fresnojay

iTrader: (3)

The only reason I planned on upgrading is the tires are severely dry rotten. So the side walls are cracked beyond belief. But the manager at the hobby shop I run at said they now make a rubberised CA that I could use to salvage them. He also said they looked like proline brand tires. He is pretty knowledgeable in cars especially Tamiya as he had races mostly Tamiya for 20 or so years.

The tires did perform rather well but the bumpy track we run on was the cause of my first crash and break today. The car got airborne from a dip in the track that I entered at a bad angle. The resulting glancing blow to the pipes ripped off the driverside front wheel taking the upper and lower A arm ends with it. Upon closer inspection they appeared to be the stock plastic ones. So while I was still at the track ordered the carbon reinforced ones as replacements.

My friends with F1's were upset I crashed and broke mine during practice but were happy to see another car for the class. Also going to go ahead and order the standard 103 base plate as tq has them for just $20. I am really glad parts for this car are still out there or I would be in deep poo, lol.

Jason

terry.sc

Yeah, they are Proline Road Hawgs. We all bought a set when they came out and found they either worked well or didn't work at all, depending on the surface you were racing on.

A good move. The kit plastic arms work well but does seem to go brittle with age. Had big accidents in the old days that they survived but when I brought the cars out again they snapped so much easily. The carbon reinforced arms are stiffer, but also a lot more durable.

Tamiya are great in that they like to recycle parts where they can. Cuts down on their costs but also means a lot of F103 parts are used in the new F104W cars. The chassis plate, top deck and battery holders are the only parts unique to the F103, but as Tamiya have used the F103 for the Tyrrell P34 and Lotus 99T, and rereleased the F103RM kits, it is still technically a current kit 20 years since they first released it.

fresnojay

iTrader: (3)

My parts shipped today. The guys at tq are just awesome. They combined my different orders without a single problem and gave refund for the extra shipping in record time. Hats off to them. So the car should be running again by Thursday night.

I got bored today and dug out a set of my old rc plane lights and fitted a nice blinking taillight. Looks great and was done with what was on hand.

Jason

fresnojay

iTrader: (3)

My parts shipped today. The guys at tq are just awesome. They combined my different orders without a single problem and gave refund for the extra shipping in record time. Hats off to them. So the car should be running again by Thursday night.

I got bored today and dug out a set of my old rc plane lights and fitted a nice blinking taillight. Looks great and was done with what was on hand.

Jason

fresnojay

iTrader: (3)

Ok just noticed my last post went up twice, odd.

Anyhow I now have the car back together with its new arms. Oh and a brand spanking new set of Pardus brand tires. They seem to be a good choice but time will tell. But unfortunately I have made a new issue as now I needed to do the F104 conversion to equalize the front and rear wheel widths. I may do the conversion to a standard wheelbase at the same time. But the car currently is ready to run.

Jason

whitrzac

iTrader: (97)

How much would a f103 15th anivseary edition be worth?

It's used, the chasisis has a few scratches/etc but it's complete+ extra parts...

racer robert

iTrader: (3)

Depends on how much demand there is for one. I got a 15th anniversary about a year ago on eBay. Price was bid up to $125. Condition was basically how you describe yours.

HeliYogi

iTrader: (17)

fresnojay

iTrader: (3)

Well I am beginning the conversion of the my F103L to a F103 standard length / F104. Am finding out there are a few pieces that I hadn't accounted for and still need to order so I can finish the transformation. Still have yet to pick up the F104 front wing, servo mount, king pins and other various screws.

Jason

fresnojay

iTrader: (3)

Ok so the upgrade to F104 status has basically been completed. The only thing left to do is a new body. A scheme has been drawn up just needs to be put to plastic. Here are a few pics of what I have done.

Jason

BadSign

iTrader: (15)

I have a great 103 with several upgrades and spares up for sale- check it out in the for sale section.

fresnojay

iTrader: (3)

Ok so I ran the f103 in its first race since its rebuild. I have TONS of steering but cannot keep the rear end from coming around when I try to keep up with the pack. What you seein my pic 2 posts ago is how my car is setup. I need to get a oil damper to replace the friction one.

1. I have what looks like Gold springs in the front.
2. Ride height is 6mm all the way around.
3. Tires are these: https://www.tqrcracing.com/shop/prod..._id=&cart_seq=
4. No clue on rear T bar but am running it fairly loose hoping it would help it hold the track.
5. Motor for our class is 540J.


Any starting points or suggestion?

Thanks in advance,
Jason

BadSign

iTrader: (15)

Where does the rear end break loose, entry, mid corner, or exit?

fresnojay

iTrader: (3)

It breaks loose pretty much whenever I apply power other than straight. I can manage entry pretty well unless I enter too late then I might come around, but that is all driver not car. I guess its mostly mid and exit. I do understand that finesse is needed with these cars and I do have some learning to do when it comes to this car. I run for practice whenever I get a chance at the track I race at. I wound say the track currently is a medium grip surface. They have been working on the track every week and should be completely resurfaced this next week bringing it up closer to high grip surface. The guys in the class had awesome traction and were putting times in that rivaled our GT3 and even some of our GT2 TC classes. My laps were about I would say 3-4 seconds slower than thiers and finished on average 5-7 laps down.

Just a bit of info on my background. I race the mini, TC's listed in my signature locally and have been doing so since August of last year. Just recently started racing offroad and only do it when nothing onroad is going on. I usually place on the podium when racing onroad so although I wouldn't call me a pro or even intermediate I am proficient. Previous to my getting into onroad and now offroad have flow RC planes since I was 14 (am 36 now).

Also forgot to add to the original setup post that the Spur is a 104T and the pinion is a 25T. I do also have a 88T spur for it.

Jason

ShadowAu

iTrader: (7)

I can only quote from my own experience but I've found the steering angle you are carrying when you try to put the power on is very important, so I'd be looking at your corner entry first and see how much steering you are using to get into the corner. If you are using 100% steering I would first modify that. The less steering angle you can carry through the corner, while still making the turn, the less the car tends to want to turn itself around on exit - at least that's what I've found.

A proper shock will help a lot too. The original damper really isn't up to much and can't even call it a proper friction damper. Though if you played with different greases on the plates you might be able to calm the rear of the car down some.

Are the other drivers using the Pardus tyres? - they are not considered a particularly grippy tyre. Most people I know are using either the Ride R1 or Shimizu tyres

Finally, for 540 I would say you are massively under geared. That will also make the car harder to drive coming out of the corner because of all the punch it will give. I'd definitely move to the 88tooth spur

Nothing ground breaking here but like I said I am only quoting from my own experience