Project: "LJ Mutt" - 2.2 Stretched TJ TTC Build

[monkeyracer]

Recently, I was browsing the For Sale threads and found a good deal on a TJ body. The pics looked good, and the trade looked good, so I had the TJ body sent.

The body needed a little work, here's some pics from the ad:







The previous owner cut the hood in the wrong spot, but he did a clean job of the cut (mostly) so it was an easy fix. I won't need or want a functional hood, and I'd rather have the strength of the body with it attached. While I was messing with the hood, I decided to add in some SLR vents:





The interior was missing a center console, and these bodies have the seats WAY too high, so I took the SLR interior and inner door panels and placed them in:



Then I decided to stretch the body to the dimensions of a TJ Unlimited aka LJ. While doing that, I noticed the rear floor is a little too high, so I dropped it down and put the bed from a Dodge Ram in:





I have a LOT of body work to go still, a lot of filling and sanding, and of course I always use Oatey ABS cement for these kind of bodies.

Just playing around with wheelbase and height on my Dodge:





This is pretty close to what I want in the end for it, but of course I will use scale tires, the rovers are just for size reference. Once I get the body done, I will start the cage/tubework. It will be something simple, to keep weight down, but enough to protect the body.


I still need to acquire parts for this, like axles, shocks, frame, GRU, etc, really all I have right now for it is wheels, trans/dig (yes I will have a dig, with a lockout feature for comps), driveshafts, motor and a few other small parts.

This will likely be a slow build as I get parts for it.

[70duncan]

Looks like you are going to have another cool rig

[country_crawler]

Looks like a great start!

[monkeyracer]

Thanks guys, I am excited about this one. I've wanted to build a TJ for a while, but never found a body for a decent price or someone else would beat me to it.

[thomas]

WOW that looks way different than when we traded! it looks alot better than i could ever do! the slr hood looks cool on it to :thumbsup:

[monkeyracer]

Progress!

I've done a lot more of the body work, and designed a chassis for this. The Chassis will be cut from .25" delrin, which I am supposed to get from the Brown truck on Friday. There's a comp Sunday, so I hope it's waiting for me when I get home from work.

Pics:











You can see in the pics that I've done a lot more body work and sanding (look at the top view, and notice the wheel wells, scroll back up to see what I had started with.) ABS cement is awesome!

The chassis you can see in the pics is a test one I made from 1/8" lexan to make sure the dimensions were right and the trans and dig fit under the seats. Obviously this is without mounting the shocks, but it gives an idea on the ride height and wheelbase and width.

I decided for now I am just going to use an axle mounted servo, until I decide I want to figure out a CMS panhard solution. I will lose a few scale points for it, but the tube work and scale items should compensate for that.


More to come soon, hopefully Saturday evening it will be ready to go for the scale comp (minus paint and tubework, and maybe minus winch if I can't figure out where to mount the beast of a winch from the Dodge.)

By this Sunday's comp I need to figure out:

Cut the chassis from the .25 delrin
Cut the shock mounts
Cut the skid plate
Figure out the motor and reduction spur mount
Find a place to mount a battery, probably only a 2S 1000mah for now, space is tight. My big 3600 3S is not going to fit anywhere.
Figure out body mounts and a front/rear bumper (At worst I can make a simple one from C-channel aluminum.
Try to figure out where to put the big ass winch
Find a place to mount the electronics

I've got work to do...

[dubAron]

Good start can't wait to see more

[monkeyracer]

Originally Posted by monkeyracer

By this Sunday's comp I need to figure out:

Cut the chassis from the .25 delrin

Done, at least the prototype chassis is cut, I now know what slight changes to make to the design before I send it to the laser cutter. Once I get the "final" chassis, I will dye it black. (I got a killer deal on the white delrin. 4 total sq ft for 13 bucks shipped.)

Originally Posted by monkeyracer

Cut the shock mounts

Done, well sort of, I got the front shock mounts cut, but mounted the rear shocks raked forward to the chassis rails, because I was getting tired, and the front mounts took quite a while.

Originally Posted by monkeyracer

Cut the skid plate

Done!

