thecrusader's paj build

[thecrusader]

this build isnt going to be anything extreme, just a clean,
stock pajero. got the kit in the mail yesterday and lastnight
was build time. didnt have the bearings i ordered but i assembled
it anyway just to get a feel for it. the box pic (my first tamiya kit)-


my plans included-
-1/10 buggy front shocks
-cvd's from an on road touring car (this was a gamble anyway)
-custom motor mount allowing me to run any pinion combo
-65t motor
-traxxas links
-modding the steering
-bearings

during the building process i thought for the shocks to work
i will need to hack, aswel as fitting the motor mount. cvd's were
too long, and the screws not long enough to bolt the links. need
1 link and 1 ball cup or longer bolts . doable,but i want to
see how she goes stock.

anyway i assembled it standard, aside from taking pretty descent
amounts of c-hub away for gobs of travel in the front. my aim
is to have not too much flex in the rear, but tonnes up front.
stretching the front springs slightly and putting the rod ends lower,
along with trimming the bump stops givs the IFS descent flex.



i promised myself i wouldnt drive it without bearings, they
came in this afternoon so i will put them in and give it a whirl.
i have no money for paint so that will have to wait for the weekend,
seem to have money for beer though i dont think i will run
with the body on. the body's detail is amazing, should be fun
trying to do it proud like they way the car came out. i want
this to be as completely close to the actual car as possible.

i had rover wheels lined up too, but they scraped the body
and as i said i dont want to touch anything on this one.
i found that locking the front diff with the gear method makes
the diff casing stick out and grab the bushings, might not be
such a problem with bearings. on that note i found a bushing
missing in the gearbox with the middle gear. think i read somewhere
this is why they can jump out of reverse? i just heated up and old
traxxas steel bushing and pushed it in there. tight and smooth.
may get a bearing later.



i like this thing, the flex it has stock isnt bad especially with some tinkering up front, i think i may run into problems with the dogbones
but that can be tackled as it arises. i just want to get it finished
and hit a trail. the old girl assembled-



flex shot-



the chassis had tamiya 1993 stamped on it, and the manual
explained how to fit two servo's one for the mechanical speedy
love it. on a side note the abs body is as sharp as a razor
cut myself pretty well on that thing. didnt know the kit came with
the blue knuckles either, score. shame the steering is still gastly.

more to come.

[thecrusader]

i took it out after i put the bearings in, what a blast.
didnt hit any rocks or anything rough, as the body isnt
painted, shouldnt have taken it out at all but it was fun.

its running,
-65t motor
-hs-7955tg servo
-mamba max esc

i ran it on 2s which was ok but slow, 3s is the go. plenty of low down grunt and enough wheel speed. the downtravel i have from the modded
c-hubs gives good tyre hug, and grips deep in rutts. hopefully have
paint over the weekend.

the running gear-


lifted front-


ride height-


i might try to get the back shocks to flex a bit more,
stock isnt bad but another 1/8 or a 1/16 of an inch or so
would be swell add a little lift, i kinda like the height
atm. im also surprised at how capable this thing is stock.
good fun.

[thecrusader]

little update, got the paint yesterday.
dark mica blue, and gloss aluminium. semi gloss black for the plastics.
still need to do the plastics (door handles and grill) and do the lights
and indicators.





put some of the decals on too, gotta go to work.
more later.

cheers for looking.

[thecrusader]

bit of progress, painted the grill black (not that its really noticable)
fitted up the headlight and spottie lenses just need some led's. im
pretty sure the cups are 5mm, i have a tlu01 unit but the leds need
replacing, as does most of the wiring. might have to buy the lights seperatly, the whole kit is 30 bucks,
bit pricey maybe there is a cheaper kit? if anyone knows anything i would be keen to hear.

this brings me to my next dilemma, the block at the front. i need some help. obviously the stock body mounts to it, and it holds the body
good. do i need to cut the whole thing off and think of a new way
to mount the body at the front? i was thinking of just trimming it, but to get a good approaching angle most of the bulk i think has to go.
some progress pics.




i was running hpi ims with the stock tyres which looked ok,
but im trying the rovers. a bit tall and a tad of rubbing. still
need to do some testing, i want some more grip.
im hopefully going to get a steering upgrade kit, advice on some cheap
led's, and what to do with the front block would be great. cheers.

[thecrusader]

i've replaced the bottom links with steel traxxas links,
and made a simple shock mount thingo out of a link and
some zipties. sounds a bit dodge, but i have tesed it and its
strong. i got sick of the pastic rubber links on the bottom,
the shock wasnt even working the plastic was just bending .
i lost some ride height in the process but gained some prettty
gnarley tuckagge. the rovers rub a bit but its nothing bad.
i thought the springs were a bit tough, so i streched some
tt01 springs. works killer, lol.


some tuck shots


i bought some stuff on ebay too, a 7.2v 3800mah battery
(cheapo), gpm steering kit , and some led's that run from a 9v
battery. got work to do on it yet,painting some stuff and chopping
the front. apologies for some of the pics, the camera can be a turd.
thanks for looking.

