Tinker Toy Pajero CC01 by new2rocks

[new2rocks]

I've had a soft spot for the CC01 Metaltop Pajero for quite some time, but I was too busy on other builds last year to pick one up before they were discontinued. I almost picked up what was probably the lone remaining one from RPP last summer for a future build and kicked myself when someone else snatched it up.

Fast forward to just over a month ago, when I saw radishkid put his nearly complete build up for sale in the classifieds. Everything was completely assembled except for the shocks, brick mod done, and body was painted with base color coats. The price was right, so I pulled the trigger. He even sent the original box (call me crazy, but I like to keep mine). Thanks, radishkid!

As the thread title suggests, this one is going to be a fun tinker toy whenever I need/want a break from my more serious builds. Which explains why it sat on a shelf for a few weeks until I finally got around to getting it running over the past couple of weeks. I’ve been reading up on OSRC's awesome CC01 tips thread on UltimateRC and have now done enough that I thought it was a good time to share progress and my musings about future possibilities.

Here's what I started with:




Shocks needed to be built:


Roo stopped in for a look:


Body painted by radishkid:


Very nice and clean brick mod:


Underneath started out completely stock:


I tried on the Losi MRC tires and decided they are too tall, so I’m still figuring out what to do about shoes. Next up were some temporary electronics (RC4WD Waterproof Outcry and 55T brushed pulled from my D110 RTR and a new RC4WD Waterproof Twister):


Then the fun stuff began. For the rear suspension, I picked up the GPM kit and immediately spotted an issue. The upper links were waaaaaaay too short, creating a wicked pinion angle. So I put one Jato rod end on each link and voila!






Much more betterer. For a rear shock mount, I tried a variation of OSRC’s mount fabbed from part of the stock link:


It seemed pretty trick, but the ride height is way too high in back:


I’m going to pick up one of the GPM adjustable shock mounts so I can play around with ride height a bit more.

In the meantime, I swapped out the knuckles, c’s and lower arms up front for the GPM parts:


Since I’m not going for the blingy look, you'll see that I’m sticking with black and bare metal wherever possible.

The last task up front was fitting the GPM steering rack. At first, steering was actually worse than stock. After playing around with a few things, I came up with the hypothesis that there wasn’t enough of the bell crank shaft exposed on either end of the ball bearings to allow the upper and lower crank arms to bite. So I decided to trim the chassis tube and white plastic bearing bushing a bit to leave a bit more exposed. I then added a metal spacer (either 1 or 2mm, can't remember) between the upper crank arm and the upper crank screw, with thread lock on both sides of the spacer (plus on the screw threads, of course) to try to keep things from slipping.

Here’s how it now looks:


Thus far, in garage floor testing, it’s much, much better than either stock or the GPM setup unmodified. I don’t know how well it will hold up to trail abuse, but we’ll see. I’ve ordered the Hot Racing steering setup as a backup plan B.

My next round of mods will be the rear shock mounts and front CVDs. I’ve also ordered the RC4WD 3:1 GRU and likely will swap in a 27T or 35T motor. After that, it will be time to play around a bit. A rear shock mod will probably be in order at some point, and who knows what else. As with most of my builds, body and interior will be last, so don't hold your breath.

Thanks for looking, and please feel free to ask questions or offer unsolicited advice (which I guess means it's now solicited, lol)...

[OSRC]

You are off to an excellent start sir! The best part about these rigs is taking something that was never meant for serious off road use and making it trail worthy.

If I may, the Tamiya CVD's are by far the best of the bunch, they have much better geometry than the GPM units.

I've run RC4WD Rock Creepers and they are pretty much perfect for this rig if you like the aggressive look. Vaterra Slickrock tires do very well as well. 1.55 Mudthreashers are always a win. About 100mm is the top diameter before you have to start making some serious body mods.

Welcome to the CC01 club!

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by slow1500

Nice build! I also use that gru. It helps SO much.

