My first offroad Buggy
The Manta Ray was a great car to start with as a buggy. It had oil shocks, 4wd and was really cheap and easy to build. I bashed around a lot in the 90's and nothing ever failed. I started to add some hop ups and I was really proud of it. I added the HiCap Aluminum dampers and the top force drive shaft. After sitting in the basement for about 15 years or so I dug it up and started to rebuild and upgrade it. I really like to hunt the original hop ups. This is how it looks like now.
It is gettIng closer and closer to a Top Force Evo with a Terra Conqueror body but anyway. All in all I could Probably have bougt three TFE kits for the money I spent, but the fun and excitement going through the manuals chasing parts and upgrading is totally worth it :-)
I installed a 2s BL system with a Hobbywing Ezrun MAX10 G2 80A Combo mit Motor 3652SD-3300KV. Runns super smooth and has grat power and one 4500mAh pack lasts forever.
The TFE chassis with all the required parts is on its way but will take a while as it is shipped from Hongkong . (Correction, it took just one week from Honkong to Switzerland!!! I was expecting three to four weeks :-) )
The HopUps I installed so fare are:
- Ball bearings everywhere
- Torque splitter / one way (I had to find all components individually as there was no kit available)
53200 - 4WD Front One-Way Diff Unit
14305269 - ONE-WAY SHAFT
19803175 - GEAR SET
- Manta Ray ball diff in the rear (53070) - Upgraded to TFE spec
53070 - Manta Ray ball diff
19805419 - Gear Box Joints for TFE Ball Diff
19805420 - Pressure Plates for TFE Ball Diff
53136 - One Piece Thrust Bearing
- TFE carbon damper stays front and rear with all the small parts
13404105 - Front Damper Stay
13404106 - Rear Damper Stay
- High Cap dampers V2 front and rear (I had to find all components individually as there was no set available)
19804651 - Damper Cylinders
19804189 - Piston Rods
54508 - Springs Rear
54507 - Springs Front
198080277 - Cylinder Ends
10115080 - N-Parts Damper Parts TFE
19224040 - X-Parts
10225052 - Y-Parts
- Egress Wheels
19335066 - Wheel Bag (black rims of the Egress)
19804545 - Tires Front
19805536 - Tires Rear
-Propeller Shaft set
13485025 Set
-Aluminum Motor Mount
19804966
-XtraSpeed Aluminum Front Knuckles Red
XS- TA29042RD
-Yeah Racing Titanium Screw set Top Force EVO
I might have missed some parts but that's mainly it :-)
Still about to be installed :
- TFE Carbon Chassis
13404103 - Carbon Chassis Lower Deck Top Force Evo
13404124 - Carbon Chassis Upper Deck Top Force Evo
9805732 - Hex Screw Mounts (for battery holders)
9805827 - Press nuts
19804988 - Top Force Steering Mount
19804989 - Top Force Chassis Stay Long
19804990 - Top Force Chassis Stay Short
19805392 - Top Force Battery Plate Bag
Update 24.02.2025
Some new Hop-Ups are waiting to be installed. All the essential parts for the carbon chassis conversion (TFE) arrived. Can't wait to start to work on it. The Chassis is now almost complete but I have to wait for a few parts to complete (mainly the turnbuckle which connects the steering arms together. When they arrive I'll be able to install the rest of the car on the chassis.
While waiting for the parts to arrive I painted the tyres. Took a while but adds a nice touch. It won ‚¬Å¡ ¬Ãƒ €¹Ã… €œt probably last very long as I do run the car pretty often but I looks cool.
Update 27.02.2025
The remaining parts finally arrived and the chassis is installed. I had to remove the fan cover of the esc because it would not fit between the two decks. The parts from Custom RC Parts are amazing. Fantastic quality and they fit perfectly. Thanks Bora!
Unfortunately the undercowl does not fit well with the Terra Conqueror body but it is ok for now.
I am realy happy how everything went together and all in all it was a lot of fun!
Update 03.03.2025:
I run the car today and it goes super smooth. It's such a fun car. The only thing I will probably modify in the near future is to remove the torque splitter/one way diff as I prefer to have all wheels braking and better traction if in reverse if it gets stuck somwhere :-)
I ordered some more parts from Custom RC Parts which are the rear diff cover, the front shock tower mount and the steering brace.
Cheers Jannick
3
How it looks today
3
And some time ago when it was still a Manta Ray
1
BL System from Hobbywing
1
Not much space for the MAX10 ESC
1
1
1
The profile looks really cool imho
1
1
New Hop-Ups waiting for installation
1
The Chassis almost done
1
1
Little touch with painted tyres
1
Chassis ready for installation
1
The Terra Conqueror Evo
1
Braces from Custom RC Parts
1
2
1
Ready to run
1
If you liked those pictures, you should see these...
My first offroad Buggy
Comments
Very cool looking restore of this buggy! Nice job and I love the brushless setup and the hop ups. I'm like you and really enjoy hunting around Ebay and other places for the old parts etc.... Welcome to Tamiya Club and hope to see more of your work soon!
Fridolin
Thanks! In the next week I‘ll hopefuly get to work on the carbon chassis conversion. Further some parts from Custom RC Parts (to be found on FB or ebay as borac-53) are on their way. These are reinforcements for the gear vovers and the motor mount. Fantastic parts from a very nice guy!
Pictures will follow
Want to leave a comment?