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acprc

Restoration Commission Build - 1/8 Tamiya TGX

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So I have been collecting Tamiya for quite some time and predominantly Nitro. I moderate here and run 4 or 5 Facebook groups all linked to Tamiya Nitro. I like to think I help out where I can and get lots of questions and requests for help but this one is a first for me. A Facebook group member asked me If I would restore a car for them. As it was Nitro and a TGX I jumped at the chance and said yes. No discussions on what was involved, cost etc but today a parcel arrived. @MaheshIPatel01 it begins!

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Inside we basically have the car and lots of hop-ups that Mahesh has collected over about a year. Actually quite a costly parcel to replace with the parts he has amassed. 

The car is kit number 44019 the Subaru Impreza 99. Released originally on the 29/06/1999 its now coming up to being a little over 22 years old. Now Tamiya made three TGX kits that require building with the Rally chassis, this one, the Impreza 2001 and the Corolla WRC. Basically the same as the other TGX kits they have a sealed gearbox to avoid stones, a plastic underguard, silver chassis plates and a different enclosed air filter.

This one came from Hamleys in the UK way back when and has been with the owner ever since. I can really relate to that.

Extensively complete and it has been runnning

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Fitted with rear alloy uprights

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Front and rear stabilisers

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A nice TM-2 Exhaust and manifold.

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The parcel also includes some lovely hop-ups

A new Carbon centre driveshaft

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A new TM-2 Manifold. I will try and rescue the old one first

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Upgraded brake disc and new 2 speed pinion. The car is already fitted with a 2 Speed and lightweight flywheel

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Front and rear alloy arms

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Hop-up universals

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Ball diff set

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A very lovely bearing set that will be hard to open! and a one way

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A used Carbon top deck

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Two pairs of dampers brand new

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New underguard

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and new aftermarket wheels and tyres. These will be painted with Subaru gold wheel paint

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a used FS-15LT engine with the optional heatsink head

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Lots to do, strip down is first to see whats damaged, broken, restorable etc. @jonboy1 we are looking to find someone who might be able to paint up the body?

 

   

 

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So today I got some time to get the chassis stripped down. Although a lot of the parts will be replaced with Hop-ups everything will be cleaned and returned if not used. Its quite a greasy and oily chassis!

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Managed to get the whole car apart, Metal parts

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Screws

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Electronics

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Bits for the bin, odd screws, ty wraps etc

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and a nice pile of bits to clean. Engine screws are siezed into the engine mounts so will need to work on them.

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Its obviously had quite a hard hit on one of the suspension arms as the pins were bent and the front gearbox casing is beyond saving. @MaheshIPatel01 I will find a new one!

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Tomorrow we clean!

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More progress today, mainly cleaning.

Screws went in the Ultrasonic

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Followed by lots of plastic scrubbing. Most of these parts wont be used in the rebuild but you have to give them back clean don't you?

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Front and rear diff were stripped and cleaned. the rear was rebuilt with new grease etc but isnt going back in the car. The front was rebuilt with the addition of the 53200 Front One-Way Diff unit.

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Rear arms had new bearings fitted ready to be built up.

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Progress

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Been away for a few days but between fixing cars, housework and the day job I managed to get some more done on the TGX today.

Replaced the 730 brass bushings in the steering arms with new 730 ball bearings ready to be rebuilt.

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Fitted the front alloy arm set onto the gearbox. The front diff with the one way was greased and sealed up. Also fitted the front stabilizer set from the old car that was cleaned up. Started adding the uprights and hubs.

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Built up the lovely Ball Diff for the rear gearbox

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Started building the rear gearbox up and fitted the optional rear alloy arms. Now the original Subaru TGX kit has a sealed gearbox and a covered spur area. As @MaheshIPatel01has a carbon top deck to fit i have decided to remove all of the gearbox parts and change the car to run a standard rear. As you cant fit the top cover with the carbon upper deck there is no point leaving it in as the open top will just catch dirt. So, dug out a used gearbox plate from my parts and fitted it.

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So, front gearbox unit so far

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and the rear

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and both together

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more to come over the weekend

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Don't think this could be in better hands - looking like the usual fantastic quality of work - love reading your builds :) 

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Little bit more progress.

Front and rear gearbox fitted to the new chassis plate. Carbon prob shaft fitted

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Started and finished the work on the carbon top deck. Was showing its age!

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Sanded with 1000, 1500 and 2500 Grit wet and dry.

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Then machine polished and waxed. You can actually see a reflection in it again!

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Now I can start building the top deck up for going on the chassis.

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This evening between other jobs etc I got the Radio gear cleaned.

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Simply brushed down with a large brush, cleaned with Flash Kitchen Spray and then any small bits of dirt in the screw heads removed with a fine brush. Wires cleaned and checked as well. One of the servo mounts has split but it will be fine once fitted.

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These will now be mounted on the top deck with the switch and fuel tank. Once mounted they will be tested and set at neutral.

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On 8/23/2021 at 5:36 PM, acprc said:

Little bit more progress.

Front and rear gearbox fitted to the new chassis plate. Carbon prob shaft fitted

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Started and finished the work on the carbon top deck. Was showing its age!

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Sanded with 1000, 1500 and 2500 Grit wet and dry.

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Then machine polished and waxed. You can actually see a reflection in it again!

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Now I can start building the top deck up for going on the chassis.

Did you sand  the surface of the carbon plates? If so bravo sir👏 

I didn't think you could polish out scratches in carbon fibre. 

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5 minutes ago, svenb said:

Did you sand  the surface of the carbon plates? If so bravo sir👏 

I didn't think you could polish out scratches in carbon fibre. 

