Updating my Tamiya Manta Ray
Discussion
I have one of these at home in england, I put a toyota hilux body on it and changed the wheels on it too to reflect that. The whole thing is above my wardrobe under about an inch of dust, I upgraded the bearings motor and esc when I used to run it, I also liked pulling out the drive shaft and making it rwd! much drifting on a wet road!
I could be persuaded to part with it if your tub breaks again.
I could be persuaded to part with it if your tub breaks again.
Id say dont spend anymore cash on it. Put it away for safe keeping.
Tamiya make loads of models like this which are very good as a bit of a toy. When you want to start going over jumps ,off road and faster etc these are not really strong enough.
If you got something else you would have more fun and be able to put a quicker motor in it without destroying the drive train. + the added bonus of not having to listern to that dam terrible Tamiya noise grrrrrrrrrr
Tamiya make loads of models like this which are very good as a bit of a toy. When you want to start going over jumps ,off road and faster etc these are not really strong enough.
If you got something else you would have more fun and be able to put a quicker motor in it without destroying the drive train. + the added bonus of not having to listern to that dam terrible Tamiya noise grrrrrrrrrr
I always wanted the manta ray.
wacattack said:
Wow, I admire your dedication, but I think you need to keep it as a shelf car and get yourself something newer. The amount of money you have spent on it, you could have got a half decent ready to run car where spares are readily available.
Ah, well, there's a few things here.....I never spend as much as a "decent" new car at once - £20 to £40 at a time is affordable, a couple of hundred or more starts to look like a fair bit.
And I'll break the new one, too
And it'll never be a shelf car (although it spends time as a cupboard-under-the-stairs-broken-car).... if I ever give up and buy new, this'll be on ebay for someone else to keep running/canabalise.
And although I moan, I quite enjoy fixing it - it's the wait for the parts that kills me
Frankly though, I am running out of upgradable bits for it, so this time around it's pretty much either going to reach the point where it's strong enough to last properly, or I will give up (and by "give up" I mean use all the spares I've got already to try and keep it going, then give up). Did my tax return today and will have a small refund....
Ok, shiny bits arrived from Hong Kong a couple of days ago:
Which means the motor is now mounted so it'll not fall off again in a hurry (obviously, shiny new pinion is well hidden at this point and I really must clean this car properly sometime....
)
The steering linkage broke many many moons ago (maybe 10 years??) and I knocked up a bit of, IIRC, ceiling-light hanging bracket to replace it...
...this has worked well, but the link rod to the offside has worn quite a slot for itself and so the wheels tend not to point exactly where I wanted a lot of the time... so now replaced with shiny (and accurate) blue ally; it has a bit more throw than both my version and the original tamiya one, which has required a #cough# small mod to the side of the chassis for clearance - but massively improved all aspects of steering. Also note big shiny ally bar replacing coat hanger driveshaft so hopefully that won't be a weak point either.
Not been for a proper bash yet, but it's survived resetting the tracking followed by a few runs and j-turns up and down the patio, which is 5 or 10 minutes longer than it lasted with this motor last run out! Full rock strewn run at the weekend if the weather's ok.... might try for some video too before I destroy it forever
Which means the motor is now mounted so it'll not fall off again in a hurry (obviously, shiny new pinion is well hidden at this point and I really must clean this car properly sometime....
)The steering linkage broke many many moons ago (maybe 10 years??) and I knocked up a bit of, IIRC, ceiling-light hanging bracket to replace it...
...this has worked well, but the link rod to the offside has worn quite a slot for itself and so the wheels tend not to point exactly where I wanted a lot of the time... so now replaced with shiny (and accurate) blue ally; it has a bit more throw than both my version and the original tamiya one, which has required a #cough# small mod to the side of the chassis for clearance - but massively improved all aspects of steering. Also note big shiny ally bar replacing coat hanger driveshaft so hopefully that won't be a weak point either.
Not been for a proper bash yet, but it's survived resetting the tracking followed by a few runs and j-turns up and down the patio, which is 5 or 10 minutes longer than it lasted with this motor last run out! Full rock strewn run at the weekend if the weather's ok.... might try for some video too before I destroy it forever
I admire your commitment!!
I presume now that the diffs will be next to s
t the bed. 
I remember back in the day when I was about 13 years old I experimented with my Manta Ray.
Glueing diffs up, removing drive shafts etc.
I think I remember locking the front diff and shear a driveshaft after about two runs.
Great fun!!
I presume now that the diffs will be next to s
t the bed. I remember back in the day when I was about 13 years old I experimented with my Manta Ray.
