1993 WCS ‘Faux-komo’ Repo 3d printed & Non-OEM Parts

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Grasping at straws these days looking for another Yokomo project to keep me occupied and I started thinking (yes, it hurt ). Given the current price of anything YZ10 related, there have been some amazing reproduction parts become available as alternatives and I wanted to see just how much of a car could be completed using these resources.

It is my intention, whenever possible to use non OEM parts and I will attempt to share links to where I found them, approximate costs, potential issues and I will total it all up at the end.

I am not exactly starting off being true to the above but I had an old, beat 1994 chassis laying around that this seemed appropriate base to use for this project (UPDATE - Changing this to a 1993 WCS project instead given what is currently available in the market lol)

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Started with a quick 3D printed search via google and it seems Shapeways is the place to go (still trying to figure out Yeggi). I am super new to 3D printing and decided to order just the basics to start and see what the fit and quality were like.

https://www.shapeways.com/marketplace?tag=yokomo

I started by ordering some of the harder to find parts and was surprised how easy they were to order and how quickly they arrived.

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I was personally really impressed with the parts, still learning about the different material types and believe Mr. Ed has made recommendations for type to use on a runner...once I find the outline I will include here for reference for those of us that are still learning.

“As always, I strongly recommend the HP MJF (PA12) version for a runner because it is stronger in all 3 print directions. Even for your 'shelf queen' I recommend this material and printer: because the parts will have a finer texture and better detail. But, if you really want white or another colour: all are enabled for your picking.”

The screws are stainless steel from an RC10 based RCScrewz kit https://www.rcscrewz.com/

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Another small update after receiving a package from Shapeways, battery posts, front bumper and white diff thingy.

I may be changing the direction of this project ever so slightly to a different model year but more to come on that soon, waiting on confirmation of something.

[Dadio]

That's coming along nicely

[Toaster]

Many thanks Dadio, I am watching your threads with keen interest!

Given the lack of readily available pre-designed 94/95 parts on Shapeways, Yeggi etc. (specifically rear bulkhead bits) I am shifting the focus of this project ever so slightly to a 1993 WCS Yok and have reached out to Fibre Lyte https://www.fibre-lyte.co.uk/ about a chassis etc.

I have found a local 3d printer in my neighbourhood and am setting up a visit to see if they can assist me with printing the arms out that are posted on Yeggi/Thingiverse https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3509636

Another batch of bits also just arrived from Shapeways which I will share soon.

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Small update, heard back from Fibre Lyte (Stephen is awesome btw) and they made it super easy to order, pay via PayPal and expect something in about 3 weeks (any chassis order takes awhile to produce, I am waiting with baited breath).

While I wait, another small order came in from Shapeway’s, a slight addiction is forming here.

The chassis posts came from South Korea and the quality is amazing, look up user ‘pmg828’ on eBay, I highly suggest him.

[Dadio]

The parts are lollin in , looks good , I highly recommend clear coating the parts from Shapeways with a few coats , they just pick up dirt and are hard to clean , the clear coating stops it picking up dirt and can be easily cleaned .

[Toaster]

I can’t believe what dirt attractors the white 3d printed parts are lol, great suggestion and I am going to clear coat them asap (or perhaps I just have seriously dirty hands)

It was like Christmas today, just got a package from the postman from Fibre Lyte (the first of many more orders, they are awesome) and took some quick pics before I start a more dedicated assembly later this evening. Think the mrs was more excited than I was as it means I will leave her alone for a couple of evenings haha

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Remounting pieces onto the new chassis (which is just a thing of beauty) was almost too much fun.

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So of course I had no cutting wheels left for my dremel so a what I though was a clean small hand saw and 30 minutes later and voila.

Some sandpaper removed the remainder of the material BUT do not use gritty sandpaper, it drove a lot of dirt into the material that no amount of cleaning would remove.

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Love the mounts and gives a better view of the chassis material and quality.

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There are additional mounting tabs on the rear arm mounts that need to be removed for everything to line up properly.

The 3d printed diff mount (white), the mounting holes are a little small, just apply a fair amount of pressure when putting the screws in, slow and steady and they will eventually grab.

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Reviewing Alex B’s WCS build on this site, there is reference to having 2mm shaved off the rear diff housing due to the camber link plate…I don’t quite have the tools for something like that so am going to likely going to use his original solution of inserting washers under the suspension shock tower mounts.

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I couldn’t bring myself to just jam some washers under the mounts and decided to try something else.

Using an old and partially broken rear shock tower from an 870 I had lying around, I cut, drilled and sanded some plates about the same size of the mounts and sandwiched them between the chassis and the mounts in the hopes it would add the necessary height needed.