Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

If you do...go check out AK and Lonerangers builds and you will have plenty to go by...thats what I did!!! "thumbsup" I tool around all the crazy builds goin on in this place and it gives me ideas and courage to step up and try it. Im nowhere near as awesome as some of the guys on here but Im happy with where Im headed. Only thing Im hoping for is that it holds up decently to abuse cause Ive never built a rig to look at...I love hitting the trails with em. I dropped the tub yesterday and gasped...then I laughed at myself. This sucked will see MUCH worse when it goes outside so might as well get it out of the system now :lmao:

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

I love all the scale touches on this Bronco, Matt. I can't wait to see it in person. I hope you have it at the meet on the 25th.

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

If its not running I'll still bring it in whatever shape its in so you can see it. I might get lucky and have it goin but I don't wanna rush it. Got some slow tedious work on the doors done. Need some hinges and more time to fool with it. Gonna try and light up the front and attach the front clip soon too.

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Been workin late every day for the last little bit so progress hasnt exactly been made, but last night in an attempt to stay motivated and scratch the itch I bolted the tub to the frame, taped the front clip on just to see how things were lining up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps80a05f44.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psa00882bd.jpg

Lights finally work too, forgot about that!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pse6520deb.jpg

Its lookin like itll line up pretty close and only be a slight bother to bolt all together mainly because the dash gets in the way of the front bolts (whoops). Not enough that it cant be done tho. I was working on the doors before and put them together with the body and the passenger door is spot on but the window frame of the drivers door need some tweakin. Otherwise, just gotta wait for work to calm down so I can actually spend more than 3 seconds with this thing again!

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Oh...and Bronco guys might notice but the floor is a little taller than 1:1 under the seat but it was the only way I could make the floor in the rear work without completely re-doing the frame and rear suspension setup. I wont put any frame work under the seats which keeps them the right height and itll look ok in the end. It also gives me better clearance which allowed me to keep the transfer case a little higher up so it is what it is! Need to figure out some stock looking seats...or keep the buckets, either way.

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Sooooo...I was getting frustrated on tryin to figure out how to keep all the wiring and electronics such as the HeyOk winch controller, BEC and Receiver together when the body wasnt attached to the frame. I had some ideas but then I would have to take alot of stupid stuff apart just to fix a simple wiring issue or swap a part out on the trail. After lots of annoying thought I finally said hell with it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psaea4e76f.jpg

I started out super slow and patient trying my best to keep the window frame attached to the fenders...which failed LOL. There were stress cracks (not sure HOW that happened) from the past abuse (oh thats how) and the windshield fell right off LOL. Thats ok tho, I will mount it up and all will be well again but now Im sure happy cause I can get to the electronics and NOT the body off the frame. Gonna glue the fenders down and then figure out some hinges. Im not gonna worry too much about underhood detail and focus on function at the moment as I do plan on flogging this thing regularly.

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Front fenders are secured and straight too which Im REALLY pleased with!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps819ff120.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps2a9959eb.jpg

Interior paint took a whoopin from the tape I used but oh well...Ill respray or touch up later.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps102b45bc.jpg

Need to do some filler between the interior and front panels then figure out some hinges for the door and get crackin on those suckers! Electronics are all in place and with some work I can fit it all under the hood which makes me happy. Gonna need some hinges for the hood as well as a way to latch it shut.

Matt

Looking good Matt. Can't wait to see it all together

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

I know its been a while but despite being super busy Ive managed to tinker around a bit with the Bronco in my few spare moments. Ive got the doors together and they are shaping up nicely as are the door panels.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psf01bb84f.jpg

Door panels are styrene with some pieces from the Axial interior tree then I sprayed em with Plastidip to give em that old vinyl look. They are quick and rough and I like em that way. If I was goin for a restored look I would clean em up a bunch but with some weathering they should look right at home in a 40 year old trail rig.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps80af13ba.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps2a2813d4.jpg

Little more sanding and filling and then a little tweaking of the window angles to match the windshield frame and top and itll be ready for paint. Im looking at some hinges for the doors and hood as we speak. Not sure if Im gonna try to mimick the 1:1 hinges or just make it work with what I got. Ill see what I can figure out.

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Doors look Awesome! Cant wait to see what you come up with for the hinges"thumbsup"

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Your effing doors are AWESOME! That looks about like my real trail rig currently! haha

Great job!


