Portal Axled Series III Land Rover - All Finished!

[imthatguy]

EDIT: I've brought this build thread from another forum, so all the progress to date has been assembled into a few posts. Enjoy!

In doing the research on my Volvo build, I learned that the Volvo portal axle is nearly a bolt-on component for the Defender and Series III Land Rovers. Which, inevitably led to my thinking... Hey, I can do that!

There aren't a ton of these around, and I've only found one other r/c example. It's definitely unique and will (hopefully) be a very capable scale rig. I'm thinking of going with the Gelande chassis (not the kit, just the chassis) as it's built to handle the Defender bodies that are readily available and it would be a good scale starting point. Honestly, I'd prefer to go the 4Ten route.

I'm also thinking of going with the GMade portal axles from the R1, as they're all one piece and look pretty sturdy. I haven't found any dimensions on this stuff, so if you see a problem, let me know before I drop the coin.

Here's a pic of the essential layout that I'm going for:



I'd really like to do my best to retrofit the current D110 hardbody that's available to more closely resemble the older style Series III. In fact, yes, that's what I'm going to do!

This thing is so badass and I'm really psyched to get this started. A vintage rig would be so much fun. I'll probably start ordering the parts over the next couple of weeks, so as soon as I'm moved into my new workshop(!), I'll have a project to keep me busy in the spare minutes between the "honeydo" list for the new house.

BTW, here's a pic of my workshop in the new house. Where the magic happens. :welder:


Doesn't look like much right now... but I'm hoping to make it my little man cave!

[imthatguy]

I got the Gmade axles put together last night. They're um... long. Like 10 inches kind of long with 1.9's mounted. I was measuring up my 110 and it's actually quite wide at 8.188 inches, so I might not have to do too much to mod the axles after all. I foot of overhang sounds like a lot on either side, but with the extra-wide fenders mounted on the 1:1, I don't think it'll look too strange. When the body comes in (still don't have it... grrr.) I'll do a proper mock-up and you guys can help me decide if I need to alter the axles in any way.





Alright, here's a couple pix of the Gmade portals. My first impression - these are solid axles. They're going to be bulletproof, I have no doubt about that. They were easy to put together and contain a full set of bearings. The output shafts seem a little strange to me, as there's no groove on them, just a hole through the centre. Not sure what type of output shafts will fit them... They seem a little wide, at 10 inches, but I've been in contact with the owner of the 1:1 I'm modelling after and I'll see how far out from scale I am. I've got a comparison pic in there so you can see it up against a K44 axle from RC4WD. I should mention, the diff covers are not chrome plastic, they're chrome aluminum. Pretty slick! By the end of the build, I probably spray the whole axle assembly with a textured paint to make them look a little more realistic.

The owner was also happy enough to provide actual blueprints of the frame, which I'm thinking of trying to replicate. I will need some help with the fabricating, so if someone could point me in the direction of a guy... Chris from GCM... you'll be getting a call from me!

[imthatguy]

I got the 4Ten LWB chassis kit today. This is going to be so awesome. Zero flex, despite it's extra length. Everything fits together like it's supposed to and Generis always does a great job on packaging and shipping. I think the wheelbase is somewhere in the 14 or 15 inch range, which makes it a really long truck. Should be interesting to see it on the trail.

I've put the shorter High Lift springs on it, and I really like how it's starting to look. You can see in the pix that I'm just resting the R1 axles underneath. It's not very flexy, and it would have a lot more travel if I were to use the softer Red springs that RC4WD offers, or maybe some Delrin ones, but once this rig is together, I think it'll be significantly heavier than anything else I've got and will probably need even more stiffening. We'll see.

I've now got all the bits that I need to cut the axles down to size, with the help of the guide I found on RCC. I plan on using the Dremel to shed a few extra mounts on the R1's so I can use the Axial leaf spring adapters on them, so they mount up nice and pretty. The axles should tuck nicely once the 28mm has been removed from them. I'm pretty excited to get this chassis in order. I'm going to need to find some extra long shafts for that rear axle.

[imthatguy]

Axles are starting to be cut. It's been pretty easy going so far. I cut 11mm out of one side and 17mm out of the other. I decided to go nuts and re-cut my own shafts too. I'm pretty happy with the shaky handed results. The inside of the axles need to be reinforced with some metal tubing (thanks to Chris at Generis for sourcing that for me) that will need to be screwed together. I need to do some drilling and tapping for that step. Something that's entirely new to me, but I'm sure I can figure it out.

The whole idea here is to shorten the R1 axles so they fit better under a standard 1/10 chassis. This way I get a true portal axle that is way more scale. Big thanks to the poster on RCC who started this, axlline.