Glueing diffs up, removing drive shafts etc.
I think I remember locking the front diff and shear a driveshaft after about two runs.
Great fun!!
Ritchie335is said:
I presume now that the diffs will be next to st the bed.
Good excuse to buy the ball ones t the bed. Actually, I've got a few spares from ebay kicking around, so it won't be the end of the world. Except I've discovered that if anything in the front end goes, I'm going to have to grind my mad max bumper off
Survived 4 batteries' worth of running this weekend... but the 35 turn motor is too slow in this car. Plenty of torque but grip and ground clearance means it's not so useful. I can see how a crawler would be fun, and the Wraith might be perfect, but there's too much limitation technical work with the Manta to accept the slower top end. I'll try the 27 next....
Run it a bit with the 27 turn now... yep, just about perfect. It'll climb anything that it did with the 35 turn (where it was mostly ground-clearance/axle articulation limited anyway) but gets enough speed to be fun.
Finally got a bit of video on my phone; my 10 year old lass is doing the controlling so don't expect much control! As said, this is basically an old spoil heap with a bit of BMX/moto-x track set out - full of fist size rocks, half bricks etc, and lots of bigger rocks too. Looking at this again, might have to get some stronger springs, especially on the front shocks.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v471/defblade/RC...
Finally got a bit of video on my phone; my 10 year old lass is doing the controlling so don't expect much control! As said, this is basically an old spoil heap with a bit of BMX/moto-x track set out - full of fist size rocks, half bricks etc, and lots of bigger rocks too. Looking at this again, might have to get some stronger springs, especially on the front shocks.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v471/defblade/RC...
This is awesome dedication to a nostalgic cause, and I approve highly 
It brings back memories of my constant fiddling / upgrading / running repairs to my Tamiya Hotshot back in the day (1985/86)
I then went onto racing with an Optima Mid and a Schumacher Pro Cat.
All sadly long gone in the usual teenage clearout of toys / things which aren't cool once you've left school and are into girls. I wish I'd kept them - I had no idea how much I would miss them at 40 years old, lol!
But I did buy a new re-release Sand Scorcher last Xmas. It runs with the stock motor and Ni-Mh battery. Shows you how good battery and ESC technology has moved on - even with the stock crappy 540 motor, it goes easily as quickly as my old cars did with trick motors running NiCds.
Despite some pretty hairy prangs, nothing has broken - yet. I guess you can't neat new parts over 20 year old parts. Also, most of the running gear on the Scorcher is alloy not plastic.
It brings back memories of my constant fiddling / upgrading / running repairs to my Tamiya Hotshot back in the day (1985/86)
I then went onto racing with an Optima Mid and a Schumacher Pro Cat.
All sadly long gone in the usual teenage clearout of toys / things which aren't cool once you've left school and are into girls. I wish I'd kept them - I had no idea how much I would miss them at 40 years old, lol!
But I did buy a new re-release Sand Scorcher last Xmas. It runs with the stock motor and Ni-Mh battery. Shows you how good battery and ESC technology has moved on - even with the stock crappy 540 motor, it goes easily as quickly as my old cars did with trick motors running NiCds.
Despite some pretty hairy prangs, nothing has broken - yet. I guess you can't neat new parts over 20 year old parts. Also, most of the running gear on the Scorcher is alloy not plastic.
mattmoxon said:
Great thread 
hate to say it but you have gone the wrong way with the pinion, if you want less speed and more torque at the wheels you need a smaller pinion so the spur gear doesn't turn as fast.
Yeah, I realised that after hate to say it but you have gone the wrong way with the pinion, if you want less speed and more torque at the wheels you need a smaller pinion so the spur gear doesn't turn as fast.
I would have got a selection to play with, but the place I ordered the last lot of bits from only had one size in stock....
Another year, another update, another breakage
The front shock tower you see in last year's update (or was it 2 years ago? anyway...) was made from 3 pieces of alloy brazed together and it lasted a while, but then one leg fell off for no reason at all on a tarmac path, dog walking, a couple of weeks ago. Just fatigue in the join I think. Turns out ny brazing sills are non-exsistant, but luckily, HongKong comes to the rescue once again:
:no joins on this one! Milled from a single lump of cheddar
Half installed:
Slots straight in, I do wonder just how even china can support a model this old like this!
She rides again!
Although you can't really see it, the rear wing had also snapped a side off, and it's also now fixed, and redecorated in that old favourite finish: "gaffer tape black"
Meanwhile, there's been an outbreak of paypaling around here, the first of 5 or 6 packages arrived today.....
