TOPIC:

Rakuda wrote:

That blue alloy shock mount only comes with the pivot ball battery holders.

You're absolutely right! It has the battery holder too!
And the original came with it as a spare part...
I like the damper also. Think I'll put that on the F102.

Expected to receive a real resto project but it's in very good condition altogether.
Especially the shell is in great shape. Although the first thing to do would be to remove most of the decals...
Very happy with this one. I'll borrow some parts from it and rebuild this car in another (slowbuild) thread.

Check it out guys - an F102 TRF!


The chassis has now been fitted with :

- TRF damper and black spring
- F103RS FRP upper deck and axle parts
- F103 offset T-bar
- F103GT gear case parts and axle spacer
- Friction plate
- Aluminium damper mount
- Some titanium screws

Before :


More details will follow soon...

Mmmm black..... Made the mistake of having a wander on Ebay, just in time to watch 2x group-Cs go for 36gbp each... not happy!

That sounds like an okay price to start a build from...
Quite surprising how these chassis always seem to have a certain minimum value. Hardly ever do you see a real bargain.
Maybe I'll have one soon for an acceptable price too if you're interested.

Btw - I did not have to fiddle with spacers or anything...
F103RS and Group C axle parts bolt straight on. Even the diff part has the correct offset :

Well done! It's good to keep things simple if you can, but it helps (As in your case) if you have some uncanny ability to know all the models inside out!
I might well be interested if you put a 'cheapy' up for sale - I would've jumped on those 2 on Ebay if I'd known the bidding was gonna end there!
Just accidentally bought a box of Holiday Buggy, mk1+2 Acoms radio & who knows what else (Guy's having a clearout). Literally went on Ebay to look for clod shells, went into the RC department & there it was, had it for 16gbp!

....I'm sure I will!

That's basically what this build is about too - it arrived as an undefined box of bits.
Nothing I enjoy more than figuring out what it all is and putting something like this together...

The F103RS is missing a few parts now - but not too many. Already have some replacements too.
That one will be a slowbuild though. Lots to do for now and no more budget...
But a cunning plan to use the hop ups from the C11 on it is finding itself a way into my brain.

Some details of the changes that I made...
First I took apart the whole F103RS :


It had a really nice damper that normally comes with the F103LM-TRF :


I already replaced the blue one with a more matching colour but the TRF is a much better quality :


As mentioned in a previous post, the solution for putting on a lopsided F103 T-bar on this F102 is to also use the aluminium axle parts - Group C hubs fit straight on and the wheelbase and offset match perfectly :


First step is to take off the Group C gearbox parts :


Leaving this :


Then I had to decide whether to use the gearbox parts from the F103RS or the F103GT :


Decided in favour of the GT parts because they allow for much better cooling of the motor.
I need to use a 16mm spacer then (also from the F103GT) because the side of that gear case is flat :


Gear case with the axle fitted :


Still using the blue Group C hubs but two dozen press nuts from Lightwatermodels should arrive soon...
With these I can make some black hubs ready for mounting the C11 wheels :



For using a friction plate and extra damper mount, the F103RS upper deck is the easiest solution...
I may adapt the one from the F102 though at a later stage so that'll also fit.
It's a close match already - all it needs really is one extra 4mm hole :


The chassis and rear end put together :

Glad you found some proper "pressnuts" - just finished rebuilding that Astute, which has loads of them! I see what they mean when they say it's over-engineered - have you ever had a close look at one? (Knowing you appreciate posh twiddly bits). Couldn't believe I was looking at bronze-bushed suspension pivots.... Shame I only bought it to sell on, but I can't keep them all!
There's some interesting weight-saving going on with those F103RS bits - hadn't spotted the reliefs in the hexs until I'd seen them next to the Group C ones. I wonder how much difference it makes? Having owned an overpowered 1/12 car, I would've said you'd want some weight over the back wheels to be able to lay the power down

I happened to find the clinchnuts ( ) on Google in an ad that ended in November.
Seeing it was from this seller, I thought I'd ask about it. Plenty in stock it turned out.
And always a good deal there - especially with items like that.
Happened to notice in the process I misassembled the DF-01 a bit too - it also needs four of the same nuts.
And I used normal ones instead which didn't work as well... so that'll be solved too.

The F103 axle parts feel very light. Should have weighed them actually...
But not to forget I put a carbon fiber axle in it :


The original :




Now that the F103RS is missing the axle parts, it's a good excuse to go for an F103GT setup with titanium axle and aluminium hubs on that one. As a slowbuild though - that car can really get the hop up mania going...
I should also receive some proper friction damper grease to put on the friction plate later this week.

Then all there's really left is the footage from the test run...
And some minor upgrades of course, like RD king pins and black FRP steering knuckles.
Then it's as much up to TRF spec as it could be.