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4 minutes ago, Juhunio said:

Took me a while, but v good :lol:

Sorry. My mind lives in the gutter! 

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So, the Blue chapter of this story (calm down @GeeWings :lol:) starts with a few questions.

What makes a TA03-TRF, a TRF?

Is it all the carbon parts and shiny colourful aluminium bits as supplied with the TA03R-TRF and TA03RS-TRF?

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Or is it more than just bling? Is it driving characteristics too? Is it really all about the front one-way that both those kits came with in place of a ball diff?

And finally....why didn't Tamiya ever make a TA03F-TRF?

The David Jun Edition of the F-Pro had some lovely carbon and aluminium upgrades, but not the full suite (eg no aluminium servo stays, motor plate, wide axles, steering arms, steering bar or stabiliser supports). And rather than a front one-way it had a ball diff plus the Torque Splitter.

So why did they never go the full hog and release a TA03F-TRF with a front one way and a full range of shiny aluminium and carbon bits?

And, even though they didn't....should I just make one anyway? :ph34r:

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33 minutes ago, Juhunio said:

So, the Blue chapter of this story (calm down @GeeWings :lol:) starts with a few questions.

What makes a TA03-TRF, a TRF?

Is it all the carbon parts and shiny colourful aluminium bits as supplied with the TA03R-TRF and TA03RS-TRF?

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Or is it more than just bling? Is it driving characteristics too? Is it really all about the front one-way that both those kits came with in place of a ball diff?

And finally....why didn't Tamiya ever make a TA03F-TRF?

The David Jun Edition of the F-Pro had some lovely carbon and aluminium upgrades, but not the full suite (eg no aluminium servo stays, motor plate, wide axles, steering arms, steering bar or stabiliser supports). And rather than a front one-way it had a ball diff plus the Torque Splitter.

So why did they never go the full hog and release a TA03-TRF with a front one way and a full range of shiny carbon bits?

And, even though they didn't....should I just make one anyway? :ph34r:

Sounds like your going to beat me too it🙄

Purple for me though 😉

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17 minutes ago, svenb said:

Purple for me though 😉

Nice! Are you still waiting on something to turn up before you can get going? 

I haven't decided whether to go with ball diff and torque splitter at the front (like the David Jun F Pro) or full one way (like the R/RS-TRFs). What are you thinking?

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Here's where I've got to with parts so far. As above, undecided on what to do with the front gearbox / diff / one way combo yet so have covered all bases.

Aluminium Parts

I've gone for a mixture of Tamiya and 3rd Party parts, for ultimate blue-ness :D

Still missing one blue pulley, so will use the 16T silver pulley from the torque control unit for now until a second 49073 turns up. Which it will. One day.

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Chassis / Extra Parts

The upper and lower decks were left over from the David Jun F-Pro that I restored and rebuilt with brand new plates, and have very minor marks on them which will be mostly covered once everything is built on

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Hardware

Bluuuuuuue! There'll be a few odds and ends in silver, but mostly blue!

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Plastics

A full set of grey plastics so it's all nice and consistent

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Super Low Friction Dampers are still in Japan but once they're here I'll be good to go :)

But first I'll break all the key bits out of their packaging and mock up an arranged photograph for my TA03F-TRF like the ones on the sides of the R/RS-TRF boxes B)

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56 minutes ago, Juhunio said:

Nice! Are you still waiting on something to turn up before you can get going? 

I haven't decided whether to go with ball diff and torque splitter at the front (like the David Jun F Pro) or full one way (like the R/RS-TRFs). What are you thinking?

I've DJ ta03f kit which I've added a fair amount of hop ups like the purple low friction damper set, shafts,servo stays and ball connectors.

Plus titanium screws 😉👍

No aftermarket parts for me though 

Just waiting for some wheel hexes

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31 minutes ago, Juhunio said:

Here's where I've got to with parts so far. As above, undecided on what to do with the front gearbox / diff / one way combo yet so have covered all bases.

