mb_c11

I can't offer any help with the servos (except the Spektrum one I've never heard of the manufacturers), but you are right that if you add a brushless set (motor + ESC) you can get rid of one of the servos.

Painted a body, discovered Tamiya metallic red covers really badly (10+ layers and it still sucks), installed a 3Racing Light System in said body, and had some glitching fun when testing things (suspect a dead Y-cable, or the 3Racing system doesn't like my EZ-Run...)

Aftermarket hop-up manufacturer.

My non-genuine ones seem to corrode quite fast (metal part changes color). They are also less heat-resistant while soldering...

Finished rebuilding the Optima MID - almost. Just need to clean and rebuild the shocks, and replace the front axles by universals as on this particular MID (actually the Optima Skyline scale car version) the dogbones can pop out of the outdrives when taking a turn...

Yup. I'm still waiting for your package (strikes at the Dutch postal services are not helping).

Rebuilt part of a Kyosho Optima MID LWB. Had to do the diffs twice, because I didn't realise they used 1/8" diff balls the first time (used 3 mm balls instead). I also used some Cross one-piece thrust bearings. Then I wondered where Kyosho got the five-handed people required to properly assemble the rear gearbox without getting the belt caught between the parts and the gears out of alignment. Then re-did the rear gear box assembly two times because something was binding, which I could not find the cause of, until I had a good look at the rear diff gear and realised there was rock hard dried grease between the teeth which my day long soak in water with dishwasher liquid did somehow not remove... Then I had some fun with bent e-clips that popped off. Anyway, came less far than I had hoped.

Although I'm not in the UK, I'm still waiting for a package coming from there that was sent during the Big Freeze...will it arrive before I leave on holiday or won't it? The others that were sent during the same period all arrived.

The Kyosho TF-2 was one of the popular cars when I was a young teenager, and I've always wanted one. Having picked up a few Kyosho cars in the near past, and being impressed with their quality (which IMHO is better than Tamiya; certainly more race-roiented than Tamiyas from the same time-period), I figured I should get myself a TF-2. Some time ago I picked up a rather nice lot of TF-2 aftermarket parts, and a bit later also an actual TF-2, with the explicit aim of building a brushless powered TF-2. Since there's not a lot of information on this car available on the web, I figure it would be nice to do a build thread. This project will likely take a few months, as I seek and find the parts I need. The TF-2 I bought is the basic chassis kit, which is a slightly hopped-up version of the kits that came with a body: The main improvement is that this kit comes with a nice carbon chassis, which saves on picking up a separate chassis considering it goes for quite a bit of money on Ebay (more than I paid for the whole car): The chassis also has countersunk screw holes, unlike the aluminum chassis of the simpler kits. It offers two battery positions. The car has some interesting features. The ESC is placed on a small plastic plate, which attaches to the rest of the car using two small posts and two body clips. This allows painless access to the motor mount: A quick-release stick pack battery holder is included: The front end has small screws in the lower suspension arms to adjust ride height. Furthermore, the steering assembly can be equipped with ball-bearings (the drive train has ball-bearings as standard), and turnbuckles are included: Another interesting feature is that the car, which is 200 mm wide right now, can be changed to a width of 180-190 mm by just changing the drive shafts, steering links, and upper arms, as the suspension arms have two sets of holes for the outer hinge pins: The car includes aluminum shocks as standard. The shock towers and upper deck are aluminum instead of carbon fiber and the diffs are gear diffs (but some of the parts needed to build ball diffs are included). The ESC and motor that are currently installed in the car will be used for another project. Thankfully, the manual was included with the car. The spare parts and hop-up list in the manual sadly isn't complete, as apparently this kit was released before a lot of hop-ups were available, but I'll show it anyways (hopefully it is readable): Most parts on this list can still be found by looking around (some are still in use on fairly recent cars), except for SP-1 (suspension arms), which is almost impossible to find - you're better off buying whole cars to get them. Now let's have a look at the hop-ups and aftermarket parts available for this car. Manufacturers: Kyosho produced quite a few hop-ups for the TF-2 and TF-3, which both use the same parts except for the chassis plates (and suspension parts on the TF-3R ('99)), as well as the Pure Ten GP cars. Cross produced tons of aftermarket parts for Kyosho's Optima, Tour Force (TF), and GP-10 cars, many of which can be used on several different Kyosho models. Other manufacturers that made parts for these cars are Kose, Kawada, and GPM, as well as several smaller manufacturers. What I've got: Cross alloy kingpins, front and rear carbon shock towers, Kose set of front and rear shock towers, Beat X (Kawada) floating rear shock tower. Quite a bit of choice for the shock towers here. I'll likely go for the Cross shock towers, as they offer the most setting options. On the other hand, the Kose parts have very nicely patterned carbon... I'll skip the Kawada hop-up, as it screws up aerodynamics anytime the car hits a bump. Only one hop-up in this picture, the Kyosho TF-3 Special Center mount, which fits the TF-2 just fine. The other parts are spare C-hubs and spare rear uprights (upgraded design over the old versions). Special Center Mount manual: Some more Kyosho bits. The Hyper Clutch is a slipper clutch, and comes with a hardened pulley (really nice hop-up if you can get it cheap). The Special Tensioner post is more a GP-10 hop-up, but maybe it also fits the TF-2. The Special Motor mount replaces the thin alloy motor plate. It's anodized in a very light gold color. Hyper Clutch manual: Tensioner Post manual: Special Motor Mount manual: MR Planning aramid fiber reinforced rear belt, Kyosho 64 DP spur, Kawada carbon top deck. Some more Cross hop-ups. Hardened one-way pulley (also fits the Hyper Clutch), optional shock shafts, narrow front and rear universals (which means I'll have to narrow the car if I wish to use them), Kydex racing front bumper. Now while reading the Special Center Mount and Special Motor Mount manuals I got a bit scared, as they don't show how the special motor mount fits the special center mount. But Kyosho thankfully didn't screw up: Perfect fit! Now if the other parts I got off Ebay could show up...I could start building a bit...

