My Other MX5

[Cerberus]

You will be disappointed to hear this isn't the thread all about my new track focussed car, sorry about that.

It is in fact the thread for my Tamiya R/C MX5

Way back in the long long ago. 1986 to be precise. I pestered my parents to buy me a 'proper' R/C car for Christmas. Thus on Christmas day 1986 I unwrapped the Tamiya Falcon that I has spent so many hours staring at in the upstairs floor of Beatties model and toy shop in The Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre. Finally I had the car I had watched on the promo video they played over and over again on the 14" CRT behind the counter.



I beat the living bejeezus out of that car over the years. I popped down to my parents house before Christmas and made a trip up into the loft to see what was left of it.



Not a lot! All of the electronics have gone missing. The wishbones are all fractured. The chassis is snapped. I have put it to one side as a possible restoration. It will take many years of watching eBay to turn up the replacement parts I will need.

But my Track bag cleaned up nicely!



I added an MX5 to my Christmas list this year and although the Chinese Santa runs a lot slower than the usual one I was deemed 'Nice' and my new car arrived yesterday.



Damn I need a haircut!

Of course I had to dive right in!



I got the differential built up



The gearbox and rear wishbones together and the front suspension assembly started.



I've paused the build while I wait for some metal ball races to swap out the plastic ones supplied in the kit. They should arrive tomorrow so I'll be updating on the build soon I hope!

[NickD]

I think we should all talk like the video at the next meet.

[Fred Gassit]

Ha ha. I recall during my first stint of MX5 ownership (sometime last century) R/C MX5s were a popular distraction at club meets!
Somewhere I have my old one painted up in BRG, although the R/C gear was switched to another model.

Anyone for R/C racing at the Wharf?

[~Rob]

That Falcon reminds me of dad's old car. I want to say it was a grasshopper, but looking on google it might have been a hornet. I'm sure it had independent suspension all round.

Can't wait to see how this one turns out!

[chris]

I must dig mine out the cupboard see if it still works

[Luke Dixon]

Thats awesome cerbs. Looking forward to seeing it done just if you could make it into a miniature replica of your own car

[gimmeablackun]

I had a Rough Rider.....hours of fun

[Vic]

I think we should all talk like the video at the next meet.

Yes Nick. You too could have the latest most fantastic idea that ever existed.
You could also impress your ffamily and riends with the wealth of knowledge that the rest of humankind
still strives to emulate.
All this could be yours and more.

I am in.


Are you?

[Cerberus]

Seems like there are a few MX's languishing in cupboards then? Time they all came out for a play! We shall organise something

Tonight's progress. No ball races yet so I have had to skip a few stages. Making sure I'm not attaching anything that will prevent me from going back to finish the stages I have skipped.

Unpacked the transmitter to set up the electronics and centre the steering servo.





Then I built the shocks up.



These will be the next part upgraded. The kit comes with friction dampers. I'll replace them with oil dampers.

The chassis comes in two parts. They sandwich the steering servo and then the front and rear ends attach.



Lastly tonight, the wheels. They have foam inserts now. Never had those in '86!



I'm scanning eBay now for a 1/10 scale BGW.



Hopefully more updates tomorrow when the ball races arrive Might even get a chance for a test drive tomorrow.

[chris]

are the spares still available for these

[Cerberus]

M04M is out of production so spares are starting to dry up a bit.

Can still get most parts from eBay. I'm thinking about stockpiling a few sets of spare wishbones from eBay auctions.
For future calamities.

[stuartb]

[nutz]what sort of diff is that?[/nutz]

[Vindi (Russell)]

M04M is out of production so spares are starting to dry up a bit.

Can still get most parts from eBay. I'm thinking about stockpiling a few sets of spare wishbones from eBay auctions.
For future calamities.

Out of interest why did you go for that chassis?

Russell.

[Cerberus]

M04M is out of production so spares are starting to dry up a bit.

Can still get most parts from eBay. I'm thinking about stockpiling a few sets of spare wishbones from eBay auctions.
For future calamities.

Out of interest why did you go for that chassis?

Russell.

The other option is to buy the more up to date and current M06 and then buy the Miata shell separately.

Upsides- M06 handles a lot better. Is the current model.

Downsides- Was a Christmas present so needed to be simple for buyer to sort out. I'm not 100% sure the Miata shell fits the M06 (but in theory it should). More expensive as the chassis is newer and shells cost more separately.

So I went with the M04M. I'm not racing it competitively so if it's not the best handling I don't really mind. It's a basher.

If I rediscover my childhood love of the hobby I might upgrade it to a M06. That said I do already have my eye on the Tamiya Durga and my birthday is in April hehehe

[Vindi (Russell)]

Makes sense, although there is a Mk1 MX5 currently available on a better chassis... can't remember what it is though, I'll have a dig around

Russell.

[Cerberus]

HPI Racing do a MK2 shell



Not sure which HPI Chassis it fits tho.

Not seen another MK1. Be interesting to know if there is one.

[greg#2]

Loving that!!!

you certainly don't let the grass grow under your feet, do you?

[Fred Gassit]

So, after a bit of an Indiana Jones archeological dig in the spare room, I found this:



Dusted off a bit and body plonked on chassis:



Unfortunately the age of the model means it runs on a NiCd battery and the transmitter has a quaint crystal!
A colleague who races 1/10th scale off road buggies was recently telling me about the latest Lithium Polymer batteries (300A!) and 2.4 Gig encrypted digital transmission.
I can feel an upgrade coming on!

[~Rob]

This stand might interest you at the weekend

http://www.autosportinternational.com/p ... 14495_2489

[chris]

this is mine which i like the idea of finding out what upgrades i could do