the best way to do it, make a little puddle of super glue, then soak a cotton bud tip in it, then let it air dry, then you can use it to smear glue over the edge without the dreaded runs of glue on the carbon!!!

I built mine without sealing the carbon and (like the plank that I am :rolleyes:) without filing the battery slots. I tried taking the battery posts out last night so I could file the battery slots but I'd threadlocked them so I left them alone! I stripped 2 screw heads though which is a pain, I'll have to invest in a titanium screw kit or something similar, or use less threadlock next time :D I asked the Hobby Co rep about the 501 front 1-way, he's going to find out how much they'll be over here and when they'll be available. Footey, apparently the 10 that came into the country via Hobby Co were the entire shipment - ever - so if you can't find a shop with one in stock then you'll have to get one off the interweb (grr). PM me for a shop who might have one in stock if you're trying to get hold of one, and no it's not mine... :rolleyes: A shop near me ordered 2 of them!! :o I found that the body didn't fit at the back, but when I stuck the velcro strips on I found that it pushes the edge of the body out slightly which flexes the back of the body down enough to fit onto the rear body mount, so fear not fellow 501 builders, it does fit even though it doesn't look like it will :D I've got to paint mine tomorrow and then I'm racing it in the evening... :cool:
-Steve

I used a small piece of tyre foam (inner foam) dipped in super glue. I have used a cotton bud in the past like steve - but plastic ones can go funny (smoke) and if you are not quick with your movements it can leave bits of cotton on there - at least it did with me.


I try to support importers / distributors so I usually don't say where I get my cars from if I got it elsewhere - even if the importer ignores me totally I try to help them.
So I did feel guilty when I found that Hobby Co had brought these kits in - I thought that I should not have mentioned that I got the car from RC Champ. I was told a while ago that Hobby Co are literally forced to take these cars but still it is now a bit of a surprise to find thats exactly what has happened and that they will not be supported - gobsmackingly shameful.
Rant over. :rolleyes:

Save it for the review jimmah man!

Jim, once it has smoked, and gone it, thats when you use it, don't use it till it has smoked, lol

I just had a quick look on RC Champ's site (to see if I could find out rough prices for the spares and 1-way) and found this picture...http://rc-champ.co.jp/501_49401.jpg Do you think they're planning on selling a few? :o I have a feeling all the spares and option parts for the 501 will be special order via Hobby Co, which is a pity as if I break it I'll have to wait 2 months for parts. I really hope they get the 501 in as a regular stock item (even if only a dozen or so at a time) and provide proper spares backup on it. I hate ordering spares for my cars off the net, but sometimes it's the only way. All the hopups for my DF-03 came off the net, simply because they are not available over here. Even the genuine Tamiya items, which Hobby Co's computer said weren't available, were already selling on ebay. Pity really as it means they (Hobby Co) are losing business. :wtf:
-Steve

DCM, Jimmy: thanks for the info guys. :)

Sorry Neil, just saw your post. Thanks to you too!

My initial impressions with just the basics of the chassis done, centre bulkhead, slipper, rear diff.
Its all pretty lovely stuff - the plastic parts break off the sprues with little or no trimming needed (so far). The alloy bits are all nicely done.

I would still put the BX at the top of the list when it comes to quality and the build experience though. The manual on the BX is also better - this doesn't have enough information in places, you sometimes wonder if you should be looking for a plastic or alloy part and the bags are not numbered at all so its a bit of a hunt for what you are needing at the time.

Anyone else notice this car has an overdrive to the front ? as in, 1 tooth less on the front diff pulley which turns the front wheels quicker than the rear. I would have thought this might be an option but not standard.

What are theeffect of an over drive ? does it keep the front end pointing where you want it or what ?

I mentioned this a few pages ago - the car uses a TA05 pulley in the rear but a 415 pulley up front to alter the front/rear ratio.

With the front wheels driving faster than the rear, this gives the effect of the front pulling the car around corners under power, which usually means more on-power steering.

and you can always get a TA05 front diff or one-way pulley if need be.

Thanks for the info bender
I wonder why they don't include the pulley as an option though so you can choose. I think most cars have a 50/50 ratio. The losi XXX4 came with an optional pulley that gave you an overdriven front but I cant really think of a car that comes that way as standard.
I just say that because I'm not really familiar with its effects and will be running a front one way anyway for more steering (which also comes with the smaller pulley by the looks of it)

Looking at the explanation in the losi XXX4 manual, it says that the front overdrive gives the car less steering entering a corner (off power), but more coming out (on power).

It would definitely be nice if Tamiya did like others with the numbering of the bags and one bag for each step.

However, after building many TRF (TC) cars over the last few years I would recommend that you do this:

If you check the last few pages of the manual where all parts are pictured they have codes like; BJ1, BJ2, BJ3... These codes are also used in the building steps as I'm sure you have noticed.

The parts are bagged by these codes; i.e. all BJ# parts in one bag. You can either mark the bags with these codes (compare the content to the pics at the end of the manual to mark them right) or empty each bag into a separate container, or just a separate pile, and mark these with the codes.

Maybe this is all obvious, I dunno, I have found it helps buiding Tamiya kits this way though... :confused:

Exactly ;)

Not sure myself why they went for the overdrive option as the box-standard setup, perhaps in testing it just worked better?

Either way, it's fairly cheap to get a couple of different pulleys to experiment with.

just bought a ta05 front oneway pulley which will hopefully fit my one way and be same as the rear. Whatever testing / setup they have done is likely all on dirt tracks which doesn't really apply in the UK so we'll have to see.

I don't know if its been mentioned yet, but the diff screws are among the smallest I have ever seen, I mean the diameter. I remember the Yokomo BC had a problem with breaking diff screws and I am not sure if they were even as small as the 501X's.
Anyone any thoughts (who has built / run the car)

right, with the Tamiya diffs, if it comes with the captured thrust bearings, if you look closely, one side of the inner collar is square, the other is round, place the rounded side to the screw head. I have run them for a while now and never had one let go in the tourer....

on the xxx4 some people used overdrive on the rear (initially tried on the advise of gill losi jnr at the bury nat 05 when Travis 3 Jukka came across after the worlds warm up)

The idea was to give a 50/50 drive. Schu rears have a smaller diameter than the front when standars width rear tires are stretched over wide rear wheels

some liked the mod others didn't