288LikesTamiya mini cooper
01-12-2005, 11:55 PM
#226
Originally posted by grahame
what piston do i need to put in the shocks ie number of holes???
Regards GG
what piston do i need to put in the shocks ie number of holes???
Regards GG
quite smooth, regular : 2 holes F/R - 40w
bumpy, irregular asphalt, not very smooth : 2 F / 3 R - 40w
01-12-2005, 11:59 PM
#227
Originally posted by grahame
are the shocks i have for a touring car???
are the shocks i have for a touring car???
black plastic mini shock : no.... the body & shaft is too long
black plastic Super mini shock : yes
alluminium TRF damper : yes
01-13-2005, 07:23 AM
#229
Originally posted by grahame
the surface is dead smooth
the shocks ta03 alumium shocks
the surface is dead smooth
the shocks ta03 alumium shocks
01-13-2005, 08:51 AM
#231
Raycer, sorry just saw you question.
For hop-ups I think the alu front knuckles are a must as the stock plastic have a tendency to tweek especially with the tall ball stud on them. I also run the alu shocks on all my cars regardless. You have much more control over damping then with any of the plastic shocks. As you see there is much debate over the ball vs gear diff. I would have both in the box as it is a tuning option. Have some greases also to change the props of the diff too. When you build the gear diff there is a metal shim included get some extras and play with those you can vary the tension of the diff with them. Not as smooth as a ball diff but again a tuning option.
A good set of bearing is obvious and last is the most important. MAINTENANCE the car can develop slop in the suspension and if it move it will not hold the limited settings you have to put on the car.
I receive gruff locally and nationally for this advice but add CA to the hinge pins to remove slop. Jun gave out the secret years ago on the TA03 and it works well with all of the M series cars. Get a good SS hinge pin insert it in any place that the susp will ride 1 location at a time. Put 1 drop of CA, does not matter brand just what is in the pitbox, on the hinge pin. Let it kick then pull the pin out. You might want to have a 3mm drill bit or ream to just barely clear out any extra that might form from this. For the rest of the susp locations get a set of the Tamiya shims and any further play shim the last bit out. When I have done cars for myself or others I have found that about 40% of the free play is from the Hinge pin itself the rest is taken up by the shims.
Sorry it is so long winded but just a few notes I can pass along
For hop-ups I think the alu front knuckles are a must as the stock plastic have a tendency to tweek especially with the tall ball stud on them. I also run the alu shocks on all my cars regardless. You have much more control over damping then with any of the plastic shocks. As you see there is much debate over the ball vs gear diff. I would have both in the box as it is a tuning option. Have some greases also to change the props of the diff too. When you build the gear diff there is a metal shim included get some extras and play with those you can vary the tension of the diff with them. Not as smooth as a ball diff but again a tuning option.
A good set of bearing is obvious and last is the most important. MAINTENANCE the car can develop slop in the suspension and if it move it will not hold the limited settings you have to put on the car.
I receive gruff locally and nationally for this advice but add CA to the hinge pins to remove slop. Jun gave out the secret years ago on the TA03 and it works well with all of the M series cars. Get a good SS hinge pin insert it in any place that the susp will ride 1 location at a time. Put 1 drop of CA, does not matter brand just what is in the pitbox, on the hinge pin. Let it kick then pull the pin out. You might want to have a 3mm drill bit or ream to just barely clear out any extra that might form from this. For the rest of the susp locations get a set of the Tamiya shims and any further play shim the last bit out. When I have done cars for myself or others I have found that about 40% of the free play is from the Hinge pin itself the rest is taken up by the shims.
Sorry it is so long winded but just a few notes I can pass along
01-13-2005, 11:53 AM
#233
The only exp with the car was over in Japan at Worlds and that was the M04M.
I would start with a 50-60wt 3hole and move to 2 if it seems too soft. Spring wise. New Yellow should be a good front and New Red for the rear. You might mess around with the 60d M and S grip tires as I hear they are the ticket.
I would start with a 50-60wt 3hole and move to 2 if it seems too soft. Spring wise. New Yellow should be a good front and New Red for the rear. You might mess around with the 60d M and S grip tires as I hear they are the ticket.
01-13-2005, 12:25 PM
#234
sounds good... at the recent Novak race, i ran kit treaded front tires, and S-grips at rear.
wound up with like 50wt in front, old blue short spring, yellow rear. no bars, tho. wish i had a carpet track near here to test stuff! i have a M04M Alfa also, so maybe ill pay with that... other than the gearing restriction!
wound up with like 50wt in front, old blue short spring, yellow rear. no bars, tho. wish i had a carpet track near here to test stuff! i have a M04M Alfa also, so maybe ill pay with that... other than the gearing restriction!
