viking252200

Mine would be my Ta05 rally...followed by my Mad Bull. Two very different cars, but they both are a blast to drive.

Excellent information! Just what I was looking for! I think I need to go to Akihabara and pick up some of the springs you mentioned Another option(so I've heard) is to use springs for Kyosho's mini inferno... If I can find some, I might try them out.

More pictures

Tamiya Ta05 rally If you want a rally car these days, you don't really have many choices..you can go with Tamiya's Df03 ra or you can try to obtain some of the older stuff, like HPI's RS4 rally, Yokomo's Mr4 rally or Tamiya's Tb01 ... However, despite their undeniable qualities, they all have one thing that counts against them, the lack of spare parts. In my collection, I have a Yokomo mr4 rally, a Academy str4 rally and a Tamiya Tb01..all good cars, but I don't run them as much as I ideally would like to, simply because I'm afraid to deplete my meager collection of spare parts..so I decided to get a modern on-road car and convert into a rally beast! Since I live in Japan, Tamiya is cheap with a good support base, so in light of that, I narrowed my choice down to either a Tb03 or a Ta05v2 A Tb03 would most likely be easier to convert, but I prefer belts, so in the end, I went with the Ta05v2. Without further ado, let's begin.. The first thing, I had to do was to plug all the various cutouts in the chassis, it may be a bit redundant, seeing that it will be protected with an under body, but it looks better I think. I then removed the down stops and filed the chassis to allow for the a-arms to get more down travel. In order to protect the spur gear from pebbles and other debris, I used a small piece of aluminum as guard. The chassis taken care of, I turned my attention to the the diffs... Initially, I went with the supplied balldiffs, but after some thinking I bought a pair of geardiffs, hopefully they should be the sort of set and forget kind of diffs. With the diffs installed, I had to make some kind of diff cover that would protect them from dirt. After much head scratching and many drawings, I made some covers from 0.5 and 1 mm styrene. If the covers do their job, I might re-make the covers in a better material, but for now, they’ll suffice. As you might have noticed, I didn’t enclose the belts completely... since I’m going to run the car with an inner body, I hope that it will negate the need for a belt enclosure...but let’s see. With the diffs covered up, I made a guard for the spur gear, I sort of intend it to deflect pebbles...Though to be honest, I’m not really sure if it’ll do the job... The suspension was actually a quick job... the rear only needed some new ball connectors..Tamiya’s own didn’t allow enough downward travel. The front arms needed to have their braces filed a bit but again a fairly quick job. The only “problem” with the front suspension was the hubs... In order to to be able to dial enough camber in, I had to file quite a lot off, but that in return made the hubs a wee bit weak...I have no doubt that they would have done the job, but I would always be worrying about them breaking. In the end I got some Alu. Hubs from Eagle Racing...built-in 8 degrees of camber and caster. Works perfectly! I managed to get a ride height of 31 mm out of it..not too shabby I think. I used the included shocks, I wanted to use some longer ones, but because the shock towers don’t allow for that, I had to go with the kit’s. I picked up some touring/rally car springs from Tamiya, but even with the softest, they still feel a bit hard..if any of you know of better/ softer springs. Please let me know. For the inner body, I had an old Tb-01 and it was a very close fit, a bit of cutting to allow for the motor, some foam to close some gaps and it was done. Well except for painting. And this is pretty much it...a Tamiya Ta-05 Ra conversion. Whether it actually works, I don’t know yet, I still have to get all the electronics, but I can’t see why it shouldn’t work. Any comments, tips or hints are greatly appreciated.

Hi, I just picked up a 200mm 99' focus body form HPI. I thought I got a good deal, but unfortunately the decals have gone bad. Most likely due to age, the adhesive has dried out... Does any of you know how to salvage those decals? or is it a lost cause? Any help greatly appreciated!

Thanks for the replies! Much appreciated!

Hello all, I finally got my grubby little hands on a TB01,used to be sure, but in good nick and with the elusive inner cover, drivers and long suspension arm set. It will supplement my Yokomo mr4 rally very nicely i should think. There is a just one thing wrong with it..the shock stays are unfortunately cracked, I tried to repair it and it works, for now at least. I have been looking for replacements here in Japan, but so far no luck. It would seem that those shock stays are the weak parts in an otherwise bulletproof car? or are there other weak parts I should be aware of?