034 - CC01 Future Plans... More Or Less!

From some weeks I'm again focused on my CC01: after the bad experience with two sets of RC4WD steelies, with a bushing of the Integy 55t that whistles, with my beloved Nissan King Cab body that it isn't a masterpiece and with the crappy GPM steering I'm thinking to switch to 1.9 tires and wheels although I prefer the 1.55s, for sure I want to buy a Robitronic esc/motor combo, probably replace the body with a monotonous Toyota Land Cruiser and look for a possible improvement for the steering... not a lot is sure, the only certainty is that I will spend a lot of money.

033 - For Sale

For sale: number four RC4WD Mickey Thompson 1.55 Baja MTZ Scale Tires used only for a short shakedown in the back garden.
Price 30 Euros + shipping from Italy
Payment only by Paypal
email me: jeekelemental(at)gmail.com

032 - Thank you YSS! Much Appreciated!

I'm very happy today! the postman brought me a packet from Japan (and everyone know how much I love Japan!), from YSS Crawlers to be precise.

To resolve the problem that Team STRC items have caused to my CR and that I wrote about here, I bought from YSS Crawlers a pair of Roche hubs. Roche hubs are nothing that a simple and good idea that allows to use Tamiya parts. Installing it is a quick and easy operation and they look fine.

Shopping from YSS is a pleasure: they are kind and patient. Thank you YSS!

Thanks for all, much appreciated!

031 - Oil leaks, Grease & More

Diff tests today! Yesterday I filled a good old Tamiya diff with silicone oil made for the modern gear diff to test if it works and if the Stadium Blitzer performs better. Well, the diff didn't had leaks during the night and installed in to the car it works fine and the car handles better. After the test run I opened the tranny and the result is shown below.

The differential leaks oil from the left side and there are suspect metal chippings.
Cleaned the diff from the oil I decide to try another way: I filled it in marine grease that it's heavy and sticky. it works! The car performs a little worse than with the oil set up but I hope that the diff will not wear.

The last "no bucks" mod is about the antenna holder: I had already reduced the original radio tray but I'm thinking from long time to mould an underbody and, I'm sure, lowering the antenna could help me to make it without too much work. So I decide to use a body post spacer from the FF03 kit, to drill to the bottom also the second hole and to fit it in to the car: nice and cheap.

Before

And after only in a shot of Dremel :)

The only bad new is that from now I will start to spend money for the unis, a turnbuckles set and for the stainless steel screws set... and I hope I do not get the idea to convert the Stadium in to a Beetle... ops!

030 - New Strut Braces And Diff Experiment

Well, who knows me knows that I'm in constant mumbling and no matters if I'm mumbling about four wheeling, fishing, rc cars or anything else. So today, during all the day, I've thought about the strut braces I built yesterday.
I'm fixed with the total black look for my little cars and mumbling and mumbling I remembered  that somewhere in my cave I got a carbon tube (normally used for kites), a M3 stainless steel threaded bar and and some other items that could help me to rebuilt the struts.
The second upgrade that I was thinking about is about diff. If I'm not wrong it's possible to upgrade the Blitzer with a TA01 ball diff but I think that if racers are going to gear diffs it will be there a why! So I decided to do an experiment filling the stock diff with a 50.000 diff silicon oil sealing it with a little of marine grease, I didnt fit it in to the car because I want to see if the oil leaks.

A carbon tube, M3 stainless steel threaded bar and something else: the necessary to build "total black" strut braces. I made a sort of bushings starting from a Breakaway Impact Shields rubber tube (every beach angler know what I'm talking about).

Front

Rear

029 - Repaired & Strengthened Blitzer

This evening, during a(nother) mental planning of the future upgrades for my Stadium Blitzer, I decide to repair it so I've looked for a spare in my Tamiya junkyard box: mission accomplished. I also found a pair of 3Racing titanium turnbuckles, some ball-ends and some ball connectors so I decided to quick build a pair of strut brace: a low bucks upgrade for the Blitzer's plastic shocks towers. Nothing original but it works!

Front

Rear

028 - Time To Get Unis!

This afternoon, after work and before having dinner, I looked for a little relax  with my Stadium Blitzer in the car park near home. I was having fun until I had a crash on a sidewalk, it wasn't a hard crash but the axle had broken as cutted. I suppose it's due to a previous crack.
It's definetely the time to buy unis :)

detail one

 

detail two

027 - A Faster Servo For My FF03

Today the postman brought me a packet from Hong Kong within the Blue Bird BMS-661DMG+HS servo that I've ordered last month, it is the new servo for my FF-03 that at the moment fits a budget KO digital servo that in future I want to use in a Wild One re-released.

