Essential Tools for Mini

Today let's look at the tools I use to work on my mini RC cars. These 1:28 scale cars, like Mini-Z and GL Racing, are pretty small. They are the size of a smartphone. Parts tend to be small and fiddly. Screws need to be finessed as not to strip the heads or plastic threads.
At this scale, GL kits and many others use 1.5mm hex screws. It's 100% worthwhile to buy a good driver. The orange one is made by MIP (Moore's Ideal Products) and it's considered the best option. The black one came from Banggood. It's cheap and the 1.5mm hex bit is surprisingly good. I also have a regular Phillips #0 primarily for Mini-Z. The tiny #00 is needed for droop screws and Carisma GT24.
A pair of good tweezers is a must to handle small screws, shims, springs, etc. Of course, I have the standard Mini-Z 4.5mm wheel nut driver, and the pinion gear tool. The latter is good for removing AAA too. I also keep these Allen hex keys around. Occasionally some screws, ball studs, or grub screws require a 1.3mm or 0.9mm hex driver. I twisted a large paper clip in this way which acts as a turnbuckle tool for my GL cars.
For setting ride height and checking for chassis tweak, I have this GL ride height gauge, as well as its droop gauge. Without this tool, I couldn't adjust shock preloads to achieve the desired ride height or ensure left vs right evenness.
The length measuring caliper is also essential, such as when building turnbuckles or identifying shim thickness. The black plastic one is cheap and lightweight, and it's good for 90% of cases. The fancier metal one here provides 0.01mm precision and can be set more precisely with the thumb wheel.
To charge my JST-PH lipo batteries, I use this SkyRC B6AC unit. It's a bit old now so better chargers are available. Unless you change out the JST-PH connectors from your mini ESC, you will need the adapter cable too. For NiMH AAA batteries, I use this simple Opus BT-C2400 charger. It gets the job done.
To program the Hobbywing-based GL/Atomic sensorless ESCs, I have this simple program card. I also use the GL sensored ESC and its program card is needed for basic things like adding reverse throttle.
In this hobby, sanding down plastic parts happens all the time. I really like these Tamiya filers. I can't count how many times I've used something like this.
There are also a variety of grease that is essential for tuning these mini race cars. For my GL cars, I use Kyosho 15000 grease and Atomic 35000 weight. They are used in shock dampers. I use this Tamiya thread lock grease for loctiting screws going into metal.
From my photography hobby, I have a little air blower to get rid of RCP dust and lints.
Eventually, I needed to solder wires onto motors and build connectors. For this small scale, I use this Sequire SQ-001. Digital soldering irons like this manage the temperature really well. The small TS-D24 tip is good for small scale work.
To remove plastic pinion gears from a motor shaft like a pro, I have this inexpensive pinion remover tool.
This is Sammy and thanks for watching!
Music: "Instructions for Living a Life", Savfk ( • Instructions for Livin... )

[@gw9540]

Really like your videos! I’m learning a lot from them. I’m just starting out with Mini-Z and getting the tools I need. Which pinion gear tool do you show in the video? I think it would be ideal for removing batteries, as well! Thank you!

[@sammybaka]

Thank you. The battery/pinion tool should come with your mini-z kit. I always keep one around because it's been super useful.

[@popitn2nd]

Who makes the pinion removing tool set? Where can I get this?

[@sammybaka]

I bought mine on eBay but it's common on aliexpress too.

[@ignoreu1314]

Do you use grease on your mr03 eve too? If so which one you use and where should I apply the grease? Sorry I’m very new to the mini rc world 😛

[@sammybaka]

I applied some 15k grease under the damper plates, but next time I need to go with thinner grease like 3k in the future. Also in the past, I had an oil shock on the top, but if I run a non-oil shock, I would apply thick (30k) grease on the shock shaft. For the front, you can add some thick grease in the ball joints holding the king pins.