Tribute to my Dad: 79 F100 Lariat - help me start

[Shinchu]

Gents, need your help on this one.
Been searching and i think im close but i think most of you would know the answers to this.
i need a 78 or 79 f body ford. Single cab.
Best fit so far i have seen is
Jconcepts
Traxxas bigfoot #1

I tracked down wheelbase for both and the jconcepts is 11 inches.
Traxxas bigfoot is 270mm or about 10.5 inches.

Now here is were i need you help.
What are by chassis options with that wheelbase?
11 inch i see the gmade gs01
10.5 i see mst cfx with long option drive shafts and links.

Am i missing any? I have a feeling tamiya is like king of the 10.5 iirc.

Oh, and inspiration for this build is my Dads old truck. He had a 79 or maybe 78 f100 lariat 4x2. I lost him back in 2015 and i think this would be a fun way to remember him, since it was the first truck i ever drove, and he gave me a trial by fire so to speak on a camping trip in the california high desert joshua tree natl forrest. He said ok youre up. I drove over rocks the size of basketballs and we got to a wash that was pretty straight. Thats when he held my foot to the floor with his lol
Keep in mind i was like 11?
Lots of memories with that truck. It was sort of our millinnium falcon.

I cant find any old photos of the exact truck at the moment, but here is the closest i could find on the interwebs...


This will be my first actual scaler, but i want it to be a memorable one.
Funding is limited, but i dont mind taking my time. If i finish before 2018 i will be stoked, and so would my pop. He bought my very first rc cars (tyco turbo hopper and tamiya blackfoot) so i know he would love this.

Thanks you guys. Sorry for the feels.

[Natedog]

Good times, thanks for sharing a bit of your childhood memories with us. The MST-CFX is made for Tamiya bodies wheelbase:
http://www.rc-mst.com/product.php?cl...&class_sn2=125

Vaterra Ascender has adjustable wheelbase, the shortest is 10.95 in (278mm) but a couple peeps on here have shortened it a bit more by trimming the adjustable frame rails.
https://www.horizonhobby.com/product...rtr-p-vtr03031

Bodies, for that I'm not sure. Keep us posted, should be a sweet build.

[Mike Flea]

I have an SCX-10 with a 10.5 inch wb, a wroncho with a 13.5 inch wb, and a 1/6 Jeep with a 14.75 inch wb. All use the SCX-10 frame rails.

If you can find them, HPI '79 Ford F-150, part #105127

The Jconcepts '79 Ford F-250, part # 0305

[KMS]

Good luck,, I lost my Dad last year. What your doing is pretty cool. My Dad drove Junker's most of his life . It was his choice,,

[Shinchu]

Thanks you all for the support so far.

Looks like i will do the 11 inch jconcepts bod with vattera underneath.
I found a youtube vid with a newer f series from jconcepts on top of a vaterra and it looked perfect.

I could go 10.5 traxxas bod for cheaper, i think (tamiya cc01?). But i would imagine the extra half inch would make for a more capable rig.
While i want to make it look as accurate as i can, i dont want it to be too limited in ability.

Maybe 1.5 wheels. My pop had bfg all terrains on his. Nothing huge, stock suspension with upgraded shocks.
Oh! Forgot to mention it had an old 80s era fiberglass camper shell, or cap. Forgot brand but it was old. Matched the cream color of the sides. Rear hatch was not a flat piece of plexiglass, but a molded door with a rectangle piece of glass. Side glass had sliding half panes. All three had like, mountain range "tint" kinda like when you wrap a car with advertisement graphics and it goes over the windows, has tiny dots so you can see out.
Oh and he had gun racks on the side windows. Used them for everything from fishing poles to... well, guns lol
I am going to try my damndest to scratch build a styrene bed cap that looks like his old one. Not a huge focus of the build but i want to try as soon as i get the majority of the truck up and running.
*found a pic of the exact shell! Glasstite! Wrong truck lol but same exact shape and color


Additionally, i want a cab interior. Doesnt have to be perfect but a basic kit with bench seat is what i need. Probably going to make the rear glass of the cab slide open too. I remember we would be going down the freeway and he would finish a soda and go "hey chris, you know whats cool about trucks?" Proceed to slide the glass open and chuck the can back in the bed lol
I dont remember if he had a carpet kit, but i think he did. He was quite the woodworker, and he also had bolted another bench seat in the bed, rear facing.
Haha this build is gaining weight pretty quick huh?

