Tamiya LiPo holder for CC01 TA02 TA03

Companies like LRP make rounded LiPo batteries which fit into the round cavity found in older Tamiya bathtub chassis like the TA01, TA02, TA03, CC01, DF01 or FF01. However, compared to NiMH stick packs the LiPo cases are about 5 mm longer. This means that the battery is sticking out too much and the battery holder that comes with the car no longer fits.

We designed a 3D printable holder that solves that issue. For good measure we included a case for the popular 1-8S LiPo monitor -- often those old cars run speed controllers without LiPo cut-off.

A LRP LiPo stick pack in a CC01 chassis with our new holder with included LiPo monitor.

Tamiya TEU-104BK mod for LiPo cut-off

Many Tamiya kits available on sale today still come with the TEU-104BK ESC. This ESC is perfectly fine for running brushed motors, but does not contain a BEC and its low voltage cut-off is too low for LiPo batteries.

The missing BEC is easily dealt with: either use "high voltage" compatible servo and receiver, or a cheap external BEC.

Fortunately it is also easy to modify the ESC to have a LiPo compatible voltage cut-off -- assuming you are able to solder a tiny surface-mount resistor.