Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted August 30, 2022 Hello all, welcome to my TRF garage. This currently consists of three TRF cars: TRF414M (see build log in the following) TRF417 V5 (>> start of build log <<) TRF201 (>> start of build log <<) In the first chapter want to share the restoration and build of one of latest Tamiya on-road car in my collection: The TRF414M (Source: www.tamiya.com) The TRF414M Kit was release in March 2001 under the kit number 49175. About its pedigree there is following written down from Tamiya: „After several months of experimentation on the TRF414 chassis kit and a considerable amount of race participation, the TRF designers are proud to bring out an improved version of the chassis, the TRF414M chassis kit. The improvements focused mainly on heightening the efficiency of the drive train and increasing the cornering speed. The TRF414M Chassis Kit is sure to give competitive RC racers just what they need to win on today's track.“ (Source: www.tamiya.com) I found also a summary here at TamiyaClub: TRF414M CHASSIS KIT (limited release) Normally I’m not so interested in TRF models, more in the TA family of the 90s. After a TA01, TA02 and TA03 are already in my collection, a TA04 would be the next one in the row. And the TRF414 as „predecessor“ of the TA04 would also be fine in the collection. The car was part of a hobby abandonment and was offered for 414€. But the price was more a joke from the seller and we agreed on a very good price. Maybe because I bought my Dyna Blaster one week before from the same seller The car arrived only with the manual (motor and servo are not worth mentioning). So first was to deassemble everything and check for demaged parts. The front suspension arm block of the front suspension was a little bit tricky due to the screw was worn out. But with the help of WD40 I could remove the screw without damaging the aluminum block. I was surprised how few plastic parts are used for this kit (ball connectors not showed). Fortunately all aluminum parts were in good condition and only the lower carbon deck was used (full of scratches). Unfortunately the rear ball diff (with metal diff joints) and the front one-way diff were replaced by the TA04 Lightweight Diff Joint Set (TA-53480). Due to I want to re-built the car as close as possible to the original, I have to replace/find the missing parts. Fortunately I found a shop in Belgium, which had a lot of the missing parts. Currently I‘m only still searching for the A parts tree (especially the front bumper stay A4). So let’s start with the build… Step 1 - Attaching lower deck parts Step 2 - Rear arms Step 3 - Attaching rear arms Step 4 - Front arms Step 5 - Attaching front arms Next step will be the differentials and the front and rear bulkhead assembly… 11 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bRIBEGuy 3045 Posted August 30, 2022 Such a nice car! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
svenb 3778 Posted August 30, 2022 Excellent mate great choice. Will be watching with interest 👍 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted September 1, 2022 And the build goes on… Step 6 - Ball differential Step 7 - Front one-way differential The TRF414M front one-way diff was also offered as a hop-up for the TA04. Step 8 - Rear bulkhead assembly Step 9 - Attaching rear bulkhead Step 10 - Attaching front bulkhead Step 11 - Center one-way unit Step 12 - Attaching one-way unit Until now a great building experience and completely different than former TA02/TA03 builds… …and this without blue aluminum parts 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted September 1, 2022 25 minutes ago, Sgt.Speirs said: Until now a great building experience and completely different than former TA02/TA03 builds… …and this without blue aluminum parts Lovely build and step-by-step journal 👏 So far it's looking very much like a TA04-TRF, with the front and rear gear gases swapped out for aluminium bulkheads. The rear bulkheads are even the same sort of shape as the TA04 rear gearbox. I like! If it's the same ball diff and one way, presumably things like the lightweight one-piece diff joints would work too? Will look forward to the next steps 😃 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted September 1, 2022 On 9/1/2022 at 12:51 PM, Juhunio said: So far it's looking very much like a TA04-TRF, with the front and rear gear gases swapped out for aluminium bulkheads. The rear bulkheads are even the same sort of shape as the TA04 rear gearbox. As far as I know bases the TA04 chassis on the TRF414 chassis…from the race track to the consumers There is a short summery about the history of the TA chassis family on blackholesun.fr: Tamiya On-Road Chassis: TA Plattform On 9/1/2022 at 12:51 PM, Juhunio said: If it's the same ball diff and one way, presumably things like the lightweight one-piece diff joints would work too? Do you mean the Tamiya 53480 TA04 Lightweight Diff Joint Set? Two of them were installed when I bought this chassis. So currently they are spare parts 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted September 2, 2022 Today there is only a small update on the progress of the build…the stabilizers. Step 13 - Stabilizer Step 14 - Attaching rear stabilizer Step 15 - Attaching front stabilizer Detail views of the rear… Detail views of the front… In the next update, we will complete the front and rear suspension arms and the steering arms. