place. He does make a good point that the original chassis mounts are a quite hard in inflexible, while the sidebar plastic is much softer.

Anywho, here's the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROKnefDBCR8

[BJoe76 571]

2 hours ago, isomer1 said:

This thread got me watching random GF-01 videos again. Here is one that shows the sidebars mounted (starts around the 2:00 minute mark).

In this video he's actually modified the hard chassis mounts so the full sidebar can be used. In most others I've seen they cut the sidebars short at the end, leaving the chassis mounts in place. He does make a good point that the original chassis mounts are a quite hard in inflexible, while the sidebar plastic is much softer.

Anywho, here's the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROKnefDBCR8

Thanks, that did help a bunch!

[BJoe76 571]

Well, I have the Tx/Rx, “front” axles and wheels on hand for this build on hand and have ordered a servo and WW2 kit so I can finish it! Hopefully the WW2 will be here next week😎