TOPIC:

I wonder why they came up with so many different versions of the same thing... It looks typical of R+D, but you only spend time doing that if the original needs to be improved. Interesting idea mounting a diff in a wheel, but I don't think it makes it a good one

I wonder about that too... just had a look at the F104 and they went back to a setup in the wheel again with that one.
And back on the axle with F104 Pro!

Man, how cool would it be to design this stuff for Mr. T.
And save a lot of money on research in the meantime...

Some shots of the basic chassis - only weighs 600 grams with servo and motor!
I fitted the servo upside down in an attempt to make the steering a bit less direct. Hence also the very short servo horn.
And it has a Sport Tuned with new wiring and a Deans plug for now...
Titanium turnbuckles are looking very slick :


The yellow CVA gives it a nice vintage touch...

Nice

... But that flash of yellow doesn't work for me ... I think plain alloy (not anodised pink or bloo or whatever) or black plastic would look better.

That's also some pretty bad-badword toe-out you've got going on there ... I thought that chassis was tail-happy enough without adding to it

Edit - front camber looks all wrong too ... not sure that's adjustable though

Thanks, the damper choice was limited to a blue or yellow plastic one...
Building with what I've got lying around - without ordering any new stuff.
But the plan for later is definitely to stick with black (also the uprights) and metal.

Camber adjustment is not an option with this front suspension.
Unless you heat the plastic and deform it a bit - with was done (not by me) on some other parts I have.
And I hadn't adjusted toe exactly yet...

That is one sexy toy car!
Another option for the damper is Agemax's heatshrink. Personally I think a small quantity of blooo anodised stuff adds a look of professional race mod sophistication rather than the cheap "hop-up" body kit, underlighting, pregnant 13 year old girlfriend look of the other flavours. Dark red with black seems to work for me too

Oh, & camber & rake might be adjusted by adding washers under the appropriate mounts, a-la Mardave V12. Normally you aim to have straight running on the inner edges of the front tyres (To reduce drag), with the full footprint of the tyre on the ground at nearly full lock. OR full footprint while running straight, moving to edges when cornering & use dual compound tyres, (Centre-hard, outers soft) like the CSs, but this does restrict your tyre choices

I'll probably have to battle oversteer like I did with the C11 so setting it up correctly will take some fiddling.
Best thing to do with these foams would probably be to put some Super Gripper on it.

It definitely deserves a better (adjustable aluminium) damper - at some point.
Not going for blue here 'cause I did that with the C11. That's got a nice TRF damper on it. Even with a black TRF spring :



Thinking gunmetal or fluorine on this chassis. Keep it a bit understated.
Which the yellow is obviously not. That's more a wink to it's vintage heritage for now.
But I'm also considering a F103 T-bar to install that friction plate...
That reduces the need for a higher quality damper.

Have a lot of photo updating to do but I think it's ready for now!
Just sorted out the rear body posts. Quite handsomely if I may add...
But I've taken off the front bumper to clean it up a bit more so I still have to see if it all fits exactly.

More updates soon...

Here's a few pics of the process...
Some 2mm screws can be placed next to the flexible joint of the battery tray to tweak the maximum roll angle of the T-bar.
These turned out to be just a bit too short though :


New wiring and Deans plug for the Sport Tuned :


Putting a nice curl in the servo wire :


I cut a motor case spacer (D3) in half and drilled in some holes to create body post extensions :



That work out with the first attempt!


Not the normal quality pictures...
And for the final bit there's a bump in the road - the front body posts need to be longer.
Other than that the body and the chassis line up very nicely.

Yep, I was thinking gunmetal for the shock too - it'll match the motor heatsink & motor for being the "right" colour.
Like the curly servo wires, do they stay curly when running? Or is it a "just to tidy the looks" thing?
Do my eyes deceive me or is the rear track much wider than the front? - is that gonna cow things up for the look of the F40 body?
Too-short-enough screws - how much longer do they need to be & would the new length be a standard size? - just thinking it might be neater to counterbore the holes to sink the heads into the moulding than cut some screws to the right length? (On the assumption they'll need to be a non-standard length).
Body post material - have a look at Direct Plastics Online, they're one of a few companies who will deal in small orders for hobbyists. I'm thinking 6mm dia black polypropylene or HDPE or even nylon