217 - #53070 Manta Ray Ball Diff Set

During my Delta Ray Buggy's shakedown I've noticed that the car is prone to move like a snake on the straight and after a quick recall of my poor knowledges I've realized that it due to the differential setup.

the Delta Ray is born with both geared differential with the intention to build a low maintenance car with a low maintenance drivetrain: the front diff is totally free and the rear is shimmed to limit wheels spin imiting the action of a ball diff.

Drive this car is very simple and the way it run in to the turns is neutral and easy to manage but, to be honest, it feels a little tied up.

I guess it's normal, this kind of Tamiya gear diff is not born to be fine tunable.

Remembering how was exciting to drive my Lancia Delta HF Integrale with  its double differential setup I've decided to buy a #53070 Manta Ray Ball Diff Set to replicate that amazing feeling.

216 - Twisters Motors

In the good old days my only source of informations about the hobby were the local hobby shop (not specialized in RC cars... so not too much infos from the two brothers that manage it) and the (national and international) competitions reports and cars reviews that the italian magazines published at that time.

Magazines have widen my eyes on the whole extra Tamiya RC scene and on the competitions world. I've never attended a race but I owned a race car and some of the used stuff I buy today are the things I would have bought if I would have money enough.

Twisters is one of the brand I've started to read about when I was a teen and finally weeks ago I bought these two used motors on the Bay.

Of course the seller has not been able to give infos about number of turns and, unfortunately opening the two to inspect them has not revealed much: no number handwritten on the rotor. I have been only able to understand than one is a "triple" and the other is a "double".

The double one is almost clean to the inside, its commutator looks good and bearings run smooth.

The triple is full of black dust and need a deep clean, its magnets are really strong and also its commutator is fine.

Some scars due to the habit to solder and unsolder ESC cables direclty on the motors tabs but they are not deep as in some other motors I own.

I guess they will look great after a good clean and a easy refurb.

215 - Batteries, Motors And Blitzer Updates

I guess that no one in the whole world have noticed that but between this weekend and the previous one the layout of this blog have been changed with a newer one and the background image have also been changed with a better pic: same style but better.

Some stuff have been delivered: a pair of Team Orion Rocket Nimh rocket pack bought in the attempt to gain from batteries the punch of the good old days;

I've also received two used Twisted motors that have been quickly inspected. A refurb is needed, of course, but they are in acceptable shape: some screws and brushes need to be replaced, commutators don't shine like gold but will be fine with a pair of touches, bearings run smooth, magnets are stong but new stickers will be applied.

As shown by the ugly pic below I've found the time to spend on the workbench to define the position on the body on my (not more) Stadium Blitzer (converted in a) Beetle: dremeling a hole in the front bulkhead I've used a spare bodypost it allow me to use the original mount hole on the body, at rear I've used a pair of standard Blizer Beetle mounts with different holes position to lower the body as planned.