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I've just agreed to buy a vintage Top Force. It looks in good condition but I have no experience of them.

What do I need to know?

Any known issues?

Any recommended hop ups?

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Well I've started the ball rolling and ordered an alloy motor mount and a set of hi-cap shocks.

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Just need to be careful with the plastics of the front and rear gearbox, more so the rear, where all the screws penetrate the housing they will crack the housing over time.

I would buy a J part tree or two while stocks last, the J parts , while not really fragile will break with a big impact.

I would consider replacing all the plastics if you are going to run her hard,

You may need to buy bearings as the vintage car came without them

Other than the alloy motor mount they are beautiful to drive, very smooth and one of my favourites..... please post some pics when it arrives.....

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Check out my build thread, vintage back from the dead. Post up what you get, tear down and take lots of pics.

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27 minutes ago, Adamcurrie said:

Check out my build thread, vintage back from the dead. Post up what you get, tear down and take lots of pics.

Have you got a link to your thread?

Have found out from the seller that it doesn't have bearings so I'll order a set of those.

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35 minutes ago, Peter_B said:

Have you got a link to your thread?

Have found out from the seller that it doesn't have bearings so I'll order a set of those.

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/72035-original-top-force-should-i-bother/&tab=comments#comment-521997

 

If it doesn't have bearings you know it is a genuine 58100 

1 hour ago, Adamcurrie said:

@Snappy1 hows it going?

 

Great mate, I am busy for the next couple of weekends with work, but we should meet up sometime for a bash.....

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I'm no longer a local @Snappy1 but I'll let you know next time I'm visiting family around there. Thanks for linking to my thread. Looks like photobucket have screwed over my pics, I saw something posted on toymods about getting around that, I'll fix it up when I can.

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I did a load of research into these, although I ended up resurrecting a vintage Blazing Star instead. When you crack open the rear gearbox, if it still has the metal/plastic combined gears then all advice is to ditch them for the plastic gearset from a TA02. Buying an aftermarket alloy prop shaft seems to be a widely made modification too. Drilling through the rear gearbox closure fixings with 3mm drill and nut-and-bolt all the way through also seems to be a recommended tune up. Gearbox plastics are cheap and readily available if you're doing a rebuild for running/racing.

My build thread is here with some part numbers:

 

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I have a question... why buy a vintage TF to put new era mods and/or bash around? Why not just buy a new rere? 

I’m one of those weirdos who buys vintage to display vintage and keep them era correct.... if I want to bash one around I’d buy a new one and be done with it (especially if it’s an actual vintage piece... the cost of replacing all the plastics will run you way more than a rere)...

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Because it cost me a lot less than a re-release, and re-releases are thin on the ground around here.

To be honest, unlike the RC10, I wasn't looking for a Top Force and never had a strong desire to own one.

But I was nosing through the trades on the main site, saw it, thought it was a decent price, asked a couple of questions and thought what the badword.

Like my RC10 (when I've rebuilt it), I'm going to run it, but I run my cars respectfully. To me "bashing' just means running somewhere other than a race track. It doesn't mean haphazardly bouncing off of whatever obstacle might be in the vicinity.

I'm not somebody who has them on a shelf. For me they were designed to be used, so I use them but not abuse them.

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Does anybody know what size the diff balls are for the Top Force - the larger ones for the main diff gear, not the smaller thrust bearing ones? Or a part number for them?

I was putting the gearbox parts in to soak in a bath of APC and, like a numpty, managed to drop one of the diff balls for the front diff. I heard it bounce a couple of times and then hit the floor but so far I haven't been able to find it. So I'll need some spares.

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Thanks.

I actually found the bag that includes all of the balls, thrust plates and springs etc, so I've ordered one of those.

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One question - I think the answer is yes but...

Am I right in thinking that most (if not all) of the rest of the car can be built and then the diffs fitted?

I'm waiting on some ball diff lube to arrive, but want to crack on with building the rest of the car, so if I can build and fit the diffs later that would be great.

 

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Yes, front is a bit more work rear its an easy drop in.