Expecting a couple more UK orders in the next few days and then hopefully the US and HK bits a week or so after that. Oh, and something special from Canada
There will be a new thread eventually That's another 27t motor there; again reading back over the thread, I must have a spare 35t somewhere to try on this, too...
In the meantime, looking back on this thread, I see I said I would ebay the Manta if I ever bought new, but although I half justified repairing her again by saying she's worth more as a full runner... I'm not sure I can bring myself to part with her. But, if a Mad Max Manta is what you've always wanted, PM me, as anyone who can be bothered to read all my ramblings this far down has already shown they'd be a worthy keeper
The front shock tower you see in last year's update (or was it 2 years ago? anyway...) was made from 3 pieces of alloy brazed together and it lasted a while, but then one leg fell off for no reason at all on a tarmac path, dog walking, a couple of weeks ago. Just fatigue in the join I think. Turns out ny brazing sills are non-exsistant, but luckily, HongKong comes to the rescue once again:
:no joins on this one! Milled from a single lump of cheddar
Half installed:
Slots straight in, I do wonder just how even china can support a model this old like this!
She rides again!
Although you can't really see it, the rear wing had also snapped a side off, and it's also now fixed, and redecorated in that old favourite finish: "gaffer tape black"
Meanwhile, there's been an outbreak of paypaling around here, the first of 5 or 6 packages arrived today.....
Expecting a couple more UK orders in the next few days and then hopefully the US and HK bits a week or so after that. Oh, and something special from Canada
There will be a new thread eventually That's another 27t motor there; again reading back over the thread, I must have a spare 35t somewhere to try on this, too...In the meantime, looking back on this thread, I see I said I would ebay the Manta if I ever bought new, but although I half justified repairing her again by saying she's worth more as a full runner... I'm not sure I can bring myself to part with her. But, if a Mad Max Manta is what you've always wanted, PM me, as anyone who can be bothered to read all my ramblings this far down has already shown they'd be a worthy keeper
MrBig said:
How's the wraith going now? More importantly, what's the latest on the Manta Ray? Just been trawling the net for info on them as I'm thinking of getting one as the basis for a Top Force replica and Google lead me back here!
Wraith's a cracking drive, copes well with the stuff I wanted it to (since I spent a small fortune on a high spec steering servo...). Seems my RC mainly comes out in the winter months for some reason, guess that's why my Manta updates are all Jan/Feb. The Manta's been in the cupboard under the stairs since the Wraith's been working, I think it'll come out for winter walks/races with my daughter some time over winter...Sorry for the resurrection, but I'd like to redo mine (I think I posted a thread years ago but can't find it now and never got around to it) and am struggling to figure out where to start. I think I know what bits I want but am struggling to know exactly what model parts to order.
As far as I know, nothing was actually broken on it, prior to it moving to the loft years ago but assuming time has dried out oil and whatnot I think I will need:
1) New shock oil - is this standard? Is it easy to apply? Is there a particular type?
2) An ESC - does this just swap in for the mechanical part? Is there a model that fits in the chassis especially?
3) Motor? Should be ok I think. I was happy with it anyway and initially would like to just get it to run.
4) Batteries - I had a couple yellow NiCad (IIRC) battery packs that lasted all of 5 seconds each back in the day. And a charger. Can I upgrade these and use my old charger?
My other issue is the body shell. I've found one place (Kamtec) that does replacements but not the wing. Are there alternative wings that would work??
Thanks in advance - I'm really pretty clueless about all this. I made an initial enquiry to a model shop online a few years ago but was told that basically it would be more expensive to get parts than it was worth, and I should buy a new one, which felt silly somehow so all advice appreciated!
As far as I know, nothing was actually broken on it, prior to it moving to the loft years ago but assuming time has dried out oil and whatnot I think I will need:
1) New shock oil - is this standard? Is it easy to apply? Is there a particular type?
2) An ESC - does this just swap in for the mechanical part? Is there a model that fits in the chassis especially?
3) Motor? Should be ok I think. I was happy with it anyway and initially would like to just get it to run.
4) Batteries - I had a couple yellow NiCad (IIRC) battery packs that lasted all of 5 seconds each back in the day. And a charger. Can I upgrade these and use my old charger?
My other issue is the body shell. I've found one place (Kamtec) that does replacements but not the wing. Are there alternative wings that would work??
Thanks in advance - I'm really pretty clueless about all this. I made an initial enquiry to a model shop online a few years ago but was told that basically it would be more expensive to get parts than it was worth, and I should buy a new one, which felt silly somehow so all advice appreciated!
Gassing Station | Scale Models | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff