Go Back   RCCrawler Forums > RCCrawler Brand Specific Tech > Heritage Crawlers > Tamiya TLT Crawlers
Loading

Notices

Thread: Project: TINY

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-25-2007, 08:51 AM   #1
RCC Addict
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Santa Clara
Posts: 1,456
Default Project: TINY

Project: TINY
The original 1:1 rear engined comp buggy that dominated rock crawling when it hit the rocks years back. Built originally by Nelson & Nelson racing, today it is still being driven by Jason Scherer and although it is several years in design old, it is still one of the top rigs in the world today.

Name:  tiny004.jpg
Views: 5681
Size:  79.0 KB

Well I have been wanting to do this build for a long time and finally made some visible progress. Up to this point I have just been gathering ideas, photos, parts, and anything else to help in the build. Mostly I have just been short on time, but an hour here and there over several months and you can start seeing progress.
The basics:
Chassis - Custom tube version of TINY, 3/16" DOM steel
Tranny - XXX Losi
Motor - Revolver 2 (because it is so "tiny" not performance)
Axles - TLT/hybrid TLT
Shocks - TLT turned down
Wheels/Tires - Traxxas/Geolanders narrowed
Batteries - unknown


I started with photos that I had and what I found on the web. I also contacted Jason (the owner of TINY) and he sent me the best photos that gave me good perspective shots and the ability to get some rough measurements.

Name:  TinyDrawing.jpg
Views: 5714
Size:  96.6 KB

I then took those measurements and started bending 3/16" DOM tubing. Let me tell you. Just because you have straight on photos, doesn't mean you will get good measurements. The distortion made things tricky and the design of TINY itself made it worse since there is not one symetrical part on it. Taping it all together helped get me my visuals somewhat in line.

Name:  tiny001.jpg
Views: 5653
Size:  77.0 KB

After bending tubing, I am now in the process of zapping it together and making final lengths on all those pieces I bent and cut out. I have done both brazing and now MIG welding on this chassis. My preference is the MIG welding. Easy to hold in place, fast to make weld, easy to fill in gaps, however not so quick to clean up if you puddle the welds.

Name:  tiny002.jpg
Views: 5533
Size:  46.9 KB
Name:  tiny003.jpg
Views: 5545
Size:  56.7 KB

So that is it as of this posting. It will take me a while to complete it, but it at least is starting to look like a vehicle now.
-Sam
SlinkySam is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Old 06-25-2007, 09:06 AM   #2
Newbie
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: richmond
Posts: 46
Default

wow looks great
paperclipracer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-25-2007, 09:08 AM   #3
Pebble Pounder
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: High Point
Posts: 188
Default

man i like the start of this build, deffently something i am going to keep my eye on. might make me go back to a shocked vehicle
gasshead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-25-2007, 10:56 AM   #4
Rock Crawler
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Where it's wet
Posts: 833
Default

Looks good Slinky Does it run a 3 link with (panyard) in the rear? Cool if it does.
Gimbal is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-25-2007, 11:08 AM   #5
Im Brandon
 
Brandon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Colfax, CA
Posts: 8,156
Default

Looks cool Sam! I wondered what you have been up to
Brandon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-25-2007, 06:13 PM   #6
RCC Addict
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Santa Clara
Posts: 1,456
Default

Thanks guys. I appreciate the compliments.

Gimbal - Yes, it runs a panhard front and rear actually. The rear is pretty easy because you have 1 link on the drivers side, 2 on the passenger, then the 1 panhard. The front is a little trickier as it run basically 3 links from the very center of the chassis down to the axle right next to the driveshaft. Then the panhard runs down driver to passenger. So that is why the passenger side front has a radius'd frame instead of a straight frame like on the driver side. Not sure it is easily seen in the photo though.

Brandon - Yeah, I have been out doing other stuff so I never get to do R/C stuff that much, except a little here and there. I finally did make some progress though so I am excited to see that it (for the most part) looks like TINY. If I can keep clean lines and similar appearance, I will be stoked when it is complete.

-Sam
SlinkySam is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-25-2007, 07:36 PM   #7
Quarry Creeper
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: .
Posts: 314
Default

any updates? lol sorry im just very anxious
tltman12 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-26-2007, 12:05 AM   #8
owner, Holmes Hobbies LLC
 
JohnRobHolmes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Volt up! Gear down!
Posts: 20,290
Default

Thats cool man! Definatly a great rig to base if from. I would recommend a 1350 mah+ 3 cell lipo or 9-10 cell nimh for your battery. It will give you enough grunt with proper gearing. Lower voltages may be lackluster in performance for the motor. 12/87 or slower would be a good start point for gearing too.
JohnRobHolmes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-26-2007, 06:53 AM   #9
'08 2.2 National Champ
 
Just Zach's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UTRCRC
Posts: 5,585
Default

Very nice build, it looks like the dimensions should work out just about perfect
Just Zach is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-26-2007, 09:48 AM   #10
I wanna be Dave
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: SoCal
Posts: 5,027
Default

Awesome build Sam! I remember when the Nelson's first finished that rig and everyone was just looking at it scratching their heads.
Rockpiledriver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-26-2007, 12:45 PM   #11
Dirt Addict
 
roktoy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Stumblin' thru the parking lot of an invisible 7-Eleven
Posts: 1,053
Default

This should be cool.....nice start.
Jay
roktoy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-26-2007, 02:13 PM   #12
Sinking with the ship
 
1BadJeepBruiser's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: El Capitan...sole survivor and sinking fast
Posts: 8,864
Default

