DF-02 Rising Storm - Barn Find Rebuild (20 Years old)

[jsven008]

Good day, I wanted to show my complete restoration of an abandoned DF-02 Rising Storm which was heavily used, broken in several places, and left for the junk heap. It's great to restore these older RC cars and give them a second chance, a second opportunity at RC life. And since Tamiya has a wide selection of low-cost parts still available, it is also relatively inexpensive.

Let's get started. Our project car is a Tamiya DF-02 Rising Storm 4wd Buggy which was first released in June 2004. This respectable car features a bathtub chassis, mid-mounted motor, 4wd shaft drive, 4-wheel independent double wishbone suspension, and oil-filled shocks. The car in this project was purchased in late 2004 making it 20 years old! This is also the 20th anniversary of the DF-02 model, so to celebrate we will be doing a complete rebuild and restoration.

As you can tell from the pictures of the car below, it was in bad shape. And upon further inspection, the damage was worse than expected. It looks like it ate a pine tree.

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The good news, there might be at least a few parts we can salvage. Most parts have seen heavy wear, but that is expected after 20 years and likely thousands of RC miles.

Wow, look at that underside! Talk about high mileage... :

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Now let's look at the damage report.

Front shock tower broken (typical for DF-02):

The front C-hub was glued from a prior break:

One of the aluminum universal shafts (CVDs) was snapped:

Lastly, the rear upright was broken, again typical for a Brushless DF-02:

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Let's start the rebuild! Starting with the hubs, uprights, cups, and universal shafts:

Cleaning...

Cleaned.

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Next for the front gearbox, shock tower, shocks, and arms. A close inspection reveals the gears are in good shape, a testament to the metal DF-02 gears. Looks like the car had been rebuilt at some point in its life.

The parts:

Cleaning...

All cleaned.

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Next for the rear gearbox, rear shock tower, shocks, and arms. Initially it doesn't look too bad, until we see the spur gear. Unfortunately with the DF-02 once the spur gear is stripped, the entire car has to be disassembled to replace it. Lucky for us, we're doing a rebuild.  

The parts:

Cleaned:

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Proceeding onto the bumpers and swing arms, as well as a few other misc parts.

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Removing the electronics, we find a newer Hobbywing 10BL120 ESC, a 4300kV brushless motor, and a Futaba steering servo! A few parts worth saving!

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We've now stripped the car down to the bare chassis. And sure enough, we find the swing-arm mounts have cracked. No saving this frame. Impressive for 20 years of heavy use though.

Swingarms mounts cracked, typical DF-02.

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Now for the fun part! Rebuilding. Starting with the new chassis. First, using PB Weld to reinforce the swing-arm mounts...

 

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Moving on to the gearboxes. Rebuilding the old DF-02 metal gearbox for the rear and adding a new TT-02B plastic gearbox for the front, we get the following.

Why use TT-02B plastic gears you might ask? Because: a) they are lighter b) they are durable enough for the front c) they are cheap. The DF-02 metal gears (parts bag A) are hard to find these days, while the TT-02B plastic gears are readily available. 

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Next up, the spur gear and main shaft.

Tip: During this step you'll want to add a PTFE nylon washer between the spur gear and the main shaft cup/joint bearing to remove 'slop' in the spur gear. If you want better spur gear durability, you'll also want to super glue the plastic retainer to the spur gear. 

Tip: Add an o-ring to the main shaft cup to remove slop or play in the main shaft.

Tip: Adding a little grease around the gearbox covers will help keep dirt and water out.

Tip: You'll want to use an aluminum main shaft if you use a brushless motor. The stock plastic shaft will warp and whack the shaft tunnel. (Thanks TurnipJF!)

 

 

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Progressing onto the swingarms and bumpers. The most important part of this step is to add shims or thin washers to remove wiggle in the swingarms. I prefer PTFE Nylon washers (ex. 0.5mm), but Tamiya also makes a metal shim kit (#53587).

Tip: Add shims or thin PTFE washers to remove wiggle or slop in the swingarms.

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Now for a simply trick. Since the DF-02 was released in 2004, it doesn't accommodate most LiPo batteries. To add larger LiPo batteries, simply add plastic spacers below the battery posts to raise them. Plastic spacers are included in the kit for the shocks. Then, you simply have to snip away the plastic supports at the edge of the battery tray (metal cutters work well here). See below: 

 

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Let's move onto the universal shaft CVDs. When installing the CVDs, you'll also want to add shims, and an o-ring if the fit is loose. 

Tip: add shims to remove any excess slop in the universal shafts CVDs.

Tip: Similarly, add an o-ring to the universal shaft cups to remove any looseness.

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The shocks. Despite 20 years of use, the shocks were in decent shape. Using a combination of the existing shocks and parts from DT-03/mini shock kits, let's rebuild them. Simply follow the manual steps.

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Continuing with the shocks. To protect the shocks we'll be adding some Arma shock cap protectors (AR330492 shown below). These work wonders!

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Next, the motor. As the existing motor was in good condition we'll reuse it for the time-being; it is a RacerStar  3650 4-Pole 4300kV brushless. In a future project we'll be squeezing in a big bore 3660 brushless motor for more power!

Tip: Add grease around gearbox cover to help keep out dirt and water.

Tip: Add 3mm washers to the gearbox cover screws to prevent the screws from pulling through.

 

[jsven008]

We're almost there. Just a few more electronics and a few final bits!! The existing electronics worked so we have:

1) RacerStar 3650 4300kV brushless motor.

2) Futaba S3151 digital steering servo.

3) Hobbywing 10BL120 ESC (120 amps).

4) Flysky BS-6 receiver.

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The finishing touches. First, the weight of the finished vehicle without battery, tires or body is 1.128kg (2.48lbs). With tires, 1.372kg (3.02lbs).

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Hope everyone enjoyed my rebuild! I tried to add as many tips as possible to help new DF-02 owners. If I can help even one person, it was worth it. I'll be adding a new body and BIG BORE 3660 motor in the future! Check back soon...

[TurnipJF]

I'm impressed that the plastic propshaft hasn't deformed and started to whack the inside of the transmission tunnel yet. Mine did that with relatively mild brushed power!

[jsven008]

8 hours ago, TurnipJF said:

I'm impressed that the plastic propshaft hasn't deformed and started to whack the inside of the transmission tunnel yet. Mine did that with relatively mild brushed power!

Now that I look at the old chassis, I can see where it did. Knowing it would be an issue, I used an aluminum shaft on rebuild. I had to upgrade a few parts while I was at it; the shaft sure is time-consuming to replace on these. Thanks for tip! I will list that

[GTodd]

Great build and rebirth.