mattwoodcraft

iTrader: (10)

thats a dam sweet build for sure. I certainly wouldnt have the paitence to do that i be way to excited to get up and running.. nice detail

I think i will buy the counter balance for my f104 pro when i find one

robk

iTrader: (22)

Wow, beautiful build posts. Keep them coming!!!

LordAnubis

iTrader: (19)

Yeah me too matt... i been looking for one, but can't seem to find one around... if i find one ill get one for you too.

rtypec

iTrader: (2)

Hi All,

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I finished steps 5-8 this morning and will post the info later today. I built the differential twice this morning using different greases...I'll explain what happened when I get back

Right now, I'm taking off to check out a drift competition at the Tamiya track...

Quick question for you guys...Should I keep posting pictures of weight differences?

Also, for those looking for the counterweight, it does not have a part number in the back if the instructions but it is labeled as BA23 and has a club symbol next to it as does most of the X1 specific parts.

hansenhon

iTrader: (6)

woohoo... looking forward for the steps 5-8..

i wouldn't mind if you post those weight comparisons

great effort!!

kmichael

iTrader: (4)

Very nice

rtypec

iTrader: (2)

The ball differential is a vital component that affects the way the car handles. During assembly, I made sure that I kept all parts clean and free of contaminants.

You can use your grease of choice based on what's popular at your track. For the Tamiya track, there's a mix of those who run normal greases and those who run Mobile 1 red sythnetic grease. Back when we used to run rubber tires on the F103, all of the really fast guys ran Mobile 1 grease religiously. We set the differential to slip between 6 inches to 1 foot under full acceleration from a dead stop. Keep in mind, there is a fine balance and requires a bit of time and effort finding the sweet spot, but once you nail it, you can hammer the trottle on corner exit without any suprises...and that is a good feeling.

That being said, I deviated on this build by building the differential similar to my touring cars. Associated red label silicon grease on the plate and balls, and Mobil 1 or Tamiya's VG thrust bearing grease on the thrust bearing.

Important tip: When assembling the differential, do not fully tighten the lock nut. You want to snug it up until the differential action starts working. Fully tightening and loosening a quarter turn as instructed by the instructions may crush or deform the diff plates, diff balls, or thrust bearing. Final adjustments should be done at the track after break-in of the diff.

Parts and a few hopups for step 5:


Building the diff with AE red label silicon grease:


After assembly, the differential action felt somewhat dry and gritty. I wasn't satisified with this and took it apart and degreased everything.

If you noticed in the previous pictures, I was using the hop up thrust bearing. There's a reason why we never used it when we ran F103 rubber cars. The were inconsistent as some would be great out of the pack while others were junk. They didn't last long either with the way we set our cars up to slip. Lastly, there was a time when we had a huge supply of stock thrust bearings; we wouldn't think twice tossing out a semi-worn one and replace it with a new one...just because we had so many

Okay, so now that everything was taken apart and degreased. I rebuilt the diff with Mobil 1 and used the stock 1150 bearing with cone washers as the thurst bearing.

Rebuilding the diff with Mobil 1 synthetic grease:


Step 5 completed:


Ah...smooth like butter.

rtypec

iTrader: (2)

Step 6 is devoted to differential gear adjustment. Since, this is something I do at the track after breaking in the diff, I'll skip this step.

Step 7 involves attaching the diff cap onto the diff hub and installing the motor. I typically install electronics last and will post info when I get to that step.

Parts for step 7:


Not much to it, step 7 completed:

rtypec

iTrader: (2)

Moving to the front end, step 8 involves attaching the front lower arm and camber plate.

Parts for step 8:


Weight of stock hardware:


Weight of hop up hardware:


What happened here?!?
The two stock 4x30mm screws are actually aluminum and weigh much less than their titanium counterparts. I like the weight of aluminum but want the strength of titanium. That being said, I split the difference and used an aluminum screw for the front and a titanium screw in the rear.

Step 8 completed:


I initially set camber to 1.5 degrees since it seems to be a moderatly safe amount of camber. I will add or remove camber while testing setups. For reference, my F104 Pro is currently set to 2.0 degrees. Oddly enough, atleast at the Tamiya track and on MY F104 Pro, adding front camber seems to effect only entry and mid corner steering...it has no effect on corner exit. Please let me know if you've experienced something similar. Or you can tell me to put the crack pipe down

Note, I used a tiny dab of blue loctite on the camber ball studs to keep them in place. The use of loctite here is totally optional but I used it for a sense of security. Again, I used a very small amount.

And that completes step 8. The next steps contain a mix of chassis assembly and electronics installation. As I said earlier, I tend to install electronics last, so I may be skipping or jumping steps in my subsequent posts.

I've got a Saturday to get out and enjoy so I won't be working on the car until this evening. Tomorrow is a practice day so time to work on the car and post info will be limited.

rccartips

iTrader: (3)

Hi rtypec,

Thanks for posting the build and sharing info. Could you post a picture of the Mobile 1 red sythnetic grease? I see several varieties, not sure which is the right one.

Also any reason for using blue parts (e.g. motormount)? Are these lighter than the F104X1 items?

Thanks in advance.

rtypec

iTrader: (2)

My friends are already giving me flack for color mixing...unless they want to give me the black parts or a an entire black edition kit as a donor car, they can hug it

As much as I would like to have had black or titanium anodized parts to match the rest of the F104 X1, I simply didn't have any of those parts laying around. Fortunately, I have a bunch of spare blue F104 hop ups and we all know that Tamiya blue is worth 2 tenths per lap


In regards to the Mobil 1 grease, I dug it up the nearly 10 year old tube and snapped a picture:

rtypec

iTrader: (2)

Tie-rod assembly is a breeze if you have the right tools.

Parts for step 9:


Adjuster tool and turnbuckle wrench doing work:

To ensure straight tie-rods, I typically start threading an adjuster onto a turn buckle and try to get it as straight as possible during the first few threads. If it isn't straight, back off and try repositioning. From there, you can go to town with the tools.

Trimming adjusters with a sharp exacto blade:


Step 9 continued...

rtypec

iTrader: (2)

Weight of stock hardware:


Weight of aluminum hardware:


Continuing with step 9, I used a dab of blue loctite on the steering horn assembly:


Step 9 completed:

rtypec

iTrader: (2)

And if those same clowns (not you rccartips) give me a hard time for how tore up my tools are, perhaps they can find it in their hearts to update my entire set with some of the new stuff

No seriously...hook it up please

kb525

Anyone know where to get rubber tires in f104W sized rims? mp4/6 to be exact