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted September 5, 2022 And the next step is the suspension respectivley drive shafts... Step 16 - Universal shaft Step 17 - Rear axle Step 18 - Attaching rear axles Step 19 - Front axle Step 20 - Attaching front axles Step 21 - Steering arms & tie rod Step 22 - Attaching steering arms and upper deck Step 23 - Attaching battery holder Step 24 - Torque rod & tension pulley Step 25 - Attaching torque rod Detail views of the front... What really impresses me is that there is no play in the suspension in drive direction. This is not comparable to my TA02, TA03 or FF01 chassis... 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted September 9, 2022 Step 26 to 28 - Oil dampers Step 29 - Damper stay (front & rear) Step 30 - Attaching rear dampers Step 31 - Attaching front dampers Step 32 - Attaching motor The manual suggests a Dyna-Run Racing Stock Motor for this chassis. Last week I found a really cheap one, but the motor needs first a bit love before it finds it's right place. 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tizer 606 Posted September 12, 2022 Cool, I didn't know the Dyna stock was the suggested hop up motor for this chassis. I think I have one kicking about somewhere too. Might be nice for my silver 414M too. Can you get replacement decals for it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted September 13, 2022 14 hours ago, Tizer said: Can you get replacement decals for it? MCIracing has replacement decals for the motor…this is also my plan 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted October 22, 2022 Short update after the repro sticker arrived today. Motor is cleaned and ready for sticker application.... And after the work was done… 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted October 26, 2022 And for today there are the final steps... Step 32 - Attaching motor Step 34 - Attaching steering servo stays Step 37 - Attaching wheels (and body mounts) Step 38-40 - Urethane bumper, battery holder and transponder holder And then the final pictures... But is this the end of this thread? Fortunatelly not, but this thread has to be renamed in "Sgt.Speirs' TRF garage"...soon. 9 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted October 27, 2022 And the way forward regarding my TRF garage which I want to restorate... On the left side a TRF415MSX Marc Rheinard Edition... ...and on the right side a TRF417V5 The projects do not go out 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted December 8, 2022 Since my last post ist almost two month ago and there are some changes in my garage. The TRF415MSX is no longer member of this club After a close inspection, it turned out that pre-owner had used a large amount of threadlocker to almost all the screws. Removing these without destroying something was immpossible. And since most of the aluminum parts also didn't look that great anymore and replacing them would have cost a small fortune, so I decided to sell the complete chassis. In this case, I will now focus on the TRF417 V5. Short introduction: (Source: www.tamiya.com) In Celebration of the 5th Championship! The 7th biennial IFMAR ISTC World Championship took place in July 2012, with Tamiya driver Jilles Groskamp achieving an historic victory over a field containing the world's best. Not only was this an unprecedented third consecutive victory for the TRF (Tamiya Racing Factory) team, it also brought Tamiya's total IFMAR touring car title haul to five. Tamiya has now made this hi-tech championship-winning machine available to customers as the TRF417 V5 Premium Package Chassis Kit. (Source: www.tamiya.com) So I de-assembled the complete chassis, give the re-used parts a bath in the ultrasonic cleaner and re-ordered the bad or missing parts. The cleaned re-used parts… …and the ordered spare parts. Let‘s start with the build…tomorrow 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted December 10, 2022 Let's start with assembling the gear diff (rear): Filled with oil... ...and the finished gear diff. It goes on with attaching the rear and the motor bulkheads: Next step is attaching the gear diff and the short drive belt: The upper bulkheads... ...and ready assembled Then we come to the spur gear and the long drive belt: That's it for now for the rear section, let's build the front (bulkheads): As the former TRF417 chassis, the TRF417v5 uses also a spool in the front. And the current status of the re-build: 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted December 20, 2022 Today we build the steering linkage and the front and rear suspension arms. The steering parts... ...and ready for assembling with the chassis Now we install the upper deck with the guidance for the belt: Then we continue with the rear suspension arms. Instead of the ball connector for the dampers, the pre-owner used ball nuts with set screws. Maybe with the goal to change the damper without popping the damper everytime off the ball connector which can cause play over time. Despite the use of the diff-baldes, the driveshafts were quite worn. In this case I bought new ones... Parts for the rear axles... The rear upper arms and the titanium coated suspension shafts. After the rear suspension is done, we do the front supsension... ...then front suspension arms... ...and finally the front axles with upper arms and the suspension shafts. During the assembly I found it strange that the swing shafts had a lot of "play". After some research I found out that the previous owner installed the diff joints of the TRF418, where diff blades must also be used. In this case I quickly installed the second pair of diffblades and finished the front suspension: That's for today... 