Tommy's Class 1 Jeep

[brianw]

Tommy I think I deleted the picture that I had but on a previous build (that I never finished) I slid the axial skid forward to the next set of holes and that put the spur right behind the dash. I still was going to have to do some trimming to the floor to clear the trans but it would've been minimal.

[monkeyracer]

Seeing this build makes me miss my LJ Mutt.

I never finished it, and sold it off in a swap meet we had locally. Now that I have a little better fabrication skills, I'd love to do it again, but better.

I ended up using flat ABS plastic to extend the sides, with ABS Cement (MEK and ABS resin mixed together, can be found at lowes/home depot). I took the bed from a Radio Shack Dodge Raminator, dropped the interior, and stole the hood vents and inner door panels from a Mercedes SLR. The ABS allowed all the different pieces (hence the mutt name) to attach properly.

I'd love to see how your attempt at polishing comes out. My guess is that the ABS and the Styrene are going to come out with slightly different tones of black, and you'll probably end up painting it, but I hope it turns out the way you envision.

I will be watching this build!

[elsewhere]

I used some 1/4 inch tubing with 3/16 brazed into the cage as slugs
for the joints

[pixelnate]

Originally Posted by monkeyracer

I'd love to see how your attempt at polishing comes out. My guess is that the ABS and the Styrene are going to come out with slightly different tones of black, and you'll probably end up painting it

Just am FYI, the 'S' in ABS stands for 'Styrene.'

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

[monkeyracer]

I fully understand that, but Styrene and ABS are different plastics. Styrene sheets are actually Polystyrene, since monostyrene by itself is just a liquid. ABS has only 40-60% Styrene in the mixture, so the extra stuff (acrylonitrile and butadien) that make it ABS change the way the plastic works.

I was saying the materials are just different enough that the color might not come out the same, but that could even be true even if Tommy used ABS sheets. The dye in the filler sheet is very likely different (if only a little) from the injection molded ABS that New Bright used.

[Tommy R]

Well, I can tell y'all this... In "as received" form, the sheets of styrene are clearly much more dull than the ABS (as you'd expect). But if I brush some Plastruct over the styrene, it takes on a much smoother, glossier sheen and is very close to the ABS. It would need to be polished smoother, of course, but the overall finish is surprisingly similar.

Ultimately, I'm hoping I can do "bodywork" that will be good enough that I won't have to 1) paint it or 2) cover it with body armor. It doesn't need to be perfect, but time will tell. So far, I'm encouraged by what I've seen. Pictures don't seem to capture it too well, but I'll see what I can do. I plan to pick up some polish this week to try out.

[Tommy R]

I've been busy lately with non-RC crawler type stuff, but I found some time to continue the bodywork on the LJ. The good news is that the transitions on either end of the extension are very smooth and barely perceptible by feel. However, I'm not yet convinced I'll be able to polish the styrene glossy enough to match the ABS. Here's some pics.







Right now what you see is the styrene bonded into the ABS body panels. It's been sanded down and then I applied some Mother's mag wheel polish to see what it would do. It definitely helps, but I'm not sure it's enough. However, I plan to do some wet sanding and maybe after that, the polish will help it shine. As you can see, I've also got some polishing to do on some parts of the ABS to get them to shine after the bodywork.

Hoepfully, I can polish it up nicely. If not I'll either pain the truck black or make some metal corner panels to cover the extension. Should know more by the end of the week...

[Hoosierdady]

have you tried baking soda tooth paste? Or even better yet, get some of the Headlight restoration kits from Walmart and give it a shot. I use it on headlights on oour lot and it works like a charm. Just a thought.

[Tommy R]

No, I haven't, but that's a good idea!

[AJ.]

Looks good Tommy! You gotta love the LJ's, mine is by far my favorite rig. A.j. Kustoms "Blackwidow"

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by AJ.

Looks good Tommy! You gotta love the LJ's, mine is by far my favorite rig. A.j. Kustoms "Blackwidow"

Whoa. I'm not sure how I missed that, but that's a truly incredible build, man! It's so close to being the C2 version of what I'm envisioning. And I really dig the sliders you built and how they house the electronics. Super clean!!

[IPLAYFORKEEPS]

Sweet build. I have a body just like yours I want to do the same thing with. Figured I'd wait to see how yours turns out before I cut it Yours is looking great though!

[Tommy R]

Thanks!!


Well, I'm getting tired of bodywork so I decided to tear down the chassis to begin the official transformation from Toyota to Jeep. Wow, it all looks so sad, doesn't it? That big battery is just temporarily propping up the frame rails.


