gregdogghurst

I have a nice FF04 EVO I could part with if money was right. It’s built never been run box/manual etc

I have pmd you

love it

I've used titanium hex heads for this purpose on a few buggies. The head is smaller but still prevents the shaft from releasing. I got them from a guy on facebook, he's based in uk so you could try him depending where you're located...

As per the manual, first steps of the build. Rear (front) suspension mount/motor mount/center bulkhead fitted to chassis. Another problem came to light here. I was inserting one of the original screws that attaches the motor mount and the head snapped off on the driver under almost no load. Just another thing thats wrong with this car and needs fixing. Fortunately I could undo the other screws and grip the snapped screw with pliers and wind it out. At this point I ordered a complete titanium screw set but decided to assemble the car anyway without thread locking anything. Almost all the screws are accessible when the chassis is built (I can swap them out at a later date) and I wanted to move the build on and understand where there could be other issues and work out spacers etc etc Next hop up coming here on the spur assembly #84232 502X aluminium spur gear plate set. I managed to pick this up second hand in a great deal which also included the 502X steering set (featured later). Much lighter weight than the standard parts and (most importantly) the gold matches in with the uprated shock bodies. The kit calls for one 5x0.1mm shim on either side of the spur assembly but after a couple of test fits I fitted a 5x0.3mm shim on either side. Probably due to some wear and tear but its now turning free with zero play. Spur gear cover on and the first 2 pages of assembly complete!

Next up (not strictly for the 502 but still relevant) is the rebuild of the 502 shocks. These will be going on the DB01 runner the newer aerations were stolen from. We know the shocks were missing parts and generally built sub standard so they needed a good sort out. I ordered the new W parts #51281 (which include the missing damper pistons and upper rod guides) and I thought I'd try some TRF damper X rings for the first time. The shocks were also missing the 3x0.2mm shim that sits under the piston so added these as per instructions. The shim obviously takes out any free play in the damping. New pistons for rear shocks New upper rod guides fitted (didn't get a pic but its part W2 in the instructions) then its on to the seals. I tried the TRF X rings and they just didn't feel right to me. There was almost some play around the shock shaft and it didn't convince me that they would make a decent seal I'm not sure if I've got the wrong ones or wether they obviously compress enough to seal when the shock is assembled? If any of you guys know please advise.... Anyway I ended up reverting to some good old Red O rings with green slime and the same oils as before.... I got the cylinders filled up with oil, moved the pistons and let the air rise etc. put the cap on the first one and gave it pump to test. Totally unexpectedly oil spewed out of the bleed valve on the cap!! Much swearing and minor clear up operation later its now obvious why the previous owner had fitted the extra diaphragm noted on the strip down of the shocks. Seems stupid now but I didn't even think to check.... Rather than replacing the caps or fitting the bleed screws (I don't have the tiny O rings anyway) I just decided to refit the diaphragms and they seem fine. I might revisit this in the future but not part of this thread. Finally finished up and fitted to their new home

Right guys back on the build thread! Life, wife and kid get in the way don't they?! The shocks are a slightly odd place to start on the build but I was waiting for other parts to arrive (the timeline is all off-this happened before the carbon chassis work). But from here onwards this is the order the rebuild took place... I mentioned previously that I wasn't going to use the shocks that came with the 502. They were well worn, with plastic parts scarred from rollovers and the finish worn on the shock bodies etc. So I decided to take a set of nearly new #54028 Buggy aeration dampers from a DB01 runner I have. All they needed was a clean otherwise in perfect condition. Swapped out the standard cylinders for a set of TRF HL Cylinders #42132 #42133. The first of the hop ups... Reassembled as per the instructions using (32.5w F/27.5w R) shock oil and green slime on the O rings. Nice little cardboard box home made work station for this.... All finished up and looking tasty!

There is definitely a resemblance from that angle mate! Is that that your TD4?

Coming to you almost live with a report of todays action! I had a day off, Mrs at the office and kids at creche-what else to do? I grabbed some sand paper and clear coat aerosol from local DIY place and set about sorting the carbon chassis parts. First I used a Dremel type tool to buzz the rust and glue out of the countersunk holes. Then sanded the bulk of the glue off with a bit of used 180 grit paper-took it very steady so as not to get any bad scratches. Followed that with a complete dry sand 400 grit and finally wet sand at 600 grit on kitchen worktop-like I said mrs was out.. Next I set up my makeshift spray booth in the garage. Not ideal temperatures for spray painting mid February but i'm not waiting for spring! I hung the parts on wire hooks to begin with but it made it super difficult to spray as the pressure from aerosol was spinning them round. I improvised and put some screws through he back of the cardboard to hang off which was much better but could only really paint one side at time... I used an Acrylic clear coat rattle can safe on plastics etc AND BOOM! SUPER pleased with how they turned out! (I did redo 1 side of both the shock towers after getting a couple small runs)

Thanks @ThunderDragonCy luckily tamico had them all in stock. Ive used RC Bearings a few times before and always great service

Another thing to note is there were a lot of spacers missing. All the TRF DB01,DB02 and DN01 (I think thats all) buggies share the same arms and driveshafts and have a few spacers (plastic or metal depending on spec) particularly on the rear driveshafts and between the bearings on the axles. None of these were present causing loads of play left and right-not good! Missing spacers BE5 (similar set on front also) and BA11 shown in the manual. I cleaned up all the parts warm soapy bath/degreaser etc. then made a list of all the little bits and pieces that are missing and ordered from Tamico who had everything in stock fortunately. No big or expensive bits but it soon adds up with postage (and a few off list items ) Felt good to get all the going backwards work done and can now start going forwards with the build. Got some nice upgrade parts for this build that I've been sitting on for ages so will be great to see it all come together.

Final parts to strip down are the suspension units. All the shocks were leaking oil slightly and no surprise I discovered that the upper rod guide (part W2) as missing from all the shocks! Different pistons in the rear shocks and theres actually 2 thin ones, one on top of the other. Also there were oil seals in the tops of the cylinders which aren't in the manual and not used in aeration shocks as far as I'm aware... I'm not actually going to use these shocks for the 502 rebuild, going to rebuild them properly and but them on a DB01 runner. Got some tasty option parts for the shocks that are going on this build-more on that later...

Lots of plastic parts not been trimmed after being cut off the trees. Incorrect length screws used in quite a few places, below you can see where they're almost protruding into the diff housing super glue all over the carbon parts which I really want to sort out. Ive done a bit of research and i'm thinking to try and completely renovate all the carbon parts by sanding them down and clear coating. Potentially risky and one of the most difficult parts of the project-not looking forward to it to be honest!

Filthy inside the diffs and bearings. The seller said the car had only been used indoors on carpet but clear signs of mud/dirt in the bearings and on the arms and chassis parts.

Next up and todays instalment is the strip down. And this is where things go a bit southwards... It became obvious the car hadn't been built or maintained particularly well especially considering its a high end race buggy. Straight away had a stripped screw head that I had to drill out. It had been super glued in and excess glue all over the chassis. Once I'd got the screw out I removed the front lower diff housing to find a couple of random pieces of carbon fibre in between the housing and front bulkhead. Not a standard part and can't think why it might be there?