Aluminium Parts

I've gone for a mixture of Tamiya and 3rd Party parts, for ultimate blue-ness :D

Still missing one blue pulley, so will use the 16T silver pulley from the torque control unit for now until a second 49073 turns up. Which it will. One day.

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Chassis / Extra Parts

The upper and lower decks were left over from the David Jun F-Pro that I restored and rebuilt with brand new plates, and have very minor marks on them which will be mostly covered once everything is built on

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Hardware

Bluuuuuuue! There'll be a few odds and ends in silver, but mostly blue!

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Plastics

A full set of grey plastics so it's all nice and consistent

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Super Low Friction Dampers are still in Japan but once they're here I'll be good to go :)

But first I'll break all the key bits out of their packaging and mock up an arranged photograph for my TA03F-TRF like the ones on the sides of the R/RS-TRF boxes B)

That sir is a loooott of blue

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27 minutes ago, svenb said:

I've DJ ta03f kit which I've added a fair amount of hop ups like the purple low friction damper set, shafts,servo stays and ball connectors.

Plus titanium screws 😉👍

No aftermarket parts for me though 

Just waiting for some wheel hexes

Are the titanium screws and wheel hexes purple??

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29 minutes ago, svenb said:

That sir is a loooott of blue

I know...so much blue! I'm gonna tag @matisse in every single post, knowing how much he loves the Tamiya blue :lol:

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12 minutes ago, Juhunio said:

Are the titanium screws and wheel hexes purple??

Nope, silver and the bare titanium colour

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1 hour ago, svenb said:

Nope, silver and the bare titanium colour

I know you're planning on staying on the reservation, but I've seen Tobee Craft make (made?) a purple hex hub, and their stuff is pretty good quality IMO 👍

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1 hour ago, Juhunio said:

I know you're planning on staying on the reservation, but I've seen Tobee Craft make (made?) a purple hex hub, and their stuff is pretty good quality IMO 👍

Thanks I'll check them out 👍

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Body shell and rims arrived for the 'Bluebird' today :)

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It will be painted...err, blue

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There is a new member of my TA03 family! 

It's a TA03F Subaru Impreza WRC that I bought from Japan for the Silver Can Budget Rally Build Off

It came fully built but never run, in immaculate condition

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Over the next couple of weeks I'm gonna strip it down, clean off any old oil and grease in the ultrasonic cleaner and then rebuild it with a few tweaks:

  • stick a torque splitter in the front...this is left over from a Torque Control unit I bought for the 'Bluebird' build, but only needed one of the aluminium pulleys so the torque control unit itself is spare
  • I'll leave the 16T pulley on the rear and put the left-over kit 17T pulley on the front to see if that creates the desired effect for rallying
  • install the ESC and receiver I had in the spares box, and buy a servo
  • replace the kit road tyres with a set of rally blocks that I had lying around

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And then, I'm gonna rag it!

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9 hours ago, Juhunio said:

There is a new member of my TA03 family! 

It's a TA03F Subaru Impreza WRC that I bought from Japan for the Silver Can Budget Rally Build Off

It came fully built but never run, in immaculate condition

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Over the next couple of weeks I'm gonna strip it down, clean off any old oil and grease in the ultrasonic cleaner and then rebuild it with a few tweaks:

  • stick a torque splitter in the front...this is left over from a Torque Control unit I bought for the 'Bluebird' build, but only needed one of the aluminium pulleys so the torque control unit itself is spare
  • I'll leave the 16T pulley on the rear and put the left-over kit 17T pulley on the front to see if that creates the desired effect for rallying
  • install the ESC and receiver I had in the spares box, and buy a servo
  • replace the kit road tyres with a set of rally blocks that I had lying around

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And then, I'm gonna rag it!

What's a torque control unit? Is this just a one way unit or is there more to it?

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On 10/7/2022 at 8:38 PM, Pylon80 said:

What's a torque control unit? Is this just a one way unit or is there more to it?

