The long-awaited LWB TF2 by new2rocks

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by robvbro81

Put me on the list for the skid and bearing holder!!

For sure!

In the meantime, the radiator supports and inner fenders are already on their way (that didn't take long...thanks, n00b!!!), and Chris from GCM has given me another idea on the hings mounts that will step those up a notch. More work ahead...

[ebbet]

New2rocks, what driveshafts are you using? RC4WD claims the plastic driveshafts included in this kit are an all new design with better quality plastics. Can yo comment on the stock driveshafts and, if you upgraded yours to steel, which ones you are using?

[ebbet]

New2rocks, what driveshafts are you using? RC4WD claims the plastic driveshafts included in this kit are an all new design with better quality plastics. Can yo comment on the stock driveshafts and, if you upgraded yours to steel, which ones you are using?

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by ebbet

New2rocks, what driveshafts are you using? RC4WD claims the plastic driveshafts included in this kit are an all new design with better quality plastics. Can yo comment on the stock driveshafts and, if you upgraded yours to steel, which ones you are using?

I am using Junfacs (the Dingo set fits perfectly). I haven't tried out the kit shafts, but they look to be the same as in the TF2 Mojave 2 and the G2 kits. The language you mentioned is the same as on the pages for those trucks.

[new2rocks]

So I have to apologize for the radio silence on this build. I had to pause so Nick and I could work on some more new products for the TF2. I think the wait will be worth it. Here's a preview of one of our new products that should be just a few weeks away:






More to come very soon...


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[ebbet]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

I am using Junfacs (the Dingo set fits perfectly). I haven't tried out the kit shafts, but they look to be the same as in the TF2 Mojave 2 and the G2 kits. The language you mentioned is the same as on the pages for those trucks.

Thanks for the info! The new axles look awesome!

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by ebbet

Thanks for the info! The new axles look awesome!

Glad you like!

Got cracking on the interior. First up was figuring out where to mount the battery tray. The chassis is designed with two options in mind. The instructions tell you to mount the tray using the rearward mounting position:



The biggest problem with the recommended location is that the battery sits smack in between the front and back seats (assuming you keep the battery on the tray), which in turn limits how far you can lower the floor between the two rows of seats.

A second option is to move the battery tray to the forward set of holes that are pre-tapped in the chassis:



This option puts the battery back directly under the front seat and the shift servo in the passenger foot well. It also opens up the option to drop the floor between the two rows of seats as far as you want. If using the BowHouse skid to lift the t-case, you have to put the battery tray on spacers to clear (which is easy to do). This option worked great on my TF2 Mojave 2 and allows the battery to sit just inside the cab back if you run the full cab back on the standard body (which I do):



But, to drop the floor below the battery level boh in front of and behind the front seat, the floor would have to go up and over the battery and then drop again behind the battery. Which adds extra cuts and joints into the floor. Which seemed a bit silly.

So......I came up with this:



The forward-most mounting holes in the battery tray line up with the rear-most mounting holes from the rearward position on the chassis:



With battery and servo, it looks like this:



Conveniently, one of the unused battery tray mounting holes is spaced exactly where it needs to be for the other servo bracket:



A little spacer to compensate for the height of the battery tray:



Mocked up with servo horn:







If I were so inclined, I could lower the floor essentially down to the rails from the front of the cabin to the the front of the battery pack, with just a boxed in section for the shift servo (most of which would be covered by the front seat. But I wasn't interested in that much cutting, so this will work just fine.

On to the floor plan. To keep things simple, I went with a modified version of the quick and easy floor pan that I made on my green TF2 for ECSC. I started with a simple rectangular section of .06" styrene mounted using the center dash mounting screw, with a couple of bends to drop the floor:



Then added a raised section to clear the battery:



And a little perch to support the floor in the rear:



View from inside the cabin without seats:



Front row:



Back seat:



Big thanks to Dan #secondbesthashtaggeronthegcmtinytruckteam for recommending this for gluing styrene:



This stuff works very well, and the needle thin applicator makes working with it a breeze.

No discussion of a TF2 Mojave interior would be complete without mentioning the new dash, originally introduced with the Mojave 2 bodyset last fall and included in the LWB version. It's just so much more detailed than the old version. Here they are next to each other:



Hats off to RC4WD for putting the time into that part. What a difference it will make. Now back to work...

[robvbro81]

Was your body actually painted with primer out of the box??? Because mine sure looks like it


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[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by Sepulveda87

WOW that lwb is awesome! what color are you planning on painting it?

Agreed! Not 100% sure yet, but I'm leaning toward a dark gun metal.

Originally Posted by robvbro81

Was your body actually painted with primer out of the box??? Because mine sure looks like it

Yes. The cab and bed are primed because they do some cutting and fusing of parts to make those two.

[robvbro81]

Any suggestion on paint? I don't want to have a paint reaction


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[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by robvbro81

Any suggestion on paint? I don't want to have a paint reaction

Tamiya surface primer followed by any of the usual plastic spray paints (Tamiya, Model Master, etc) should do just fine.

[new2rocks]

Enough of house hunting, writing the CMAX guide, and working with Nick on some new BowHouse RC parts. Time to get back to work on this truck, darnit!