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36 minutes ago, waterbok said:

Yes, front is a bit more work rear its an easy drop in.

Thanks. I should have paid more attention when I was pulling it apart really.

So I can at least build up the rear end of the car, by which time the diff lube will have hopefully made its way through the Christmas post.

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19 minutes ago, Adamcurrie said:

Peter, got some pics yet? How's the body and wing?

Here's the only pic I have so far, its from when it arrived._RHhIyjkhtnc-oWHPWAHVmC5UOAwHLePKXE0_-rD

 

Currently the car is completely stripped down. I spent a couple of hours last night polishing most of the metal parts - ball connectors, hinge pins and chassis stand offs.

The body and wing in the pic are ok, a bit battered here and there, but serviceable. I do have a new TBG body, wing and undertray for it though and a new set of decals.

Whilst stripping it down I found that some of the screws have seen better days - fortunately I was able to remove them all, and some of the screw threads in the plastic parts aren't too clever. So over the last few weeks I've acquired a stainless screw kit and pretty much all of the plastic parts sprues, so when rebuilding if something isn't in great condition I can replace it.

Hi-Caps and alloy motor mount are waiting to go on, as is a set of bearings. Also got some DF03 wheels, originally intended for my Boomerang but might put them on the Top Force instead as I don't think the Top Force wheels will take 2.2" tyres.

Looking forward to starting to put it all back together, diff lube has arrived as well (going to use Team Associated Stealth Diff lube, should do the job ok), so it's just a matter of finding time to work on it.

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That is great. I wish 'd kept my original box. It sounds like you have everything ready to go.

Your pictured wing looks better that my current TBG one! Looking at the pics tho, you need some alu hexes for the wheels, those black plastic ones won't last. Yeah, those old screws will have seen better days. Some of the guys here have helped me with some of the more rare bits, most of the hardest bits to get for my build were j parts. Is there anything you're needing?

I've decided to build my re-re kit and have ordered 53136 X2 to replace the plastic thrust bearings in the diffs. I need a sealed bearing kit, another alloy motor mount. Need universals for the back too.

I love these things and am looking forward to building up this one!

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On ‎22‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 12:09 PM, Adamcurrie said:

That is great. I wish 'd kept my original box. It sounds like you have everything ready to go.

Your pictured wing looks better that my current TBG one! Looking at the pics tho, you need some alu hexes for the wheels, those black plastic ones won't last. Yeah, those old screws will have seen better days. Some of the guys here have helped me with some of the more rare bits, most of the hardest bits to get for my build were j parts. Is there anything you're needing?

I've decided to build my re-re kit and have ordered 53136 X2 to replace the plastic thrust bearings in the diffs. I need a sealed bearing kit, another alloy motor mount. Need universals for the back too.

I love these things and am looking forward to building up this one!

I think I have everything I need to rebuild it. Screws are where I might be lacking, I have some spares so it just depends how many are too far gone for me to want to put them back in. I do have a stainless screw set for it, but as far as I can see they're all machine screws and I've never been a fan of machine screws into plastic.

I'll see how it goes. I did want to have it well on the way to being a runner by now but just haven't had the chance to work on it.

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Machine screws just need an m3 tap. I got one for buttons on eBay for my Terra Conqueror build and the machine screws fly in then hold really nicely.

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1 hour ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

Machine screws just need an m3 tap. I got one for buttons on eBay for my Terra Conqueror build and the machine screws fly in then hold really nicely.

You got a link?

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Search eBay for "M3 tap and wrench". Loads around. The set I got was from UK drills (3 piece tap set then bought wrench separately) which had been good, but I doubt you can go wrong with any of them.

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I've started the rebuild.

Rebuilt both diffs with new balls, rings, thrust spring washers and 53136 one piece thrust bearings. Used Team Associated Stealth Diff lube.

Built up both gearboxes, used all nylon gears and rcbearings finest throughout.

Got the shock towers, suspension arms and driveshafts fitted to the gearboxes. Just need to find some o-rings to put in the diff out drives.

Next job will probably be to build and mount the hi caps before starting to build up the chassis.

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