Juhunio's Bits-A-Builds WIP: TA04-TRF Ford Mondeo BTCC

[Juhunio]

And the revised rear end is complete! The uprights are now mounted on 'proper' TA04 Low Friction Suspension Shafts rather than the 2.6mm Titanium Coated Shafts used in the reversible set up

[Juhunio]

Time for some full disclosure 😂

My photographs might look nice and tidy, and perhaps some people wonder why I always crop in so closely. 

Well, it's because this is the full and honest picture of messy work in progress 😂😂🫣🫣

[Juhunio]

Getting the front end off is a little more awkward because of how the belt is threaded through the chassis meaning it won't fully detach. But no huge drama...

[Juhunio]

The original front universals are pre-assembled, which is handy 😀

And I'm glad to have stumbled across these low-friction kingpins. They're compatible with the TA04 and have a hex fitting so will stay consistent with the rest of the build. And as an added bonus they also fit the Evo III, so this pack of four will cover both chassis

[Juhunio]

I do love a hex-head fitting, they look so much tidier than Phillips / JIS heads in my opinion

[Juhunio]

The new arms also mean I can mount the front stabilisers in the 'proper' place, on those little ball nuts next to the damper mount

They were a bit of a pain to fit...they have a flat-screwdriver head (grrr!) and a very thin machine thread, so it's almost impossible to get them to grip into the hard plastic and hold 'em steady with a flat screw driver with enough force to drive 'em in. In the end I used a 2.6mm tapping screw to start a thread and then screwed them into that 

[Juhunio]

Another little tweak...the aluminium front body posts sit inside rubber bushings inside the urethane bumper, but there's no top part or brace to finish it. This would have been a great opportunity for Tamiya to throw another piece of SSG carbon at the chassis!

 

But, as Tamiya did not do this, I used one of these front body mount cross members to 'finish' the front bumper...

 

I don't think Tamiya made a 'proper' part to do this job, but maybe something from another chassis would fit better? If anyone knows, let me know 😀

[Juhunio]

Then finally onto the wheels. My TA04-SS has an Audi TT DTM body shell on it, so I'm going to put an Audi V8 Touring DTM shell on this TA04-TRF

In the end I did not need the foams as the MST tyres came with foams pre-fitted 

[Juhunio]

And it's done! Fully returned to stock suspension, and a nice set of 26mm rims fitted ready for an Audi V8 shell 😊

[Juhunio]

Loving all the hex-heads, right down to the king pins 😀

[Juhunio]

Of course, this leaves me with a complete and effectively brand new reversible suspension set up. And before I decided to make the TA04 chassis fully TRF, I was going to build it with a carbon reinforced tub instead. This meant I had to trim the nibs at the front of the tub for the narrower arms to fit...

But the arms did fit, and I've still got the tub which is good as new apart from my super-tidy trimming

As I fitted blue aluminium steering to the TRF I also have spare steering arms, along with some fluorine coated steering posts and a few other leftovers (main suspension shafts, suspension mounts, upper deck, battery mount screws, battery straps, transponder holder, servo stays), which all adds up to this!

[Juhunio]

Tinker, tinker...

I've mostly been watching cricket this afternoon but in between the clatter of Proteas' wickets I fitted the 3R carbon radio tray to the FF03-RR

It's a really smart piece, supported by two blue aluminium mounts which screw to the lower deck...

...that are then completely hidden by the carbon tray 😂

It is a nice hop up though, one which I'm surprised Tamiya don't offer as it provides a nice balance to the servo tray opposite (which they do)

 

 

[Juhunio]

And finally for today I made a decision on body shell for the TA04-RR chapter of this ridiculous thread

It's a full house of:

• Wheelbase ✅
• Body posts in the same position as body holes ✅
• Nose fits over bumper ✅
• Wheels compatible with arms ✅

Hurrah!

 

[Re-Bugged]

14 hours ago, Juhunio said:

 

 

Very handsome beast indeed 👍🏻

[Juhunio]

6 hours ago, Re-Bugged said:

Very handsome beast indeed 👍🏻

Thanks man! Slightly dreading the sticker job on the shell, wish me luck!

[Re-Bugged]

Good luck 😉😁👍🏻

[Aerobert]

Good luck. I've done this before and it's nerve-wracking but looks great when finished.

[cfernandez]

Awesome job on the TA04 TRF transformation!  I have a TA04 PRO that I bought new back in the day 20 odd years ago and have recently purchased a few new parts to upgrade it: SSG damper stays F & R and SSG upper deck and a carbon reinforced tub .  Will be getting TRF shocks and some other racing parts . . . if I can find them.  My plan is to race this car as I should have 20 years ago.  Again, great write.  Your ever changing plans for this TA04 from page 1 to 19 have given me a lot of ideas.  Cheers.

[Juhunio]

10 hours ago, cfernandez said:

Awesome job on the TA04 TRF transformation!  I have a TA04 PRO that I bought new back in the day 20 odd years ago and have recently purchased a few new parts to upgrade it: SSG damper stays F & R and SSG upper deck and a carbon reinforced tub .  Will be getting TRF shocks and some other racing parts . . . if I can find them.  My plan is to race this car as I should have 20 years ago.  Again, great write.  Your ever changing plans for this TA04 from page 1 to 19 have given me a lot of ideas.  Cheers.

Thanks very much, and you're welcome! It's really great to get some encouraging feedback on the build thread!

Love the sound of your plans for your TA04...you might well have picked this up from my thread, but something to be aware of with those SSG damper stays is the front ones don't have room for body posts. You will have to use body posts attached to the bumper, so will need either the aluminium parts (53614 or 53617) or the Racing Body Mount Set (53426). And an un-drilled body set so you can drill holes to suit the front mounts 👍

[Juhunio]

I've smashed a couple of deadlines early this week so today I treated myself to a day of....masking 

Boy do I dislike masking....

First, the R390 for the TA04-R chapter of this thread.

The instructions say to remove the protective film so you can attach four of the stickers, and then use them as guidelines for masking the inside for the break between black and red. And then you have to remask the entire outside!

Instead, I scanned the necessary section of the sticker sheet and printed it out actual size, then cut out those four 'stickers' and used them as templates to make extra masking stickers. I stuck those on top of the protective film and used them as a guide for the interior masking, without the need to remove the film or remask the entire outside. 

The black has gone down nicely, will leave it to fully cure overnight and then do the red tomorrow

[Juhunio]

And second, the Alfa for the FF03-RR

This one needs a thin strip of black painting along the sides, along with the front and rear valances. This means masking pretty much the whole of the inside off first 

I cheated a bit, creating a good solid mask line for the black areas and then building it out a bit before masking the rest off with a couple of sheets of paper

Fingers crossed!

[Juhunio]

The R390 is cleaned up and ready for the coats of red...though it does look kinda cool with a transparent nose, offering a view of the front of the TA04-R 

[Juhunio]

Switching back to the Evo III...

Thanks to @svenb providing the elusive A5 parts, I can crack on with the gearboxes 😃

First up, the gear casings and damper mounts

[Juhunio]

Then on to the rear ball diff and front one-way...I took this photo before I realised that the 53890 diff nut holders were too big, and had half-built the ball diff before I worked that out, so can't re-take the photo 🙄

[Juhunio]

First of all, the ball diff. You can see the clear difference the proper diff-nut holder makes in terms of where the nut is set.

Incorrect:

Correct:

But then, something strange happened that I have not experienced before...