Well thanks for the help so far. This is very therapudic for me, still having trouble with the loss. Kinda unexpected, didnt get to say goodbye.
Fathers day is a tough one for me. Not sure how soon i can start this, but next weekend i hope to at least put together a list of parts and maybe get something from it once a month. Similar to harleys $50 deadbolt project.

That said, if you know anyone selling a vattera, rtr, slider, roller... let me know. In the meantime i will keep my eyes peeled on the classifieds.

Thanks everyone! Enjoy the weekend, hug and thank your pop, and go crawl something!

[Shinchu]

Ok so just got a small dose of cash to kick off the project. $100 isnt much in the grand scheme, but like i said, slow and easy is fine for this long term goal.

Then whilst partaking in the customary killing of brain cells with delicious beverages at stone brewery in escondido to celibrate my day of birth, my inebriated state and decreased judgement led me to a pretty darned good idea:
Build it from scratch from vaterra spare parts, starting from the frame up.
Just buy all of the parts one at a time from an online store. This would also allow me to also get the jconcepts body and stay at budget.

So, with fathers day tomorrow, i will most likely order the frame rails and a few things to bolt up to it. That said i need a stainless screw set too.
I promise i will have real updates with some progress soon!

*fathers day edit:
Ordered the body from jconcepts!

[Shinchu]

ok guys I got some used ascender parts on the way. need to order frame rails and screw kit.
also might use the RC4WD hilux/mojave shell topper as a base, build it out to fit with styrene. I think the shape is close, and looks almost exactly like the glasstite I posted above, ironically on an old Toyota.

no pics yet, sorry! will have something when im ready to mock up the frame under the body for measurements for the 4 links.

[58_Willys]

This is looking like a really nice build. After looking at the available 79 Ford bodies myself, I think your decision on the JConcepts body is the best choice.

Your Vaterra axles will be wider than the body but, you could sub in a set of the new RC4WD cast K44's. They're still a little wider but closer to scale looks. Are you building it as a 2WD or 4WD? 2WD would make it easier to modify a rear axle to be the correct width to "tuck" the wheels inside the body.

1.55 wheels for sure for this one. These Cross rims painted chrome silver might be the closest to your pic at the top.

The GCM and REC rims would be the ticket, but only if you find someone that would be willing to sell them.

If you're going to "build out" the RC4WD hilux/mojave shell topper with styrene, why not just build it entirely out of styrene. You would already be putting as much work into the base topper as you would to just build to exactly what you want...just my 2 cents.

I can't wait to see how this goes. I love this old body style.

BTW, I built an interior for my 76 F-150 using the HPI 79 body. It turned out really well.
76 F-150 Step-side -- now with 1.55's - Page 6 - Scale 4x4 R/C Forums

[Shinchu]

I didn't see this reply until now. thanks for the re-assuring recommendations!

I was seriously eyeballing the company who will not be named K44's. had em in my cart ready to go. then it occurred to me... I could get a pair of used ascender axles, have codyboy narrow and mod them and it would look decent with aftermarket diff covers. all for about the same price and possibly perform even better?

so yeah to answer your question its going to be 4wd just out of convenience. I know its not 100% accurate to the 1:1, but I still want to bring it to crawls and be able to have fun with it. this baby will not be a shelf queen, pop wouldn't stand for it lol you know how many times we got stuck or blew a tire in the middle of nowhere with that thing? more than I can remember, and she had so many scrapes from sage brush, it looked like it was keyed haha she was no show truck so this rig wont be either.

as for wheels, I think cross would be the way to go, if I could figure out how to order from them?! I actually reached out to REC via email and he answered me here. no go on his stuff, he is shifting focus and not doing wheels anymore :(

thanks for the pointers on the HPI interior! not sure if hunting that down will be within budget since they are no longer produced but I will see what I can find. and that interior is INCREDIBLE! dash is spot-on!

also looks like I might need an airbrush setup. those colors are pretty much non-existent from a spray can. also most likely going to cut my own stainless trim from AC ducting tape. might need to scratch build a front bumper too. both the Jconcepts and the traxxas bigfoot come with the "bigfoot winch" bumper. bleh.
man I wish I had some photos to work with. im not getting any younger and details are fuzzy. I haven't seen this truck in over a decade. I wont get into where it went. honestly im not even sure.

oh, also I have started a build thread for this in the Vaterra Ascender section. I have no idea if I am going to keep both of these threads going or just merge them or... suggestions?
Tribute to my Dad's 79 F100 featuring Banzai
im trying to sell some pricey airsoft rifles to fund this... so far I sold a pistol so I might get frame rails and a screw set. no bites on the rifles yet :(

again, thanks everyone for the support!