Unfortunately I've choosen it only with the performance in mind and I forgot to compare its sizes with the KO one... so now I got a taller servo than the old one while I've desidered a shorter one.

Blue Bird servos from Taiwan are one of the few exceptions to my obsession for the made in Japan items. Their Quality is high and the prices are very good for a basher like me and their feeling with KO radio systems is total.

026 - Team STRC A Waste Of Money

Some month ago I bought from Team STRC a rear lock-out kit for my Cr-01 that includes a pair of stainless steel axles as posted here.
This afternoon, after holidays, I was cleaning the Cr and in rebuilding the rear axle I noticed that a semi-axle was bent. It's quite strange for something (stainless steel) that usually means strenght and it more strange if it happens after only some hours of non-hardcore four wheelin'.
There is only a pair of thing that are clear: I've got a problem to solve and the solution will not come from Team STRC, I will not buy again their rubbish.

So for the moment I returned to Tamiya manual solution awaiting for a good idea to solve this problem.

025 - Ooops!

Yesterday, finally, I found what looked like a nice place for crawling and to get some beautiful pics to post here: a small torrent under the trees with (of course) rocks, water and sand.
What is happened is clearly explained by the pics and the teaching is: first explore and (only) after crawl.
I saved all the electronics switching off the radio and drying it all before re-switching on.

024 - CR01 Future Plans

As noticed some days ago (and probably as  the entire world knew) the stock CR01 shafts are butter made: infact during a non-hardcore four wheeling ride the front shaft snapped out and it results bent. So I've used one of the two extra sets of shaft that fortunately Tamiya puts into the kit. I will swap it soon with something better and tough.
I noticed also that my Robitronic 55t motor has a plenty of torque but it's too slow and it's necessary to replace it.

023 - CR01 On Holiday

Some pics of my CR01 on holiday on the alps, not a lot to say due to bad internet connection. I'm looking for a good crawling spot and for the moment I enjoy my CR around home. I noticed a problem about the stock plastic shaft.

022 - An Alternative Way To Repair Lexan Body Cracks

Because of my poor driving skills my FF03 has collected a few of cracks on its Civic Body, at this time I don't want to buy a new body so I decided to repair it.
In surfing the web looking for any suggestions about it I found a method that involves using of Shoe Goo and drywall tape... but I didn't find anything.
Looking for an inspiration about an alternative way i visit the local model shop and there i found a fiberglass tape by great Planes and I bought it, in a DIY shop i bought a universal glue by Bostik so I repaired the Civic body with the results shown below.

021 - A Gift from Japan That Smells Like My Teen Spirit

Last friday my girlfriend received the parcel from Japan that our japanese friend Tomo sent us some weeks ago.
Tomo is a very special guy: hard worker, very expert in venetian cuisine and he also lived and worked in a fine restaurant here in Venice for over two years. My girlfriend knows him from her first journey in Japan when she was a student, we met him in Tokyo two year ago and thanks to the Net we keep in touch.
Now he is working in a venetian restaurant in Osaka called by the owner (another japanese guy that also lived and worked in Venice). So if you will travel to Osaka, remember: Osteria Bricola for real venetian tastes!
In spite of hard work Tomo always remembers about us and sometimes he sends us some japanese items that he knows we will like. This time he choosed for me the "Tamiya RC Perfect  Guide 2012", fantastic! And it smells like the first one I bought over 20 years ago in my local RC shop, the good old days!
Thank you Tomo!

020 - Trailing Arms Maybe

This project started between 2008 and 2009 after I bought a Tamiya Subaru Brat re-released. I always liked rc cars with trailing arms and when I bought my Brat I started to think if trailing arms could fit also in front. After some experiments I realized that it wasn't an easy modify so I switched to a easier modify to the stock suspensions... but without satisfaction.
Sometimes my girlfriend buys japanese books or magazines from Amazon Japan and everytime she also buys a copy of RCWORLD for me (of course I can't read anything but I like how japanese guys play rc cars). This time I found an article about modified vintage or re-released rc cars so I restarted to think about my Brat with trailing arms in front, so I did some experiments with an old chassis and some used parts and I think to have found the way.
With many thanks to japanese guys and to their way to play with rc cars.

019 - Good Old Stuff

for some weeks I surfed the web looking for a new brushed motor for my FF03. I would never thought it was so difficult to find something that  I liked. Ok, we are in the brushless era but I thought that the big names of rc still produce 540 for old boys like me: I found only chinese rubbish.
Today, during one of the periodic "great cleanings" of my rc corner, I found my old Kyosho Mega 16x2 and this old Reedy (17 turn maybe?) both motors were dismembered but in a hour I've clean and rebuilted the Reedy one and I put it on my FF03: the car has become a lightning and I need more practice to drive it.

I think it's clear where to look for quality