Hondaman's Astute

[hondaman]

Dan thanks for the advice.. I'm going to go your route... Didn't even think I tightened the nuts too much.. but in my old age I may be getting all thumbs.. I haven't painted up the shell yet.. work got in the way.. boooo.. going to shoot some paint on Sunday.. excited to get this one ready for electronics.. oh and I noticed that the steering is on backwards.. gotta fix that..

Shawn

[tamiyadan]

.

[hondaman]

OK well I got this all sorted out.. I wasn't the steering... it was the sway bar.. The ends were pushed too far in and limiting the travel and it wasn't rotating as I had it a bit too tight.. Also there were limiters inside the front shocks so I removed them and bingo...... full travel.. I however did move the lower shock position one hole toward the wheels as it just looked better and since this will sit on the shelf for a bit I went with that while I sort out the electronics.. Too many cars and not enough receivers.. Not to mention the weak front suspension mount.. But I an going to make something up for that in the near future.. Stay tuned..

Well with out further adieu.. Here it is.... My Tamiya Astute:











And there you have it... I'm going to take some better pictures at some point... I decided to use a wing from a B4 instead of the Astute part as I like the look.. I have the Astute one just didn't assemble it.. This works out for me as I am missing the Astute wing mounts and this has the Mad Cap wing mount right now.. The previous owner drilled the shock tower for this so it fits alright.. I do have a NIP tower but I will source some wire wing mounts later.. I need some for another project anyway so I will probably go to A&L for theirs.. I also re-purposed the decals from the Mad Cap shell onto this one for now as well.. I'll pick up some repo decals to replace the ones I have when I get other decals for other stuff.. It was a blast to build and I'll call this 80% finished as I have order some o-rings to rebuild the shocks ( so far I only cleaned them) that should show up with a bunch of other stuff.. I'm pretty happy with the outcome..

Thanks for all the help guys.. I really appreciate it..

Maybe I'll get on my Frog project next... Or my Fox....

Shawn

[broodenburg]

Great looking car!
I've had a few Tamiya cars back in the day's, but this looks cool with the carbon fiber towers and chassis.

Thing that suprises me though is that they still use these yellow 80's shocks..... are these the same as on my fox/big wig?

[bearrickster]

VERY nice job I love the paint

[broodenburg]

O, and PLEASE do go on with the fox/frog project!

[hondaman]

@broodenburg: Thanks!! Yup.. The old tried and true Tamiya Yellow CVA shock.. The lengths are different from the Fox but same design.. They aren't really all the bad of a shock.. They are pretty robust and easy to maintain.. Not great for high performance racing IMHO, but for bashing or novice racers, they are pretty good.. I haven't had a leaky Tamiya CVA either..

@bearrickster: Thank you sir!! I am really happy myself.. My paint jobs usually come out really messy.. This one came out pretty good..

Shawn

[hondaman]

O, and PLEASE do go on with the fox/frog project!

It will probably be my Frog while I wait for parts for my Yokomo's.. I don't have a body for the Fox just yet.. I need to get one some time soon...

Shawn

[highwayracer]

I love the Astute! Over-engineered or not they have a ton of character and look like nothing else. . I had a third but sold it.

Yea you sold one to me it looked like the red one it had a nice red body.

Hah hah! You got the red body but the car under the yellow one. I have a new body for the red car now.

I actually have that red body now. It will be interesting to see who will get it next...since I'm building that astute to sell.

As for this astute, I really like the paint job. Very nice restoration.

[hondaman]

Thanks Roger.. It was thanks to you for the gear and cover I was able to finish it..

Shawn

[tamiyadan]

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[hondaman]

Yes.. just like a 20 something year old girl..

Shawn

[tamiyadan]

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[hondaman]

Dan.. Now that is a nice Astute.. All factory with a Technigold motor!! I love it.. I'm not a box art kinda guy but that is what I would do if I would have gone box art.. Wonderful car.. I'm just too lazy to letter the tires.. I think now that I keep seeing the Tamiya guys doing it and it looks so good, I'm going to do that one day..

Shawn

[tamiyadan]

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