02-05-2005, 01:31 PM
#235
Tech Rookie
turnbuckles
what turnbuckels are tcs legal for the m03l chassis?
02-05-2005, 02:05 PM
#236
Bama, Tamiya has a sweet set of ti turnbuckles for the mini. They are a 3x32mm turnbuckle. Part number is 53527. they fit both M03/M04.
02-05-2005, 02:14 PM
#237
M04m
Turbonium, the M04 might be the better choice for carpet, even with the gearing disadvantage. What I've found is that on short tracks, with tight corners, i'm able to eat M03's alive, mostly because of the 0 wheelspin. Granted this is on asphault, but I would bet money that the same results could be achieved on carpet. Of couse this all changes with the quality of the setup of the car.
02-05-2005, 05:28 PM
#238
Tech Adept
We run on an indoor carpet track here in Toronto in the winter and we have a mixture of MO3's, 03L's and MO4M's. I am personally using a MO4M and find that it out corners a MO3 and is quicker on short straights. But on the long straight the MO3's have a slight speed advantage. Last summer, outdoors on asphalt the MO3's were the better car but there were only a couple of MO4M's. I will be using one outside this summer to see how it works.
We use these chassis' as a spec class in our club. We allow only ball bearings and HPI X-pattern's as hop-ups. You can also use S-grip treaded tires but other than that no other upgrades. This class has proven to be the most fun.
We use these chassis' as a spec class in our club. We allow only ball bearings and HPI X-pattern's as hop-ups. You can also use S-grip treaded tires but other than that no other upgrades. This class has proven to be the most fun.
02-05-2005, 09:29 PM
#239
a blast
mini is definately a blast. That's pretty cool havin it be a spec class and all. Here where i race, even with the hop ups for tuning aids, they're so close, I can't imagine how fun it's like all spec. Totally up to the driver, guess that's probably what makes it so fun!
02-07-2005, 01:38 PM
#240
My two cents on mini racing on carpet:
Here in WI at Trackside, on carpet, where we race minis every Tuesday night (usually 6-10 entries) the M04M and the M03L are pretty much even in overall lap times. It is a fun second class to run the same night running sedan touring, with the mini having really low maintenance needs between rounds.
The M04M has great pull out of the corners, people tell me that it jumps our the the corner in comparison to the M03L. Once we get to the long straight (100') plus sweeper, however, the one tooth pinion difference shows and the M03L's can gain back several car lengths, motors being equal. The infield speed of the MO4M is probably 70% handling/roll speed, 30% gearing. Of course, if you are not running TCS rules, you could put a 20 tooth alum pinion in the M04M to even out the straightaway disadvantage and be left with the 70% handling advantage in the infield. If you use the hardened aluminum 20T gear, it meshes just fine set up in the 19T hole. (Don't try the regular 20T that way, the mesh is just too tight.)
For those who don't use the hardened pinion, run, don't walk, and get yourself the hop up and say goodbye to "shark toothed" pinions. Your car will run quiet and with less friction than the pot metal standard pinions than wear out so fast. Unfortunately, the hardened pinion is only still available in the 20T version, the 19T version was discontinued by Tamiya (why, I ask, when the still have cars that make good use of the 19T (M04, TL-01)) Some hardened 19T pinions are still around if you look hard enough (Hong Kong, etc). I just found a good supply and ordered a few seasons worth (5) of them to use in my M04 as well as my son's TL-01. Just don't try and tighten the hardened alum pinion too tightly to the motor shaft, as they tend to strip out the setscrew hole (the only place they wear).
(I just found a good source for those hard to find recently released or discontinued Tamiya parts. Check out the seller the "walawalastore" on ebay, they have a good selection, pretty cheap shipping (for the lightweight hop ups and replacement parts) , and good service - takes a couple weeks for the parts to arrrive, however, from overseas (I had to look up where Macau is (China free trade zone)).
The M04 is harder to drive fast than the M03L, you must use some moderation with the trigger finger.
The M03 is faster than both of the above, however, due to about a 3 oz. weight difference over the M03L. Just a bit "twitchier" than the M03L, the M03L is definitely an easier overall drive. Certainly better for the novice than the M03.
Finally, while it is strange, I have found the Mgrip radial tire is the tire with the most grip on carpet, followed by the S grip (which is highest grip radial on asphalt) and then the stock kit radials. Local hot setup on carpet is S up front, M in back. For the Novak race (M03's only), however, with all the foamies laying down traction, the prefered tire up front was a kit stock tire (those hard as nails cheapos) up front with their sidewalls glued up to reduce traction rollovers. The A compound 60D slicks are somewhere between the M and the S radial on carpet, and I got so used to racing carpet before the introduction of A compounds that I find I rarely use slicks on the mini on carpet. (Asphalt is a whole 'nother matter.)
