Engine-Shaped Motor Covers for SSD Transmission

[micro racer]

So, I'm building an SCX10 based D90, and it uses SSD's scale transmission, which looks amazing. However, why bother with such an great looking transmission if a big, bright red ROC412 glares off the front of it? I just couldn't have that, so I thought that I should try my hand at designing something to cover it.

Obviously, that "something" should be an engine, but I wanted this truck to be a bit more accurate than simply throwing together off the shelf or lightly modified parts would allow. After some research, I determined that the RC4WD D90 body is likely a late 90's or early 2000's model, so I wanted to use an engine from that time-frame. I am also partial to diesel engines (gotta love the Audi R18 LMP1), so I decided to try and model a Land Rover TD5, or at least the major components that would look cool on a "toy" truck.

At this point, I don't have a physical reproduction of my model, but I was just so excited that my mock-up templates fit that I had to post what I have so far.

Anyways...

Front view: The turbo on the right side of the picture doesn't quite clear the inside of the shock tower, so I'll have to go back into Fusion 360 and rotate the exhaust manifold assembly down some. Like I said, this is the very first mock-up.



Left side view: Here you can see where the turbo is actually positioned along the side of the engine. It only has about a millimeter of interference with the shock tower, but the area is so detailed that filing it would be pointless.



The back of the engine is notched to clear the SSD cross brace on the transmission. I wanted it to sit all the way up against the face of the transmission when viewed from the top to keep it somewhat scale.



The cover slides on and wraps all the way around the motor and then clamps with two screws at the bottom.



For whatever reason, this is the only picture of the top view that I took (I'll try and get an actual top view in a day or two...) It isn't really clear, but note how the whole engine assembly fills the gap between the shock towers, and also goes the exact length of the ROC412. I wanted the TD5 to fill as much space as possible, yet still be mostly in proportion to the real thing.



Isometric views: The first picture is to help visualize what the engine would look like in its proper place. The large notch on the left end of the cover is for the motor wire tabs. I designed the cover in such a way that the motor wires exit down and under the intake manifold, effectively blocking them from being seen from above. I picked the right side of the truck for the wires to exit because the SSD trans has a "driver side" drop transfer case, and this keeps the wires as far away from moving parts as possible (quotes because the D90 is right-hand drive, so driver/passenger is rather arbitrary when describing what side of the truck something is on ).



And then the cover "slipped" off. The thinnest wall of the major engine block is 3mm, thickening to 6-7mm at the very bottom so the clamping screws and nuts don't pull through.



Well, that is what I have so far. I think that it looks detailed enough for what it is, as most of the visually complex parts on a TD5 are related to the belt at the front, which can't be modeled onto a cover like this.

Please let me know what you all think, if I should add or change anything.

Also, the plurality in the title is not an accident, I do have one other engine-shaped cover modeled (with hopefully a few more later on), but I'll have to post that another day. **SPOILER: its a Land Rover V8, but more properly shaped than the likes of an RC4WD engine**

[Emedina1222]

looks like great plans cant wait to see it built. if you dont wanna custom built it exclusive-rc has some nice scale motors that fit over the motor.

[micro racer]

Originally Posted by Emedina1222

looks like great plans cant wait to see it built. if you dont wanna custom built it exclusive-rc has some nice scale motors that fit over the motor.

I haven't seen those before! I just went and checked them out; they look pretty nice, but those prices are way high unless the engines are printed in aluminum. Sure, mine isn't nearly as detailed. Oh, and drafting is almost a hobby in and of itself for me, I find it really fun, so I'll probably end up with quite a few different engines designed that I'll never use anyway...

Here are two shots of the top template:





They're not particularly interesting, but the two pictures give a good idea of the size of the engine.

The V8 is almost done, too, so I should be posting some test pictures of that in the next few days...

[micro racer]

Ta-da!! A few days later than I expected, but I have basically finished the V8 model.









The large air intake and rocker boxes are hollowed out to save some material volume and therefore cost for printing. I'll post a section to show what I mean tomorrow...

Besides this V8 model, I have revised some of the problems on the TD5, like the turbo interfering with the shock tower and added support to the exhaust heat-shield, as well as adding some detail bolt heads around the top of the block.

**Sorry about the lack of detail and weird grammar; it was a long day and I really should have just saved this post for tomorrow...**

[SSD]

I have spent time looking into this and you will find that the engine will be too small after you make it fit inside the SCX10 frame rails and shock towers.

[micro racer]

Originally Posted by SSD

I have spent time looking into this and you will find that the engine will be too small after you make it fit inside the SCX10 frame rails and shock towers.

While I can definitely understand how the V8 could look a bit undersized, I was actually surprised how big the TD5 was when I printed the templates out. It is, after all, only a 2.5 L 5 cylinder...

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by micro racer

Ta-da!! A few days later than I expected, but I have basically finished the V8 model.

The large air intake and rocker boxes are hollowed out to save some material volume and therefore cost for printing. I'll post a section to show what I mean tomorrow...

