Tamiya M03 build
 

Bit tame for this forum, but I thought I would share one of my favorite rcs!

The Tamiay M03 chassis is a sub 10th scale front wheel drive on road car. It has a monocoque style chassi with a transverse battery tray. Has a double reduction trans setup, with a 20t pinion you get 5.8:1 reduction. Pinion adjustment is fixed, you can run a 16t, 18t, or 20t (3 sets of mount holes, no slots).

My car is a box stock Suzuki Swift, so it has the chassis extender and is technically a M-03M (M for medium chassis length). Has the friction shocks, stock servo saver, and front driveshafts. It also has the bulletproof gear diff from the tlt. Only upgrades are a green ziptie to firm up the servo saver, and adjustable steering tierods.

I have had this car for a few years, and it has had everything from a silver can and a stick pack to a GTB and 3.5t motor. I have never broken anything. We have jumped it, ran it on the roof (lots of fun) and it has beaten more than 1 body into total submission!!!

Anyways, just scored a cc 6900 motor and a MM cheap, so it gets a new power source.

Since the transverse battery tray is setup for a std oval shaped stick pack, getting most lipos in there is a bitch. I have a orion carbon 3200 2s pack, but I doubt that is good enough for the 6900 kv motor.

So enter hobbypartz, they have 2200mah 2s 40c lipos on sale for 12.50 shipped. I bought 2 of them. One will go in the tray area (it is narrower than a std lipo) and the other will go on the back chassis longways. Will wire them in parallel for 4400mah 40c 2s.

http://www.hobbypartz.com/77p-sl2200-2s1p-40c-2222.html

Should do around 50mph, and will be alot of fun. I even scored a new body for it!!!

Here are a few pics as it stands:

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...p/DSCF4918.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...p/DSCF4919.jpg

Nice
 

:smile: just got myself a M05 pro, just for some fun racing. It is been build right now, so no pictures yet.

Together with my passion for the E-maxx, I have a small passion for Tamiyas, so I have bought, sold and bought again quite a few times of these beauties :smile:

You can see what have been through my RC-garage during the past 7 years.

http://www.rcgalleri.dk/html/alb_vis.asp?AlbumID=11263

Yeah maxx trucks and the cheapy tamiya cars are easy to get addicted to!!! Sure there may be better stuff out there, but I just have a blast bashing up and down the street with a tamiya!

One of the funniest and most unique rc's I've seen was a M03 setup like a front wheel drive drag car! . It had a EG civic hatch body, and big foam tires up front, skinnt rear tires, wheely bar,the front clip was separate from the rest of the body. It just totally looked the part of a scale FWD drag car. FWD is not my cup of tea, but those cheap tamiya's are tough and fun to beat around with.

Once you play with a fwd tamiya you will enjoy it. Lots of tire spin, pulls out of corners great. The tires I have on mine cause traction rolls, but that is all part of the fun. With a hatchback body it usually lands on its wheels.

Heres a few finished pics.

Ended up with an aveox 27/13 motor, 4700kv. Tiny little mini neu, 4 pole and it pushes this light 2wd over 50 with no issues and no heat. Mated to a MM and I have run 3s and 2s on it. The only 3s pack I had was an older fp 2170mah 25c, not really enough to keep up. But it would spin the tires all the way to over 50mph. Swapped in an orion 3200 20c 2s. Much better, and top speed is not much less than the 3s which must have been dropping volts hard.

Currently running FM as I am waiting on my HK order with the 7 buck a piece 2.4ghz rx. I ordered 5. Also waiting on a hobbypartz order for the 2s lipos. May just try running 1 of them, more discharge capability than the 3200 20c. 88amps vs 64.

Gotta love the last pic, that body has been thru hell!!!

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...p/DSCF4928.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...p/DSCF4929.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...p/DSCF4930.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...p/DSCF4931.jpg

Got my lipos in today. Sky 2200 2s 40c. Put some deans on, charged them up and gave one a try in the m03. 1st off this battery hasd more punch than the orion 3200 20c, so I think it is about true to the 40c rating.

Ran it in 2 sessions, as work was busy. Did not time them but I must have got about 25min before I hit the LVC (3.2v/cell). And the power did not change until the last 2 mins.

Great lipos, I will have to try 4s pack for my pede 4x4 and see how they do under a bigger load. Might go up to the 3000mah cells.

I wish I had lipos like these back when I started. This 2200 40c 2s easily outperforms the 6000mah 25c MA pack I had a few years ago.

Brian explained that in the castle thread. MA has flame stickers now to increase c rating.

I lol'd

Always loved old school tamiyas, great to see you're running this one. Kind of makes me want to get one to race around in a parking lot. Does it hold up to the brushless well? I'm sure your front tires won't hold up too long. :oh:

Yeah, the internal gears are the originals, and the stock outsrives, dogbones and axles are stock too. It has had a steady diet of brushless throughout its life, and aside for looking beatup on the underside it is in as new working condition. I do have a swaybar set and cvds for it, but not really worried. Might put a new chassis on it,as i have that laying around.

like linc said the hold up great to brushless, i owned for afew years with a 5600 castle system in it, the only thing i ruined was tires............lots and lots of tires, the only reason i ever sold mine was i got sick of buying tires:lol:

Ok, a little info about the sky lipo 2200mah 40c 2s pack.

I have not done a timed run to lvc yet, but this is the result of my 1st run.

Lvc set to 3.2v per cell.

Coming out of the car the battery was not over 95f, ambient was around 65f.

Voltage bounced back up to around 6.6v after a min or so.

After charging the pack took in 2163mah, and charged for 63.41mins at 1c charge rate.