Yes just lightly but no deep marks so just the gloss coat was affected.

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Did a little bit more to the chassis. Built up the carbon top deck with the servos etc and mounted it to the chassis, looks great again now its fitted.

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One of the very active members of the TGX Facebook group I moderate has been producing reproduction Urethane Bumpers so will be fitting one of these to the chassis.

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I also had a delivery from @MaheshIPatel01 during the week. Another couple of hop-ups. The alloy brake arm and alloy air filter mount so these will be fitted in due course.

Plan for the bank holiday here in the UK will be to fit the dampers after assembling them, fit the steering arms, centre the servos and fit the servo savers and then its on to the engines. The white steering servo saver has yellowed so it will be going into some denture cleaner to see if I can improve the look. I really hate tatty white parts so unless I can sort it out it may be replaced.

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Engines engines engines.

The TGX had come with two engines, both FS-15LT's. One that was fitted in the chassis (on the left) had a Lightweight flywheel, two speed pinion and gears and the hop up alloy engine mount. The one on the right had the optional oversized heatsink head in purple. Now the plan is to use the best one in the chassis with all the hop ups but restore both.

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The FS-15LT was only ever used in the TGX range and the TGM-01 Mad Bison and was the mainstay of the larger Tamiya nitro fleet. its smaller brother the FS-12LT took up the role in the smaller nitro chassis the TG-10. I find that you can tell a lot about an engine when you take it apart. The state of the engine initially, the screw heads, gaskets etc all tell a story and these two didn't disappoint!

The first engine to be stripped was the one with the purple head. Came apart easily with little fuss. Gaskets all in place, reasonable clean exterior etc. I think though that this engine has less compression than the other. That's a bit subjective but more on that in a bit.

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The second one to be stripped was the one fitted to the car. Heavily oil stained (which to be fair shouldn't happen in normal use) this one had loose head screws, only half a backplate gasket, no carb rubber washer and all the screws showed damage. It had clearly been apart a few times!

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Now all of the parts (not the flywheel or purple head) will go through the ultrasonic. The screws holding the mounts to the crankcase should then get the heads cleaned enough so that i can get a screwdriver in them and loosen them. If not they will need to be drilled. Both the recoils have been stripped apart for cleaning. its quicker and easier for me to replace them with refurbished ones from my stock and charge the refurb costs. I already make the labels for these and as such they will look new with labels and new cord. These two once cleaned and refurbed will be replacements for my stock.

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New original one right, refurbed on left

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Now engine compression can be down to lots of things. Worn piston and liners are the biggest contributor but leaks due to loose screws, no gaskets and worn bearings dont help! The plan on both engines is to replace the crankcase bearings with new and with these done, new gaskets and screws etc we shall see what we get. Both engines will also be bench tested on my engine rig. 

Chassis wise we are getting there. The white servo saver parts cleaned up nicely in the denture fluid and have now been fitted.

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Yey. Engine restauration is such a nice piece of work. Best of all in my opinion.

I have seen this stickers on ebay, is it you?

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7 hours ago, Collin said:

Yey. Engine restauration is such a nice piece of work. Best of all in my opinion.

I have seen this stickers on ebay, is it you?

Indeed it is. I have FS-15 and FS-12 done. A few more to do when I get time like the electric starter labels etc.

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So a nice big update on the TGX.

With the good weather last week I got the wheels done. First a good wash and keyed with a scotch pad

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Then build layers of Tamiya white primer

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Then Subaru Impreza Gold wheel paint and 4 coats of laquer

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and then some tyres, tyre decals and OZ Racing wheel decals

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The engine that was going back in the car was rebuilt with new gaskets etc where needed and the Hop-up heatsink head fitted.

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Fitted one of my reproduction labels to the pullstart, looks so much better.

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I then put the engine on the old chassis plate with a slave tank and exhaust and got it running and tuned. This way the nice clean chassis wasnt affected or the nice clean tank.

 

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All good so back in the car. Also got the second engine restored and fitted the used manifold that had come on the car. The restored car will have the new one however my sandblaster made this one look quite good. This FS-15LT doesnt have as much compression but will now be a handy spare engine.

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and so today the car looks like this. I have added the bodyclips in the correct position for the Subaru Impreza 99 body that will go on it in the future.

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and lastly one of the Facebook TGX group members is making reproduction aftermarket rear foam bumpers. Tamiya never made these originally but he has replicated a Japanese hop-up. I fitted one to the car.

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So the list of jobs is rapidly reducing. Cut and fit the protective undertray, clean up the cables and set up the radio gear. Clean the transmitter up and thats about it.

 

 

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4 hours ago, mtbkym01 said:

Stunning job there for sure

Thank you

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Stick and fork in me...I think I'm done!

Got the radio gear all set up, cleaned up a genuine Tamiya fuel filter and fitted it and then fitted the undercowl.

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and today she looks like this

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Happy how it has come out.

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That looks awesome. Great work! 👍      I like the look and the technical aspects of nitro cars but it's not so easy to find a place to drive them.

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13 hours ago, Aerobert said:

That looks awesome. Great work! 👍      I like the look and the technical aspects of nitro cars but it's not so easy to find a place to drive them.

Sadly I agree. I struggle to run my on road collection without travelling away from my home

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16 hours ago, acprc said:

Stick and fork in me...I think I'm done!

Got the radio gear all set up, cleaned up a genuine Tamiya fuel filter and fitted it and then fitted the undercowl.

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and today she looks like this

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Happy how it has come out.

This has turned out very nicely indeed.

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That looks awesome. Are the wheels HSP 2.2 wheels from eBay? They look spot on. How is the offset with a bodyshell looking with these wheels mate? Great job. Love it

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