tamiya evo 0 Posted January 7, 2009 How many people out there have top force and try to convert it to a tf evo?.Just wondering why they do that?.Are the tf evo that hard to come by.Also to buy an orignal top force is getting heaps harder ,even the re-release arn't that easy to get any more.I have managed to obtain a mint tf evo ,and good condition [58100] top force,was this a good investment for the future?,the evo also has orignal esc from 1991 , will this make a difference to future prices. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
terry.sc 16 Posted January 8, 2009 The Evo is a much better buggy than the Top Force. The Evo was really designed for the racers, the Top Force is basically just a Manta Ray with a fibreglass chassis and shock mounts. The Evo is much rarer than the Top Force and the combination of the much better chassis and the rarity makes the Evo much more desirable. Parts on the Evo that aren't on the Top Force are: Carbon fibre chassis, top deck and shock mounts Turnbuckles Better ball diffs front and rear Turnbuckles Front one way Alloy high cap dampers Front universals. As for whether either of them are a good investment, if you consider r/c cars as an investment you are in the wrong hobby. The value fluctuates wildly depending on whether there have been a lot of them on ebay recently, whether they are popular at the time, or even whether it is summer or winter. If you are looking for an investment the best chance of making any profit in the future are new in box kits of cars that are popular with collectors, but even that is no guarantee you will get your money back. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HunterZero 76 Posted January 8, 2009 Front universals. The standard Top Force had front UJs. Don't forget the correct orange wheels for the Evo, which are very difficult to find. Body shell and wing are the same, but of course the Evo has a different decal sheet. Tha main improvements that make the difference in handling with the Evo are the stiffer CF chassis, and the far superior dampers. Front one-way is a tuning preference, but I believe that the Evo one-way and rear ball diff were lighter than the standard TF ball diffs. - James Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adam1973 1 Posted January 8, 2009 Plus the TF had the uprated prop-shaft in the box as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lonestar 1 Posted January 8, 2009 Interesting - I was wondering the diffs as well... in the end what I read makes me think the TFEvo is just a hopped up TF, no structural changes, like different wheelbase or such... So in the end, if you add HiCaps and a 1way to a TF (or a diff up front to a TFE ) it should drive pretty much like the Evo. No slipper either... mmmh. Paul Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blacque Jacque 4 Posted January 8, 2009 Probably the most difficult to find parts are the wheels, decals & UJ's, shocks are uncommon too, but seem more common than the other parts on Ebay etc. I've built myself an (almost) Evo spec car from parts. The carbon plates are the hop-up variant for the ordinary TF, which has a slightly different silk screen print to the standard Evo chassis. I was very lucky to obtain 2 1/2 sets of UJ's from Japan (Thanks again Mr. ED) The carbon fibre front & rear shocks mounts came from Fibre-Lyte, but I also have two sets from Graphite Designs. Lightweight aluminium diff bodies were a bargain from Ebay, thrust washers & diff balls are the same. The only parts I'm missing are the Hi-Cap dampers & the TFE decal sheet. Hi-Caps are so expensive that I decided they were not worth the expense, I'm not competing so ordinary CVA's are fine. Runner quality TFE decals should be available soon. I intend to try and reporduce the orange wheels using clothes dye (strictly for cosmetic purposes, they would be too easy to spot as fakes) All we need now is someone who can produce a repro shell, wing & undertray from the NIP one I have (Hint Hint ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gruntfuggly 562 Posted January 8, 2009 Also, I believe the Evo used titanium screws... The wheels were shared with the Terra Conqueror. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blacque Jacque 4 Posted January 8, 2009 Also, I believe the Evo used titanium screws...The wheels were shared with the Terra Conqueror. DI Joe built a titanium TFE, but I didn't think the kit came with them, did it? DI Joes Ti TFE Didn't know about the wheels though. They're still rare as a rare thing with a capital RARE Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
highflyer 73 Posted January 9, 2009 I kind of regret not spending the extra $160.00 to get the TF EVO in 1993. But I chose the less expensive 58100 that I still have (on the shelf)... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mb_c11 0 Posted January 10, 2009 Hi-Caps are so expensive that I decided they were not worth the expense, I'm not competing so ordinary CVA's are fine. If you're going to spend the money anyway, buy Tamiya's Sleeved Dampers. Same price, much smoother, cool light blue look. TF-E does indeed have titanium screws and aluminium nuts straight out of the box Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
monster_beetle 2 Posted January 10, 2009 It did have titanium screws. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
highflyer 73 Posted January 10, 2009 It did have titanium screws. I am sure it used all the best hop-ups Tamiya had to offer I think, hence the price tag back then... my 501X did not come with titanium screws.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lonestar 1 Posted January 12, 2009 Titanium screw sets only make sense for overweight cars which need to be brought down to the lower limit Properly designed racecars don't need them... just eye-candy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
djmcnz 754 Posted May 7, 2009 May help... http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=31350 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pUs 311 Posted May 7, 2009 The screws on the evo were titanium, the nuts were aluminium. Also, the universals on the evo that came with both my kits back in 92/93 had some other kind of coating compared to the standard TF even though they were listed with the same article number. A bit more shiny and not as grey/dull as on the standard TF. Can't remember if this was the case for the outdrives as well, but I think so.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pUs 311 Posted May 7, 2009 Titanium screw sets only make sense for overweight cars which need to be brought down to the lower limit Properly designed racecars don't need them... just eye-candy I don't think the real-life engineers in F1 etc would agree with you.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TA-Mark 195 Posted May 7, 2009 Lighter is better, as long as it doesn't compromise strength in critical places. If you are under weight you can add weight back where it will work with the chassis to get better balance or lower CG. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xray mark 213 Posted August 30, 2020 I have an frp chassis set left over from a top force can I use it to convert a manta ray or would be too hard to buy all the fixings and stand offs etc? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wez-li 1790 Posted August 30, 2020 1 hour ago, xray mark said: I have an frp chassis set left over from a top force can I use it to convert a manta ray or would be too hard to buy all the fixings and stand offs etc? Yeah it's quite straight forward, you'll need J parts and a metal parts bag which used to be rare but can be found quite easily nowadays. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DarkSonic 212 Posted August 30, 2020 I don't think people want to replicate the Evo because it's that much better. They build it because the Evo is much more sought after and to replicate is much cheaper than to buy an original one. The TFE was ( in my opinion) the first public available TRF Buggy at that time. It has a few good Hop Ups out of the box and was a good starting point for racing. It's like the later TA02 Racing Special Chassis (58157). If you nowadays want to race the TF, you can use some Evo parts but there are better an cheaper options available. I currently build an TF and I think it will be much better than an Evo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ruebiracer 1046 Posted August 30, 2020 I´ve still to restore my Evo, but wasn´t the Evo supplied with Cardans fr and rear? And if someone has a source, where I could still get some replacement Ti screws from Tamiya... Hard to get nowadys, if you don´t want to go modern with Hexware... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lee76 638 Posted August 30, 2020 On 5/7/2009 at 1:23 PM, djmcnz said: May help... http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=31350 Great build thread. There should be a database of this kind of work one stop shop for all hop up options and build threads. Do you take requests?.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
djmcnz 754 Posted August 31, 2020 11 hours ago, Lee76 said: Great build thread. There should be a database of this kind of work one stop shop for all hop up options and build threads. Do you take requests?.... I sure do take requests if you provide the kit and Hop Ups... Although I don't think I ever started this build, the parts must be in a box somewhere... are they're all originals, not re-re. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