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kol__ 3377 Posted December 21, 2022 Awesome work @Sgt.Speirs and amazing cars! Don't know how I missed this thread so far. So what body shells will go on these cars? It will they be displayed as chassis only? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted December 21, 2022 @Kol__: They will be displayed as chassis only. But the TRF417v5, I want to run and for that I will use a Skyline R32 body. Today we come to the dampers. When I bought this TRF417v5, it comes with standard TRF dampers: But for the TRF417v5 are provided aeration dampers. Please correct me, but I think these are unique for this TRF (onroad) chassis. For me, it's the first time that I assemble this type of (aeration) dampers. In the end cap, you have to drill a 2.5mm hole that there is a passage to the screw hole coming from the side. Via this hole, excess oil can escape during the assembly. The assembly itself is not very different to standard dampers. Everything to mount the rear dampers on the chassis... Then almost the same parts for the front section The manual shows the chassis with a brushless system, but IMO there is currently no tamiya combo with a good price / performance ratio. And I want to remain brand loyal... So I decided to use a Super Stock BZ with a Tamiya ESC, but it will be no ESC from the TBLE-series... But later more. Also new for me...mounting the motor through a hole in the spur gear That's all for today...and only 3 days until christmas. I have to hurry up that I can start with building the TB Evo 5 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kol__ 3377 Posted December 21, 2022 Looks amazing mate! Those big bore aeration shocks are so cool, I'm tempted to fit a set to my TT02, assuming they would fit, but probably a bit OTT for that basic chassis. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted December 21, 2022 @Kol__: I think these are/were the TRF Alu dampers and not the big bore variant. The big bore damper body looks much bigger in the diameter as my ones. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted December 23, 2022 It's going on with mounting the servo. The installation of the ESC I have to skip due to it just came today. So the body posts and the front bumper were then at the row. Regarding the wheels I decide to use the standard Tamiya wheel/tire set. And here we have the ESC for this project...a TEU-302BK. With the length of the servo cable I wasn't satisfied, so I replaced it by a shorter one (and with also match the color of the ESC). And that's the status of today. In the next days I will take some final pics and then is the sub project "TRF417v5" also done 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted January 31, 2023 Good things take time...so today I present the final pics of my TRF417 V5. Detail views of the front... ...the rear... ...and the motor and electronics. And some pics with it's shaft driven sister TB Evo 5 on the right side... Since I want to drive this chassis (a little bit), I'm looking forward to spring and better weather 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt.Speirs 1253 Posted March 23, 2023 There is a new member in my TRF garage...this time not an onroad vehicle. With my transmission conversion for the King Cab chassis, I have my first experiance with the TRF201 chassis/transmission. So what seems closer than to have in the next step a look to the complete chassis. So two weeks ago I got the chance to get one and was lucky enough to make the final bid for less then 200€. So here we have the beauty: The complete package was „ready to run“. The following components were also included: LRP Spin Pro sensored brushless ESC LRP Vector K7 8.5T brushless motor Savöx SC-1251MG low profile servo And a radio (Carson Reflex Wheel Pro LCD with two receiver), a second set of wheels/tyres, some setting tools and some spare parts. In the next weeks there will arrive some additional spare parts, some hopup parts and some other parts to complete the new look. I don’t want to tease too much yet, but the new design will be not a typical TRF design, it will becomes a more vintage look. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderDragonCy 7881 Posted March 24, 2023 @Sgt.Speirs Looking forward to this. TRF201 is such a great chassis. Some vintage looks can only improve it IMO. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites