Percymon 2184 Posted September 30, 2012 Almost 2 years ago I joined this forum pretending that, having been deprived of my RC dream as a child, I needed some practice before building my son's Rising Storm buggy on Christmas day. So i duly bought a Manta Ray wreck from eBay and with the help of this excellent forum I got on with the job of restoring it, picking up loads of info along the way that later proved valuable. start.. finish.. More recently I'd started thinking about upgrading that Manta Ray to a Top Force, Ooooo that sexy body and its fibre chassis plates. However, after a bit of research and pricing new parts it quickly became apparent it was uneconomic to do the conversion so the hunt was on for a suitable Top Force to tidy up / improve. My favourite wallet emptying website obliged within a week with two possibilities - the first looked in good condition, had been stripped, cleaned and partly rebuilt but was missing several parts, the rear wing and undercowl and the body had a few splits. I got outbid, but there's always another round the corner !! So three days later, the next item neared its deadline. It was dirty, supposedly an attic find, with incorrect wheels and flaking paint. It came with servo, hot Reedy motor and a Tekin Sport ESC (all electrics untested !!). The body was all there but was suffering peeling paint, which at least it backed up the attic story/model age !. Bid , bid, bid, won It arrived two days later, looking a bit sorry for itself - on first glance i was a bit disappointed, but a reappraisal said it wasn't all that bad, just needing a LOT of TLC.... Hmmm..(optimistic head on lol!) wheels n tyres will do fine for a basher / emergency spares the body and wing can be stripped and resprayed - perfectly good runner body and a repro one can be done later for the shelf a new undercowl will cover the scratches on the lower chassis the FRP parts can be sanded and relacquered to improve the looks the Reedy motor has got decent brushes and spins more than fine directly off a battery pack servo and ESC still to be tested the rest is pretty much dirt and a neglect ! In the spares box i already have.. some re-re Hi-Caps re-re lightweight white Avante wheels hybrid spike tyres So in theory.. a strip down, clean, improve where possible and then rebuild with the bits from the spares box.Theory, pah ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dutch_rc 71 Posted October 1, 2012 Nice score! They are great to work on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 1, 2012 They do achieve a good balance of build complexity against time. Nothing too complex beyond the ball diffs and some nice quality components too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IBIFTKH 1369 Posted October 1, 2012 Looks like that's had some serious use. I'll be good to see it back to its former glory after the 'Percymon treatment' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 1, 2012 Thanks guys - aim isn't for a full on restoration but to make something that i might actually use rather than shelf ! A few more pics from strip down.. inventive rear wing mounts - might have been cheaper to buy the real thing than use Avante/Egress chassis plate spacers ! underside of the front end - gives an idea of what the FRP plate is like underneath the undercowl as it saw plenty of action without one in place ! Onto the strip down.. front gearbox - looks well sealed but that red lower cover is obviously a previous replacement.. .. which has also seen a few good whacks judging by the split ! new part on order better take a look inside then.. Nice ..better check that ball diff... Oh well, the rear might be better , no broken casing parts (woohoo !)... insides.. Ah, lovely aluminium grinding paste - yummy and the diff.. diff plates groved as expected, thankfully the other sides are perfect At this point it should come as no surprise that i'm now waiting on parts. The diffs themselves cleaned up fine and the diff outer teeth are all good with little wear. I'll be using the all plastic gear set and steel pinion (18tooth) to rid the rear gearbox of all cheap aluminium parts. The car is also missing the front universal shafts so they are on their way too. Looks like i have a weeks lull in this project, no bad thing as I can get back on track with Wild Willy 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EddScott 134 Posted October 3, 2012 Saw this on Ebay - missed one before that looked good for a rebuild too. I want to build one with as many new parts as possible but just can't seem to get the ally mount bag. Hence looking at complete cars for parts. Will look forward to the rebuild pics Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 3, 2012 I found the rear wing stay (bent wire) at Seidel Modellbau for under 2euro each - got 2 on route to me The mount bag containing the conical alloy wing mounts is available but a bit pricey at £15. I've actually cut one of those Egress chassis supports in two - it already has a M3 thread down the middle for the retaining screw to the FRP tower and the M3 grub screw that clamps the wire stay - I just need to drill a 2mm hole for the wire to sit in.  Its not often I have an idea as good as this one  Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 3, 2012 The main driver for this spark of ingenuity was the heap of money I'd already spent I currently have parts inbound from Seidel Modellbau - arrived 4/10/12 AsiaTees - arrived 5/10/12 Stellamodels -arrived 9/10/12 Fusion Hobbies - arrived 9/10/12 JR-RC RC Bearings - arrived 3/10/12 Empire RC - arrived 9/10/12 RC Sausage Dog - arrived 5/10/12 BoltonModelMart - arrived 3/10/12 RC Geeks - arrived 3/10/12 EEK ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 4, 2012 Order from Seidel landed today.. A parts D parts - Doh, schoolboy error forgot i needed two of them Screw bag A,B and C Tape bag Decals Wing stay With new bearings arriving yesterday i was able to at least rebuild the front gearbox with all new A parts Hopefully the B and J sprues, plus the all plastic gearset, will come in a few days so i can do the rear gearbox and get the chassis together. