Struhall builds a Class 1 Ford

[struhall]

Figured it was time to start a build thread for my first real class specific build. I have always wanted to drive a Ford Excursion but they are just a touch too expensive for me at the moment so what better way to fix the issue than build a scale truck.

The problem with this is that NOBODY makes an Excursion body. After some research I found out that the 1:1 Excursion and F250/350 single cab have the exact same wheelbase and overall dimensions so the Tamiya F350 body was perfect. I will have a full interior by the time I feel like I am “done” but I may rock it without for a bit just in case I get antsy and can’t wait.

This is going to be a slow build, up until today and the next two weeks I work as a cook at a restaurant making garbage money but I start a new job in two weeks making double the money.


The items I have so far are pretty basic but almost everything I need to go.
TCS X-Trail Chassis
AE5 ESC
Axial 27t or Novak 35t motor
Wraith Trans with slipper eliminator
Tamiya leaf springs
1.55 Mud Thrashers on RC4WD steel wheels
Spektrum TX/RX

I still need to purchase a few things.
Front motor setup (moving stock one or RC4WD with transfer case)
Lights
3s batteries
Servo winch

Picked up a body and got to work.



First things first, I have to figure out this whole styrene mess. Picked up some styrene and some bondene at my local hobby shop and started small so I molded the cab to the bed.



That is where it started to get interesting. I put a support across the back and then the bottom of the bed fell out…



Followed by the back of the cab…



I guess that meant it was time to start building a rear section of the body. Started with the sides, glued them to the inside of the body.



And added a roof.



I sat the body on top of my other truck just for fun, showed the wife and she liked it so I knew I won at least a small victory.



I did a little sanding and cleaning up the seams, building up to get the thickness right and even with the rest of the body.





I tested out the new tires on a set of 1.9 wheels I had, then set them under the body just to see how well they fill the wheel wells. It seems like these are made for this body because they are absolutely perfect size to tuck all the way up and fill the fenders.



This shot is just the body sitting on the tires, no chassis, axles or anything yet.



In the meantime I sold a different car and bought a new slider. Chassis, skid, Wraith trans, axles etc. I used this new chassis for my current truck because I wanted to use that frame for this build. The SCX frame is pinched front and rear but the TCS X-Trail is a straight rail which will be a ton easier for me on this build because I want to use leaf springs. I already have chassis mounted servo but I'm changing the setup a touch and making a mount for it and the servo winch out of the two cross braces/battery tray mounts.



My next biggest problem is figuring out how to get enough tire coverage to fit within the class 1 rules. I prefer not to have to run fender flares because I want this to be as close to stock or almost what some people consider a class 0 rig.

This is what I’m working with right now, this is the setup I plan to run for wheels and tires mounted to a normal SCX axle with narrow hexes. The body is 7in wide and the middle of the tires is 7 3/4in.

[struhall]

Tonight after the wife and kid went to bed I sat down at my desk and a few things started happening. I knew I only needed to get about 20mm narrower for the wheels to fit within the fenders enough to be class 1 legal so I got out my trusty Dremel and made a few cuts.

The axle housings for an SCX10 are only about 10 bucks so I figured I might as well go for it and see what I could do. I wanted to make the front axle have a driver side pumpkin just like the 1:1 so I cut 15mm out of the left side and 5mm out of the right side and stuck it back together. So far it is only melted together enough to mess with and mock up to check the width but I plan to make my own sleeves and epoxy them into the housings.

Driver side from the front. I kept the flat parts because that is where I plan to mount the leaf springs, my life would be so much easier if I didn't want to do it that way but sometimes you have to do it the hard way to make it the right way.



Passenger side.



I got a top down pic to see the difference. The right side tire is lined up even with each other and you can see the difference on the left side.



And a shot along the side of the tire to see how much it was narrowed overall.



