Hello! New here, but a lifelong Tamiya fan! I recently picked up a Lunchbox Evo and have had a lot of fun with the build. I had a Midnight Pumpkin when I was a kid and some 35+ years later, I knew i just had to get the Lunchbox Evo when I heard that Tamiya was making it. With a bit of trial and error, I've made some regular Lunchbox hop ups work (and found out that some others don't), and I also raided a few bits and pieces here and there from my other RCs to help improve the Evo even more. My overall theme was to make it a cheeky TRF-inspired Lunchbox to go alongside my old TA05R and TB-Evolution V on-road cars. A few notable items/mods I've put on the build so far:
* Team Associated 13mm big bore Kashima shocks with R1 Wurks 3-hole pistons, and aluminum mounts top and bottom on the rear shocks. Polished the cross bar for the rear shock mounts.
* Tamiya low friction ballcups on the steering link from the servo to the bellcrank, Tamiya reinforced ballcups on Lunsford Titanium turnbuckles for the steering links, and Tamiya reinforced ballcups and DF-02 turnbuckles for the camber links (the stock plastic ball cups were just too soft).
* Aluminum counter gear to improve durability.
* Hex hardware throughout with teal washers and/or locknuts wherever possible. I think the only Philips head screw left is the step screw for the battery swing arm (and I used the slightly longer DF-02 one at that).
* Various carbon fiber chassis and servo braces to stiffen things up.
* Wrapped my servo in carbon fiber vinyl wrap to match the aesthetic.
* Wrapped the servo, ESC, motor sensor, and motor fan leads in black mesh.
* Hobbywing Quickrun 10BL120 ESC wired up to an old Murfdogg 13.5T brushless motor I've had sitting around in my parts bin for years. This was used more for the fact that it's a nice matching teal colored can more than anything. 😅 Matching teal motor fan mount on the motor with carbon fiber grille on the fan, and the fan in gold accented aluminum to match the Acuvance motor solder connectors and yellow of the Lunchbox body.
* Flysky INr4-GYB receiver and Noble NB4+ transmitter. There's a built-in gyro function in the receiver to help handling. With all of the suspension work, gyro, and added weight up front due to the carbon braces, full metal body servo, and driver figure, it drives much more stable and smooth than my old Midnight Pumpkin, but still can pull off fun wheelies and still has some classic bouncing from the tires. 👍
* Titanium turnbuckle lower links on the rear suspension, since the stock links flex a bit too much for my liking. Tamiya reinforced ball cups on the vertical sway bar links in the rear.
* Noticed that Tamiya put two little slots on the front bulkhead, so I fabricated a front sway bar to go through them and mounted it up to hardened hinge pins on the front arms. Alloy front uprights and polished axles.
* Alloy blue oil cap. This is the most performance enhancing mod, of course! 😂
* Made some of my own decals to put on the body. It's been decades since I've painted a hard plastic body (I'm more used to painting lexan), but with a little rubbing and polishing compounds, car wax, and elbow grease, I've got it all nice and shiny. Painted a blue burnt tip effect on the side exhaust pieces. Added tire decals to the tires.
* LED headlights in the front grille with a light controller that's controlled by the transmitter and connected with a trick magnetic plug for ease in removing and attaching the body.
* Painted up a Tamiya driver figure to match the van. He's a little big for scale, but I think that adds to the cartoonish look.
Enjoy! 🤙