Nice work dude, this will be one saweet tuber when its done
1BadJeepBruiser is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-26-2007, 08:59 PM   #13
Nor-CalRCRC
 
montereycrawler's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Monterey Peninsula
Posts: 745
Default

Looking great Sam. Good to see you have a little time now and then. Are you going to have it done for Folsom in October? You are hoping to go in Oct. right?
montereycrawler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-26-2007, 11:35 PM   #14
I wanna be Dave
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: San Jose
Posts: 5,207
Default

looks good Sam, I can't wait to see the panhard bar set up.
rckjeep is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2007, 08:56 AM   #15
Rock Crawler
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Tacoma
Posts: 699
Default

looks like a golf cart in that last picture . just kiddin.looks like it'll be a good rig and I will be following this build
Stallion1967 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2007, 07:34 PM   #16
Quarry Creeper
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: wollongong, NSW, Australia
Posts: 413
Talking

This thing looks great
Any progress?
Shane
Rockmuncher is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2007, 09:11 PM   #17
RCC Addict
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Santa Clara
Posts: 1,456
Default

Thanks again everyone for the compliments. Coming from some of you who are the "Masters" of tubing, it means a lot.

Well I was hoping to make progress on the rig, but I am still deep in Wedding season, so all I have done was tap the end of the tubing for the panhard bar which was a complete failure.... almost. I got a little ball of weld in there when joining the 3 tubes which I tried to drill out, but it chewed the end of the bit. The broken end of the bit got stuck inside. I tried to pick it out, but no luck. So I tried to push it into the tube to get it out of the way. I could then drip some loctite in there to keep it from rattling around. However, it wouldn't budge. After playing with it for a while I finally found some super narrow tweezers and was able to unscrew it out. I tried to tap it from there, but tapping a weld is a bit rough. No big deal though, I think I have it solved.

Stallion1967 - Yeah, now that you mention it, it does look like a golf cart.

montereycrawler - Thanks man. I can only hope to make it as clean as your rigs. I am hoping to have it done sooner than Folsom in Oct. By then, the weddings will be winding down.

Rockpiledriver - You know, I STILL scratch my head when looking at it. I must have 30 to 40 photos of it and over the years it has actually changed shape a little bit. So sometimes it gets confusing at which year I am building . Actually, the whole thing is screwy with all the different angles and anti-symetrical design.

justgiveereh - It is close to perfect in 2.2 style dimensions. I am using the 3/8ths tubing which isn't quite right, but I didn't want to use the solid 1/8th tubing. It's ok though. As long as you don't look at the the original next to this one, it will be close enough. haha

johnrobholmes - Thanks for the battery suggestions. The problem will be 1) finding the space for the batteries and 2) finding the money to get them haha. No wonder they call it a hobby. It drains my wallet almost as fast as my real 1:1 rock crawlers. I would like to find something super small of course and something that would hide well within the lines of chassis. Obviously being an open chassis like it is, it is hard to hide stuff. I have the Mamba Max now and might need to try the Mamba 25 again for size reasons, but once again.... those damn hobby gremlins are eating the wallet.


So inbetween uploading wedding photos, I think I will try and buzz a few more bars and link mounts on.

-Sam

Last edited by SlinkySam; 06-27-2007 at 11:48 PM.
SlinkySam is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2007, 09:15 PM   #18
owner, Holmes Hobbies LLC
 
JohnRobHolmes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Volt up! Gear down!
Posts: 20,290
Default

If you want to keep the budget tight, 2/3a cells might be the better bet. You could hide them all around the frame and keep it pretty clean. I would still recommend at least 9 cells though, the more voltage the better.
JohnRobHolmes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2007, 11:35 PM   #19
Im Brandon
 
Brandon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Colfax, CA
Posts: 8,156
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by SlinkySam View Post

Well I was hoping to make progress on the rig, but I am still deep in Wedding season, so all I have done was tap the end of the tubing for the panhard bar which was a complete failure.... almost. I got a little ball of weld in there when joining the 3 tubes which chewed the end of the bit. The broken end of the bit got stuck inside. I tried to pick it out, but no luck. So I tried to push it into the tube to get it out of the way. I could then drip some loctite in there to keep it from rattling around. However, it wouldn't budge. After playing with it for a while I finally found some super narrow tweezers and was able to unscrew it out. I tried to tap it from there, but tapping a weld is a bit rough. No big deal though, I think I have it solved.

[
Sam if you are going to try and tap it again may I suggest heating up the steel with a torch until its red hot then slowly cool it while keeping the torch close. This will soften the steel quite a bit and should make it easier to tap. But it sounds like you have it solved
Brandon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-28-2007, 01:20 AM   #20
RCC Addict
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Santa Clara
Posts: 1,456
Default

So I didn't get much done between uploads, but I did get to add 5 more tubes. Rule #1, don't forget to turn on the shield gas when MIG welding. Rule #2, verify locations of tube twice before welding. I need to cut one tube out and reposition for sure. Other than that, I have several tubes to go and a lot of clean up grinding to do.

Here is a photo of it with the set, tranny, and bug motor in rough position to give you an idea.

Name:  tiny005.jpg
Views: 4903
Size:  58.2 KB


Brandon - thanks for the tip. I think I got it tapped ok now. It just wasn't nearly as smooth as I planned it to be.

-Sam
SlinkySam is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply



Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:58 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO ©2011, Crawlability, Inc.
Copyright 2004-2014 RCCrawler.com