And last but not least, a shot of how much tire coverage I will have. The body is 7in (178mm) wide and the middle of the tires is right at 6 13/16 (172mm) wide. I am less than 1/4in inside the rules so I may take out just a touch more to keep it from being so close to the edge or find a set of wheels with a more positive offset to bring them in that last little bit.

[mudweaver]

Im really liking this a lot!!!! Styrene skills are great!!! Cant wait to see it in color.

Daniel

[TrailSnail]

Nice start so far! Looking forward to seeing the progress.

[struhall]

Originally Posted by mudweaver

Im really liking this a lot!!!! Styrene skills are great!!! Cant wait to see it in color.

Daniel

Thanks, this is the first time I have tried anything with styrene, I figured I would have to learn somehow so go big or go home... I still haven't decided a color yet, but something factory or close to it.

Originally Posted by TrailSnail

Nice start so far! Looking forward to seeing the progress.

You will get to see this in person, if I'm not mistaken you make it to some of the East Texas events, I had the body at the event in May at Roy's place.

[struhall]

I got a little more done to the axles the last few days. I have been working slow and not at all.

I got the axles narrowed down enough to fit like I want, I took out a total of 1 inch (25mm). They are taken down the same amount on each end so I will have a driver side drop front axle and a passenger side drop rear axle. I'm not too worried about it and getting hung up, it's not going to be a monster truck with massive tires so I'll have to be careful any way I look at it.

I used my soldering iron to melt the pieces back together on the inside and a little on the outside, then I filled the axles with JB Weld plastic weld and left just enough room for the axle shafts to fit. Once that was set (and a couple more days) I went back and melted and shaped the outside to look better and make sure the plastic part of the joint was strong. While I was doing that I also went ahead and got rid of the servo mounts on both axles and filled them in as well.

The axle shafts were ground down to fit into the slipper and then shortened to fit the width. There is still a little bit of the fattest part left on the very ends and I doubt I will have problems with them, I plan to use 2s and a brushed motor but if I do end up breaking a shaft in the front I will have spares once I get the lockups.

Now, onto the pics, the only reason someone looks at these threads anyways.

I got narrow enough that the outside of the wheels are right at 8 inches (200mm), and it puts my tires just under 6 3/4 inch (170mm) at the middle which works perfect because the body is 7 inches (175mm) wide.



Not sure which axle will go front or rear but this is the "ugly" one. Because of the way I narrowed them I had to reattach the ends and it was impossible to make it perfect so I did a little clearancing with the halves of the housings and you can see that in this pic. Everything will have a good sanding and coat of flat black before I'm done so you shouldn't be able to see anything. Also the middle bolts are not installed in these pics so the gap should be smaller once that is done.



Didn't realize it was upside down until after I took the pic and moved them but this is the same axle looking straight at it.



I still need to buy some lockouts for the rear axle and these should be pretty much ready to rock. I may buy some beefy front shafts but the only ones I have found that have the larger shaft all the way are Vanquish and I don't want to spend that kind of money just to cut them up.

[struhall]

Small update do the project, I have been busy with trying to buy a house and get moved so my kid can start school at the new place so I haven't had much time to do anything.

I traded my other truck for a TF2 so I will probably be using that chassis and drivetrain for this build, it helps me with the leaf spring setup since it's already done and ready to go but that's not set in stone yet. No pics because everyone knows what that looks like, still trying to figure out if I want to use the shortened Axial axles or the stock TF2.

I sat down tonight and got some more body work done, the only major things I have left to finish are cutting in the rear doors and fuel filler, then shaping the tail lights and tailgate area. There is still TONS of sanding left but that's not hard.

If I get any time tomorrow I will post some pics of where I finish. I may try to get the rest of the body done on everywhere but the rear.

[joe122]

Very cool conversion. killer styrene skills there. Looking forward to updates.

[struhall]

Originally Posted by joe122

Very cool conversion. killer styrene skills there. Looking forward to updates.

