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Hi all I've been wanting to do a build thread here  for a while and with the re re of the top force this year I thought this was a good a time as any. So here goes 

First the arrival 

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I ordered mine back in February so I had to wait in the meantime but this gave me a bit of time to research and get some mods in :-)  first u p the Frp chassis 

I was surprised to see that the edge of the chassis was still ruff as tho it's been stamped out of a big bit of Frp and not milled on a cnc machine DSC_0389.thumb.JPG.f39386a9416ad0f2a10e7b10be75eaed.JPG

I started off with a bit of 1500 sand paper on a small area to see if it would smooth down and worth it using goggles and a face mask of course .I was pleased with the result so whipped out the dremmel as the sides seemed pitted still.

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After getting the edges of the Frp smooth I added a bit of permanent marker and as I planned I gave them a coat of 8d carbon fibre wrap not only to protect the finish of the Frp but improve the look as let's face it Frp hasn't the aesthetics of carbon fiber the result was this.  

before(with sanded edge)DSC_0400.thumb.JPG.65a63f3f86a2370346c98f653e09d1fc.JPG

 

And after 😁 DSC_0405.thumb.JPG.803b46178901dfb3e39d08f11b7940ae.JPG

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And with a nice smooth edge DSC_0403.thumb.JPG.4995ea3e221350f9bd5ae4ff7a06799f.JPG

Note I'm using Frp  evolution front and rear shock towers I got from a guy in America off a well known auction site ;-) DSC_0404.thumb.JPG.01ec27f4fd5c6cc13a3841739683c8a0.JPG

I only sealed the front of the chassis with cva as this looked a little close to the countersunk holes and looked like it might be a weak spot the other edges I just put some liquid wax on it is Frp after all and I've not dared seal my other carbon chassis so they All got waxed. 

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Thanks I should really put my cars in the show room but am yet to get all my pics together and I spend most of my time fiddling about with them. anyway onwards and upwards on with the build 

 

The diffs DSC_0406.thumb.JPG.19b55857d6f5934ec0fb29e8dc8f8e15.JPG

A few added extras here ceramic balls and 2 F103 thrust bearing sets these make the diffs last a bit longer and less maintenance ect 

 

 

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I suppose you could use ceramic balls in the thrust bearing assembly but I don't like the idea of the plastic ball spacer in the thrust bearing.The egress 2013 hasn't got one so I swapped the balls in that, but for this I'm using the one piece. You don't need the thrust washers in this only the spring washers as they are already incorporated in the one piece I also put the plates that are in contact with the balls flattest side up in contact with the balls. The rings look like they are stamped out of metal and one side has a rounded edge giving less contact doing this gives a greater area of contact with the difference balls and makes them run smoothly DSC_0409.thumb.JPG.2eb0a2140655be85bc177a331091a161.JPG

I put a little dab of thread lock on the end of the hex bolt as it's metal on metal and I don't want it slipping loose. I fully tightened then undid a bit untill I had a smooth action.

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Put it all together and this is the result 596f7ad0b64f3_DSC_0411reduced.thumb.jpg.0ed754d6671dc3555c103d7636d83682.jpg

I'm also replacing all  the brass bearings with rubber sealed ball bearings as in the picture. The manual says to secure the gear box joints with rubber cement. So I robbed some from a puncture repair kit and put some on this resulted in zero securing lol so I put some of the kit supplied ag  (only on the splined shaft) and the result was a little better 

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Next up the rear gear box cover I was going to fit an after market mod to this but I have since removed it as I see no point plus I don't like the the removal of the tabs that sit in front of the bearings they help hold it all together and prevent dust intrusion this hop up is of course for a ta01 0r Ta02 chassis but I think this.pic illustrates the difference (note the tap)

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For the screws I'm using black m3 Allen type screws all self tappers replaced by tapping them with a you guessed it. just a cheap variety pack from China with various sizes counter sunk and round top. I forgot to pre tap a hole when fitting a screw and it got stuck! I had to cut a Groove in the top to retrieve it using a flat head screw driver as I rounded of the Allen hole.

with a tap it clears out swarf that jams up the screw thread so if your not using self tappers tap em ;-) 

 

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The spur gear plastic options 

 here are the hop up options and the stock altogether the skyline speed tuned gear set and the Ta02 4wd plastic gear set with the stock alu two peice on the left _20170719_210542.thumb.JPG.7b33507d13b3fea686bf9978c67eb5bf.JPG

I opted for the Ta02 one piece as I have a df03 and the only aluminium gear in the box is  the idler gear off the slipper spur  it wears out quicker than the plastic on plastic gears and leaves metal cutting paste in the process :-( I also will swap the stock alu pinion for a steel pinion for durability and I intend to swap the stock 540 can with something with a little more power :-)). It also says in the instructions these gears are not suitable for off road vehicles!!! I guess I will have to live with my choice and accept it if it fails 

Flipped over 

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I as in many other builds on this site all brilliant by the way.Skipped the motor installation but plan on using a 19 tooth 0.6 steel pinion on let's say a 9.5t brushless motor. So I continued with the rear gearbox. Now  there have been lots of reports of the rear gearbox cover coming loose if you put anything greater than the stock 540 motor in so I intend to over come this by using the mod that allows you to put a nut under a threaded hole, usually caused by over tightening self tappers. Credit to who ever thought of this it's a great idea I did it as many times as I could on the rear gear box. here was a sealed hole the tap went straight through it no problems leaving a nice thread DSC_0417.thumb.JPG.04329bbc7364330e846a0d38ecafc7e5.JPG

(note)I tried doing this on the front diff cover that goes on the bottom and It just bottomed out and I took off all the thread so I had to replace it, well I could have tried drilling through but I decided not to carry on with it .

 with the nuts on 

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I also put a nut on the bolt that goes through the rear shock tower and put big washers on the other side (that ain't coming loose in a hurry now) and it keeps the lid on too credit to who thought of this 

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when i brought my top force and manta ray back in 1991 i ran a lrp11 turn single and an mri ajustable timing motor in it and it went like stink and i never had any problems at all with it and i ran it on sponge tyres instead of rubber and it was ran on a school playground and this was on a standard set up with no hop ups. 