L.R.

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

I appreciate it guys. I still wanna do some weathering to help make the roughness come together and make sense. To tell the truth tho, in mockup with the doors on the rig you cant even tell they arent perfect, only a good shot from a decent camera can help pick em apart. I didnt want em perfect anyways so hopefully my idea with them will come together.

Well...I said I wasnt gonna pursue 1:1 style hinges for the doors, but I lied. After looking up small scale hinges online I came to the realization that I could easily make them if I tried hard enough. Looked at some pics of actual Bronco hinges and got out a scrap piece of sheet steel and got to work.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps546e128d.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps11929a6d.jpg

Not too bad for about an hours work (all 4 hinges took me an hour)! I am lookin at my options for mounting hardware at the moment, then Ill see what I need to do to mount em up to the body.

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

SWEET"thumbsup"

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

They dont look like much now but when I get em on the doors and body itll look legit! I have some scale hardware on the way that will hopefully fit and allow me to mount em up. If not Ill figure another way to go about it lol

Matt

This is really coming together nicely Matt. Keep up the good work

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

need an update Matt, seriously thinking of doing a class 1 rig, working on logistics now, body, axles, etc... frame will be custom, will do a basic interior, etc... And I mean a class 1 rig I can RUN, not my stupid scale rig. lol

L.R.

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

I got my scale hardware in today! Gotta work late but if I can get a couple minutes tonight to do some mock up Ill try to get the hinges on and the doors mounted. This rig is just like you said, built to be run and run hard. I know Ill be breaking things the first couple runs but hopefully after a bit or repair and rebuild Ill have her pretty stout!

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

I love watching the transformation of this rig.

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Noob...I appreciate it for sure, I appreciate all of yall spending the time to post up and encourage me along the way to tell the truth. She's not as pretty, as scale or anywhere as well done and perfect as alot of rigs Ive seen built and take inspiration from but Im havin a blast, learning a ton and lovin every bit of it. Pain in the ass at time but when it all comes together and it looks like a wore out, beat up trail Bronco...Ill be proud!!!

Then Ill go beat it to pieces again and start all over LOL

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Got my super scale hardware in last night from LockedUpRC! Good lookin stuff to say the least, and small enough to be able to use on my door hinges which is perfect!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psb1ff3f16.jpg

I cut slots in the doors, inserted the hinges and bolted them up behind the inner door skin similar to a 1:1.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps201b93d6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pscfd08bee.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps5fb421ae.jpg

If I coulda made the hinges a tad smaller they would fit a little more flush to the door skin but I dont care, it looks legit to me and if you hold it a couple inches back it looks good. A little paint and they will blend right in like they should yet hopefully be strong enough to hold up along the way.

Now all I need to do is bolt the other end of the hing to the body and the doors will be set! Add some paint, some small details and a limiting strap and I can move on.

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

can you actually fit 2 sets of those screws in opposing sides and still close that hinge? thats pretty dang cool right there~

L.R.

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

The answer, I found out last night is...NOPE LOL. More on that further down the post.

Got the doors on last night! Kinda. The drivers door has one hinge thats bein a punk but Ill work it out. The pics suck but its the best my old phone could manage.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps15138d4c.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psa04705ea.jpg

I didnt have enough room for the scale hardware to clear on both the inner door and the body so I had to file the door mounts flat. It helped enough to make it work.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psfd2643cf.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps7aa4a0ae.jpg

Drilling the body tube wasnt an option due to the angle so I heated a nail with a candle and pushed it through the styrene melting a hole big enough to allow the screws to tap themselves in. Worked like a charm and outside of the clearance issue its lookin legit! One of the hinges on the drivers door is bein a butthead but Ill get it fixed. Im gonna try to figure out a way to keep the hinge pins from fallin out while on the trail but make em easy to remove to take the doors off if I want. First I gotta fix the drivers door, then trim some material off the back of the doors to allow the proper clearance and paint em up!

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Doors and hinges look great!

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Thanks! They arent purdy but they look legit and with a coat of paint and some trail damage they will look just fine!