The seats needed some work. The plan was to get rid of the humps, shorten the rear seat back and thigh support (back seat passengers always get the short end of the stick), and upholster.

The first cut is the deepest:



Cut away some material around the hump on the front seat:





Then used some heat to start flattening the hump:



Added some styrene to fill the gap, then started scribing, puttying and sanding:



Same idea with the lower section of the back seat:





Time to put the two pieces together:





There may have been simpler ways, but it worked. From the front:



What's that in the background?

Decided I didn't like the angle of the back edge of the back rest, so I tucked that in with the help of the heat gun:





After a little more puttying and sanding, they were ready for upholstery...

[new2rocks]

The first step went smoothly thanks to a sacrificial dress sock (herringbone knit, of course), some spray-on fabric adhesive, and the smooth, rounded side of a scraper to press in the seams:





Then things got messy. The sides and backs needed to be (or at least look like) vinyl, of course:
Name: 1980-Toyota-bench-seat.jpg

But where to find the right thickness, color, texture, etc. I looked high and low:



And then I found this:



Time to get to work:



You guys better not say anything to the Boss. I'll be in huuuge trouble...

So I was able to harvest this:



Which turned into this:



And this:



Why the shoe polish, you ask? For the edges. Before:



And after:



First step was to glue the back in place:



Then wrap around the sides:



And with a little piece added to the side of the seat bottom, I think we have something here:



Then it was on to the front seat...

[BadWagon]

Holy crap, they turned out killer! Great job man. The threads looks spot on as does the vinyl/leather.

Raising the bar my man.

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by BadWagon

Holy crap, they turned out killer! Great job man. The threads looks spot on as does the vinyl/leather.

Raising the bar my man.

Thanks, BadWagon. Not sure what bar I've raised other then my own (which wasn't too high to begin with), but thanks!

Back to the build. Feeling pleased as I was about the rear seat, something was bothering me about the front seat. Here's another 1:1 reference:


Can you tell what was bugging me? Right...that cutout for the transfer case shifter. Warning...the next few pics are NSFW:









Hmmm...much better. One other thing worth noting. I didn't like how far down the plastic extended behind the seat-back, so I trimmed it up a bit before gluing down the fabric and adding the vinyl/pleather/lady part. Before trimming:



After trimming:



Once the front was all wrapped up, they looked like this:





I refuse to think about how long it took me to sort all of this out in my head, much less actually get it done. But I think it was worth it.

A couple of folks have asked what adhesives I used. Elmer's CraftBond Spray Adhesive worked great for gluing the cloth to the seats, and Loctite Vinyl, Fabric, Plastic adhesive did the trick for the vinyl:



The Loctite seems similar to Shoe Goo/E6000, but more viscous and thus easier to work with when trying to spread more thinly over a wider area. That's going to become a fixture on the bench.

I got the body back from Nick today (Nick just finished the design work on some long-awaited new BowHouse RC parts and is printing them as I type), so I couldn't resist a little mocking up:
Click image for larger version.





The feeling of accomplishment won't last long, though, as there's still much to do. Carpeting, dash, door panels, and the body. Plus the new BowHouse parts to fit. That's plenty to keep me busy for a right long while, as they say here in the South.

[Honcho907]

Amazing work!!! I copied a couple of your ideas for my interior, but my skill level left me wanting more!!

chicken nut bread

[IVIaarten]

Really enjoying this thread. Great job on the interior so far!

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by IVIaarten

Really enjoying this thread. Great job on the interior so far!

Originally Posted by Honcho907

Amazing work!!! I copied a couple of your ideas for my interior, but my skill level left me wanting more!!

Originally Posted by Sepulveda87

Wow your craftsmanship is awesome, and your patience level is awesome lol

Many thanks for the kind words, though not sure they're deserved.

In any event, fresh off the upholstered seat victory, I decided to press my luck and tilt at yet another windmill:


In case you hadn't figured it out yet, I'm not planning on using a bed (at least not the one that came in the box). And I mind the gap.

So I picked up a sacrificial bed:


Chop chop...






More chop chop...






A little dremel work so they fit together nicely:


Let's see how it looks:


This might just work. After a little more fiddling, I decided it was time to glue:


I'll need to do some more filing, puttying, sanding, etc., but I'm feeling optimistic.

In the meantime, the BowHouse RC engineering department is putting the finishing touches on some new goodies that will be making their way into this build before too long. Here's a preview:

[new2rocks]

So last night, I received the first production version of the BowHouse RC N2R Coupling Bracket for TF2 LWB, and it's a winner:



This relocates the coupling bearing to align with the coupling when using the N2R Low Profile Skid and upsizes the hanger bearing to 5x11x4. We beefed up the mount at the chassis rails and added a few details to the production version. It's super strong, looks great, and is now available on our Shapeways store.

But that's not all that came in the box. These arrived:



Before too long, I had them all assembled:



These are now available for purchase through our Shapeways store, and I will be starting a separate thread on the axles later today in our vendor forum here, so stay tuned. I'm super excited to get these out for a spin!

[Natedog]

Looks great, love the new Bowhouse RC axle housings and center skid! Seats are fantastic too, but look like they are going to sit up a bit too high inside the cab?