New Project for my Bro

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by Jim85IROC

Walsh, are you planning to use the 2 door Jeep body or the 4 door? The 4 door should fit that wheelbase as-is, but if you're after a 2 door, you should plan on shortening the wheelbase to accommodate.

I scored the 4 door. Trying to get it as close as possible in looks to his 1:1.

[Jim85IROC]

Originally Posted by mewalsh100

I scored the 4 door. Trying to get it as close as possible in looks to his 1:1.

so you already got the body?

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by Jim85IROC

so you already got the body?

Yes sir

[CODYBOY]

Originally Posted by mewalsh100

Taking some inspiration from dezfan and his Lo-Do build, I decided to start a new project for my brother. He's a Marine Corp Vet, and unfortunately he's been out of work for a while and pretty down about it. He visited for a few days last month and I took him out crawling. He had an absolute blast and mentioned several times about getting his own rig as soon as he found a new job. He's always been very in to modeling and is highly skilled at doing static models, particularly military stuff. He's really in to the exacting details of his models from paint, to weathering, making sure all insignias are correct, etc. Anyway, I showed him some of the awesome scaled out builds here on the forums and on youtube and he was totally jacked. He was just awe struck at how far some of the rigs were taken in terms of scale detail.



Anyway, with money being tight for him right now, and knowing how excited he was about the prospect of getting his own rig, I pulled the trigger on the chassis below from EBAY. I know, I know, it's "off-brand", but I'm trying to stay on a pretty tight budget with this whole deal. The spec and overall quality look to be pretty darn good as well. I've got everything else I need in my parts bin to complete this minus the body. He owns a Jeep, so my plan is to score a Proline Jeep Wrangler Rubicon body for it and do it up like his 1:1. He'll be heading up to visit again around Thanksgiving, so I hope to have it completed by then. I'm thinking I'll say, "hey, let's go for a crawl" and let him drive it for a bit, then tell him it's his. I'll post update pics along the way.

Originally Posted by Panther6834

I don't know whether, or not, you are also a vet...but, honestly, that doesn't matter. I am a vet - and I want to thank you for your service to a vet. Yes, I know he's your brother...but, again, that doesn't matter. The way I see it, you see a vet who's "down on his luck", and who has a renewed interest in something that also means something to you, and you've gone out of your way to help him. THANK YOU !!!

~ More peace, love, laughter, & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

Originally Posted by smog

Love it! It’s a thoughtful gift, and always great to develop common interests with family. Great post mewalsh, look forward to seeing where things go.

Originally Posted by mewalsh100

I've said it a number of times here in this forum, but it bears repeating. You all are some of best community of people I've had the pleasure to chat with, share builds with, learn from, and just generally enjoy. That's no small feat considering all of the different hobbies I've been involved with over the years - many of which i'm still involved in. You guys set the bar high and that's a damn good thing!

Originally Posted by Jim85IROC

so you already got the body?

Just found this thread, and it is exactly what we should all be doing on here!!!!
We should all be about passing our good fortune forward! And most all of us do a good job of doing just that. Makes me proud to be a part of a great site!!!
If you need help with anything let me know.
Ernie

[Jim85IROC]

Originally Posted by mewalsh100

Yes sir

Ok. I had an extra Unlimited body that I was going to send your way if you hadn't already gotten one, but it sounds like you're set. Good luck with the remainder of the build!

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by Jim85IROC

Ok. I had an extra Unlimited body that I was going to send your way if you hadn't already gotten one, but it sounds like you're set. Good luck with the remainder of the build!

Thanks Jim, that's very kind of you and I appreciate the offer.

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by CODYBOY

Just found this thread, and it is exactly what we should we should all be doing on here!!!!
We should all be about passing our good fortune forward! And most all of us do a good job of doing just that. Makes me proud to be a part of a great site!!!
If you need help with anything let me know.
Ernie

I agree Ernie and we've got a great group of people here on this forum. Thank you!

[mewalsh100]

So I received the rig today. First impressions are pretty good. Overall quality looks fairly decent. I threw the servo, ESC and Rx in and took it for a quick run in the yard. Turning radius is pretty tight, but it looks like I can get a bit more out of it with some creative dremeling. Quick bullet point overview:

It needs a much smaller pinion. It’s way too fast for a 35T and stutters a bit on slow start up. 17T pinion in it now - Gonna go 13T.

It’s waaaaay over sprung. I need to find some much softer springs. I went through my spring assortment and didn’t have a good cross to them diameter and length wise. 12mm x 65mm (anyone have recommendations?)

As expected, the tires are garbage.

All easy fixes though, and looking forward to improvements.

[mewalsh100]

I got a bit more test & tune in with my brother's rig today. Dropped the 17t pinion down to 14t and start up and low speed are much, much smoother. I also threw a set of beadlocks with RC4WD Rock Crushers on it, which I'm going to give to him with the completed rig. It is definitely liking the additional weight down low. The OE wheels and tires were so light that it just kind of skittered through the rocks. He's also very in to the scale aspect, and I think these look much more appropriate. Arguably not the best tire, but they do pretty darn well with the CI foams and some venting. He'll mostly be trailing it as well.

All that said, the rig is still way over sprung. I've searched Ebay, Amazon, McMaster-Carr, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, all in attempt to find some lighter springs that might fit, and NADA. I also dove deep in my stock pile and nothing in this odd-ball size. And, unfortunately, all the shocks I have just sitting in the bin are 100mm plus which dicks with the panhard link. (I tried some 100mm RSD's that I had and even played around with the panhard link length, but it was still no bueno.) If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Spring OD is 12.3mm and length is 69mm. I could get away with 10mm or so shorter since they have a pre-load collar.

