FYI, my T-Dash chassis finally arrived today from JAG.....
OW !....I've learned alot about the T-Dash Chassis during Break-in and tuning.
OK, where should I begin ? First off, I think Dan Cashmer has a CAT ! As after taking the chassis out of the bag it came in, I noted what appeared to be fine cat fur stuck to gears on the top plate and elsewhere. But that's just a funny observation 
I added a guide pin and set the chassis on my set up block, and noted the contact patches of the Pick-up shoes, and they weren't flat, they were nose tip down only, so thats some tuning that needs addressed if you want to make yours get good current flow. I then touched the PU's to my power source and observed the motor running, it had a noisey gear train and pulsated a bit, but this was to be expected, as NOS T-Jets will sometimes be like this as well when new. Next up was to open her up, and examine, and then swap around the magnets, as all that have been shipped so far, have the mags Backwards ! Ok, then I removed all internals and examined the chassis for fit and plastic flash, which there was some at the rear near the front of the crown gear where Dan shaved the plastic to make clearance for the Crown which musta been rubbing. A very sharp blade cleaned up the hanging CHAD ! I also noted the comm brushes hung up a little in their bores, and I addressed some flash in there, although the brushes left alot to be desired(more on that later). I've also noted that Dan used a Dremel grinder up front under the axle/above the guide pin, probably to gain clearance there as well, as the course splines in the center of the axle were likely grinding on the chassis floor ? Oh yeah, another observation was, the magnets are VERY loose in their pockets and could stand to be shimmed. And something else about these DASH magnets, THESE happened to be the Roughest CAST Magnets I've ever seen come from DASH, as they usually are VERY well cast/smooth, and fit most Aurora T-Jets perfectly....more on that later. Just to to be picky, I noted the rear wheel/hubs were Not pressed all the way onto to their Axle, but they were on 3/4 of the way, so thats no biggie. OKaaaay, now time to oil her up, and set her in my Break-in box and let her smooth the rough edges off the gear train etc.
Let me go back now and talk about the Comm Brushes, and WHY They Suck ! First off the T-Dash Brush (leaf) Springs don't exactly end in the V that is normally associated with T-Jet Brush Springs. On the T-Dash, the Brush spring ends in a tiny little "u" and thats what is under the brush from the bottom. The T-Dash Brushes themselves greatly resemble the JL/AW T-Jet brushes- before AW redesigned them a year or so ago and they now have two flat sides(which is rather pointless of AW to do). ANYway, the V notch in the T-Dash brush bottom does NOT fit the little "u" on the Brush spring very well, and right there it's not really doing a good job of either locking the brush from spinning or making good contact, PLUS the fact I noted the Domed Brushes appeared canted in their bores when the comm wasn't in contact with them. Now let me fast forward a bit, and the chassis has gone thru the break-in phase and is ready for formal test driving. So here she goes, off and running as I gun the car around the track- Go speed Racer - Go ! She ran pretty nice, and I was pleasantly surprised by those skinny little tires, they didn't want to pop off the rims, and Did give adequate traction. All in all, the chassis ran about like a Good running NOS Aurora T-Jet chassis. It wasn't extremely fast, just average...so now after about 50 laps of running, I stopped here, and it was time to start tuning.
Tuning the T-Dash Chassis. I wanted to concentrate on three areas, 1) Gear Train, 2) Comm Brushes, & 3) Magnets. With the(Top Plate) gear train, I found some roughness and binding, although alot of that was lessened after a good break-in and lapping, but I also wanted to swap out Idler gears and see if that had any effect. Sooo, I grabbed a bunch of idler gears I had, some NOS Aurora, some lightened, and some Nylon ones. What I found out very quickly was, the T-Dash top plate is very fussy about idler gear selection, and many of the ones I had, were too tight to even insert ! But, not all gears are created equally, and I found several that fit and were very smooth and took away ALL excess gear meshing noise. Now onto the Comm brushes, when I first examined them, I noted that the dome face had a rough casting seam on one side of it's face, and so I proceeded to sand that off and polish on paper. But after running break-in and then 50 laps, when I re-examined the brush faces, I noted they were wearing only one side of the dome face, ie- lopsided. Well that's where I drew the line, and why I said they were junk. Out they came and in went a new set of Wizzard E85 brushes which I broke in properly, and then test drove.... YowZa ! The T-Dash was a whole NEW Beast, like I just added a SuperCharger ! Now the current was flowing very well to the comm face, and it showed ! And this by FAR is the best tuning part swap I can suggest. BTW- tuning the Pick-Up shoes also made a GREAT BIG Dif, and is a must. Although personally, I'm not that fond of DASH PU Shoes, they maybe great for racing, but a little too delicate and thin for all around use, and I've noted they can get bent out of shape rather easily, and also pop-off quite easily as well. Alrighty then, onto the magnets. DASH Magnets are some of the best ceramic magnets out there at reasonable prices. But they fit waaay too loose in the T-Dash chassis pockets, and should be at least shimmed so they don't rattle around. But this got me thinking, as we know, the JL/AW Magnets are slightly different in shape, and usually are too tight to slip right into an Aurora T-Jet without a little sanding. So how would these tighter magnets fit and work in a T-Dash ? Answer- They Work and Fit Perfectly ! They pop right in as if they were made for the chassis, they fit better than in any other chassis I've tried them in, and that includes JL/AW Chassis. Anyway, I have matched a dozen sets really close, and popped a nice set in the chassis and will leave them there, as when tested- they out performed the DASH magnets that came supplied with my Chassis. Which oddly, were the Roughest Casting of Any Dash magnets I've even seen, and I own about 30 sets of DASH Magnets ! ...In conclusion, the final Tuned T-Dash of mine is AWESOME.... it went from power similar to a slightly above average NOS Aurora T-Jet, to NOW> the Power of an Aurora Tuff Ones that's been re-geared to the 9 tooth pinion, ie- IT's fast, but lacks a little top end on a 21' Straightaway (Dragstrip).
So that's MY .02¢ worth of Review, YMMV 
