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gresh2811

Where To Start With The Tamiya Falcon

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Today i've been given by a work mate two used and very bashed vehicles. one is a 1998 TL01 Peugeot 406 ST and the other is a 1986 Tamiya Falcon.

I was thinking of restoring the Falcon back to its former glory, but being quite new to this hobby and only previously built a Lunch Box not certain where to start. the same could be said for the TL01.

I'm wanting to put a different body on the TL01 as i don't really like the Peugeot shell.

The chassis to both vehicles look to be sound with no cracks or damage. theres no servo, radio equipment or ESC with either vehicles. both body shells are as already stated complete write-offs.

Any help, advice or hints and tips on where to start and any hop up parts for both vehicles would be greatly appreciated.

thanks for any help

Craig.

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Any 190 mm body shell should fit on the TL-01. Tamiya sells a package of universal TL-01 body mounts that will work for nearly any mounting configuration from pick-up shells to a variety of cars. Put a battery and some electronics in it and drive it like you stole it.

Can't help with the Falcon, never owned one. The best I can say is strip, clean and regrease. Add bearings and ESC if not equipped already and go driving. If it breaks, find the parts and fix it. No help at all if you want to do a shelf-queen resto, but that's my 2 cents worth.

Have fun!

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There's not much you can do to hop up the Falcon besides bearings and electronic speed controller, as previously mentioned, and updating to newer wheels/tires. About the only other option would be to find a replacement for the plastic drive shaft/cup setup at the rear, eg Thorp setup, or the more durable CRP dogbones.

The stock suspension setup on the rear of the Falcon is too hard. It's a good idea to swap the piston inside the dampers for the one with 4 large holes, and use softer damper oil.

In a crash the front bulkheads have a tendency to break, so some Falcon drivers have reinforced the front with a brace. Take a look through the showrooms in here at Falcon runners, you might find a few examples.

- James

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definately get a CRP front chassis brace(metal). They are cheap on Ebay. Great buggy.

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I LOVE my Falcon. If you correct a few of it's notable weak spots it can be a really great little runner.

I'd say how you proceed largely depends on whether you want it to be a runner or sit on a shelf.

Given that the front end of a Falcon is probably it's weakest point, you'll find the replacement D and R parts are quite tricky to get hold of. Additionally the rear wheel adapters are unique to it (at least as far as I know), and again, getting hold of a C parts tree with them still on, will require some diligence.

However, if you want to run it, and originality isn't a pre-req, then you have a number of options to you.

A set of metal 12mm hex adapters will fit on the back allowing you to use pretty well any standard aftermarket rear wheel. I have a set of HPI Firestorm wheels on mine with HPI Sand paddles.

The rear shocks I think are standard 90mm jobs, so the yellow CVAs from a monster beetle or similar will do the job, or a set of softer yeah racing ones with the "soft" springs fitted.

On the front, depending on whether or not the top nose fitting and suspension mounts are in tact or not, you can either replace the whole front end with the parts from a Bear Hawk, which is not only more readily available, but also a good deal more robust. You will find that the C knuckles on a bear hawk are slighly wider than a falcon, but spacers made out of a bit of 4mm brass tube should sort that problem out for you, so that you can use the Falcon ones.

If the front end is in good condition and the mount holes haven't broken or aren't cracked, then definitely look to get yourself a CRP lower brace. It will certainly extend the life of the car.

I've also got a 17.5t brushless and 2S LiPo in mine. A little faster than sotck 27t can, but not excessively. 45 minutes of run time, and with the sand paddles on the back it'll climb up the side of a 70 degree dirt bank without any problem at all.

BuggyBash310510017.jpg

BuggyBash310510013.jpg

As for the TL01, the only limit is your imagination. What you have is a 4WD touring car chassis, which with a few mods can be turned into a wide track long travel buggy. It is a little limited from the point of view of power plant because it uses smaller wheels and doesn't have much in the way of custom gearing, but there are loads of spares around, and pretty well any of the HPI 190mm shells will fit it in touring car guise, or go for the 200mm ones if you convert it to a buggy.

I have two TL01s. One I've done the buggy conversion to (and made it into a TL01B), stuck a 23t motor in and an HPI Cuda shell on the top

TL01Cuda02.jpg

TL01Cuda01.jpg

The other one which is a work in progress is keeping the narrow track set up and is going to be a 1983 Audi Quattro.

Hope all that helps!

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Any 190 mm body shell should fit on the TL-01. Tamiya sells a package of universal TL-01 body mounts that will work for nearly any mounting configuration from pick-up shells to a variety of cars. Put a battery and some electronics in it and drive it like you stole it.

Can't help with the Falcon, never owned one. The best I can say is strip, clean and regrease. Add bearings and ESC if not equipped already and go driving. If it breaks, find the parts and fix it. No help at all if you want to do a shelf-queen resto, but that's my 2 cents worth.

