Tamiya mini cooper
Build notes M-07
A few notes from my build. The motor plate hole is too small for a
24 pinion. A round file fixes that issue. The left front chassis brace
won't allow a brushless motor, no room to solder the ESC wires. Left
that brace off. The stock plastic shocks use a 28 mm shock shaft. If you
are trying to use the short option shocks, they are not long enough.
You can use the long shafts from the kit, or use the front M-07 shock tower
on the rear, and for the front, I modified the M-05R rear graphite shock
tower for use on the front of the MO-7. In both cases, the shock tower's ball stud holes are about 2mm lower than the stock M-07's. Also the after market non-Tamiya 35 and 33 spur gears are a perfect fit. Although you don't have to split the chassis to work on the gears, You still have to disassemble the front of the car. The kit diff oil is not labeled but in the directions it indicates 100,000K. In any case, I used 30,000K. We will see how it runs next week.
24 pinion. A round file fixes that issue. The left front chassis brace
won't allow a brushless motor, no room to solder the ESC wires. Left
that brace off. The stock plastic shocks use a 28 mm shock shaft. If you
are trying to use the short option shocks, they are not long enough.
You can use the long shafts from the kit, or use the front M-07 shock tower
on the rear, and for the front, I modified the M-05R rear graphite shock
tower for use on the front of the MO-7. In both cases, the shock tower's ball stud holes are about 2mm lower than the stock M-07's. Also the after market non-Tamiya 35 and 33 spur gears are a perfect fit. Although you don't have to split the chassis to work on the gears, You still have to disassemble the front of the car. The kit diff oil is not labeled but in the directions it indicates 100,000K. In any case, I used 30,000K. We will see how it runs next week.
Could you please explain what "after market non-Tamiya 35 and 33 spur gears" are?
Tech Champion
iTrader: (2)
R/C Tech Elite Member
iTrader: (10)
The word you're looking for is "cheater" gears. I've got some nice delrin ones.
Build is going well. Bearings are filled with rendered hog fat out of the box. Sticky.
Build is going well. Bearings are filled with rendered hog fat out of the box. Sticky.
Tech Regular
R/C Tech Elite Member
iTrader: (10)
Thanks guys for the "cheater" info. i didn't know the M07 gears were the same as 3/5/6.
Tech Champion
iTrader: (2)
So if I've seen correctly elsewhere, a 20T pinion in the M07 gives same FDR as previous M-Chassis cars? I'm thinking of compatibility within the class with older cars.
R/C Tech Elite Member
iTrader: (10)
so w/ a 24t pinion the M07 should be much faster than the best M05's ...shoot, ..my M07 is on order and will not have it built for my next race. ...I know a few guys are already running the M07's at my track for our next race .... double rats
Tech Regular
iTrader: (38)
I'm not sure if I missed it, but for TCS races, is there a pinion limit for the M07 to keep the playing field level with the M03 and M05?
Tech Elite
iTrader: (1)
R/C Tech Elite Member
iTrader: (10)
Weird thing from my build - tried using the heavy duty rear axles, like you'd use on any other mini. They caused a very slight binding for some reason. I tried removing shims, different bearings, different set of he axles, etc, but the only way to get smooth axles was to run the kit ones. The funny part is I can't see any diffrence between the old and new. Weird.
MORE: Motor fitment is a bit of a pig. Ended up filing a little bit to make room for wires for Hobbywing 13t style motor. I'm guessing at some point, someone will come up with a replacement stiffener bar for that spot that's bent differently. Fitting the rear suspension mounts requires minor juggling abilities. Oh, the thing with accessing the gearbox by undoing 8 screws also requires popping off upper links, steering links, swaybar link and dampers. I think you could do some work with just the screws out, but it's tricky.
Still, I like this car so far. Nice plastics, stiff chassis. Still pondering shorty battery attachment.
Last edited by monkeyracing; 06-27-2017 at 11:44 PM.
Tech Apprentice
What body are you guys going to use for your MO-7s?