There are a couple of options; the full Torque Control Unit for TA03-R (53299) and TA03-F (52399). They contain the parts from the separately available Torque Splitter (53279) plus a pair pulleys in different sizes to alter the balance of power delivery between the front and rear wheels  

For this build I'm just going to be using the one-way shaft and bearing from the set in the picture, which is basically the torque splitter 

Where the full 4WD one-way unit (53200) sits inside the diff housing (replacing the gears), this sits outside the diff with a one-way bearing inside the counter gear. The diff is still built in full, but the splitter creates a one-way effect. 

Tamiya used the full one-way set up on the TA03-TRF cars, but this counter gear torque splitter set up on the F-Pro David Jun 

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Completely disassembled the 03F today, and it is just immaculate right down to the last screw.

The original builder had done a great job, and seemingly not all that long ago judging by how clean the light covering of grease on the gears and inside the diffs was

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So I have ended up with a pile of perfect plastics and hardware, a tub of plastic parts that will get a quick run in the Ultrasonic to remove the old grease, and a small pot of metal parts that will get the same treatment

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I had almost enough bearings to replace the kit bushings, will just need one more 1510 bearing so that's another 85p on the budget! I'll also be replacing the kit plastic hex hubs with some black aluminium clamp hubs I had in the spares boxes

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16 hours ago, Juhunio said:

There are a couple of options; the full Torque Control Unit for TA03-R (53299) and TA03-F (52399). They contain the parts from the separately available Torque Splitter (53279) plus a pair pulleys in different sizes to alter the balance of power delivery between the front and rear wheels  

For this build I'm just going to be using the one-way shaft and bearing from the set in the picture, which is basically the torque splitter 

Where the full 4WD one-way unit (53200) sits inside the diff housing (replacing the gears), this sits outside the diff with a one-way bearing inside the counter gear. The diff is still built in full, but the splitter creates a one-way effect. 

Tamiya used the full one-way set up on the TA03-TRF cars, but this counter gear torque splitter set up on the F-Pro David Jun 

Thanks for the detailed explanation, I always wondered if Tamiya had done that instead of the "regular" front one way, very cool. I think it would actually be really important with foam tires as the diameters would drastically change over time between front and rear and the splitter would compensate for that. I'll be curious to see how it drives.

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Keeping a track on the budget for this...the target is maximum £200...

At the outset I invested £208:

  • Purchase price for the TA03F including fees : 12,000 JPY / £78
  • I then bought four other items and combined them with the TA03F for international shipping, with the intention of selling three of those items for a profit to offset shipping costs. Total package invoice 20,160 JPY / £130
  • Total domestic and international shipping fees for all five items: 12065 JPY  / £78
  • So total invoice plus shipping cost: £208
  • The other item in the package that I am keeping is two pairs of Mondeo rims which cost £13, so the project balance is £195

Today I sold two of those items for a total of £72 after eBay fees and shipping, so my total cost is down to £123

However, I also ordered:

  • TA03F Front Bumper (53268) @ £17.99
  • 1x 1510 bearing @ £0.85
  • FTX Waterproof ESC @ £23.74
  • Etronix Waterproof Servo @ £18.04

That's a total of £60.62, so I'm back up to £183.62 😬

Worth it though; the bumper has to be a good idea for rallying, as do the waterproof electronics

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All the necessary bits have arrived, so I'm ready for the rebuild this weekend

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A few extra pieces to be included:

  • The springs were in the garage, leftovers from previous builds so no cost. Stiffer blue for the front, softer yellow (white) for the rear
  • The scratched up stabilisers were removed from a David Jun restoration build and replaced with new ones, but they'll be fine for rallying and again are cost neutral
  • Stabiliser ends were in the spares pots, leftover from previous builds where they would have been replaced with bluer blingier options
  • HT Servo Saver was in the spares box, I chuck one into every order from Plaza Japan. I'll add the cost to the budget though (£3.42)

The additional cost of the servo saver takes my up to £187.04. I'll need that final item that came in the initial order to sell to give me a bit more headroom in the budget for any further improvements 

 

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While I didn't manage to get it completely rebuilt this weekend, I did make some progress...