If you use a 40W iron, first let it heat up well enough, then tin the wires, then let it heat up again, tin the wire tabs on the motor, and again let it heat up enough before attaching the wires to the motor. Use of a third hand-tool to hold the wires and a clamp to hold the motor is a good idea...

- TA-01 hinge pin set for a FF01 (my last order from the UK, still waiting on the previous one...) - Kyosho TF- 2 alloy bits - TF-2 aftermarket bumper

Try finding the on-road tires for the Optima/Lazer Scale Series. Those certainly should fit.

Frankly, I don't understand how it is going to stop letterbombs...especially since it only applies to non-business mailings...completely useless if you ask me...

You can also use F103 front wheels and foam tires at the front - you'll need 4 850 bearings.

Optima tires should fit. You can find them on Ebay.

The big wheels look like Superten-sized wheels to me. They fit on Kyosho's Super-sized 1/10th scale cars (eg. Scale Series Optima/Ultima/Lazer-based cars - 235 mm wide).

You want the "SP-1 Suspension Arm Set"

You're sure the fronts aren't for a Yokomo onroad car? Some of their wheels don't use a hex, only the pin. Could the rears be for a SuperTen chassis?

Tamiya FF01 wrecker - advertised as "decent" condition, turns out to have cracked shock towers, gear box cover & front uprights, and bent (!) rear lower arms. Also included: totally trashed Mugen Civic body Has some 'innovative' solution for more rear camber - just take the original upper arms, drill a new but too small hole in them, and crudely screw the screws through: presto 10 degrees extra camber! Thankfully I have the spares and aftermarket hop-ups to fix most of the problems... Eagle racing aluminium FF01 lower arm mount Kyosho TF-2 with alloy shocks, carbon chassis, box, manual, 13T brushed motor, and Tekin racing ESC (with box, instructions, etc.). Only observed problems: cracked servo horn, and a minor lack of bearings. Kyosho GP-10/Rampage Corvette chassis only, covered in dirt and lacking 1 wheel and some minor parts, but includes the elusive rear belt, fuel tank, linkages, and two servos (covered in more dirt). Together with my other chassis this will yield one chassis lacking a body and engine...

3Racing makes a nice lighting set that can be expanded to the right number of lights.

The steering on the Dirt Trasher and Hummer becomes a LOT better once you replace the original ball ends and ball cups (which have a lot of play) with the optional ones. It gets even better with alloy C-hubs (with ball bearings) and Top Force ball-bearing steering mounts (and the FRP/carbon chassis set).

Futaba is stocked by most RC model shops, and since the receiver TA-Mark recommends is one of the most basic Futaba AM receivers they'll likely have it in stock.

No, that's because you are missing the plastic radio plate for the receiver, which fits opposite the servo.

Kyosho TF-2 Spider, basic version. Although the shocks have been upgraded. Released in the second half of the 1990s. Also known as "Spider EP" (this name is shared with later cars, so watch out). Could be build in both 200 mm and 190 mm wide. There's also a TF-2 chassis kit with a carbon chassis and red alloy dampers, and the TF-2R which is an upgraded version with carbon parts and better shocks. The TF-2 Spider/TF-2 chassis kit is compatible with the TF-2R, which shares some parts with the TF-3, but as far as I know not all TF-3 parts are fit on the original TF-2...

There are Tamiya chassis clones that have notoriously bad plastic.