[imthatguy]

So here it is reduced. The tube fit perfectly inside the axle and left enough room for the shaft to spin freely. I'll probably use a little rubberized CA to hold the ends together, then drill a hole on either side, as well as drilling holes through the tubing. Once that's done, I'll tap the holes to make threads and screw a short screw through them and that should keep everything together. Bad news though, because of the portals I don't think I'll be able to make the standard Generis Axial axle leaf mounts work. I'm going to have to figure something else out for that...

It's pretty cool to see how much shorter the axles are now. Both are done, but I thought I'd grab a shot halfway through the process.



7.5" hex to hex. You can see how nicely they sit under the Land Rover body now!

[imthatguy]

The following is a message from the owner of the 1:1 which helped me tons with photos and specs:

I thought I'd post up and say "hello" from Blighty - my name's John and I'm the owner of the 1:1 toy this build is based on. What can I say - it's incredibly cool to have someone want to re-create a vehicle you own, especially in this case as I rebuilt/modified it from a bare chassis 4 years ago so am quite attached to it, it's like seeing the build all over again (but without the stabbing pain in the wallet & sleep deprivation).

Some of the history of the truck, and specs are here: http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=14579
And the other stupid stuff we get up to is here: www.flyingspanners.net - my truck is just the support wagon for the big silly ones there are a couple of build videos on there which you guys might enjoy.

I'm well and truly subscribed to this now - although I'm not relishing the re-creation of my dashboard being revealed to the world... really must get in the shed & crack on with the rewire!
(If anyone has any suggestions for classic 70's style instruments / dashboards I'm after inspiration!)

[imthatguy]

The first cut is the deepest.



First shots of building up the hood to match the Series III.



Managed to chop the front, and start building the recessed grille. Also modified the headlight lenses by chopping the borders off to make them sit flush like they do on the 1:1. The spare tire recessed mount on the hood is way better looking now too.


Detail on the headlight area. Looks much better this way. You can also see my hackjob on the body and all the work still to come to to perfect those curves into the hood. Sigh.


You can see how different the lenses look in the before.

[imthatguy]

It's slow going but it's coming along. A bit more progress. I chopped the bonnet further back and sculpted the front wings. Started filling and sanding. Also put some screen in the grille. Put the proper shrouds on the headlights too. Starting to look right!

[Calderwood]

This is great! I love seeing serious builds. Is the ID of the R1 axle tubes a constant diameter?

[Jas97]

Great bulid so far!!

[Rook82]

excellent work. When I first saw you would run the R1's I knew they would be wide or too wide for what you were planning. Nice fix for that. The hood is coming out nice. It takes some sack to cut up a almost $200 body. Props to you for that! I am subscribing to this thread without a doubt. good luck!

[BiG_DaWgZ]

AWESOME JOB so far buddy ! !!!


I'd LOVE to have a set of those NARROWED R1's....very sweet setup.


I've got a 4-door ROVER body (made from one of the 2 door versions)....that I've been working on slowly.

You're giving me some great ideas and inspiration...for sure.



ArOn

[imthatguy]

Originally Posted by nigels_world

This is great! I love seeing serious builds. Is the ID of the R1 axle tubes a constant diameter?

Thanks, yes, inner diameter is constant straight through to the pumpkin. It's the only way that I could run a tube in there to maintain the strength.

Originally Posted by Jas97

Great bulid so far!!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Tim.V

Great job, keep going!

I will, as soon as my Wraith is done!

Originally Posted by Rook82

excellent work. When I first saw you would run the R1's I knew they would be wide or too wide for what you were planning. Nice fix for that. The hood is coming out nice. It takes some sack to cut up a almost $200 body. Props to you for that! I am subscribing to this thread without a doubt. good luck!

True dat! The first cut was definitely a nail biter. Truth be told, it took me a couple months of staring at it to do it.

Originally Posted by BiG_DaWgZ

AWESOME JOB so far buddy ! !!!


I'd LOVE to have a set of those NARROWED R1's....very sweet setup.


I've got a 4-door ROVER body (made from one of the 2 door versions)....that I've been working on slowly.

You're giving me some great ideas and inspiration...for sure.



ArOn

Cool man! Be sure to get a link to your thread so I can check it out.

[axlline]

Nice job with the R1's, outstanding work on the grill, I love it.

[hoyt]

Great job on the axles man will be watching.

[imthatguy]

All the little bits and pieces are done and I finished priming today. Also spent some time reworking the chassis and adjusting the wheelbase. Sprayed all the chrome flat black too.









Not the smoothest fill job ever, but go easy on me, it's only my second body job!

[thundaar]

this is one bad a$$ build cant wait to see the finished product

[XxRockStar199xX]

Originally Posted by thundaar

this is one bad a$$ build cant wait to see the finished product

X2

[Peli]

X3

[imthatguy]

There were some issues with the way the windshield was, and how it should be on a Series.

I still need to let the putty dry and do some serious sanding, but this is better, right? The drip rail goes right round the front, the windscreen is squared off and recessed and the roof curves into the front now.