- COMCOM'ed '93 Works (Fibre-Lyte background history page 4)

[Asso_man!]

Today's progress: brand new assembled TCS and new rod ends for the turnbuckles:

[Asso_man!]

So my quest for new white bulkhead caps was unsuccessful until now and decided to try and restore some left for dead ones. These were totally yellowed and full of dirt, dents and grease. They received a full cleaning treatment before staying 4 days in a peroxyde bath. They turned out decent, at least that will do until I can source new ones.



In the meantime, I also wrote an email to Martin at Fybre-Lite with the following questions:

1) what is the detailed history behind the relationship between COMCOM and
Fibre-Lyte?
2) do you still have all the molds for these super carbon tubs?
3) why is the RC10 tub version you still advertise on your website so thick
compared to the old COMCOM tubs?
4) could you provide me with a full copy of the Fibre-Lyte parts catalogue
from 1999? I have actually seen the cover today, someone posted it in the 1st
link above for the Yokomo '93 (last page) and told me he got it from you, it
would be really cool to see that catalogue!
5) on the front page of the catalogue, I can see aerofoil carbon wings with a
twill leave pattern, would you still be able to produce these? I would love to
install one on each of my COMCOM cars! I am also sure quite a lot of vintage
enthusiasts would be interested in them.
6) do you still have cars or parts from back in the day? I would love you to
share pictures and any memorabilia you still have at hand and I would not be the
only one!

Here is what he answered:

Hi David

Thanks for the mail, I am Martin the company Director (and founder
around 20 years ago).

The history with Com Com is simply that two guys in Germany worked
together in their day jobs, the main technical man and RC car fanatic
being Ulrich Lein who ran a stand building company for big exhibitions,
the other guy Gunther I think was more in the background, they decided
to start a company specialising in designing and supplying RC car part.

My business was only a year old and I was pushing the publicity thing in
RC race car and getting some gone coverage so it was natural that we
were approached by Ulrich to make parts for him, we did and he sold lots
of stuff including the moulded chassis which went down a storm. After a
few years Ulrich had financial problems in the stand building business
so decided to stop the Com Com work and sold it on the GM Racing which
was actually the end of our involvement.

We have some moulds for carbon tubs but not that many any more, they
were and still are very time consuming to make and all the trimming and
drilling etc was done by hand and I was the only person that made these
and I now struggle to remember how they were all done.

I guess the carbon tub is thick because in the interim we have started
making carbon tubs for a few other guys with more modern cars and they
have asked for 2.5 and 3 mm and the when we started doing RC 10 again
the laminators just made them the same.

I might be able to find an old copy of the catalogue which cost £1.00 in
a SAE with some stickers thrown in, original front page attached. The
close up tub image will be a YZ-10 and then the middle picture is our
CNC machine cutting YZ-10 top decks, the final picture was taken at the
world champs in Basildon the three cars are on the engine cover of my Mk
2 MR2 they are Traxxas Rad2 Lazer ZXR Mk2 tub chassis and RC-10 with
full carbon tub and moulded front/top plate to replace the old nose
tubes, the first two have the single aero hollow section wing in carbon
and the RC-10 has an adjustable Bi Level wing, the Lazer got sold to a Kid
years ago who wrecked it in 10 minutes, the Traxxas is still here and a
bit dusty. I went to the Basildon worlds with these cars and just stood
around watching the racing with one of the cars balanced on a fence post
and you would not believe the number of people that approached me,
suffice to say that I had filled the boot of the MR2 with chassis and
mounts but they did not last long.

We still have on the computer all drawings of parts that we made for the
old cars including team parts for the likes of Craig Drescher, Richard
Isherwood etc etc, they might take some finding though.

Best Regards

Martin Hansell

Hansell Composites Ltd
Unit 33
T. Dicken Ind Est
Station Road
Stokesley
TS9 7AE
ENGLAND

These are some better pics of the Traxxas Rad he still has in his possession (pics were attached to his email, click them to enlarge):

[Asso_man!]

Ok, I had a really hard time with the aluminum bulkheads, they were really well oxidised Took me some hours to get to the result below. I had to replace the motor mount with a spare one from a '94 YZ10 as the one that was on the car was in really poor shape. In the mean time I ordered a bunch of stainless steel screws for this car and others, it is now totally ready for a rebuilt. Wew...

By the way, I had some really nice email exchange with the guys at Fibre-Lyte, mainly Stephen and Martin (the founder), and I will soon be able to disclose here some super nice stuff Stay tuned and be ready for a Fybre-Lite dedicated thread!

[Charlie don't surf]

Looking awesome Dave!!!!

[Asso_man!]

Slowly started to rebuild it. Here's today's progress:

[Asso_man!]

Before someone notices it, I already flipped over the front reinforcement bar after shooting these pics lol

[Charlie don't surf]

Slowly started to rebuild it. Here's today's progress:

Man thats something!!!! You want a stock rear belt? I have a good stash of them-

[Asso_man!]

Thanks for the help Reg, you got pm.

So I rushed a bit as I can't wait to see her on wheels now. Even rushed a bit too much and broke the only right white steering lever, big BUMMER Also noticed I will have to drill 2 new holes in each bulkhead cap as the stock ones do not match with the ComCom top deck. Otherwise, everything else is looking quite good, a few details to fix still, but I am satisified with the result so far. Here is how it sits right now:





The damn broken steering lever, GRRRRRRRRR:

[Alex B]

Yours if you need it. Drop me a PM

[Asso_man!]

Added a set of LRP mesh rims as I also plan to install an LRP ESC and motor. There is still a lot of details to fix but it's slowly taking shape now.

[scr8p]

sweet build, david.

[DerbyDan]

Phwoooor!! Great work Asso-man - I especially like what has been done with the bulkheads with the shaping & drilling etc, overal the car has a real classy look to it

[Charlie don't surf]

I can't believe how much those LRP rims and Suzuki mounts look like a Ofna 1/8 combo-

[Asso_man!]

Phwoooor!! Great work Asso-man - I especially like what has been done with the bulkheads with the shaping & drilling etc, overal the car has a real classy look to it

Thanks a lot Guys! Now that you mention it Dan, it looks like it is dressed with a white shirt and striped tuxedo lol

[Scott S.]

Are they still making those Chassis and Tower ? That is an Awesome build.