Jimbo_wa's 1/9th GCM J2 Skeleton Jeep

[jimbo_wa]

After seeing Northernbill's GCM Jeep build and thinking they were great bodies to base a build on, I managed to get a good deal on a body in the UK along with a few bits for a hopefully bullet-proof transmission and the basic GCM J2 skeleton chassis from Canada!



Alloy gearbox for an SCX10 including steel internal gears and spur



Two speed transfer case again with an alloy case and steel gears



And the GCM basic kit (unfortunately without a servo mount...)



So first things first, this is the Jeep Wrangler Flattop Concept I'm shooting for:





And after attacking the China Jeep shell with little regard for personal safety (!) I've ended up with the hardtop just needing some filler and the doors requiring some additional work!



Currently waiting on the servo plate to arrive from GCM for the chassis to be built and some funky green parts that should make this one a bit different...

[jimbo_wa]

Today has been mostly fiddling with the greasy bits - decided to get some decent sealed bearings from Colin at rcbearings.co.uk and less than 24 hours later they turned up so shimmed and greased (Red and Tacky!) the alloy SCX10 gearbox



And screwed it to the GCM motor plate



Along with the 2-speed transfer case - it's the cheap version, but can't see any difference from the RC4WD Triton







It did need a decent amount of 'shimmage' on the long drive shaft but it did at least have shims in it from the factory...

Oh - and the green bits arrived too...

[MaxxPain]

Looks Great, I like what you did with the body..

[jimbo_wa]

Looks like all the relevant kit has now turned up - thanks to GCM for a super fast delivery of the servo plate (ordered Friday delivered Tuesday to UK from Canada) and for the super smart 2-speed transfer case skid (it *just* fits!!)







And it looks like everything should fit OK in the front end too!



All the bits for the SDI4x4 axles have also turned up, so they'll be shipped to Mr Pete Attryde later in the week.

[jimbo_wa]

Must. Stop. Cutting. Up. Bodies...



Have put the arches back on with Blu-Tac ATM, but it'll be a bit wider than stock and should let me run 1.9 Trepadors without further trimming

[jimbo_wa]

Spent most of today making Styrene templates for the front and rear bumpers - hopefully the sliders will be finished tomorrow...





They'll hopefully be made up in 4mm steel rod by a talented chap!

[looneybin]

Very nice stetup.

[jimbo_wa]

Made the sliders, nice and simple so no pics as yet and decided that I needed to cut the body up some more...

There needs to be a couple of mm extra clearance for the transfer case so the floor of the Jeep is no more and I'm making some Styrene and coffee stirrer laminate that will get varnished before putting the original seats back on the new spanky floor!

[jimbo_wa]

Cracked on with the new floor over the weekend and decided to use a B&Q Satin spray varnish which has worked out rather well!

Before:


After:


Just hope that my measurements were correct and the transfer will still fit...

[jimbo_wa]

Small delivery today with a RCmodelex external cage and some new 1.9 beadlocks as my Dick Cepek RC4WD rims will not work with the 3Racing portals...



Also finished off the mud guards - just need to be glued; it brings the width of the Jeep to 220mm, so should look good with the new axles!

[Bananaclip]

What skid plate are you using? Link?

[jimbo_wa]

It was from GCM - pretty sure it was a prototype and they don't produce them...

[jimbo_wa]

Well it's been some time since the last update as the portals and metal work had to be built by Pete Attryde and a week or so since getting the package from Pete, it's mostly been a head scratching time to sort out how to mount the portals without binding in the front and getting the rear suspension to work as the original idea of TF2-esque inboard shocks didn't want to work...



Think the greasy bits are mostly there now with the links all correct and the driveshafts cut and fitted too - rear body mount, sleeving the links and fitting electrics will be next along with finishing off the body!!



She's a bit light on the front without the electrics/motor and a bit leany due to the different sized tyres on either side - I'm trying to see if this can be a Class 1 build on RC4WD 4.19 Baja Claws and Class 2 on 1.9 Axial Trepadors - both will be mounted onto the China Vanquish rims that are currently doing the rounds (still waiting on the second set to arrive)









Really pleased with how this is turning out - with the Baja Claws there's 48mm of clearance under both the pumpkins and they're on a level with the transfer case skid!

[jimbo_wa]

Thanks BadWagon - and even more thanks to Fourth Protocol as I've ended up with this as my Class 2 body, just needs a rear bed and cage fabricating



The portals and Trepadors really make a difference on the ground clearance!

[jimbo_wa]

Very little done on the Jeep for the last month as waiting for a pinion to turn up...

It at least moves under its own power now and just need to get the electrics a proper home!

[jimbo_wa]

Finally received my fake 8 hole beadlocks from China for the 4.19 Baja Claws, think they look much better than the Trepadors on with the Jeep shell and added some D rings front and rear for recovery!

[jimbo_wa]

Redid the rear body mount by bending a bit of steel plate and it also tidied up the rear shock mount so I can retain my 90mm Old Man Emu shocks



Also put the electrics in after making a brass mount for the shift servo (ended up soldering it rather tahn brazing as I kept melting the brass C channel!) which also has my HeyOK winch controller and 4ch Spektrum Rx stuck in place out of the way

[322]

Where are you mounting your battery at on there? I am debating a few different options on mine.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[jimbo_wa]

Originally Posted by 322

Where are you mounting your battery at on there? I am debating a few different options on mine.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Yeah, good question...

I'm going to make a couple of Styrene 'pods' on top of the sliders for a pair of 2S 1800 Nano-Tech batteries to run in parallel. There's plenty of space but my issue is that the body needs to be removed to swap/charge them.

Wondering if I could use an inline 3-way switch to have on-off-charge with an external mounting?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[joe122]

Man, very well conceived build. Awesome fab and build skills! Great stance.