Tamiya 40th Anniversary TA02SW Jagermeister Porsche 934 - A classic reborn!
#1

So I had to pick one of these up. I've always had a soft spot for the TA02 chassis, and with all the hopups that came in box with this one, it was a no brainer.
I added a few hopups that didn't come with the kit that I had from other cars, like the turnbuckles for camber (front and rear), aluminum kingpins, the carbon chassis (which I actually bought new-in-package a couple of months ago; I almost didn't want to open it), white springs in front and orange in rear, and ball studs for the lower shock mounts instead of the stock screws. I tried to fit the rear swaybar, but being in the short wheelbase configuration, it just didn't fit. I put a Manta Ray lightened ball diff in the rear and the stock gear diff loaded with anti-wear grease in front. A few shims later, and most of the slop is gone. I used a set of VTA wheels and tires with 7mm aluminum hexes to get the right stance (the stock wheels on 5mm hexes look great as well). I don't mind running the VTA tires and saving the original wheels and tires for display.
The body looks excellent, and this may be the best job I ever did painting and applying decals. A Solar servo, a Speed Passion Reventon R and a V3 10.5 motor running an fdr of 8.0 (69T spur and 21T pinion) finished it off. I'm glad I kept the gearing mild (as I did the ESC and motor settings, running blinky and level 1 drrs, with only 10 degrees motor timing) as I didn't want to overpower the drivetrain or the chassis.
I got to run the car today, and comparing it to a modern tc chassis, it was like driving a '76 Porsche 911 vs. a '16 Porsche 911. It was great fun and handled well, but certainly felt like driving a 20 year old car. The speed was good for its abilities; maybe one or two teeth larger on the pinion would be all right, but not necessary. Speed was around 25mph, which is really low for a 10.5, but not surprising given the setup. The motor was barely warm to the touch after running.
I probably should leave it as a shelf queen, but it was such good fun playing in the street with it. Most parts are still available too, so it wouldn't be terrible if parts broke. The only thing I don't want to do is scratch the underside of the chassis. Fortunately the car has a lot of shock travel (with no droop setting screws!) so I can keep the ride height high, which helps with that old-school handling feel and smooths out the bumps in the street.
I added a few hopups that didn't come with the kit that I had from other cars, like the turnbuckles for camber (front and rear), aluminum kingpins, the carbon chassis (which I actually bought new-in-package a couple of months ago; I almost didn't want to open it), white springs in front and orange in rear, and ball studs for the lower shock mounts instead of the stock screws. I tried to fit the rear swaybar, but being in the short wheelbase configuration, it just didn't fit. I put a Manta Ray lightened ball diff in the rear and the stock gear diff loaded with anti-wear grease in front. A few shims later, and most of the slop is gone. I used a set of VTA wheels and tires with 7mm aluminum hexes to get the right stance (the stock wheels on 5mm hexes look great as well). I don't mind running the VTA tires and saving the original wheels and tires for display.
The body looks excellent, and this may be the best job I ever did painting and applying decals. A Solar servo, a Speed Passion Reventon R and a V3 10.5 motor running an fdr of 8.0 (69T spur and 21T pinion) finished it off. I'm glad I kept the gearing mild (as I did the ESC and motor settings, running blinky and level 1 drrs, with only 10 degrees motor timing) as I didn't want to overpower the drivetrain or the chassis.
I got to run the car today, and comparing it to a modern tc chassis, it was like driving a '76 Porsche 911 vs. a '16 Porsche 911. It was great fun and handled well, but certainly felt like driving a 20 year old car. The speed was good for its abilities; maybe one or two teeth larger on the pinion would be all right, but not necessary. Speed was around 25mph, which is really low for a 10.5, but not surprising given the setup. The motor was barely warm to the touch after running.
I probably should leave it as a shelf queen, but it was such good fun playing in the street with it. Most parts are still available too, so it wouldn't be terrible if parts broke. The only thing I don't want to do is scratch the underside of the chassis. Fortunately the car has a lot of shock travel (with no droop setting screws!) so I can keep the ride height high, which helps with that old-school handling feel and smooths out the bumps in the street.
#5

very cool! great job on the body I picked one up too mine is still in the box lol
#7

You should have two? I got 8 of them things.