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

I got the doors together and hinges adjusted the best I could.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps1416dc06.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps94d1d328.jpg

I trimmed some material at the back of the door to create the needed panel gap but forgot to take pics. Now I need to figure out a latching setup to hold them shut. Might use magnets, might just make somethin quick and easy to hold em shut. I roughed up some areas lightly with a lighter and a rock to help make some of the panel gaps look less obvious and more like rock rash lol. Its coming together nicely actually, winshield and top line up decent and look good with a little tweaking. Now to finish off the doors and move on!

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Not much of an update but I got the doors painted, hanging on their own (will finish the hinge pins soon) and am figuring out a way to keep em shut.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps71e8bb04.jpg

I used a magnet in the door and a small piece of steel on the door-post of the tub. They rub together slightly to help hold shut.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psff937c0a.jpg

A NASTY roll will probably open them up but until I get a chance to do a shake down run Ill call it good enough!

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

you should take a lighter and put some carbon on your shiny exhaust tips. every time I see this Bronco I think, why would a guy put brand new stainless exhaust on a trail truck?

L.R.

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Oh dont worry, I just havnt gotten around to weathering the exhaust!!! That bein said, I had an UGLY POS 77 F100 and the exhaust rotted off so we slapped together a nice shiney new straight pipe setup and had it come out the side. Sucker looked kinda good but quickly uglied up to match the truck lol. You cant really see it but Ive already blackened the inside of the tips and will be adding some small "rusty weld" areas shortly as well as making it a bit less shiny. After a couple runs in the mud itll fit in JUST fine! Im also planning on blacking out the suspension bits and helping them hide a little more as well. LONG way to go but its gettin there.

Oh, and thats kinda the look Im after in the end. Someone took a tired old Bronco off the street and desided to toss some supsension and power mods at it to get it up to snuff while leavin the outside tired looking. Its what I would like to do one day in real life.

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Got the Bronco out for a shake down run at Moss Rock AL to test out the new front suspension, the new transfer case setup and to generally get a feel for how things were goin with the build. I tossed together what I could with the little time Ive had between work and work and more work lol. Put some velcro in the inner fender, strapped on a battery and taped the wires down to keep em together and off she went!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps0lsrbnow.jpg

I took it easy initially, not wanting to roll it due to the window posts in the doors being without any sort of protection.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps8qhktgce.jpg

Couple rollovers later, I got a little more aggressive with it lol.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psfqz2gf0x.jpg

She took every lick and kept on ticking. First failure of the day for the Bronco was the lighting setup. Not sure yet what went but Ill do some diggin and see later. After a particularly nasty roll one of the doors came apart from the body. Fearing the worst I went in to inspect the damage but it just lost a temp hinge pin so no biggie! Took the doors off and then moved the battery into the interior. Figure it wouldnt hurt to lose any paint under the drivers seat and it would also move the weight closer to where it will be in the end. The result...was amazing. Ive never seen the Bronco crawl as well. We started callin it the BroncGoat cause it would hook anywhere, everywhere and do anything you asked it to.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psdnplenoo.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psrakgq90g.jpg

I started out like I usually do when I make a major change to closer mimic a 1:1 and figured "this is finally the setup that will make it crawl like crap". WRONG again. The overdrive effect thanks to the transfer case is killer on climbs and the turn radius is tighter than any rig Ive ever seen (some 4ws included). She doesnt flex well at all which ended up helping me in alot of cases where I could float a tire over a ledge or hole. The balance is amazing and the stability/predictability is better than ever. Im super motivated to continue this build and now have an idea on what I want out of it in the end. More on that later, but for now, shes rockin and rollin. I shattered another RC4WD CVD thanks to a loose knuckle screw so thats a bummer but Ill have it back together shortly and ready for more!

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

This rig just gets better and better on it's legendary journey. "thumbsup" I love the added scaleness.
The only problem is that a T-18 or NP435 tranny shifter comes out of the floor under the dash and right at the firewall, not behind the dash... :mrgreen:
Love the detail and thought you are putting into this Matt. "thumbsup"

I couldn't find it, how are you sticking the styrene to the lexan? Shoe-Goo?

