AARON'S ALPHA 3 GP - Say 'ello to my 'lil friend

[azzachaz]

Since I wanted to save my Thunder Tiger for the track I decided to find something that I could bash around my street and not worry if I broke it.

Enter

Kyosho Alpha 3 GP

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[azzachaz]

Although it's top speed is nothing to write home about. It has decent acceleration. The one thing that suprised me most about this car is how well ballanced it is. It handles beautifully through corners and has very responsive steering.

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[azzachaz]

As I have found with my other Kyosho is that it takes a lot of punishment. I run it up and down kerbs and over gravel. Usually a no no for touring cars especially my Thunder Tiger that now enjoys a tarmac-only diet.

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<span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Mon Nov 15 2004, 08:39AM ]</span>

[azzachaz]

I am going to fit some drift rims (el cheapo azzachaz rips tyres off old set of rims)

And have some fun :)


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[azzachaz]

It is need of a ballrace upgrade. This may help the top speed slightly.

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[azzachaz]

I'm thinking of sparaying a new shell for it. As I dont care about aerodynamics for this car I want to do something different.

I saw an XY Falcon GT body on ebay. Any ideas?
No Dodge Stratus for me thanks ;)

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<span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Mon Nov 15 2004, 08:50AM ]</span>

[azzachaz]

It sure does take some hard hits.

The worst I have done is pop out the front dogbones so I am pretty lucky.

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[azzachaz]

instead of editting all my posts I will just tell you i know my spelling is crap :)

[Matt]

hah.

so with onroad cars, its a peice of piss to interchange shells and suddenly have the car become another make/model of car? thats pretty cool. you cant do that with a buggy.

where do you find the list of shells available for ya car?

[azzachaz]

Yeah, any 200mm touring car shell will fit.

You can buy them painted for $75-$100
or unpainted $40-$60

Most of the unusual ones are unpainted though.

Search for "shell" or "Body" in the RC section of Ebay or most good RC online stores have a body section.

[Matt]

i checked out some onroad racing at Brush Farm (SYD) on sunday, and hoooollly shite these cars move QUICK. and stable, they dont slide all over the joint like off road buggys do.

man, they were QUICK as!

[azzachaz]

I know, i'm not the best driver :p, being used to driving on streets/backyards it is really weird having to keep the car on the track (and no reverse).

I found it really imtimidating the first time I raced because they were all going hell-for-leather and I was nOOb to the max. But the best bit was they would come over after the race and give me tips on how to go faster. There is a real 'help your neighbour' attitude.

[azzachaz]

D'OH!!

some good news and some bad news.

Good News:

I ballraced the Alpha this morning. It now rolls very smoothly and I have to chock the wheels if the car is on a slight incline because it will roll away.
Testing it this morning showed a good improvement overall for the car, but mostly in a slightly higher top speed. $12 well spent :) (8 x $1.50)

Bad News:

After taking it out on the street for a test I drove it out to the basketball courts at the high school so I could open her up. First pull of the starter and it got stuck out, WFT!!11!!! ONLY 1 OUT OF 4 SCREWS HOLDING THE PULL START ON!!!.

I had no replacement screws (they are a weird size) so I ZIP tied it on and got the car started. The one way bearing was obviously putting a drag on the motor as it was down on speed.

Question: Best to get replacement screws at the hardware shop or the LHS?

[azzachaz]

I just remebered that I still have the screws from the TS4N's broken pullstart. They are a perfect fit.

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[azzachaz]

If you look closeky you can see the way the pullstart is supposed to be oriented.

I decided to turn it 90 degrees to that the handle is closer to the side rather that in the middle. This makes it easier to start with the shell on.

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[azzachaz]

see the way one side is flared.

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[azzachaz]

unfortunately I took it out for a pin and this happened...

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[azzachaz]

I ran it down the street and lost radio with it. In my haste I had forgotten to raise the antena

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[azzachaz]

The front of the chassis is bent, but only where the bumper goes, I will hae to bend it back and re-attach the bumber

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[azzachaz]

More

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[Matt]

bloody heck. remind me to move out of the way when we're on the track together hohoho.

these pics are of how the car is right now? thats going to cost some beans to get it fixed right?

[azzachaz]

from what I can see it is only the bumper mount that is bent. It that is it I will bend it back with some pliers and rivet the bumber back on. I was lucky because it hit directly front on rather than on an angle which probably would have ripped the side off.

The crash was it the bottom of the street so it was up to full speed. It also had to travel across the main street to get there. Funny thing was it was still running so I drove it back to me :D

[azzachaz]

I tried using this, but the rivets aren't long enough. I will probably just use bolts, the thread in the plastic is gone so I cant just screw it.

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[azzachaz]

I dont know if these pics are clear enough to see the holes i reamed out for the rivets

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[azzachaz]

the three small ones at the base

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