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bRIBEGuy

Tamiya Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII: Local TB01Find...

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A few months ago I stumbled across a local guy with a Tamiya Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII (58257) up for sale.  I bought one of these NIB back when it was released in 2001, along with a 58257 Evolution VI at some point later.  Not really sure what happened to the VII... but at some point it left my collection, while the VI stuck around as one of my favorite cars to run.

Anyway, a deal was struck, and while conflicting schedules meant a L-O-N-G wait for the car to actually trade hands, that has finally occurred.

Pretty stoked that the box is is reasonable shape.

Car was listed "In good shape with box"...

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I've always been a big fan of Tamya's rally cars, and have kicked myself many times over the years for selling off most of the one's I did have.  This seemed like a chance to get another TB01 back in the collection for less than what the car originally retailed for.  :)

Even better, it turns out the car was never even finished, let alone used!

Body is unpainted.  Body parts and decals are NIB.

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Manual is included, and all extra parts trees are present.  As is the motor, and a NIB MSC... which is kinda funny since the manual only talks about installing an ESC...

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Chassis has been "mostly" built, but some non-tamiya screws are present.  Suspension is acting badly (not rebounding evenly/fully & some binding).  There will be some rebuild work here... started to pull it apart a bit last night...

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11 minutes ago, TwistedxSlayer said:

Nice. Huge fan of the TB01.

Ya, they are great cars for running.  Not as cool as a TA-03 to look at, but very durable and fun.

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So what is this???

Appears to be Tamiya-esq FRP, but it's certainly a part I've never seen before.  Probably doesn't go with this kit (well, I'm 99% sure it doesn't...)... but what does it go with?

Driveshaft in the back had some mild surface corrosion.  Cleaned it up a bit, and swapped out the bronze bushing shown with a bearing.

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19 minutes ago, bRIBEGuy said:

So what is this???

Appears to be Tamiya-esq FRP, but it's certainly a part I've never seen before.  Probably doesn't go with this kit (well, I'm 99% sure it doesn't...)... but what does it go with?
 

20220418_154723.jpg

TA-03 chassis brace I believe?

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44 minutes ago, TwistedxSlayer said:

@svenb

 

Senses tingling once again...

 

@bRIBEGuy

Nice. Huge fan of the TB01.

I could sense it also🧐

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Lovely chassis mate, like a black plastic tank

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55 minutes ago, bRIBEGuy said:

Ya, they are great cars for running.  Not as cool as a TA-03 to look at, but very durable and fun.

I would agree to disagree 🙂 😊 

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1 hour ago, TurnipJF said:

TA-03 chassis brace I believe?

Ha, yup, looks like you're right!

Thanks!

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Spur gear installed was the wrong size as per the manuals 61t default.  Got that swapped out.

Suspension issues ended up being the shocks, not anything mechanical.  Which is sorta good.  Guessing the oil in the shocks is WAY too thick creating the slow/inconsistent rebound... either that or built wrong.....

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Sometimes it's good to be wrong!

Pulled apart the shocks and BOOM!........ dry as dry can be.  Sticktion, binding, and general suspension suckiness was all due to a complete and utter lack of oil.

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  Rebuilt the CVA's with Tamiya "soft" oil, and now they feel 1000 times better!

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1 hour ago, Nicadraus said:

Nice rare find. Looking for ward to seeing the finished build. :)

Thanks!

Build is moving along... got the shocks back on and the chassis finished up last night.

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Painting the body will sadly have to wait for a reasonable period of time.  The darkside of living in Canada has reared it's head yet again, and I fear it will be a while before getting outside to lay down some color is feasible.

I currently have a few projects stalled out by the plight of the white... ha ha ha.

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Hard to believe this one kicked off almost a year ago now...

Anyway, after many months of sitting clean yet naked on the shelf, I had some free time, and decided to dip my toe into progressing this guy a bit further.  After a dry January, an evening of cleaning and masking along with an Imperial Stout seemed like a nice way to kick back and relax...

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It's funny because I don't view the TB01 as anything really "old"... but I couldn't help but think about how wrong that notion was as I cut into the now 22 year old window masks...

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12 minutes ago, TwistedxSlayer said:

The TB01 never dies... just gets older. Lol 😆 

True story!!!

I bought 2 of them when they were released.... an Evo 6 around 2000 (?), and then an Evo 7 in 2001 when a buddy of mine picked up the Subaru WRC 2001.  The Evo 7 I had came and went (and is now re-replaced by this one), but the Evo 6 is still running strong despite essentially 2 decades of no maintenance... ha ha ha!  Heavy AF, but a great fun chassis, IMO.

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1 hour ago, bRIBEGuy said:

True story!!!

I bought 2 of them when they were released.... an Evo 6 around 2000 (?), and then an Evo 7 in 2001 when a buddy of mine picked up the Subaru WRC 2001.  The Evo 7 I had came and went (and is now re-replaced by this one), but the Evo 6 is still running strong despite essentially 2 decades of no maintenance... ha ha ha!  Heavy AF, but a great fun chassis, IMO.

Yeah a little bit of a chonky one...

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1.250kg

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In retrospect, this thread probably should of been started in the "Build Threads" sub-forum... Oh well.

A few coats of PS-34 Bright Red backed with PS-12 Silver.  Then some PS-1 White bits, and everything re-backed with PS-12.  Normally I would back everything with black at this point, but I'm a bit worried it might darken up the red.  We shall see...

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