I usually do not run to the lvc, I stop when the performance drops off. Per my experience this is usually 60-90 seconds before the lvc kicks in. Felt about the same on this pack. The pack was out of balance after the run, so I may have drained it a bit much. I plan to set the lvc to 3.3v per cell, and I will stop when I feel the performance has dropped off. I will say that the pack had plenty of punch all the way till the end.

I could not be happier with this $12.50 lipo. I do plan to try it out with the cc6900 motor I have coming. Not sure if it will hold up to that motor, but we will see.

I have tamiya m05 and i hav 35A ezrun ESC with 4300kv lipo, and TA-05 balldiff, on tamiya slick. with 2s lipo battery pack.
It is huge fun to drive.

I used have m03, but m05 is lot better but little too heavy.

It is one of those r/c that you just build and forgot. just keep driving it.

I will have to look at the m05 platform. What makes it heavier than the m03?

They are a hoot to drive, so much fun. And as you say, build and forget, nothing breaks.

The rear end is heavier because of servo, ESC, reciever, and some extra plastics.
but it is more balanced and sharper turn in. lot more stable at high speed. and extra bits like steering link and metal rod.

m03 is quite nose heavy.

new steering link on it makes it great. no more tyre uneven wear on insides. they wear even across the tyre. at any ride hight.

The m05 chassis has smooth under, including front bumper. better for off road.

Finally finished my M05, so here is a few pics.

http://www.rcgalleri.dk/uploads_xl_w...-2011 17:52:18

http://www.rcgalleri.dk/uploads_xl_w...-2011 17:52:18

There are a few more pics here.

http://www.rcgalleri.dk/html/gal_vis...982&ipc=120291

Thanks for the pics, I like the M05 chassis layout. I may have to get one. The esc and rx trays on the side are a nice touch, and having the esc, servo and rx placed further back must help the weight distribution. The bellcrank steering also look good. I never liked the stock tamiya servo saver on the m03, and the m05 can be modded to use any servo saver, due to placement.

That look great... I want to get new shell for my m05..

I like your project Linc. I have a special place in my heart for Tamiya. I love their kits and how they look. I still have an old Tamiya TL-01 that I rebuilt a couple years ago to let my son play with it. It's got an old EPIC 27 turn motor in it and runs off 5000 mah Nimh cells but I might change that one day and go brushless/lipo.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...g?t=1301162575 http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...g?t=1301162575 http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...g?t=1301162575 http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...g?t=1301162575

Hey MC, yes tamiya kits are great!!! I have built at least 25-30 of them, and still have half of those. I think I may buy a M05 kit, and possibly see what else they have to offer.

Wow, thank's for this thread guys!
This might just be what was needed so I finaly complete my M04-M Alfa Romeo Guilia.
Started about 8-9 years ago never finished it.
Just need a receiver, an ESC some LiPos that fit and probably a new decal sheet.
I feel exactly the same way about those Tamiyas as MC does.
May well get one of those new M06 pro or another Guilia (absolutely love the shape and looks of that car) on a standard M06.

I just got a M05, finally!

I did the build last night, and I really like it! An upgrade over the M03 for sure!

Also bought enough parts to build another M03, which will be mine. The M03 chassis pictured above will be setup for my daughter to play with. She is 6 now, so we will see how she does with RC.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...psulrc34jv.jpg

M05 next to the newer MF-01x 4wd M chassis, which is awesome in its own right!

Very nice. Always wanted Tamiya kits but never pulled the trigger on one.

Considering both of those were under 120 shipped each and come with a brushless esc... You would be stooopid not to pull the trigger!

Soon enough... Just moved into a new house...

Awesome, new house is always fun! Feel free to pass by if you get a chance, I think we met in person about 10yrs ago...

Yep, we bashed 1/8 buggies in the parking lot a couple times.

If you have any SCX10's there's a comp crawling monthly event in Pass Christian. I was supposed to go in June but my sod was delivered that Saturday. July 8 is next.

Any experience with the TT02 chassis?

TT02 is just a TT01 with another 1. I have plenty experience with those. Mine did 88mph with maxamps lipos and a feigao motor. So you know it could have done better with some real equipment!

I do not have a comp crawler at the moment... I might try to go just to see it happen!

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXGCWC&P=3

$100, just needs a radio.... How have I not gotten addicted to these??

That one has the brush/brushless esc too. It is a smooth brushed esc, I hooked up the stock setup in the m05 yesterday and ran it. I have a 13.5t motor in the mail, will report back with info when it arrives!

:whistle:
Well, I have a TT02 on the way as well as a bearing set. I really like the MB body. I'll probably grab some cheap Chinese drift wheels/tires to have a little more fun in the garage.

http://www.gpmd.com/image/t/tamc8639.jpg


I'm sure this will wet the whistle into buying more of these $100 kits to decorate my new shop with.

Awesome, I need to get a tt02 to add to the collection. Did you get a good deal some where on that specific model? The NSX bodied tt-02 kit seems to be the cheapest...

I went thru Tower with $10 coupon and free ship. There was a sweet deal on the TT02D on amazon. $85 for the kit and free shipping but I opted for the more complete kit. Rcmart.com has good prices on the kits but when I check shipping it was same price as Tower.

Edit: she'll deliver on Friday.

85 bucks, I need a link to that!!!

Tamiyas main website has some good deals. I have a FF chassis for 100 shipped on the way. Shipping and processing do seem slow, may just be the holidays.

Just checked again and they're gone at that price. Now $117 shipped...

I could not find it... Should have jumped on it...

I got tracking info from Tamiya, should have the kit soon!

Man I like these little cars already!

https://i.imgur.com/awCLPys.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/htfBbAt.jpg