TRF201: The rebuild begins.

[Jontea 334]

Having bought a DT 02 Sand Viper not so long ago, the RC bug was well and truly caught (again, some 30 years later). Was looking for a more demanding build kit, looked at a Top Cat and Super Astute, asked around on here, was going Schumacher, that is until this 201 was offered to me. 

Buggy arrived this week, it's in fairly good condition, needs a clean, and probably a regrease, few bits I needed to order (and still do), awaiting servo horn, soldering iron, RIT dye (black). 

First job was to panic about missing servo mounting parts and horn, once informed I need not buy the actual manual parts, I duly ordered some TRF bling blue bits. Second job was to remove some decals from the bodyshell, I'm a less is more kinda fella, it's a buggy not a rolling advertising hoarding. Third job, wish I hadn't started, remove tyres from one set of wheels (well glued on), which will lead to 3rd job sub index 1, getting tyre rubber and glue off wheels before they go in a soothing bath of black RIT dye.

Jobs to do in the coming week, solder motor connectors, order esc program card, fit electrics (dry run, no sticky tape), sort through the mountain of spare parts that came with the deal. Then hopefully by next weekend it'll be up and running.

Longish term jobs (have a week off at Easter), strip the whole thing down and rebuild, putting in new bearings and grease, once everything is stripped, give it all a good hot soapy bath. Then comes the fun part, building a kit from scratch.

Any advice on jobs and how to remove tyre rubber off the wheels greatly appreciated.

 

[t3garett 268]

Looking good !

Leave the wheel and tire in a jar with acétone over night. The acetone melts the glue without damaging tire/wheel/foam. No need to imerse the wheel completly just 2cm of acétone will do. 

Glad you re having fun. 

[Jontea 334]

Cheers. Now I've chilled out in my desperation to get genuine parts, shiny blue stuff will be awesome. Looking forward to Easter, and getting to strip it down and rebuild it, and and to get the new shell painted.

[matisse 1581]

59 minutes ago, t3garett said:

Looking good !

Leave the wheel and tire in a jar with acétone over night. The acetone melts the glue without damaging tire/wheel/foam. No need to imerse the wheel completly just 2cm of acétone will do. 

Glad you re having fun. 

Boiling also works. its not as effective but involves less chemicals.

 

[Jontea 334]

21 minutes ago, matisse said:

Boiling also works. its not as effective but involves less chemicals.

 

Will try this first, as I have immediate access to water and a pan. If that fails acetone it is.

[Seanster43 222]

As said previously said would try with boiling water first, might take longer with boiling water but worth it for a starting point. Looks in decent condition too 👍🏻

[Jontea 334]

Boiled first set, noticed a crack in one of the wheels (bin for that one), will continue with rest as spares, and to get the tyres off. Ordered a fresh set of wheels, full set for £16, will acetone the other set, it'll be quicker and probably have better results.

[Seanster43 222]

Are the wheels quite old? I mind years ago had similar problems with a one piece stadium truck wheel (kyosho) the rears cracked as were spare older used ones fronts were newer and came away no probs. Can’t complain at £16 for a full set though 👍🏻

[Jontea 334]

They look well used, been raced, and quite scuffed. Not too fussed as there's a set of acid yellow ones on the car which are in better condition, soon as the tyres are off, pan of black RIT dye for the yellows and new whites awaits.

[Seanster43 222]

I’m sure it’ll be a good one once you get your jobs sorted. Nice bit of kit the TRF201 always fancied one. Is there still spares available for these? 

[Jontea 334]

I got a box full with the deal. Wishbones, suspension uprights and gearbox. Was gonna see if I could find someone to 3d print some if I give em the original parts to copy (presume that's how it works). I've found Tony's Tamiya parts can get stuff from Japan on special order, so if summat disastrous goes wrong, he'll be my go to. Further down the line may make my own carbon fibre chassis, we'll see.

[Jontea 334]

Soldering iron arrived today. 

Tonight's little job completed. Soldered motor connectors and deans plug to esc.

 

[Jontea 334]

It's always the small jobs, that turn out to be a pain in the bum!

Good news, DT 02 servo mounts work.

Bad news, TRF servo horn is too long (spline to ball connector), off to look for a shorter one now.

[Seanster43 222]

Know the feeling! Good progress though and nothing better when something does work out that’s from a different part/model. 

[Jontea 334]

I'm seriously going to break something soon! I know, let's build off road racing machines, but make every component different to any other, come on Tamiya use some standard components.

So TRF servo horn has right distance from spline, but horn is too long (catches on chassis), Answer servo horn is right length using lower hole for ball connector, but not enough distance from spline (ball connector hits servo). 

Could someone with a TRF 201 please let me know what after market servo horn they're using, possibly with an in situ pic?

 

[Jontea 334]

Temporary fix. Having realised that the ball on tother side of the horn was about the same as the offset of the TRF horn, I went digging, hadn't realised the weight in the front end (under the servo) was quite so thick (a whole 3mm). Weight plate out, servo bolted down, need to shave couple of mm off the top of the Answer servo horn, should work til I find an offset short (15mm or less) servo horn.

[Jontea 334]

Electrics fitted, servo in some form of working order (steering turnbuckles need adjusting). Off to buy a charity shop pan so I can dye the wheels and fit the tyres, then a play with the esc program card.

 

[Jontea 334]

Hope this works!

 

[Jontea 334]

It does. One set done (new whites), another in the pot (used acid yellows).

 

 

[matisse 1581]

nice bud!

 

[Seanster43 222]

Nice updates,  I’ve had hassles with the servo saver on my TB-01 build opted for the Tamiya hi torque one in the end as the ones that came with it were no good, always the same with 2nd hand projects bits go missing. IMO it makes the build more enjoyable when there’s a few niggles to sort. 👍🏻

[Jontea 334]

Frustratingly enjoyable, but yeah, I do have a sense of satisfaction now I've sorted it out.

[Jontea 334]

Finally got the servo horn sorted (ish), butchered a Core offset one to fit. After removing 72gr under servo weight to get servo/servo horn to fit, I purchased some sticky lead weights, managed to get 60grs on and around the servo. After messing about with the front ride height, found a puddle on my work top, while adjusting the shock I managed to undo the cap and leaked some shock oil, so tomorrow's job is replacing shock oil, may as well do em all. Sunday's job will be first outdoor test drive.

[Jontea 334]

Finally, a day without the sky crying! Grounds still very wet, so stuck to tarmac and concrete (local skatepark). Steering is very sharp, servo horn bodge seems to be working fine, may take some practice to get used to the responsiveness of the Savox servo, very quick.

Next job, glueing the tyres on, threw a rear off the wheel.

Not far off my Easter holiday now, looking forward to the complete strip down and rebuild.

When I rebuilt the shocks I used 700 oil, don't now how anyone uses softer shock oil, unless it's just a particularly heavy buggy, takes off and lands very smoothly now.

[CoolHands 816]

How long is the servo horn meant to be? Eg 16mm or whatever. It looks fairly short so maybe team associated b6 horn will do. Edit just seen it is 15mm? So this one should be ok. I might have a spare one depending on what servo you have. How many teeth / what make is that servo?

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