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 5, 2012 Ordered another D parts tree from Tamiyparts this morning Asiatees and RCSausage Dog deliveries came this morning, sadly these only allowed me to progress installing foams and tyres onto the LW wheels. All HK/Japan orders have been shipped now so next week should be another good one for deliveries  Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kontemax 1725 Posted October 5, 2012 You are buying a totally new car :-) Can't wait to see it finished. Max Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 5, 2012 You are buying a totally new car :-) Can't wait to see it finished. Max Its looking that way - I'll build a hybrid 'Top Ray' with the used parts, I won't need much as i have a complete TA01 front gearbox sat in the spares box ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bigwheels_inc 11 Posted October 6, 2012 LOL Been there restored a Bullhead and ended up with 2 of them great work though cant wait to see it finished Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 6, 2012 No parts delivery today so just a bit of tinkering here n there. Discovered the motor that came with the top force is a reedy ultra Mr Hs which translates to a 12 turn triple, explains why it felt lively when tested direct on a battery pack. As a result I stuck with it's original 16 tooth steel pinion and not the 18 tooth I'd bought. Will get a few pics up tomorrow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 10, 2012 A few more parts arrived yesterday but nothing that allowed any real progress. Hopefully the main constituents will arrive ready for a weekend purge ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 16, 2012 Well a quick update, with some pics for a change Still not really able to motor on this rebuild as B parts are still on route, plus the lightweight TA01 propshaft from Asiatees. I rebuilt the front end with new A and D parts, new TA01 uprights, new universals (as it arrived with dogbones ) and 3racing titanium turnbuckles. The original ball diff is inside honest ! I'll need to reopen the gearbox to fit the propshaft coupling but thats not much work. I had to add additional spacer at the top of the Hi-cap rere dampers to hold them off the FRP tower.. Main chassis wise, its not moved on much for a week - new alloy (green ) servo mounts, new Acoms AS-17 servo, 3Racing titanium turnbuckles for the steering. The rest is Tamiya original alloy parts and the FRP chassis rejuvenated with some fresh lacquer.. I have a fair few parts sat in semi built up sections so when the B parts arrive for the gearbox casing I can hopefully get it all bolted up quickly. The shell and wing have been stripped of the old PC17 brush paint, are now masked up and waiting on a can of PS-17 to arrive. I ditched the old decals int he end, they were peeling at the edges and some had been stuck back down with superglue which added to the shell prep. Fresh decals are waiting ready though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 20, 2012 As I hinted elsewhere on the forum, the postman brought me the necessary parts yesterday so i was able to make decent progress... rear gearbox in progress (yes that motor heat sink WAS a nice idea but obviously wasn't going to remain given the layout of the chassis !!).. new plastic gearset and bearings in place.. all sealed up and the new re-re hicaps installed.. needing a spacer on the rear set too to offset from the FRP shock tower plate.. Chassis now all bolted up.. front.. middle.. and rear... The old shell and wing have been repainted with PS-17 metallic green and new decals are to be applied once I get time - the shell was never going to be perfect but then i wanted a runner, not another shelfer..... ...to be continued Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TA-Mark 195 Posted October 20, 2012 The DT02 heatsink will fit onto the DF01 if you feel the need to use one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 21, 2012 Thanks. I've got a few more normal size heat sinks kicking around (albeit not green in colour) so I'll try those for fit ; I'm sure they were bought for my sons DF02 so may be ok otherwise I'll look into DT02 ones. I've got the smallest pinion fitted so I should be OK heat wise but better to be safe than sorry and a bit of alloy boing never hurt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 21, 2012 Well this arvo I plucked up the courage to drill the 2mm hole in the improvised rear wing mounts - a cordless hand drill and a pair of pliers to hold the alloy pieces isn't the best set up, but thats all i had Any way they turned out OK.... ..fitted.. At this stage I suddenly realised the rear wing wasn't the correct one, why it's taken me this long to realised goodness only knows, but as i've not got another ordered yet i test fitted the shell and 'incorrect' wing.... Still got to cut, paint and fit the undercowl, decal this runner body and now buy, paint and decal the correct rear wing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IBIFTKH 1369 Posted October 21, 2012 Nice to see it looking like a car again. Lot of work but it looks immaculate now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waterbok 1282 Posted October 21, 2012 I asked ***** a couple of days ago if they can sell the TF wing seperatly, but the answer was No (as it is integrated in the body mould) Maybe if enough TF lovers ask them, they might re-think. Very nice restore btw. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo 1218 Posted October 22, 2012 Great job Mate. The Hi-Caps, LW wheels and Hybrids look fantastic. Super effort and a great result once again Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 22, 2012 I'm on the look out now for a TF style rear wing a bit of browsing says suitable looking otpions are DB-01 Durga TRF-201 TRF-501 DF-03 Dark Impact Dyna Storm Desert Gator/Sand Viper aren't too bad but have a raised section where the wing is bolted on so not ideal Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted October 24, 2012 Yesterday I bought a new TF bodyset, the TRF501 rear wing set (well 2 wings in one!) plus some E parts and a Terra Conqueror bodyset for the 'other chassis' built fromt he used parts from this, some bits from my spares boxes and some new parts. Tonight i added some TRF chrome decals to the runner TF body and its oddball rear wing.. The other chassis looks like this.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