Originally Posted by OSRC

You are off to an excellent start sir! The best part about these rigs is taking something that was never meant for serious off road use and making it trail worthy.

If I may, the Tamiya CVD's are by far the best of the bunch, they have much better geometry than the GPM units.

I've run RC4WD Rock Creepers and they are pretty much perfect for this rig if you like the aggressive look. Vaterra Slickrock tires do very well as well. 1.55 Mudthreashers are always a win. About 100mm is the top diameter before you have to start making some serious body mods.

Welcome to the CC01 club!

Thanks to both of you. I just ordered the Tamiya swing shafts, so those will be making an appearance before too long. Re the tires, I'm wondering how you're getting those tires to work without rubbing. I'm getting some rubbing up front with the stock tires, and they're only 3.35-3.4". I tried 1.55 Mud Thrashers (3.67"), and they were even worse. The other tires you mentioned are in the 3.7" range, as well. Are you raising the ride height to get more clearance? Or are you trimming the fenders a bit on the Pajero body? Or is there something else that can be done to help with the rubbing?

Thanks for the help...

[OSRC]

I do trim the body, you can get a fair amount of clearance and still keep the stock look. This one is trimmed pretty good up front. I usually take quite a bit off the front bumper on the very botttom so when the tire swings side to side it has more clearance. Unless you are a Tamiya Expert, you'd never know by looking at it.


Can kind of see the lower profile of the bumper and where it's been trimmed:


In the front, you can also take the body mount and flip it over to get a bit of a body lift. Every little bit helps! I've also used longer screws and the leftover bushings from the kit to get the height where I wanted it in the front. Here I was using 2 5x10's for whatever reason.

[new2rocks]

Bingo. That's exactly what I needed to know. More tinkering to do...


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[bignate]

Dude I wish I was into the hobby when these were still being produced, honestly beautiful trucks.

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by bignate

Dude I wish I was into the hobby when these were still being produced, honestly beautiful trucks.

It's hard not to get nostalgic about this body, but fear not. If you really want a CC01 Pajero, you can still buy the Pajero bodyset to throw onto one of the lexan CC-01s. Or if you're feeling more daring, throw it onto a TF2 SWB, lol.



I will say this past year has been a very exciting time on the scaling front. The 2 all-new RC4WD hard bodies (Cruiser and Blazer) are on a whole different level from anything we've seen before, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a few more hard bodies hitting the market this year. And don't forgot about the China JK, which is a great little body for the price. So many choices...so little room left in the garage...lol

[bignate]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

So many choices...so little room left in the garage...lol

More like so little money left in the wallet

To be honest, as much as I like the pajero, the next thing I get will likely be a TT02.

[canadianbacon]

Originally Posted by new2rocks

Thanks to both of you. I just ordered the Tamiya swing shafts, so those will be making an appearance before too long. Re the tires, I'm wondering how you're getting those tires to work without rubbing. I'm getting some rubbing up front with the stock tires, and they're only 3.35-3.4". I tried 1.55 Mud Thrashers (3.67"), and they were even worse. The other tires you mentioned are in the 3.7" range, as well. Are you raising the ride height to get more clearance? Or are you trimming the fenders a bit on the Pajero body? Or is there something else that can be done to help with the rubbing?

Thanks for the help...

Here's what I did for mine to fit Mud Thrashers on it, the green is what I cut and sanded away (not my truck, just my "editing" with the green)



And what she looks like with them




I love this truck.

[new2rocks]

Originally Posted by canadianbacon

Here's what I did for mine to fit Mud Thrashers on it, the green is what I cut and sanded away (not my truck, just my "editing" with the green)

And what she looks like with them

I love this truck.

That is super helpful. Big thanks for taking the time to highlight the areas you trimmed. Now that I see exactly what it is, I can get over my reluctance to trim those beautiful fenders, lol. That will be on my list for when I get back from vacation in Feb.


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