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SteveB

Top Force Evolution - TRF Edition

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At the end of last year, I bought a used Top Force Evolution buggy, with the intention of racing it in the vintage buggy class at my local club(s). However, after completely stripping it down, it turned out that as well as the expected wear on a few parts, there were also a few that needed replacing due to cracks in the plastic. Unfortunately, some of these were from the very hard to find 'J' parts tree/sprue. As I couldn't find any replacement parts at the time, the buggy was put on the shelf and left as a future project. This is how it looked when I first bought it (body/wing/undertray are ***** repro).

Top-Force-Evo_1_zps696fab08.jpg

Top-Force-Evo_2_zps70aae371.jpg

Now, having tracked down the elusive J parts that I needed (some original and some in 3D printed form), I have gone back to the project, and decided to try and make it into a TRF inspired buggy. I know that this will go against the belief of many Tamiya diehards, who would probably want the buggy to stay as original as possible, but each to their own, and I love the look of TRF race machines! Anyway, the following changes have now been made:

Most of the plastics have been replaced with new parts.

Diffs rebuilt with new gears/balls/plates/washers.

Rebuildable CVDs.

Carbon shocktowers (from Fibre Lyte).

TRF big-bore aeration dampers.

TRF alloy turnbuckes with reinforced adjusters.

TRF battery posts and carbon holders.

TRF servo mounts & saver.

Alloy wheel hexes.

DF-03 wheels.

Black steel screws, with blue hardware/fixings.

Custom painted bodyshell.

TFE_02_zpsudqleecg.jpg

TFE_03_zpsim4xo4cu.jpg

TFE_05_zps1cixjli5.jpg

TFE_07_zpsfwmg6y03.jpg

I have kept all of the original parts that were removed though, so I can return the buggy to stock(ish) spec at anytime!

TFE_08_zps0hchtxyu.jpg

And finally, the TFE next to my current TRF503 race buggy.

TFE_09_zpsbiuyz13q.jpg

I am very happy with how this buggy has turned out. The only problem is, it now almost looks too good to actually use on the track which was originally the whole idea! I have many other RCs though, that are all runners/racers, but no shelf queens, so I won't feel too bad if this does end up just looking pretty on the shelf.

:)

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That is incredibly nice! The Top Force should have had an official TRF version (TRFTFE MS R ?)

Why not build another TFE with all the parts you've got left over ^_^

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That is incredibly nice! The Top Force should have had an official TRF version (TRFTFE MS R ?)

Why not build another TFE with all the parts you've got left over ^_^

After looking at the pile of parts that are left over, I have considered this Yonez! FibreLyte do the chassis and top deck in carbon, that I could put on the TRF-TFE and save the original parts. I would then only need a few bits of hardware and I could rebuild an original looking (if not actually driveable) TFE.

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Thats one badass evo, job wel done.

Are the decals on the bodyshell a custom job or modified TRFs? (white/silver looks way to good for just paint)

:wub:

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Thats one badass evo, job wel done.

Are the decals on the bodyshell a custom job or modified TRFs? (white/silver looks way to good for just paint)

:wub:

The Top Force wing has decals on it, the bodyshell is 100% paint! The TRF503 bodyshell has a couple of small TRF decals on it, but it also otherwise just paint. Both done by a friend at my local club, he does excellent work!

TRF503_04_zpsd5d6f4fd.jpg

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Very cool.

I'm actually contemplating building an egress this way. Lots of blue crack. I know the aeration shocks will fit, but not sure on the big bores.

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Lovely paint job... surely you're going to have to run it at least once (carefully) to see how it performs?

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Right up my alley! Now go race it! It performs very well indoors on carpet!

Have you seen my TRF / F1 inspired TFE?

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