The Wife Beetler Project

[Jaynen]

My wife joined us this past weekend at our scale GTG out at Vasquez rocks, in fact in the videos Pantablo posted a lot of the shots of my JK and of Pablo's G Wagon were actually her driving for the very first time. It was fun to have her along, and cool to see her wanting to come out and do what I was doing. I know she will never be as into it as me but hey its an excuse to build another rig right?

So I was pestering her a bit to try and find out what she would like and today I got a txt message from her asking if it would be possible to have a VW Beetle crawler.

I know there are multiple lexan VW bodies so I am not sure which one to go with. Also this will be a 1.9 "semi scale" rig not a comp rig but will not really be "scale" for a VW because it will still use a frame rail chassis and straight axles.

Mechanically it might be like this


But I dont want it to look like that.


Something along these lines (I know someone is already building the true or more true Trophy bug version of this) I think would be nice.


Anyone have any advice on this one as far as which bug body might be the best bet? I am eyeing the Kamtec one, but also like the HPI's little "detail" on the engine bits etc, but definitely not overly fond of the "roof scoop" and big wings.

[luis]

caught my attention, im watching

[Jaynen]

Luis!! are you back from Oregon?

[microgoat]

I like the Parma body. It's molded from a Sand Scorcher and has lots of detail. The overall shape is spot-on as well.

[Jaynen]

Looking at Just Zach's

Quicky K2-3S 1.9 Rock Racer

He is using a Parma and it looked a bit weird to me at first in the front. Some of the bug bodies are really narrow tho correct?

I know HPI has a bug
Losi has a bug
Kamtec has a Sand Scorcher Replica and a Baja Bug

I like the Losi's little side vents better than the roof scoop on the HPI




Guess the front which is what I thought looked a little weird is straight from the Sand Scorcher


Kind of want to do the tube engine cage out back but have like the little plastic VW back there, and a tube front bumper with a skidplate that can maybe hide the steering servo etc also.

[luis]

Originally Posted by Jaynen

Luis!! are you back from Oregon?

yeah i came back yesterday around midnight, i have alot of pics and some vids of the jk ill post up later,

[motiracer38]

The HPI E-savage baja looks a little more racey already.
http://hpiracing.com/products/en/7187/

[Jaynen]

I ordered the kamtec baja one because its ABS, would rather work with a hardbody I think.

[TURTLE]

Or an original Tamiya blitzer beetle, its even a hard body

[pantablo]

Originally Posted by Jaynen

I ordered the kamtec baja one because its ABS, would rather work with a hardbody I think.

sweet, a split window bug...

[kaetwo]

Hit RPP Hobbies, they have Blitzer Beetle bodies in stock for $90.00 I think.

That would be the perfect fit

[Jaynen]

The kamtec ABS baja bug was around 35 shipped from the UK. So 90 for an original Blitzer isnt worth it if you can get lexan or ABS knock off of it for 1/3rd the price. At least if you arent rebuilding an original kit.

[sloppy]

kamtec bodies are a little more flexy then tamiya stuff to so it should hold up to a beating allot better.

[Jaynen]

Wheels and Body arrived today. The wheels look amazing. Troy did an excellent job and I think they are my favorites so far.




And the body



I stole the shocks to try on my rig to see about lowering the belly clearance and CG a little bit we will see if I keep them and need another set

Tranny and axles should be on the way and here within a couple days. Still need a servo and yokes/driveshafts but thats about it for major stuff.

[pantablo]

well....lets see those wheels with the Badlands I narrowed/reduced! Hard to go back, isn't it?

[Jaynen]

They won't go on those rims until I get weights for those rims as I don't want to take them on/off a bunch of times. I am lazy like that

Definitely a fan of these shocks tho which means I need another set since I am keeping them on my rig.

Also means I will be going to the shorter tires again on my rig and need to adjust the wb for the new ride height

[luis]

hey jason, could i get a picture of the shocks, you make them sound great

[Jaynen]

I just bought a second set from the same guy but he only seems to put one set up at a time. As far as I can tell they are the same as the "3racing mini lst" shocks that other people were talking about. They are like touring car shocks but a little bit longer, but they so far at least seem to flex better than touring car shocks.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll....cWON.m313.lVI

[luis]

i was looking for something like that at the hobby shop but they said they dont sell the whole shock together they just sell them in pieces, but i did get some rc18t shocks for the rearof my jk

[Jaynen]

I might have to use my TLT's on this not sure at least in the rear the shocks are very long in the example. Will have to mockup when I get some axles. Also since the shock is more exposed looking turned down TLT's looking like coil overs would be the right appearance.