Hey Guys,

As I’m drawing ever closer to the finished car, its dawned on me how scared I am of brutalising this thing. And it dawned on me, the only part of the car that is susceptible to bad scuffs is the front shock tower and shocks. Which got me to thinking about how I could protect them. And I had a brainwave, albeit a slightly ugly brainwave.

This design screws into place without any modification (bar the need for a slightly longer screw on each mount) and would totally protect those lovely shocks and that shiny carbon. Only thing now, is how in hell do I make them? Any metal workers out there that fancy a little challenge, hit me up :)

I’ve been rather busy since my last post and should have done a few in-between steps really, but I got carried away ;)

Since the last post I’ve almost completed the chassis! And found a out a few handy things regarding hard to find parts too.  Firstly, take a peek at where she is now…

As you can see, she’s almost done now. Just a few bits left to bolt on.

The font end obviously missing the shockers…and the ever elusive BF9 front damper mounts…but I have some news regarding those! More to follow.

And the all important and equally rare, rear wing mount.

So, which parts have I found that are rare? You’ll notice the rear wing mount is now present which was never on the car originally.  This part is actually a genuine Egress mount, but what I have learned is that the Egress’s rear mount is the same as the Top Force Evo (which I’ve just bought myself, that’s how I found out) with the only difference being that there is no bend in the Top Force version…but a vice and hammer would fix that!  So if you’re on the hunt for a rear wing mount for your Egress, grab a Top Force Evo one and bend it yourself.

Front gold coated springs.  Yep, you cant buy these, anywhere as nobody has them, full stop.  The rears are available on eBay, but not the fronts.  Well, in a run of good luck and some random eBay searching, I found that Tamiya still make some springs in EXACTLY the same off gold colour!! They are slightly different in shape, but colour wise they are a perfect match! Photos to follow.

Aaaaand lastly, the dreaded BF9, damper bag exclusive front shocker mounts.  Well, you look around the web and you’ll see, these are THE rarest parts on the car, but I’ve managed to come across not one set, not two sets, but…35! And now your saying ‘how the hell?’ well, watch this space as I’ll reveal all real soon and will be linking to eBay where you can buy a set.

Ok, that’s all for now.

Mike.

Yep, found a perfect fit!

I’ve got a DF-03 Dark Impact with upgraded shocks as my play car, so I thought to myself ‘hmmm, would the seals from my standard shocks fit the Hi-Caps’ so I routed around my loft, found the originals and boom, they fit like a glove.  My shocks are now oil filled, looooovely.  New photos to follow real soon, I just need to set the car up in a nice spot.

Catch you soon.

Mike.

Damn, those oil seals that I picked up where the exact same style, but about 1 mm smaller and thus, drop down the cylinder rather than perching on top.  I’m now totally lost as to what to replace them with…so for now, they are going to stay empty.

So, if anyone out there reading this knows of any seals that will fit these Hi-Cap Dampers, then please take pitty on me and either leave a comment or drop me a mail.  Any and all help is GREATLY appreciated.

I stripped down the front and rear suspension to find that my damper seals have all dried up and cracked, bummer! So in minor desporation I tried out some other damper seals from other Tamiyas I have knocking around…no joy, they’re all too small and a different shapes.  I have however seen some on eBay which look like a match, so stay tuned to see if that’s another £5 down the toilet ;)

Yesterday I had to buy the Avante 2001 ball connector bag and bushings bag as it turns out this car of mine has all manner of odd parts used in replacement. Grrrr.  And if you’re wondering why on earth I need the bushing bags from the 2001, its because I’m having to make a mod of my own to this car to allow it to mount the suspension to the whishbones in the same way as the 2001…why?…because those darn Egress suspension mounts are THE rarest part.  Double grrrrrr.

Aaaaand lastly, I was in a real pickle with the dastardly 3×42 countersunk screws that hold the backend together, as the heads got rounded off getting them out, only for me to realise that only two cars made by Tamiya have EVER used those screws…and you cannot get hold of the associated screw bag for love nor money.  But open some insanly long winded research, I found out that the last 2mm of these screws isnt essential, and that HPI make packs of 3×40’s…and you can get 10 for £3, job done :)

I just need to the bits to get here so that I can continue…new update soon.

With my new rear carbon mount in hand, it was time to clean up the stabiliser parts and get that looking nice and new.  I pulled this section apart, grabbed the Peek (http://www.tripeek.com/) and started cleaning and polishing.  Man I love Peak, that stuff is the shit.  Just look at the photos below, beeeeautiful.

Shiiiiiiiney, mmmmmm, nice!

Mounted on the fresh new upper chassis deck, this is looking real nice!

In all its glory…man this car is going to be one shiny puppy when she’s done :)

Yep the chassis is in a right old state.  All those years of racing, dirt, grit, oil and abuse have left it rather tattered.  And worst still, the end tip where the under-cowl mount connects to, its snapped.  Arse.

A solid clean up did little to lift it, so I’ve caved in and bought a new one.  Top and bottom pieces, brand new, £25 delivered.  Steep?  Not sure, but damn they look pretty.  Add to this the big Egress parts auction I won, including carbon bits, I’m staring at some lovely new pieces to build this baby back up.  And yes, she’s turning into a veritable money pit…but boy is it fun!!!

Now, whomever is reading this will most likely know the Egress, and will be chuckling to themselves after reading my shopping list from the previous post…as that list is like a list of the worlds finest variety of hens teeth.  Yep you guessed it, this car is missing the rarest, and hardest to source parts made for the car.  Arse!

What I have managed to do is win an auction with a bucket load of Egress parts in it. Some I need, some I don’t, but what the hell, it’s been an easy way to grab some fresh pieces.  And after some serious hunting, I fear that some of the previously mentioned parts are going to cost me the earth if and when they arise for sale.

The other major win was the screws.  Most of the ones on this Egress have seen better days, with most of them being totally over tightened and having their heads rounded off.  So rather than spending £10-£15 per screw bag on eBay, I did a little research on the Avante and Vanquish to see which ones had the same screws.  I know, I know, this wouldn’t include titanium ones, but hey, that’s life.  Needless to say, the Vanquish screw bags were about £3 each, so I snapped them all up, only leaving me short of a small handful.

Let’s move on.