[mewalsh100]

I officially threw in the towel on trying to find softer springs for the shocks this rig came with. It's a shame too because the overall quality of the shocks isn't too shabby. Alas, they'll go in to my part bins - maybe I'll happen on some better springs some day.

Anyway, I found some KING clones on Amazon for $24 shipped. I got them today (gotta love Prime) and they look pretty good. Straight away, I could tell these were over sprung too. I pulled the 2 stage springs and collar, and ended up using the Axial soft springs I was trying to make work on the original shocks. They're a perfect fit for these King clones.

Filled all 4 corners with 25W to get a baseline. Threw them on the rig and did a quick 5 minute shakedown on a few of the features from my backyard course. Night and day difference from the OE set up. There are 3 fairly difficult lines that I use as a baseline for my rigs. With this new shock set-up and the Aluminum beadlocks and Rockcrushers, it cleaned 2 of the 3. Still room for improvement, but I'm pretty happy with where it's headed.

[Panther6834]

Looks like it's coming "back to life" quite nicely. I know this might be a long-shot, and u know the 'plan' is for Thanksgiving...but, if you could have it finished before Veteran's Day, and give it to him on Veteran's Day, that would be cool. Like I said, a long-shot, but a nice 'goal' to set.

~ More peace, love, laughter & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by Panther6834

Looks like it's coming "back to life" quite nicely. I know this might be a long-shot, and u know the 'plan' is for Thanksgiving...but, if you could have it finished before Veteran's Day, and give it to him on Veteran's Day, that would be cool. Like I said, a long-shot, but a nice 'goal' to set.

~ More peace, love, laughter & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

I agree, that would be awesome Panther. But, I won't see him again until Thanksgiving. I'm just hoping the weather holds out and is decent enough that we can get out when he comes up!

[mv1985]

Originally Posted by mewalsh100

I officially threw in the towel on trying to find softer springs for the shocks this rig came with. It's a shame too because the overall quality of the shocks isn't too shabby. Alas, they'll go in to my part bins - maybe I'll happen on some better springs some day.

Anyway, I found some KING clones on Amazon for $24 shipped. I got them today (gotta love Prime) and they look pretty good. Straight away, I could tell these were over sprung too. I pulled the 2 stage springs and collar, and ended up using the Axial soft springs I was trying to make work on the original shocks. They're a perfect fit for these King clones.

Filled all 4 corners with 25W to get a baseline. Threw them on the rig and did a quick 5 minute shakedown on a few of the features from my backyard course. Night and day difference from the OE set up. There are 3 fairly difficult lines that I use as a baseline for my rigs. With this new shock set-up and the Aluminum beadlocks and Rockcrushers, it cleaned 2 of the 3. Still room for improvement, but I'm pretty happy with where it's headed.

Wow, Great job on your build mewalsh! I need to get a set of those shocks. Just like you, I couldn't find any replacement springs anywhere, which is a shame since the shock bodies look decent. Looking forward to seeing your chassis with the Jeep body.

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by mv1985

Wow, Great job on your build mewalsh! I need to get a set of those shocks. Just like you, I couldn't find any replacement springs anywhere, which is a shame since the shock bodies look decent. Looking forward to seeing your chassis with the Jeep body.

Thanks mv1985! Did you start a build thread for yours? Lemme know - I'd love to check it out and compare notes.

[mv1985]

Unfortunately, I became frustated with the stock springs and not finding softer replacements so I put my build on hold and focused on my Backyard Crawler Course, as you already know. Thanks for the compliments on that thread!

Your build is looking really good, I'm sure I'll follow your lead when I resume mine, mainly getting the shocks you purchased. Great Job!

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by mv1985

Unfortunately, I became frustated with the stock springs and not finding softer replacements so I put my build on hold and focused on my Backyard Crawler Course, as you already know. Thanks for the compliments on that thread!

Your build is looking really good, I'm sure I'll follow your lead when I resume mine, mainly getting the shocks you purchased. Great Job!

10-4. Shoot me a DM when you get back in to it.

[mv1985]

Originally Posted by mewalsh100

10-4. Shoot me a DM when you get back in to it.

Absolutely, Thanks!

[smog]

Coming along nicely Mewalsh!

If those Kings hold oil I will have to replace my RC4WD variation!

I like your tire choice. Superb of you to set them up with CI foams

It's an enjoyable build to follow

[mewalsh100]

Originally Posted by smog

Coming along nicely Mewalsh!

If those Kings hold oil I will have to replace my RC4WD variation!

I like your tire choice. Superb of you to set them up with CI foams

It's an enjoyable build to follow

Thanks smog. I slimed them, so we'll see how they do.

[mewalsh100]

I got the magnetic mounting set up done and shot the inner body black last night. This body will be painted on the outside, but I wanted a backing color on the inside for scratches and stuff.

As I mentioned, my brother is big in to painting and detailing static models and miniatures and he's pretty damn good at it. As scratches show up, I'll let him handle distressing and weathering those areas.

Gonna try and get the first coat of exterior on tonight. I spent some time masking the roof and fender flares this morning as I'm going to shoot those with black bedliner. Wow - what a pain in the a--! Lotta little nooks and crannies on these Jeeps. Plus, I had to lay up and hand cut exterior window stencils. I did come up with a decent little work around. After I used the inner masks, I saved the outer backing sheet. I then stuck that outer backing sheet on to the adhesive vinyl I used for the exterior masks and was able to trace out identical stencils. Still a bit of a pain, but way easier than starting from scratch.