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TurnipJF

Turnip restores (and mildly hops up) a TB-01

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The best part of two decades ago, when they were still easily available from hobby shops, the TB-01 came close to being my first Tamiya 4WD TC chassis. Other things took up my budget back then so it was not to be, and some years later when I had surplus funds with which to acquire a Tamiya 4WD TC, it was the ubiquitous TT-01 that joined my stable. I enjoyed the TT-01 - I still have it, and it was joined by another two TT-01s as time went on. I also eventually acquired a TB, but it was a TB-03, not a TB-01. The TB-01 has nonetheless always been there in the back of my mind, as a "one of these days" project. It was Tamiya's first chassis firmly aimed at the rally crowd, with its tank-like engineering, dust cover, foam chassis inserts, etc, and while it has been superseded by the XV-01 and XV-02 rally chassis, it remains a worthy competitor if the Eastern European RC rally videos on YouTube are anything to go by.

"One of these days" became "this day" when I came across an Ebay advert for something titled only as a "Vintage RC car for Spares or Repair". From the photos, it was instantly recognisable as a TB-01, very dusty but not overly worn, with a cracked chassis, cracked front shock tower and two apparently pointless extra holes in the upper deck but no other obvious issues. I put in a cheeky bid, and to my surprise remained the highest bidder when the auction ended. The chassis arrived in the post a few days later, and it was exactly as shown/described, so full marks there to Ebay seller South Coast Hobbies.

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Disassembly found it to be in very good nick apart from the aforementioned cracked chassis, extra-holey upper deck and the almost inevitable cracked front shock tower that almost all TB-01s suffer at some point from what I gather. The call went out via the forum, and before long a replacement tub and upper deck were sourced thanks to @svenb and his mate. A pair of carbon shock towers were ordered from Fibre Lyte, a set of rubber sealed bearings came from RCBearings, an alloy motor mount arrived from Tony's Tamiya Parts, and a fresh set of wheels and rally tyres came from Ebay seller HobbyShed.

The disassembled car was then cleaned thoroughly - plastics with dish soap and warm water, metal parts with WD-40. Which brings us to where we are now - a box of nice clean intact parts, replacements for the broken ones, a little bit of carbon and alloy to give it a better-than-stock feel, fresh bearings and a nice new wheel and tyre set.

 

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Not shown are a set of steel ball connectors to replace the brass ones, and a steel pinion to replace the alloy one.

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Nice. I have a TB-01 that deserves this treatment, I will be watching with interest :D

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9 hours ago, TurnipJF said:

The best part of two decades ago, when they were still easily available from hobby shops, the TB-01 came close to being my first Tamiya 4WD TC chassis. Other things took up my budget back then so it was not to be, and some years later when I was again considering a Tamiya 4WD TC, it was the ubiquitous TT-01 that joined my stable. I enjoyed the TT-01 - I still have it, and it was joined by another two TT-01s as time went on. I also eventually acquired a TB, but it was a TB-03, not a TB-01. The TB-01 has nonetheless always been there in the back of my mind, as a "one of these days" project. It was Tamiya's first chassis firmly aimed at the rally crowd, with its tank-like engineering, dust cover, foam chassis inserts, etc, and while it has been superseded by the XV-01 and XV-02 rally chassis, it remains a worthy competitor if the Eastern European RC rally videos on YouTube are anything to go by.

Interested to see how you get on with this as a rally chassis. I managed to find a well priced NIB TB01 Enzo last year and may well build it for rally use...I've got Delta, Impreza and 240Z Rally shells that all need a home!

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First step involves building the diffs. No surprises there - they are the same as the ones seen in the DF-02, which in turn are very similar to TT-01 diffs but with metal ring gears. 

2022-03-28_01-21-30

Both are slowed with AW grease to give a limited slip effect, the front more so than the rear.

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With the diffs complete, attention moves to the gearboxes which each receive a rubber-sealed bearing.