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Your not only correct, but have spotted one of many issues Ive run into tryin to get things as spot on as possible. Thanks to the position of the trans and namely having the clear the spur gear I had to fudge the trans tunnel a bit at the dash. In doing thing, I lost the shifter location and had to improvise. LUCKILY for me, I stubled across an Early Bronco owner swapping an NV3550 into his along with a twin stick and thought BINGO!!! My problem is solved.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps06dfc5f1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps79063752.jpg

I even added the needed "sheetmetal" on the side of the trans tunnel to make the twin stick swap look as legit as possible LOL. After some small detail work Ill add some primer around the new panel to make it look like an add on and also clean up the shifter area some. Good eye Griz, and Im glad you pointed that out I forgot to add the pics of the swap I modeled it after. I know for sure I wont get everything 100% but Im tryin to make it look like its a possible mod done to a real truck. The light switch, fuel filler necks and other small tweaks are an attempt to cover up areas I couldnt quite make look scale so I made em look modded.

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Wow! :shock:
I thought I was being a clever smartass and here you have info I never even thought of. :ror: I'm too old school to have thought of the NV3550.

Like I said, the thought and details you are putting into this are just awesome and your shifter pictures prove it. I love it! "thumbsup"

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Thanks man...I'm being a nerd really but truely want this thing to reflect something someone could and would really build...so far its coming along well enough to make me happy! Hope to have some time soon to get back on it here soon!

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

For what it's worth I have the 3550 and twin shi is on my trail truck- :D

L.R.

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

NICE! Need to grab some tubing today to do the rollbar. I usually use solid but was thinkin bout using braketube this time around to try and keep the weight down low. She crawled so danged well that Ide love to try and keep it that way LOL. Might end up just going solid since itll be a super simple setup and Ide like to bash it pretty hard...decisions decisions.

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Ok, after breaking my 3rd set of axles, 1 stock dogbone and two XVDs I started lookin around for somethin different to try out. Both XVDs busted where the pivot pin goes thru the collar due to the collar being too thin. Being that the XVDs are the beefiest offering at this moment in time for the TF2 Yota axles, I did some searching and came up on a thread on RCC about using Yota II axles instead. I ordered some up and got them last night.

Broken XVD, this time Ill blame it on a knuckle screw coming loose cause I was goin pretty easy on it when it snapped.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psaxglrgnw.jpg

The replacements

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps1fvb5emt.jpg

The axle itself is the same width but the cup holding the pivot is MUCH beefier...and they were cheaper to buy too lol.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psz2sfdzzi.jpg

This is the only place we need to make an adjustment, where the cup rides in the mouth of the axletube. I started with a dremel but eventually said hell with it and grabbed a drill bit slightly larger than the axle cup and drilled it out.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pspeeivtkb.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psvzikqkdr.jpg

And there you have it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pstagryovz.jpg

The stupid C clip that keeps the old axles in place is eliminated using this setup as well which now allows me to be able to take the axles out without completely tearing the housing apart. I had to put a small washer under each knuckle screw to allow clearance for the axle cup but all is well as of right now! Look forward to seeing how long these suckers last!

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

my only concern is the knuckle screw. There sure doesn't look like too much meat for that screw to "bite" into.


L.R.

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Yeah man, thats my ONLY concern but there is quite a bit of meat left in the end. Literally, the tiny washer is all it took to make them fit right so my HOPE is that it wont be an issue. Doesnt mean anything tho, I tear up everything in stock form much less modded but if it goes, Ill figure somethin out to make it work again. I want one of those danged K44s for the front but in the spirit of a budget build...and just not havin the $150 to spend on ONE axle I just cant swing it. One day tho, Ill snatch up a tired wore out used one lol

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Little more work done. Pulled the old cloudy windshield "glass" out and replaced it, added some new windshield trim and tossed on some wipers. Couldnt get any of the fancy chrome trim but the black winshield trim is better than the busted up old stuff lol

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psoninuco6.jpg

I glued it on rather than hinging it like 1:1 mainly for strength and durability.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psbv28m8uf.jpg

Might end up adding a front roll bar but rather than following the 1:1 front bolt in bars Ill prolly run it thru the dash to the floor if I do. For now tho its in there and untill it breaks off itll do.

I also got the door panels in and am workin on the door straps altho Im not 100% sure I even wanna fool with them cause Ill prolly run doors off alot. Ill snag some pics later.

Matt

Re: BlueBronco budget build
 

Oh and the lexan windshield is clear as can be, pics just suck for some reason. I stole the windshield out of a Proline Bronco I had layin around in pieces so it doesnt quite like up at the top corners but otherwise was nearly a spot on match. Cut the old glass out of the frame and glued the new piece in.

Matt