TA-01 Too Long!

[tadcooke 15]

I've got an old TA-01 which I fancied making into a rally beetle after seeing the Tamiya kit one, only problem is the wheelbase is different! I did a rough measurement and figured it would work out ok, but as you can see the chassis is just a bit too long for the body...

As I wanted this to be as authentic as possible I have removed the front gearbox contents and the drive shaft, so it'll be RWD and rear engined, so my solution at the moment is to try sawing a chunk out of the chassis to make it about .5cm shorter! Has anyone tried this before or have any more sensible solutions?

 

[Tizer 606]

Luckilly there's no chassis as easy to play around with wheelbase as the TA01. There are many options by combining different rear arms and/or the TA02 chassis tub.

Are you using the Tamiya MF01X body on the TA01? In that case you also have to adjust the thread width most likely as the TA01 wider than the MF01X.

To get the correct wheelbase for the Tamiya body all you need is a TA02 chassis tub. The TA02 tub with TA01 rear arms is about 238mm wheelbase, which is very close to a long wheelbase M-chassis like the MF01X or M06L this body comes on.

[Mad Ax 9313]

This is a helpful post for TA chassis comparisons / hybridisation:

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=48983&id=2193

[Willy iine 18805]

If you are committed to doing this, it is easy to do.  Just cut out the portion you don’t need, and mount onto either carbon fiber deck or aluminum sheet and reinforce the chassis not to bend.  Depends on that materials you have access to, you can use aluminum extrusions like curtain rails, side door rails, and screw that onto the chassis for reinforcement.  

GL!   I love one-off cars.

 

[tadcooke 15]

On 9/27/2021 at 2:16 PM, Tizer said:

Luckilly there's no chassis as easy to play around with wheelbase as the TA01. There are many options by combining different rear arms and/or the TA02 chassis tub.

Are you using the Tamiya MF01X body on the TA01? In that case you also have to adjust the thread width most likely as the TA01 wider than the MF01X.

To get the correct wheelbase for the Tamiya body all you need is a TA02 chassis tub. The TA02 tub with TA01 rear arms is about 238mm wheelbase, which is very close to a long wheelbase M-chassis like the MF01X or M06L this body comes on.

I didn't know the tubs were different, I've got another one which I'll have to check to see if it's the same...

[tadcooke 15]

14 hours ago, Willy iine said:

If you are committed to doing this, it is easy to do.  Just cut out the portion you don’t need, and mount onto either carbon fiber deck or aluminum sheet and reinforce the chassis not to bend.  Depends on that materials you have access to, you can use aluminum extrusions like curtain rails, side door rails, and screw that onto the chassis for reinforcement.  

GL!   I love one-off cars.

 

I hadn't though of reinforcing it, was just going to rely on epoxy, but this is a much better idea!

[Tizer 606]

39 minutes ago, tadcooke said:

I didn't know the tubs were different, I've got another one which I'll have to check to see if it's the same...

And since the TA02 has now been re-released on a big scale it's super easy (and cheap) to get a new plastic tub and driveshaft.

[Willy iine 18805]

1 hour ago, tadcooke said:

I hadn't though of reinforcing it, was just going to rely on epoxy, but this is a much better idea!

I suppose you can epoxy it later after you reinforce it to close any gaps you might have and after you ensure you have no tweak (twist of tub or frame).  

[87lc2 2666]

Definitely do-able as other have said.  I've built a couple of TA01 Hummers with chassis that are carbon/acrylic plate.  In your case I'd probably just cut out as much as you need and then bolt them back together with an aluminum or carbon plate, pretty easy.  I actually did that on my 1/6 scale Hummer built from a Traxxas Summit.  Need the chassis to be longer so cut in in half and used aluminum angle in the center to join them.  Has held up great for years.  You can see the TA01 Hummers & 1/6 Hummer in my showroom if interested.