2022-03-28_06-42-09

 

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Diff pinions go in next, with a smear of light grease behind them.

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Kits always seem to contain more grease than is needed, so I have a good supply of standard Tamiya grease handy for times such as these. 

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In go the diffs, with more rubber sealed bearings. There is nothing to prevent them going in the wrong way around, so a check of the manual doesn't go amiss here.

2022-03-28_06-43-22

 

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Time to build some arms. The lower ones come in two pieces - a familiar design used on many Tamiyas to this day. Upper arms are adjustable, but rely on step screws for attachment rather than ball connectors.

2022-03-28_06-44-38

 

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The lower arms are attached with a U-shaped hinge pin, which ties the two together much like a hinge pin brace would.

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The gearbox mouldings seem very sturdy, made from a fibre reinforced plastic, so I don't think that the lower arm mounts are in any danger of breaking. Nonetheless, a bit of extra bracing doesn't hurt. 

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A lot of things happen at once in the next step, with drive cups, dogbones, axles, bearings and uprights all being added.

2022-03-28_06-46-58

I also added the little bracket for the upper deck, although strictly speaking I ought to have waited for the next step to do that.

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The carbon shock tower goes on next, after having had its edges sealed with cyanoacrylate. The stock one is fitted with 10mm screws, but I opted for 15mm ones for extra strength since the carbon towers don't capture the ends of the mounts like the stock plastic ones do.

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The longer screws extend beyond where the tower mount webbing begins, so they should provide plenty of support. 

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The same steps are followed for the front assembly, the only difference being the fitment of steering knuckles.

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The uprights are fitted with bolt-through steel balls in place of the stock brass ones, with bolts coming up from the bottom of the upright, spreading the load more evenly through the plastic. 

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Nice work TJ and a lovely bit of nostalgia here, look forward to seeing this one come together mate:)

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10 hours ago, TwistedxSlayer said:

Thought I could feel my TB01 senses tingling... 

Steady😉

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Nice "tank" build👍

What's the body going to be mate?

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The gearboxes get put to one side for a bit, and the chassis tub assumes centre stage, being fitted with a post for the battery hold-down clip, two standoffs for the steering assembly, and a tower thingie that will tie into the upper deck later in the build. 

2022-03-30_06-59-43

 

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1 hour ago, svenb said:

Nice "tank" build👍

What's the body going to be mate?

Not certain yet, but I'm currently thinking Audi Quattro A2 Rally.

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The steering assembly goes together next, with more steel balls instead of the stock brass ones as befitting a tough rally tank.

2022-03-30_07-01-05

Amongst my pet hates are plastic ball connectors with tooth marks on them from being squeezed on or pulled off with pliers. Typically I find myself having to replace all the connectors on used models because at some point in their history someone has put tooth marks on them. Miraculously, the ball connectors on this model were tooth mark-free!

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The steering assembly then goes onto the chassis with two tall step screws, and is protected by the little foam insert.

2022-03-30_07-02-30

The insert adds a bit of friction, so I am contemplating acquiring a high-torque servo saver and metal-geared servo for the model. It came with an entry-level plastic-geared Acoms and the stock servo saver, all of which felt a bit weak prior to disassembly.

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The next step is a significant one. In one fell swoop, the gearboxes and bumpers are attached to the chassis, capturing the propshaft, spur gear and motor mount. Suddenly we have something that resembles a model car chassis!

2022-03-30_07-04-13

 

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On 3/28/2022 at 11:12 AM, TurnipJF said:

Time to build some arms. The lower ones come in two pieces - a familiar design used on many Tamiyas to this day. Upper arms are adjustable, but rely on step screws for attachment rather than ball connectors.

2022-03-28_06-44-38

 

The temptation to replace the camber links with short adjusters and 3x10 turnbuckles would have been too hard to resist for me :D

Nice build and write-up as usual!

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