Have fun!

when you say any 190mm shell should fit are these from the tt01 class. my son and me would like to make it in to a really cool looking WRC car but can't seem to find any of the latest models.

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I LOVE my Falcon. If you correct a few of it's notable weak spots it can be a really great little runner.

I'd say how you proceed largely depends on whether you want it to be a runner or sit on a shelf.

Given that the front end of a Falcon is probably it's weakest point, you'll find the replacement D and R parts are quite tricky to get hold of. Additionally the rear wheel adapters are unique to it (at least as far as I know), and again, getting hold of a C parts tree with them still on, will require some diligence.

However, if you want to run it, and originality isn't a pre-req, then you have a number of options to you.

A set of metal 12mm hex adapters will fit on the back allowing you to use pretty well any standard aftermarket rear wheel. I have a set of HPI Firestorm wheels on mine with HPI Sand paddles.

The rear shocks I think are standard 90mm jobs, so the yellow CVAs from a monster beetle or similar will do the job, or a set of softer yeah racing ones with the "soft" springs fitted.

On the front, depending on whether or not the top nose fitting and suspension mounts are in tact or not, you can either replace the whole front end with the parts from a Bear Hawk, which is not only more readily available, but also a good deal more robust. You will find that the C knuckles on a bear hawk are slighly wider than a falcon, but spacers made out of a bit of 4mm brass tube should sort that problem out for you, so that you can use the Falcon ones.

If the front end is in good condition and the mount holes haven't broken or aren't cracked, then definitely look to get yourself a CRP lower brace. It will certainly extend the life of the car.

I've also got a 17.5t brushless and 2S LiPo in mine. A little faster than sotck 27t can, but not excessively. 45 minutes of run time, and with the sand paddles on the back it'll climb up the side of a 70 degree dirt bank without any problem at all.

BuggyBash310510017.jpg

BuggyBash310510013.jpg

As for the TL01, the only limit is your imagination. What you have is a 4WD touring car chassis, which with a few mods can be turned into a wide track long travel buggy. It is a little limited from the point of view of power plant because it uses smaller wheels and doesn't have much in the way of custom gearing, but there are loads of spares around, and pretty well any of the HPI 190mm shells will fit it in touring car guise, or go for the 200mm ones if you convert it to a buggy.

I have two TL01s. One I've done the buggy conversion to (and made it into a TL01B), stuck a 23t motor in and an HPI Cuda shell on the top

TL01Cuda02.jpg

TL01Cuda01.jpg

The other one which is a work in progress is keeping the narrow track set up and is going to be a 1983 Audi Quattro.

Hope all that helps!

thanks for all the great advice. is that a sand scorcher body on yours? would really like doing that to ours.

as for the tl01 we would like to do it as a WRC car but can't seem to find the latest models, any tips on where to look for good selection of body shells?

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Also the 12mm hex adapter you refer to, is that the one from the frog or is it another one?

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Also the 12mm hex adapter you refer to, is that the one from the frog or is it another one?

I think mine were marketed as TA02 adapters, but I'm pretty sure the frog ones will fit.

That's actually a Blitzer Beetle body shell, rather than a Scorcher. They're pretty much the same thing when it comes down to it, except for the fact that the blitzer ones are much much cheaper - usually around £30 on ebay. The only thing you will need to do is sort out something for mounting the body. All I did with mine is drilled a hole in either side of the tub and glued a cut down mounting piece from another kit in there. It's not very elegant, but does the job.

HPI shells I find are amongst the best and they usually have a fairly wide selection. Go to www.hpieurope.com and find the one you like. Make a note of the part number and whack it in google to see where best to get it from. Expect to pay £20-£25 for one.

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Oh and one other thing... the front wheels on mine are taken from a Fighter Buggy RX and painted black. They're slightly larger than the standard ones and fit straight on to the front axle wheel stubs, so you get better ground clearence without sacrificing looks (at least, in my opinion) - particularly if you do put larger wheels on the back. With the smaller ones it just doesn't look right (again.. in my opinion).

One other thing you might consider for the back end if you think the paddles are a bit OTT, is get a hold of some 1.9" Crawler tyres and a pair of HPI Stock car wheels. Again, better ground clearence, you don't mess up the gearing too much, some nice chunky tread on the tyres, and a little more scale looking than the 2.2 option.

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If I put a 190mm body shell on to the TL01 chassis, there's nothing that should need doing. What would I need to do if I got a 200mm body? We've seen all sorts that we like this evening. We've seen a 1965 shelby, a ford mustang and a lancer evo 7 i think it was. I also think they ansmann bodys.

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Has anyone in england ever ordered anything from etamiya.com. They seem to have a lot of hop up parts for the tl01. Also some other stuff that I need.

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