[thecrusader]

chopped the front off this afternoon, thought if i dont
just do it,it's not going to happen. out came the grinder
and a cutting disc. went o.k, i used galvanised steel (roof
steel) that i had lying around. might still need a bit of work
for keeping water out, but im happy with it. nice strong metal
skid, with tonnes more approach angle. used a bent bit of steel
screwed to the chassis so i can use the stock body mount too.
havnt run it yet, but should be good.


while i was at it i put the rear shock eyelets lower on the shafts
to get some height in the rear. i also raised the body slightly by
drilling holes lower in the body and placing the front mount higher.
i wasnt going to raise it, but i quite like the way it looks now.

in this pic below, its hard to see but the new skid is about
an inch back from the front of the body and behind the wheels
where it should be.

and a pic of the basic front body mount incase anyone's interested-

cheers.

[Cornholio]

Looks good, nicely done... those tires looks brute :-)

[thecrusader]

Originally Posted by Cornholio

Looks good, nicely done... those tires looks brute :-)

thanks. i like the tyres too, much better than stock.

did a roof rack the other night, loooks ok but im not fully
sure. i was thinking about painting the wheels black and
the studs silver, not sure on that either.
should have paint for the flickers and brake lights by the w/end,
fingers crossed there might be some led's coming this week too.
opinions/comments welcome.
cheers.

[Krawler Konceptz]

NIce Pajero
Heres the video Rob made of my Pajero that I did

[thecrusader]

painted the indicators and some bits and pieces,
and fixed the rack up a bit with some rubber trim.
i painted the wheels black, still not sure if i like it or not.


i took her out, just in the yard earlier today and got
some pics. still need led's, the steering kit and my nimh
battery so i can waterproof everything. may need a different
motor later too for a 6 cell as the 65t will be too slow.
i think this is the most fun rc i have goes practically anywhere.








and yes i know the antenna tube is pink
i just noticed there's a lot of pictures on this page
when does page 2 start? lol.
hopefully i get some goodies in the mail this week.

[thecrusader]

well so far i have only received the led's, still waiting
for the steering kit and a battery. had some black paint
lying around so i used it on the front skid, the chrome part of
the front bumper and the roof rack. the roof rack is now mounted
properly and the lights were moved from the grill to the rack.
might have a go at making some scale accessories, as im not
particularly keen on handing over 20 bucks for them. i have a couple
of ideas.

i also final made a decision on the tires. rover tires on the stock car
rims, gives it the look im after. just need to cut out the rear
lights for the led's (easier said than done) and fit the stuff i have
coming. im thinking of doing a shock swap to bigger alum jobs,
but dunno as the stock ones give it as much flex as it needs.
maybe something to think about.im also now running a speed passion
1250kv (i think) crawler motor on 3s for the time being,had it
lying arond.i also moved the rear links to the outside of the chassis
to reduce getting hung up.

-someone correct me if they are not rover tyres they were
bought ages ago.






thanks for looking.

[thecrusader]

Not much in the way of actual building progress, but my
steering kit came and the battery. just haven't had time for
it really, and have been away. got a decal sheet for cheap
and threw some of them on,and had a bit a play with the front
suspension putting the stock rear springs on the front.
mainly i just wanted to get it out,what a blast.steering is def better.
oh and i put a cb whip antenna on it too. if you get a gpm kit
i would put some blue loctite on the top screw. if it gets sloppy
thats probably it. happened to me anyway.
here's some shots-

the camera decided to work great on the photo above for reasons
better known to its self.temperamental little shitbox of a thing.first
descent photo of the build lol.some action shots (me just flooring it)-


i lost my license so its either going in a backpack or a mates car
to the hills so i can hit some proper rocks, still something im yet to
do with it. im not everly keen on riding up there on a pushbike.
cheers.

[LJ_24]

Looks good, what did you do to raise the body in the rear?

Also, you said that you used traxxas lower links? Got the part number handy?

[thecrusader]

Originally Posted by LJ_24

Looks good, what did you do to raise the body in the rear?

Also, you said that you used traxxas lower links? Got the part number handy?

thanks.Dont know the part number, i had them lying around. to be honest
with you, looking at them i think they might be duratrax links from an evader
bx. i think.the length of the lower links aren't crucial if your just screwing
them into the side of the chassis. i raised the body by drilling two new
holes directly under the old mounting holes on the rear of the body.
the front was lifted by cutting the block off the front and having to make
a new body mount the same as the old one just placed a little higher.

I wanted tail lights so i drilled holes in the corners of them, and used
a bit of thin rc winch wire to cut them out.i should have taken some pics,
but i got the idea from another build so there will be some out there.
i used the top from a "pop top" powerade bottle,cut it into pieces
the right size and used silicone to hold them in. the light cups were
made from the top of a nasal spray bottle and jb welded into place.
i gave the outside of them a thin coat of paint aswel. in the photo's
they look orange for some reason but there red. cheers.




i got another set of tt01 springs, stretched them and put them on the
front. the standard springs are just too soft for what i want.everything is
waterproof now esc,reciever and battery and a bec. should have it all rigged up by next weeked hopefully for some mudding or watercrossings.

[thecrusader]

had a bit of a play with the back suspension setup. ditched
the dreaded pink bar and hooked up some springs, separate from the shocks, on shock cups. i just glued some rings on the axle (used for setting pre load on threaded al shocks.) and glued some on the chassis. the shocks
are screwed straight into the axle housing. nothing hits and it works well.
replaced the front springs too. all with duratrax evader gear. the back has
two "front" evader buggy springs and the front has a "rear" evader stadium
truck spring cut in half. handles well and has good flex. may move the springs
inward at a later date. at least i can show off the diff now without the pink bar blocking it. the front also had the top links swapped to the traxxas type.





thanks for looking.