Now if Tamiya would just send the TCS Nationals mini champ over to Japan to let us try and kick some butt. Diffuser was the last American with the pleasure of the free trip to Japan - lucky guy. (I'll admit it, I'm jealous I didn't get to go in 2003!!). Hey Diffuser, some day you are just going to have to make it here to WI for the Novak race where we always do Minis (with triple A mains). Whippler always shows up, it would be a hoot to have the 2001, 2002 and 2003 TCS Nationals champions on the track at the same time in minis. (Hey Troy, 2004 champ is invited too!) So far, Whippler keeps beating me here at my home track in the Novak race, I managed to beat him in MI at one TCS regional (when traction was horrendous). We always have a blast - this year it was 20+ minis. We might even have a mini class for fun at the carpet world's in Vegas this September, the race Scotty Ernst is putting on. Might you be able to make it to Vegas? (what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!).
Here in WI at Trackside, on carpet, where we race minis every Tuesday night (usually 6-10 entries) the M04M and the M03L are pretty much even in overall lap times. It is a fun second class to run the same night running sedan touring, with the mini having really low maintenance needs between rounds.
The M04M has great pull out of the corners, people tell me that it jumps our the the corner in comparison to the M03L. Once we get to the long straight (100') plus sweeper, however, the one tooth pinion difference shows and the M03L's can gain back several car lengths, motors being equal. The infield speed of the MO4M is probably 70% handling/roll speed, 30% gearing. Of course, if you are not running TCS rules, you could put a 20 tooth alum pinion in the M04M to even out the straightaway disadvantage and be left with the 70% handling advantage in the infield. If you use the hardened aluminum 20T gear, it meshes just fine set up in the 19T hole. (Don't try the regular 20T that way, the mesh is just too tight.)
For those who don't use the hardened pinion, run, don't walk, and get yourself the hop up and say goodbye to "shark toothed" pinions. Your car will run quiet and with less friction than the pot metal standard pinions than wear out so fast. Unfortunately, the hardened pinion is only still available in the 20T version, the 19T version was discontinued by Tamiya (why, I ask, when the still have cars that make good use of the 19T (M04, TL-01)) Some hardened 19T pinions are still around if you look hard enough (Hong Kong, etc). I just found a good supply and ordered a few seasons worth (5) of them to use in my M04 as well as my son's TL-01. Just don't try and tighten the hardened alum pinion too tightly to the motor shaft, as they tend to strip out the setscrew hole (the only place they wear).
(I just found a good source for those hard to find recently released or discontinued Tamiya parts. Check out the seller the "walawalastore" on ebay, they have a good selection, pretty cheap shipping (for the lightweight hop ups and replacement parts) , and good service - takes a couple weeks for the parts to arrrive, however, from overseas (I had to look up where Macau is (China free trade zone)).
The M04 is harder to drive fast than the M03L, you must use some moderation with the trigger finger.
The M03 is faster than both of the above, however, due to about a 3 oz. weight difference over the M03L. Just a bit "twitchier" than the M03L, the M03L is definitely an easier overall drive. Certainly better for the novice than the M03.
Finally, while it is strange, I have found the Mgrip radial tire is the tire with the most grip on carpet, followed by the S grip (which is highest grip radial on asphalt) and then the stock kit radials. Local hot setup on carpet is S up front, M in back. For the Novak race (M03's only), however, with all the foamies laying down traction, the prefered tire up front was a kit stock tire (those hard as nails cheapos) up front with their sidewalls glued up to reduce traction rollovers. The A compound 60D slicks are somewhere between the M and the S radial on carpet, and I got so used to racing carpet before the introduction of A compounds that I find I rarely use slicks on the mini on carpet. (Asphalt is a whole 'nother matter.)
Now if Tamiya would just send the TCS Nationals mini champ over to Japan to let us try and kick some butt. Diffuser was the last American with the pleasure of the free trip to Japan - lucky guy. (I'll admit it, I'm jealous I didn't get to go in 2003!!). Hey Diffuser, some day you are just going to have to make it here to WI for the Novak race where we always do Minis (with triple A mains). Whippler always shows up, it would be a hoot to have the 2001, 2002 and 2003 TCS Nationals champions on the track at the same time in minis. (Hey Troy, 2004 champ is invited too!) So far, Whippler keeps beating me here at my home track in the Novak race, I managed to beat him in MI at one TCS regional (when traction was horrendous). We always have a blast - this year it was 20+ minis. We might even have a mini class for fun at the carpet world's in Vegas this September, the race Scotty Ernst is putting on. Might you be able to make it to Vegas? (what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!).