Front and rear diffs are built, the front packed with AW grease and the rear built looser with ceramic grease. 

Then the front and rear gearboxes were built, with the kit 16T pulley on the front and 15T on the rear

The front counter gear is replaced with these Torque Splitter bits left over from the Torque Control Unit set I bought for a different project

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But the main delay was rebuilding the shocks...

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The only thing the original builder hadn't done a great job of was properly cutting the pistons off the V parts tree. You have to be so careful doing this to not leave a small flat spot on one side which just acts as an air-bubble generator.

They had been built with the one hole piston and I wanted to rebuild using the 2 hole piston, but the leftover V parts weren't supplied with the kit. So I had to spend a couple of hours in the loft searching through old kit boxes for left over V trees with four 2-hole pistons :rolleyes:. But I found some in the end :)

As well as replacing the pistons, I also removed the long spacer from inside the shocks to increase the ground clearance, but this meant that my intended springs were (obviously!) far too short

Thankfully, after a bit more ferreting around in the garage, I found a few leftovers springs from DT02 and DF03 spring setting sets, which seem to do the job

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Those harder DT02 blue ones are on the front, and the soft black DF03 springs are on the back. I've got the gold ones too if either end needs something a bit more moderate

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And that's the front and rear gearboxes done, front torque splitter, fully ballraced and aluminium hex hubs attached

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A little update. Three steps forward, two steps back....

I complete the build and electronics installation last night, and the positives were that the ground clearance was amazing and, when fully loaded with electronics and a battery, there was enough compression to make the steering run smoothly. Without any compression the bottom of the screw pins that hold the steering link to the arms caught on the chassis ribs beneath them, but once it was loaded and on the ground the compression solved this

However, this morning took it out for a quick blast up the driveway and....

It sounded horrible :(

Very noisy compared to my 03R-S and 03F-Pro. Admittedly they both have ball diffs rather than gear diffs, but even so

It sounded like the rear diff was really struggling, almost barking. I didn't mess with the rear diff at all, I built it completely stock, so I figure it must be something to do with me messing around with the front gearbox 

I compared the front freewheel on this to the freewheel on the F-Pro which also has the torque splitter, and while the F-Pro was literally a freewheel, this was quite stiff with very little freewheel. Again I assume the F-Pro's ball diff is a bit more free than a gear diff anyway, but I think maybe I overpacked the front diff with AW grease and it's too stiff for the end to end drivetrain

I took the splitter out and put a standard counter shaft in and the diff action still seemed a bit rough on the bench, and the rear diff still barked on a test run

So I've decided to take the front diff out and rebuild it nice and loose with a lick of ceramic grease and start from 'factory settings' with the standard counter gear and 16T pulleys front and back. I'll see how that goes and then put the splitter back in to see what difference it makes

The biggest downside is that to get to the front diff you have to take the whole front end off the chassis...the 38mm screw pins that attach the lower arms to the diff cover have got such big screw heads that they won't clear the chassis without taking it all apart

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It's a much bigger job than it needs to be. Thankfully, the spares box came up trumps again with a pair of 41mm shafts that can replace the screw pins with much less overhang

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It works, the diff cover can now be removed from the front gearbox without needing to detach the front section from the chassis. So future adjustments to the diff will be a lot easier :)

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The front diff parts are currently in the ultrasonic cleaner to remove all that AW grease, so I'll rebuild it tomorrow once it is clean and dry

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The front diff has been rebuilt to manual-spec, and all is well in the world. It runs really nicely, and nice and quiet too :)

I suspect the very sticky front diff created too much traction with the rally block tyres on the grippy surface I tested it on. I'll run it on some looser stuff over the weekend and then tighten the diff in stages if needs be, now that it's easier to get to the front diff!

It's ready to go....here's an indication of the increased ride height, compared to my TA03F-Pro DJ

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