rebuilding the merc

[bigoggy]

last week i bought a truck from someone that turned out to be a scammer, here's the rebuild thread that will turn this p.o.s. into something usable

looks good in this pic, doesn't it



lets look closer, the roll cage is broken



the wiring is cut to the front and rear lights, some work, some dont





this is the switch for the lights



this is the rest of the wiring, i also had to replace one brush that was missing from the motor



lets look at the side bars, oh look they are all cracked





why is the servo lead trapped under there, and look at the quality of that gear change link



there are loads of cracks in the rear axle casing, these are just some of them







why are the shocks leaning forward like that, shouldn't they be straight up and down



look at that articulation, yes that really is all it's got



maybe this is why the suspension is so stiff, it had coils and leafs



as you can see, i have loads of work to do, and who knows what other problems i will find as i strip it

all i have done so far, is put a brush in the motor, and stick a receiver in to test drive it

[bigoggy]

hey is this a crack in the bumper



why, yes it is, it's held together with fibreglass



well this shock was bolted on well, not



remember those cracks in the axle case, look at what you find when you remove the wheel



when i bought it i was told the axles were tlt, but the rear axle doesn't match the front axle or the tlt axle case i have sat here, thats becouse it's a truck axle

[bigoggy]

these screws were so long, they were hiting the servo



what's this on the esc, it's been rewired and all the wires are black, better be careful if i ever change the plugs

[luke-o]

wow! thats some bull s*%t. it looked so good from the pics, thats just a shame. you definitely got your work cut out for you,

[bigoggy]

well, i've started the paint while i wait for some parts.

the chassis rails were reacting badly to my paint, but managed to get it to take in the end

undercoat



topcoat



also painted the gearbox



the chassis rails and roll cage will be orange, and the bodywork will be blue

[bigoggy]

just 1 quick pic for now, i'll get more up later

[bigoggy]

got some more done today.

remember the cracked axle casing, i put the screwdriver to 1 screw and this happened





the front shocks are now straight up and down



shot from underneath



shot from the top




the shocks had no oil in them, they were filled with what i think was petrolium jelly.

the shocks have also had the coils removed and just use the leafs, it's a lot softer now, without been too soft

i will paint the wheels black for now, until i can find some new ones that suit it

[papabash]

Huge improvement already! Glad to see you're able to salvage it and make it into something useable. Looks like it'll be really nice when finished.

[bigoggy]

got some more done today, let me know what you think

the front bumper will eventualy be replaced, but it will have to do for now

[bigoggy]

looks better in here now



got the 1st coat of paint on the cab

[bigoggy]

got more done, this is now up and running, there are still jobs to do, but it is now a rolling project, there will be a video up of it in action on sunday