So... I bought this Six-Wheeler-F103...and I couldn't accept some things of how this car should be build
Oh, and I had my F104pro V2 laying around
What comes next is a typical wtcc-thing:
First of all, the F103 six wheel chassis is like an prehistoric F1 chassis (for me). For the differential to work you need an extra bearing in the rear rim. The middle damper plates are old school, but ok. And the front suspension is very simple in its structure, but without the focus on performance or respect to the Tyrell body. Because of the chassis, the body has to sit very high. On the product pictures it already looks wrong and doesn't suit the original at all:
The first mentioned aspects were solved quick. I didn't bother building the chassis, took my already mentioned F104pro V2 and removed the front axle. I build the nice black TRF damper from the Six-Wheeler-kit and added it to the F104. Next step was the Six-wheeler-front axle. I build it and put it on the F104v2 chassis with the foam tires.
Then the shock: With a normal ride height (5mm) the front front axle hung in the air. The ride height in front was 11mm
Well not a big deal! Just put some shims unterneath the front axle plate and you are good to go... no. The way front is build means that the body will stay up high. No matter what I wanted to do, there was always a collision with the the body. After hours of thinking about what to do, I decided to keep this kind of suspension and to build a new upper plate with a Z-shape to avoid the steering arm and then move underneath the body. I already imagined how difficult it would be to bend a sheet of aluminium until it fits, when I stumbled over this cross-section in the hardware store:
This was a welcomed work relief. Now I just needed to find the perfect geometry. It took five tries until I found the right angles and position.
Then I removed all unnecessary material (hard work!), made nice edges, made everything sit, fit nicely in the car and replaced the odd turnbuckles and ballstuds with nice parts. For the last part I want it to look good in the car. I painted my custom made plates black for the final installation:
Up to this point I was working four days on this little conversion. Right now I am very happy with the result. The lower body on the F104v2 chassis with the right ride height compliments the awesome body Tamiya made for this car. I used a different driver helmet, because the standard 1/10 scale helmet is too small and would make the car look huge (and it wasn't in real life). Unfortunately I couldn't find a time correct driver helmet...
It still looks awesome (at least for me). Enjoy the pictures:
