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OldSchoolRC1

New life for an old TL01

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I have a strange fondness for the TL01 chassis. Not sure why, but I've owned a ton of them over the years both in buggy and touring variants. They make excellent rally cars since they are super durable, and with the LA kit they handle pretty good. 

I needed something different to wrench on having burned out on a few ongoing crawler builds, and I happened upon my TL01 Rock Buggy that was collecting dust. 
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A cool little project, but I kinda lost interest in it along the way. In another corner was my Konghead with a way overkilled YR upgraded suspension bolted on. They share the same suspension mounts...hmmmm...  

So I tore down the Rock Buggy and started turning it back into a touring car. First thing is I had to pull the chassis apart and unlock the diffs. A ball diff was dropped in the rear and a gear diff filled with AW grease was installed up front. Everything's a bit messy here, but all the gears were scrubbed nice and clean before installation. :) I would have installed speed tuned gears, but I used my last sets in my M04RR and MF01X projects. Ebay to the rescue! Another 2 sets are on order... 
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Chassis buttoned up and ready to go. I would love the carbon upper shaft, but they are almost unicorns anymore. My last one did not survive a brushless upgrade, so the stock steel shaft will have to do. Debating finding a way to turn it down somewhat to reduce some of that mass. 
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The donor Konghead... I have other plans for it, and they don't involve the fancy suspension. Same suspension used on the beautiful FF build going on in this section as well (though I didn't have the heart to drill out swaybar mounts :)).  
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Rear suspension swaps right over. This kit is similar in geometry to the LA kit, so it should handle well. (and look good doing it!) I did add a few shims here and there to take out the usual Tamiya suspension play. It's nice and tight now. Found a carbon gearbox brace in the parts bin, as well as some Tamiya blue 5mm balls to match. 
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Front suspension swapped on nicely as well. Nice parts from Yeah Racing, the bearings on the kingpins alone are worth it.  I chose to use the U shaped suspension mount as I fell it makes the front stronger overall. Royal pain getting shims in the lower arms though. I do need to dig around for some CVD's front and rear. I'm sure I have a set here somewhere that will work, but until I find them the dogbones will have to do. 
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Some Tamiya Mini CVA's with internal limiters bring it down to touring height. The white springs look very TRF, though I'm sure they'll get swapped out during testing as they are a bit soft. Note the full option TL lurking in the background... jealous of the new suspension I reckon. 
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Fitted with a "period correct" Orion 19t brushed for now. I will most likely swap over a BL system at some point. Did a little paint and decal work on the chassis to bring out some of the details. Very unique chassis for a touring car, may as well dress it up a bit. 
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So now it is almost a rolling chassis - electronics sorted and installed, just waiting on wheels, tires and a body. Was a bit undecided on the body, but think I found a decent match. Just waiting on the post office at this point. 

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Such a versatile chassis - had a few in my time as on roaders, drifters and off roader / crawlers

 

What body are you aiming for ?

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Very nice. I love the TL-01 - including the one i found in the loft the other day i have 5 and plan tonvert one to LA and make some sort of buggy from another. 

I’ll be watching this thread for inspiration. 

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On 9/12/2018 at 9:52 AM, Percymon said:

Such a versatile chassis - had a few in my time as on roaders, drifters and off roader / crawlers  What body are you aiming for ?

It is indeed! Bodies are a bit tricky imo since the TL is somewhat narrow. Took a chance on a Supra body since I've never had one before. Should be here shortly. 

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Did a bit of tuning to the TL ..

Found one set of CVD's in my stash, so of course they went up front. 
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Bolted on some temporary wheels and tires and noted right away that the chassis was sitting way too high. If I were doing a rally setup, this would be perfect. But my other TL is already set up for rally so this will be on-road only. Defintely need to lower the ride height. 
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Found a pair of Super Mini CVA's in my stash that just needed a few bits to be complete. Thankfully, had plenty of red o-rings laying around and got them built up. 40wt up front and 30wt out back. Forgive my camera - picked up a new one and still sorting things out. 
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I put 5mm internal limiters in and now it's sitting pretty! Maybe even a little low now for parking lot duty - we'll see. Had to swap out the springs as well - Yeah Racing hard up front and medium in back to start. 
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Think that's a more proper stance for some on road fun!
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The speed tuned gears should be here today, and the body and wheels are en-route. 

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Tl01 is one of my favorites too, really easy to setup for all kinds of applications. I still think in LA form it makes a great rally car. 

Sonething I found interesting comparing the Tl01LA set and the yeah racing LA set is that the rear arms are about 3mm longer than the Tamiya equivalent but the fronts are nearly 10mm shorter than the Tamiya equivalent. 

The yeah racing set is really nice, I prefer the Tamiya set for rallying/drifting as the front arms/knuckles/hubs can be trimmed for more travel and steering angle. 

Looks cool none the less. 

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Thank you @juls1! I agree that the TL01 is quite a fun runner. And let me say again I love your FF build! You don't see too may of them, and practically none with all the hop ups you've installed. I had the Celica kit years ago, converted it to RWD for a while, then eventually sold it off. 

Speed tuned gears arrived and were promptly installed. Went with the middle ratio. Think it'll be a good fit for the 19t motor. Might be a bit tall, we'll see.  
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After every build or rebuild involving a drivetrain, I always run the gearbox a few minutes on 3v. Spreads any grease around and highlights any issues before I go out and unleash the full 2S power! :)
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Went out in the driveway to set the trims and what not...fail. Slid sideways into the grass and it popped the rear camber link. I found that the rod end was defective - not sure how it missed that on assembly. Replaced with another and right back in action. 
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Trims set, ready to go! Body and wheels have arrived, just need to get some painting done. In the meantime, posing with her sister TL01LA rally car and patiently waiting. 
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Looking the goods, I’m half considering trying to make a rwd Porsche setup out of a TL01. Prob have to mount the battery long ways up the chassis to get the weight back far enough for grip. I could just go a lengthend m04 but someone already did that and all.  Love my TL01LA for rally, a set of GF01 alloy dampers give the extra travel for that huge droop setup. (CC01 alloy dampers are identical if you prefer brown caps).

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6 hours ago, Juls1 said:

Looking the goods, I’m half considering trying to make a rwd Porsche setup out of a TL01. Prob have to mount the battery long ways up the chassis to get the weight back far enough for grip. I could just go a lengthend m04 but someone already did that and all.  Love my TL01LA for rally, a set of GF01 alloy dampers give the extra travel for that huge droop setup. (CC01 alloy dampers are identical if you prefer brown caps).

How about using a MF-01X as a base? Similar to a TL-01 but rear motor like a proper Porsche, easy to fit with a modern short LiPo, takes TL-01 suspension arms for proper touring track width, can be lengthened with multiple and/or custom spacers and I don't think it has been done yet. 

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The Porsche body I have is 257mm biggest spacer for mf01x is 239mm short of making another spacer it’s not as easy to do. 

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6 hours ago, Juls1 said:

The Porsche body I have is 257mm biggest spacer for mf01x is 239mm short of making another spacer it’s not as easy to do. 

You can stack the spacers - you aren't limited to using just one. How close to your target can you get with a combination of spacers?

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I’ll have too look at this I do have a jimny I’m not over the moon about. Would make better use of the chassis.

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Finlly got some time to do some painting.. Picked up a Tamiya Supra body and did a fairly simple paint scheme. I tried a carbon hood and it came out pretty decent! Wheels have a bit too much offset, I'll have to play around with them a bit. 

Still have to decal and install the wing, etc. 
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I've tried the MF01X at a 257/251 wb - can't quite get there with the stock spacers, you'd need to do something custom. I had the same idea with a Porsche body. MF was a pretty good on-road conversion though, I was much happier with it this way than as a Jimny. 

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7 hours ago, OldSchoolRC1 said:

I've tried the MF01X at a 257/251 wb - can't quite get there with the stock spacers, you'd need to do something custom. I had the same idea with a Porsche body. MF was a pretty good on-road conversion though, I was much happier with it this way than as a Jimny. 

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Somewhere on here there is a table showing the available wheelbases using multiple combinations of the MF-01X spacers so you should be able to get there using Tamiya parts - if you can source them.

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7 hours ago, OldSchoolRC1 said:

I've tried the MF01X at a 257/251 wb - can't quite get there with the stock spacers, you'd need to do something custom. I had the same idea with a Porsche body. MF was a pretty good on-road conversion though, I was much happier with it this way than as a Jimny. 

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Looking at how the right rear suspension binds on the prop shaft cover when it droops in off-road spec, I get the impression that the MF-01 chassis may have been designed with on road intentions in the first place, with the X added as an afterthought. You don't get any binding issues when the car is running normal on-road levels of ground clearance with internal shock spacers limiting the droop.

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I was thinking if it’s set at 251mm how much will we gain by flipping the TL01LA rear arms over? I actually think that would work better anyway with where the shock mounts are. 

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I can't say - wish I still had mine to mess with, but I sold it off and picked up an M07 instead. Kind of wishing I had kept it. 

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Alright, let's get this one finished..

Precut decals? C'mon Tamiya, what's this oddity?
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And done! I took a few liberties with the body. I didn't like the black stripe along the bottom, so I went with body color instead. Visually raises the car in my eyes. 
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Kept it simple paint-wise - too many with flashy graphics and what not. I love the lines of the body and they can get lost with all kinds of graphics splashed all over. 
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Swapped over some 24mm Tamiya mesh wheels - they tuck into the wheel wells perfectly. 
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And with my Rally TL01LA. Ready to go!
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I do think my suspension is a little too low and stiff for parking lot mayhem, but we'll see once it gets out there. 

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