So I removed everything so I could set the Jeep body down onto the frame to see how things would fit. I have the rear of the body sitting flush to the frame in the pics. Looks like it'll leave just enough frame rail hanging below to look like a real Jeep. Sorry for the glare!


A clearer pic from a bit higher.


So here's my biggest concern....at the moment. In the pics above, the suspension is basically topped out (max height) as I was running it in the Yota. It won't take much compression of the suspension before tire/fender clearance really gets to be a concern. I am hoping to run these fenders intact because they provide just enough tire coverage for C1.

If they need to be cut it'll mean I'll need to build all new metal fender flares.....which will mean more body armor. That's not the end of the world, but it's not really the look I was after. Another option would be to run a taller ride height, but I won't do that for the same reason.

Hopefully I'll get some work done over the next few weeks and really begin to make some progress. Fingers crossed!

[SAL45]

I like the second pic with the body height a little higher. Looks good so far Tommy!

[HotRodJosh]

Originally Posted by Tommy R

I've been busy lately with non-RC crawler type stuff,

Like what????
Projects Tommy R Attempts to Build a Hot Rod Model A - THE H.A.M.B.

[Tommy R]

Okay, I think I've gotten a little burned out on racing (been racing a LOT lately) so I'm looking to tone that down a bit. What better way than getting back onto the LJ project, right?

First thing's first, I got a blemished Dinky Split Skid while we wait for the final production parts. It allowed me to do some mock up of the drivetrain. Here the skid is located in the stock location. The Gr7 unit up front had to be moved about a 1/2" rearward or the motor would've been poking out of the front grill. I had a shortened MIP shaft that looks perfect for the intermediate shaft. To keep weight down, however, I may try using a plastic shaft in that location since it's pretty high up and I'll need to lower the cg any way I can.


Today I made a very basic CMS using some 1/8" aluminum. It should be plenty sufficient to hold the Hitec 7950.


Looking at it from the top, spacing between the motor and servo is extremely tight. Suprisingly, they're not actually touching! But it's literally like the thickness of a sheet of paper between them. Hoping that doesn't cause any glitching issues, but I think it'll be fine.


Front suspension mocked up and the wheelbase should end up about like this. Still well below the allowed 1/2" of wheelbase stretch allowed in C1. In this case, all the stretch will be toward the front. I'll make sure the bumper sticks out far enough to maintain legality, of course. It's probably fine already, though.


Next up on the list is to build the track bar. It's going to be a tight fit! The rear suspension will likely be the re-used touring car shock setup I used on the Toyota....unless I cut holes in the bed for shock towers and SCX shocks. I'm now looking for a CLAW winch for the front. I'm going to try to fit a servo winch for the rear. I think I can fit all of the electronics under the body, but the battery may need to go into a "tool box" or something on top. I just don't know if I'll have enough room for it underneath the body.

But all in all, I'm pretty excited to be working on this rig again...

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by HotRodJosh

Like what????
Projects Tommy R Attempts to Build a Hot Rod Model A - THE H.A.M.B.

LOL! What up, home slice?? Yeah, the Model A is about to start getting a lot more lovin'....

[STANG KILLA SS]

Originally Posted by Tommy R

Okay, I think I've gotten a little burned out on racing (been racing a LOT lately) so I'm looking to tone that down a bit. What better way than getting back onto the LJ project, right?

lol at the "Tommy R" RC a.d.d.
im just glad you always come back to crawlin

as far as the rear shocks, on my 1/6th TJ i was able to poke the shocks threw the floor a hair and hide them with the rear bench seat. ie shock tops poked threw the floor but not the rear bench. a styrene tool box or something could work for this too.

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

lol at the "Tommy R" RC a.d.d.
im just glad you always come back to crawlin

Yeah, I know it! I'm not getting out of racing, but just toning it down some. I'm trying to refocus on what hobbies are more important to me. Right now that's the hot rod, followed by RC crawling.

as far as the rear shocks, on my 1/6th TJ i was able to poke the shocks threw the floor a hair and hide them with the rear bench seat. ie shock tops poked threw the floor but not the rear bench. a styrene tool box or something could work for this too.

I thought about that, but I was actually thinking of using that space (under the rear seat) for the battery. I won't have room under the seat for both the battery and shock towers, I'm afraid. And I'm just not a fan of big toolboxes, generally speaking. But we'll see what happens!

[08sv]

What trans is that up there by the motor? link?