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Here are the washers onto the other side again with long bolts. Ignore the gear box cover _20170720_200841.thumb.JPG.7895fa6f397e1c1a4f523d74923e1be0.JPG

The shocks I'm using are fastrax or Carson they are  the same. 85mm 1/10 alloys  I wanted them the same length as the hop up high caps in the evolution manual. initially I bought 85 and 95 but the evolution uses the same size shock body's all-round (these are the same length)  with a spacer in the front so I got another set of 85's and took them apart to re build  I put a long ball joint on the bottom of the rear shocks and swapped the ball joint in the top of the shock to the bottom and put a 6mm ball joint in the top. For the fronts I used a plastic spacers in the shocks to shorten the travel as in the high caps I played about a bit with different spacers to get the correct length you can probably use the ones in the re re kit again I swapped the position of the ball joints from top to bottom and put a ball in the top again long ball joint at the bottom. The shafts in these are the type that has a plastic disc in them so better than the stock plungers in the cva shocks also they come with spacers and the spring retainers are the same as the evolution. I had planned to use the the springs from the 95mms shocks on the rear but when my kit arrived the first thing I tried was putting the stock re re springs on them and they fitted :-D so I have a choice of springs too now. The fixings are from a tamiya dyna storm alu parts bag with some tamiya rubber bushes. I tried using o rings but went for proper bushes as they are flat then round and serve a purpose. If you can get the dyna storm parts bag with the spacers you also get the metal post to swap with j12 on the chassis see later. I know there not high caps but not a bad budget replacement they are cheap and readily available and if enjoyed the research trying to find out what length the high caps for the top force were ect ect:-D 

 

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I had a thundershot with no hop ups about that time" top forcin" I had been driving it around the schooI playground and was walking back when I did a big jump and landed in the path of a travelling car and went under the wheels  it squashed the body shell and broke the back bit of the chassis where the posts are and that was it ran over by a car and that was the only damage . They knew how to build buggys in them days ;-)  I was gutted at the time but a phone call to the model shop and a trip on the bus got me a new bath tub and I was back driving :-D 

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Here is the back gear box with shocks fitted also top force evolution turn buckles ( will come back to them later)  and some shock tower guards for when you flip on corners :-D _20170720_213106.thumb.JPG.7c5ba16837219a9819b1d6406ab7ee56.JPG

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There hpi forza they fit great on the front tower,  on the back as the shocks go through the lower holes I used a countersunk alu washer to stop them moving about and a flanged nut on the other side there great I have them on all my tamiya buggys now they protect the shocks and the tower 😁 

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Nice build so far!  My kit showed up last night, so I'm watching your thread carefully.  Like you I've owned a DF03 before, and I've also owned several DF02s.  This DF01 seems much nicer than the DF02/DF03 since it has the FRP plates instead of a plastic tub.  The weight stated on the box -- a little over 1200 grams -- seemed pretty good too.

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It's a great kit a modified manta ray of sorts. i love my df03 it needn't be a bath tub  you can get a  3 racing carbon chassis (if there sill available) for it in two different colours, or kmc one I think there easier to get hold of than the 3 racing one, or a rare xenon one which I've never seen. the mods go on and on for the df03 it's great buggy imop 😁

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Back to the build the rear arms I fitted together with the stock screws. I also used the stock screw for mounting the rear shocks but secured them with a 3mm nylock nut. I had hoped to use gpm ta1022 x2 rear knuckles but I'm still waiting for them.if your planing to use the rear top force universals (same as the front) you have to allow for the 3 mm o ring that is used in the gear box joint if you don't you will put to much pressure on the cup I set mine at 29mm. I also like to use clear o rings the kind used for separating charm bracelets I think there 3mm on all the ball joints this takes up play from the joints DSC_0544.thumb.JPG.368bbeb39df61421afa4cb40feb05b05.JPG for the front gear box I managed to get hold of the manta ray torque splitter set these are hard to find these days and pricey I was thrilled to get one as it's in the top force evolution _20170721_175556.thumb.JPG.2f072fbddf1f826bc0c8a0397929b5c0.JPG

I would also at this point like  pay homage to djmzs build thread top force evolution and beyond. It's one of my favourite builds on this site a great reference point and full of brilliant info alot of my build was based on his build and it's great even  11 years later so check it out. if I can come close to his I will be happy 😊 

Edited by jackdaripper
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The torque splitter correct me if I'm wrong stops front wheel braking allowing the front wheels to spin freely as in a two wheel drive car for example this can help with sharp cornering. I have a similar set up in my egress 2013 I like the difference. but if you're mainly using it on gravel 4 wheel power and braking may be better. it all depends on how you  like to drive  what surface  you're on etc etc but it's nice addition that can be changed to suit either there's also a front one way available but this works on the front diff gear all depend on how you want the car to behave. 

All installed 

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As with the rear gearbox cover I opted to secure the lid with some longer screws again tapping a thread all the way through and a nut in the bottom for added security  and insurance _20170721_192423.thumb.JPG.1df8cda1ebee01d9a7d6cf9fd7c4feda.JPG

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