Thanks a bunch, this is my first time with styrene but I have done body work before so that helps. Unfortunately updates are going to be few and far between, I just started a project at work that is 6 days a week, 10 hours a day and away from home for the next 9 months to a year... I'll have Saturday afternoon and Sunday home so I'll spend all my time with the wife and kids.

I "decided" on a color though, I stripped and repainted a power wheels car for my son (from Hello Kitty to yellow) and my wife wanted parts to be red but I convinced her not to because it would look to McDonald's so now I have a new can of red paint.

I'm going to order the new SSD axle housings soon and make u bolts for them to fit the TF2 leaf spring setup.

Completely unrelated pics just for fun and to have something to look at, a before and after of the car I did for my son.

[struhall]

Got a little bit done to the body again. Mostly just sanding and filling and sanding and filling until my hands are tired.

I shot some primer on the body to get a guide coat at all my joints to see what else I needed to get some filler on and got that started. I decided it would be best to go ahead and do a super thin layer over everything that I have bonded together so I went ahead with that, looks like crap right now but it will all work out in the end.

[ETM]

This look amazing,

[ThatGearHead]

I'm impressed! I don't think I've seen an Excursion build before! Awesome work!


ThatGearHead
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[struhall]

Finally got a little time to work on the truck. I had to get everything ready to use for a comp last weekend so I got the chassis worked out and ran it with the Hilux body. NOW I get to start the hard part of finishing this body and mating it to the chassis.

All I have left to finish on the body is windows, the rear end including the tail lights, cutting in the door lines for rear doors and filling small holes. It is mostly in primer now except the rear because I have so much sanding and shaping to go back there.

I got her set onto the chassis today to see how close everything fits and I am getting excited.



Just a little too high but that is easy to fix.



Also have to figure out the tire issue. Since my post back in June I decided to use the TF2 chassis and axles and I will just hold onto the narrowed Axial axles for something else. If I can get a wheel that has positive offset I will be able to get the half tread coverage I need for Class 1, otherwise I will be buying fender flares and adding them.

The front is right at the limit and might pass.



BUT the rear will not. I am super close but not quite, less than 1/4 inch but enough that I wouldn't quite make it.

[new2rocks]

Awesome build so far. Body is looking great!

Originally Posted by struhall

Completely unrelated pics just for fun and to have something to look at, a before and after of the car I did for my son.

Awesome diversion, which reminds me of a funny story. Years ago, when Roo was 2 and still making a "t" sound every time he tried to say "k", I stumbled across a picture of an NFL lineman sitting inside a Hello Kitty-themed Smart car. The picture was hilarious, but even better was 2 year-old Roo excitedly exclaiming, "Titty Tar...Titty Tar...Titty Tar!"

[struhall]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

Awesome build so far. Body is looking great!




Awesome diversion, which reminds me of a funny story. Years ago, when Roo was 2 and still making a "t" sound every time he tried to say "k", I stumbled across a picture of an NFL lineman sitting inside a Hello Kitty-themed Smart car. The picture was hilarious, but even better was 2 year-old Roo excitedly exclaiming, "Titty Tar...Titty Tar...Titty Tar!"

Thanks. I'm excited about it. Hope to get a little work done this weekend when I'm not busy moving.

That's awesome, I would have died laughing. My son it 2 and likes to chatter a lot but not words. Hoping to hear some soon though, he had ear infection problems until he was a year and a half and we got tubes. No hearing test yet but he's been scared of "normal" sounds like bugs outside at night since so I know he's just now actually hearing.

[sharkattack99]

i know this is an old thread but has there been any progress with this?

Awesome build!

[struhall]

Originally Posted by sharkattack99

i know this is an old thread but has there been any progress with this?

Awesome build!

Thanks. Not much progress since the last post. I have moved and work out of town so I'm only home two days a week and I'm either doing stuff around the house or with the wife and kids. Almost have my other truck finished for my wife (simplified build thread coming soon) then it's back to this one.

Body is almost ready for paint, probably going to buy the Dinky interior and flares the next month or so. Still need new gears in the axle and that's most of it.