UU's "Thundershot TRF Special"

[RC104ever]

Wow that looks like a cool little buggy. I've always had a soft spot for the Tamiya Hot Shot and this is just making me want one even more, lol

[UserUnrelated]

Well, today got off to a later start than I had hoped (I helped my dad paint the fence for 6 hours this morning), but I finally got everything together!
The low-profile servo makes everything much cozier in the front section...
and I got very distracted by the fact that the TRF front shocks were a tad longer than the golds...

Not bad for a hacksaw, and some files.



These are the only 4wd buggy 12mm hex front wheels I have. I have some brand new Kyosho wheels, and some unmounted hole-shots, I might try and get some foams for those and have some offroad, and onroad (pictured) tires.
And I found some blue wheel nuts, which I thought was a nice touch.


Next on the to-do list:
* Find what one of the 15 different stiffnesses of springs I have will make the rear end happy (The TRF shocks aren't fully threaded, and it needs more preload than they can provide with the current springs)
* SWAY BARS! I have some extra sway bars from a TA-05 that look like they could be modified slightly to fit the rear, and I have some Schumacher purple sway bar ball-nut things...
* Camber links! I found some turnbuckles that are definitely the right size, finally... We'll see where this endeavor goes.
* Find some 90* 4mm bullets for the battery connections. Right now the body doesn't fit when the wires are sticking straight up out of the battery
* secure the battery somehow

Also... The gold shocks... they are HORRENDOUSLY cross-threaded... I can't even get them open.
Good thing they are perfectly full of oil, and not leaky. I'll put them on my FX:10 or something.

[UserUnrelated]

Rear swaybar: done
I have a stiffer one made up, too, if this one doesn't really do much.


Front camber links: done
I can't tell if these are a good thing. For one, they really improve the suspension geometry...
On the other hand, I guess the upper link was providing quite a bit of rigidity to the whole arm assembly... I don't mind it being flexible, but I can't decide if it will help, or harm durability.


And ugh... Yesterday, on Ebay I saw an aluminum front hinge pin/bumper brace thing, and I wanted to buy it, but hesitated because it was going to be $30, plus some probably high shipping from south korea...
Now when I decide to buy it, it's gone!

[Champ85]

Was that part made by Pargu, perhaps?

http://www.pargustore.com/alloy-parts/tamiya/thunder-and-fire-dragon.html

[UserUnrelated]

YES! That was it!
Cool, now I'll have to get one... Silver, too! The one I saw was black, which I wasn't a big fan of.
EDIT: Free shipping?... bought one, should be here by next week.

Beauty-shots!
I probably should have dusted off the inside of the window... I'll get more when I'm actually done.
Since last I posted, I broke one opf the rear body mounts simply by trying to put a pin in (the top part basically disintegrated), so I made some aluminum ones out of... idk, some body mounts I've had for a long time. I think they are off of an old pancar, or a late-model or something.

[Champ85]

Glad you ordered the part from Pargu. I bought a black one (stealth look - just like the stock part, but stronger!) a while ago for when I finally get around to building my ThunderShot re-re.

I should warn you that sometimes (most of the time?) Pargu can be a bit slow shipping it out and also since it isn't EMS (which is very $$$) it will be a couple of weeks waiting for the part to arrive at your house.
He is an honest guy, but is usually slow. Just figured I'd warn you now rather than have you curse me two weeks from now because it still hasn't come in.

[UserUnrelated]

Yeah, I generally am pretty patient for parts. It SAID 5 to 10 days, but it's not like I'm going to start flipping tables if it takes longer.
I would have gotten the rear one, too, but it was out of stock.

[EvolutionRevolution]

The more I look at this chassis, the more I think Kyosho ripped it off for the Shadow/Aero Streak. Or they were designed by the same guy.

Anyway, are you going to do something about the chassis?

[bearrickster]

looks like a very nice car Ilove this pic you need to just pull the trigger soit can take off.

[UserUnrelated]

The more I look at this chassis, the more I think Kyosho ripped it off for the Shadow/Aero Streak. Or they were designed by the same guy.

Anyway, are you going to do something about the chassis?

What sorts of something?
I don't have any plans for the chassis right now, beyond what I've already done. I cut it for square LiPo packs, and removed one of the vertical "dividers" in the chassis (just looked like good injection molding practice, shouldn't be structural) in order to make room for the ESC
I probably won't even get to THINKING about the TVP chassis until after the Vonats.

[R/Cat]

Not all Duratrax leaked, just like there are still a few Yugo on the road too lol!

I always liked the Duratrax, but not on a Tamiya. It's sacrilegious!

Exactly, not all Duratrax shocks leak so, like with most things, it probably depends in part on whether they are abused or taken care of. I used 8 on my Kyosho USA-1 for years with no problem and still have a couple of 20+ year old sets and they haven't leaked yet. The only time I used them on one of my Tamiya vehicles was back in the early '90's when I wanted to upgrade the yellow CVA's on my Astute. I could only make the rears fit so maybe that was the r/c gods telling me they didn't belong on there.

[UserUnrelated]

So... I traction rolled it. DEFINITELY need to work on the suspension geometry once I get turnbuckle lengths sorted out.


and I got the Pargu front brace in!... It is really nice. I want to see if I can get a rear brace in silver, too.


I built a battery bar thing


I can't remember if I already mentioned the aluminum rear body mounts, but those are a thing, too. I broke a plastic one trying to take a pin out.


I also bought a small bandsaw at a yard sale, and will probably cut out a rear shock tower, too.

I will measure, and order the correct length of turnbuckles, preferably in blue, because what I have is way too short.

I am leaving for a week to go to a school robotics competition (in Hawaii!), so I will really get working when I get back!

[Wahrsuul]

I know, old thread, but I'm a newbie and just enjoying all the stuff I've missed out on.

Pretty car, I like the paint job.

I have a Thundershot at home....well, sort of. After the Thundershot came out, Tmaiya released the Terra Scorcher. The Shot had one yellow shock across the front, whereas the Scorcher had duals of Tamiya Silver (never liked those). There were some more differences, adjustable top links and body, and I know I'm forgetting somethings. But I enjoyed running it for a while, and since it's still in the collection, it's somewhere on the list to get "restored".

[korreka]

I also broke part A5 in my Terra Scorcher; in this way, solve it:





I put a bushing through which the screw enters (shaft). To do this, we clean and shape the size of the bushing with the Dremel drill machine and the sanding tip:





I put and paste the bush with cyanoacrylate to hold momentarily:




Then, fill with ABS plastic dissolved in acetone and let it harden.




I made this piece with a metal sheet






The piece provides a reinforcement and this works!





See the complete repair at:
http://reparar-cochesrc.blogspot.com/2018/06/soporte-de-suspension-de-tamiya-terra.html

[Wahrsuul]

Interesting repair. I have a plastic repair kit I picked up for the fairings on a bike a while back. Its uses plastic powder and acetone (or something like it) pretty much the same way. They even have a hard wax bar that you're supposed to soften and shape to make a temporary mold to re-make tabs and such. Might have worked for this as well.

Just finished rebuilding/cleaning mine a month or so ago. Was going to let the grands use it till I found out non of my transmitters work anymore. Time to pick up some cheap ones with receivers I guess.