Besides this V8 model, I have revised some of the problems on the TD5, like the turbo interfering with the shock tower and added support to the exhaust heat-shield, as well as adding some detail bolt heads around the top of the block.

**Sorry about the lack of detail and weird grammar; it was a long day and I really should have just saved this post for tomorrow...**

I like it! UPdates please?

[Emedina1222]

Yea my hellcat engine was to tall so I chopped up the hood a bit


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[micro racer]

First up, I added a little bit of detail to the top of the TD5. I thought just looked a bit plain, so I modeled in 8 bolt heads around the top of the engine. I have since realized that the real engine actually has 10 bolts (I think), but meh. It doesn't have to be perfect, and it might start to look crowded.



Here is a section view of the V8, showing the large hollow areas to save some print material and cost. The air intake manifold simply drains out the intake (duh), and both heads drain out through holes towards the inside of the cover. I highlighted the countersunk hole blue in the interior of the left head... Each head has two holes, mirrored, as per Shapeway's recommendation.



Back to the TD5, I added a very small support (that isn't really worth showing) between the heatshield and exhaust manifold/turbo to better, uh, support the shield, as it would be a rather thin and extended print. I wouldn't be too worried if it was injection molded, but obviously it isn't.

Anyway, that's all for now. School is taking up most of my time so I haven't been able to draw as much as I want to...

[micro racer]

Originally Posted by wacmartin

Just wondering whatever happened with this? I'm looking at some SSD goodies on RPP, and the transmission is one of them. But it would look a lot better with a motor cover.

The build stalled a bit due to a lack of parts availability from Axial, but I just started to work on the body again last week. I printed a PLA engine cover in my engineering class last semester, but I haven't actually mounted it yet. I might as well do that this week then...

Overall though, I was kinda surprised that it actually printed in the first place. I thought it would have too many overhangs and whatnot and end up looking like crap.

[elaz]

Might save you the troubles. I already uploaded the file in thingiverse



https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2401597

[micro racer]

Originally Posted by elaz

Might save you the troubles. I already uploaded the file in thingiverse



https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2401597

While that cover does look nice, it certainly isn't a TD5 like I want for my D90.

Either way, designing this is more or less a "I can so I will" project, whereas I have the CAD skills to do this, so I might as well do it myself. Also, it's fun.

[micro racer]

I finally took the time to pull apart my chassis and transmission so I could fit the PLA cover on. Since the cover ends up between the mounting face of the motor and the wire tabs, I had to disassemble most of my chassis to install it. (The chassis is a WIP too, so that's why I'm missing some stuff...)

First step: Slip the cover on. Woo-hoo! Working great so far! It looks like I won't need the pinch bolts on the bottom of the cover like I initially designed in. The cover fits very tightly, taking a few light taps on the table to knock it all the way down the motor.



The wires and accompanying tabs cleared perfectly. However, the temperature sensor loop wasn't playing nice, so it ended up being removed entirely. It wasn't really necessary anyway, I just thought it would be neat to have on the truck. On the other hand, the Spektrum RPM sensor solders to two motor wires, and that fits in just fine.



Uh-oh... I was a few degrees off on my estimation of where the screws are located. Oh well, that's why this one is a prototype printed for free at school; I can edit the design and then have Shapeways print an improved/final version.



Mocking up the motor plate and whatnots...



Holy crap. This is a pretty large assembly. Let's hope everything clears on the chassis.



Looks good so far...



The body for this truck sits fairly high above the shock towers, but I wanted to keep the height of the cover as low as possible without messing with proportions too much, in case I wanted to put one in a smaller truck with a low hood.



Whoa!! That's pretty tight in there! (I've since edited the design, rotating the whole exhaust manifold down a few degrees for better clearance.)



The manifold is still tight front to back, but the aforementioned rotation will bring it down into the wider part of the shock hoop.



I bolted the interior back in to the chassis. I love how well the firewall and trans tunnel fits over this SSD transmission. It seems made for it, even though I know it entirely is not...





Wire routing for this is an absolute bitch.



Now that I finally got my prototype cover installed, I just have to tweak a few parts of the design, and then I'll have my final design printed SLS printed by Shapeways. I plan to finish off the cover with some painted details, too.

Soooo... Let me know what y'all think!

[CREEPERBOB]

Originally Posted by SSD

I have spent time looking into this and you will find that the engine will be too small after you make it fit inside the SCX10 frame rails and shock towers.

What about an inline 6, Mopar slant 6

[PoorManRC]

That's some really good, if not Heartache inducing work there!! I know NOTHING about CAD, and am at the mercy of whoever can make this stuff.....
It does surprise me, that a larger variety of "slip on" motor covers aren't more available. Especially considering how Scaling has grown so much! Yeah, some are available. If I wanted to give up my first born, I could have the one from RC4WD!!! For one of my Rigs (Wraith), I would just want an Electronics Box, shaped like a Blown Big Block Ford - much like the 1500hp Rock Bouncer that I'm trying to emulate.
I hope that changes somehow. What you're doing here, is nothing short of ART!!