Originally Posted by monkeyracer

Figure out the motor and reduction spur mount

Done! It was hard getting the 11mm holes for the 5x11x4 bearings, but I got it working, and working well. It's so much smoother and quiter than when it was in the stock position. The set-up is similar to a 23/87 pinion/spur ratio, but in an overall smaller set-up. I get some wheelspeed (even more so on 3S) and get to keep a decent amount of torque with the 55t motor. And, I have drag brake again! The Titan 550 in the dodge didn't have strong magnets so I am glad to have that again.

Originally Posted by monkeyracer

Find a place to mount a battery, probably only a 2S 1000mah for now, space is tight. My big 3600 3S is not going to fit anywhere.

Ya, the big battery isn't going to fit, and one of the 2S 1000's I had puffed and low voltaged. I have 2x Losi 1000mah 2S batteries that I am using in parallel to get the most current capability and run time I can, at least until I order a 3S that fits in the space. I think I've got around 95mm x 60mm x 45mm to fit, so I just need a shorter one. I will probably be ordering that soon!

Originally Posted by monkeyracer

Figure out body mounts and a front/rear bumper (At worst I can make a simple one from C-channel aluminum.

I used industrial strength Velcro in the front and back and it will hold, but is easy enough to pull the body off to unplug the batteries, etc. Made a simple front bumper from the C-Channel, and will make a matching rear bumper, hopefully in time for the comp in the morning. (Don't have a whole lot of scale points, so every little bit will help.) The front bumper doubles as a body mount.

Originally Posted by monkeyracer

Try to figure out where to put the big ass winch

Not Done! No winch for tomorrow... so I will have to be "buddy winched" out if I get stuck. After the comp, I will probably use a converted servo because space is tight.

Originally Posted by monkeyracer

Find a place to mount the electronics

Done! and it was actually really easy, and all the wiring went together nice and clean, and is fairly hidden.

Other things done: Stretched the stock plastic roll cage. This is just temporary until I get the metal work done, but it actually looks half decent, and will protect the driver. If I keep this for another comp, I will probably make it look a little nicer.

Also, possibly figured out headlight buckets, but they aren't ideal, and I will probably end up ordering the RPM kit, so I can also have rock lights to go on the cage.


Now, I didn't get pics yet, but it's late and it's dark, and I don't have a place that has good enough lighting, so I will just have to take some tomorrow at the comp.

More to come soon!

[monkeyracer]

Pics:















And some body off shots to show the chassis and electronics placement:











At the comp today, I think I fried something, there was definitely smoke exiting the hood, and that "oh crap" smell. I let it cool down, and it still ran, so I am not sure what broke, maybe I fried the motor, but I hope it wasn't the speed control, because those would be more expensive.

I need to change the gearing on this to reduce the ratio a little more, I will probably go down to the 14t pinion I have to see how that does. One thing I really like about this set-up is how quiet it is.

I definitely need a 3S lipo that fits in the front of the chassis, 2S isn't going to cut it, and the big 3S I have doesn't fit it.

Also, after taking a nasty fall I broke the grill off the body, but a little ABS cement and some extra reinforcements and it will be good to go.

Our next comp isn't until the end of June, so I will see if I can finish this thing by then.

[R2j]

I like it! Looks good Jens! Wish I could have made it Sunday. But didn't have anything running and was good to hang out with the family and relax.

[monkeyracer]

Originally Posted by R2j

I like it! Looks good Jens! Wish I could have made it Sunday. But didn't have anything running and was good to hang out with the family and relax.

Thanks Shon! I'll be getting with you in the somewhat near future to talk about some tube work.

The comp was fun, it sounded like a lot of people broke stuff, and I'm not the only one that smoked a motor (not exactly sure if that's what it was, haven't looked at it since Sunday.)

[fernando]

That's a mean looking Jeep. I love the body work and the lack of a paint job is a cool look also.

[monkeyracer]

Originally Posted by fernando

That's a mean looking Jeep. I love the body work and the lack of a paint job is a cool look also.

I'm really trying to think of what color(s) to paint this. I was thinking Flat Black will definitely be there, but I don't know if I want to do a second or even third color for it. I've still got some more body work to do (including the new stuff I broke from the comp.) So I figure I've got a little time to figure it out.

I'd be willing to take suggestions, anyone got pics of a good paint scheme that would make this thing look awesome?

[bigcountry]

What did you use to fill the gap in the side of the jeep and were do you get the abs cement ?