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Tommy R's TTC Build - "Big Oly"

ahh ok. looking forward to the make over.
yeah the jeeps interior i built from .060 styrene dash included, but i think the aluminum dash would fit your truck better. plans for gauges? that RPP kit is nice.
the rc4wd hubs are very small (and nice) i have a brand new set if you want to see if they will fit. if i remember ill get you a diameter this weekend(text to remind me)

Thanks, C! I think I've got some .060" styrene, but I'll pick up some more soon. Not sure yet what I'll do for gauges, but I may have one of the RPP kits. I'll text you about that hub diameter, too. 8)
 
Making some progress and some fairly significant changes. First, I got my batteries in. They're 2S 1800's which I'll be running in series (4s). I had to go overseas to get them (boo!), but that's the only way I could get the size I wanted.
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Here's where they'll be mounted on each side. I plan to have them under the interior floor and accessible from underneath the truck for battery swaps. This will keep the weight a little farther forward than my original plan and definitely way lower.
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Making changes to the cage. I cut out the halo in the cage and made one that will look a lot nicer should I decide to cut off the roof and run just a tin top. I extended the rear framerails to make it easier to install a bed floor. I'm in the process of adding a lot more tube elsewhere, as well. Pardon the mess on my bench. I'm also in the process of doing a gear swap for the hot rod project.
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I'm also building a styrene "fuel cell" to house my Holmes ESC. It'll be installed in the bed with the ESC's wires exiting through the bottom of the bed out of sight. Should look pretty trick when it's all done.
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Thanks, fellers. 8) I definitely appreciate the kind words! I'm pretty pleased with the way the tank is coming out. I modeled it after the cheapy black plastic RCI models in Jeg's/Summit. Once it's finished and painted I think it'll look pretty nice and provide a very useful purpose (hiding the ESC).

Progress is slow due to other commitments, but yes, Cory, I do plan on more bed tubework. In fact, I did a little more last night. :) The rear cage work was simply way too frail in areas, primarily the tailgate area and the tube fenders. So I added some reinforcements. Nothing crazy, but it definitely made a difference.
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The next areas to tackle are some rear shock hoops since I'd like to get rid of the stock plastic units. The roll cage around the passengers need a bit more work. And of course, I need to add a whole bunch of tube and reinforcement to the front end. I'll also lower my front spring perches in the process. If I can get all this done by Sunday or so, I'll be quite pleased, but I'm trying to not be in a rush.

Then it'll be time to figure a way to mount the batteries underneath and to start working on the interior. The interior/bed will be styrene with an aluminum dash, most likely.
 
I've sunk quite a bit of time into this thing lately, but there's not really much to share with pics. I'll share a few anyway... :mrgreen:

I reinforced the front tube fenders, none of this is seen from outside. Need to reinforce the stinger, too.
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Made the trays for my saddle pack batteries. I wanted the batteries to be hidden and easily accessible. Well, with a full interior, I figured it would be best to have them accessed from underneath. Each aluminum tray has countersunk screws for a smooth bottom. I played around with making the screws captive, but that was turning into a lot more work than I felt like doing.
1057770012_93ZBK-XL.jpg


Here I'm mocking up the placement of the Reign seats. In the pic, it's sitting at the proposed floor level. The seats will sit higher than that.
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Here's my driver mocked up. He can't even see over the dash! If I use a "driver" I'll have to find one that's much larger. I don't want it to look like it's being driven by a child. That's my job! :ror:
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Here's an overall shot as it sits right now. I hope to have a dash cut out for it and installed today or tomorrow.
1057769008_9D6Lo-XL.jpg
 
Looking good Tommy. Reinforcing is always a good idea. I need to do my front stinger.

The fuel cell is killer, I WANT THOSE SEATS!

Thanks, man! The seats look trick, but they're pretty chunky. This thing is going to be a one heck of a paperweight when it's done! Heavier rigs perform more scale, right? 8)

Tube is looking niiiiiiiice! Looks like a good time to put some sheet metal inner fender wheels in."thumbsup"

Thank you, sir! Not sure yet what kind of material it'll get for fender wells (metal or plastic), but it'll definitely get something! :)
 
Looks like I got pretty close to the right width when I cut the dash. In the below pic it's actually wedged in place between the sides of the cage. I'll get it mounted tomorrow most likely. But I really like the way it looks in there!
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I propped the seat up quite a bit, but it may need to go higher still...
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Oh, and I'm about 90% sure I'll be cutting off the roof and chopping down the windshield similar to the original. I'll add a thin aluminum skinned roof panel. It'll hint back to the aluminum wing Parnelli ran, but obviously will not be in the shape of a wing. :ror:
 
Now that's looking good. I'm gonna have to get me some of them reign seats. They will look choice in the bronco. Not everything has to be my stuff,lol.
 
Just went through all 15 pages and Awesome job "thumbsup" Your build is top notch and up there with grizz and war pig's builds. Keep up the great work and hope to see it in person someday.......?
Rob
 
Oh man, thanks very much, but you're way too kind!! :) Chris' and Tim's rigs are huge inspiration for me, but I don't feel my build will ever compare to theirs. I do appreciate the compliment, though!

I did a bit more work tonight. Got the dash installed, reinforced the roll cage and the stinger, and started planning out where I need to weld in a bajillion nuts to the cage to mount stuff like the interior and such. I'm trying to plan this thing out well so that I won't have to do any welding after final paint. Yeah, right!! :lmao:
 
I did a bit more work tonight. Got the dash installed, reinforced the roll cage and the stinger, and started planning out where I need to weld in a bajillion nuts to the cage to mount stuff like the interior and such. I'm trying to plan this thing out well so that I won't have to do any welding after final paint. Yeah, right!! :lmao:

I would think these would be much easier. already threaded too.

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http://rcpcrawlers.com/product.php?productid=1107&cat=6&page=1

NON threaded versions
http://rcpcrawlers.com/product.php?productid=1108&cat=6&page=1
 
Thanks for the kind words, y'all. Eric, I appreciate the suggestion, but I'd already bought a heap o' screws to weld to the chassis. :)

So I may be done with the metal fabrication at this point, aside from final welding/brazing and cleaning up the bigger globs. :oops: I decided it was time to focus on what has been a pretty daunting task looming over me....the interior. And once I decided to cut off the roof, it put more pressure on me because the interior would be so visible. I've never done an interior so it was a bit intimidating to me. Well, time to "jump into the fire!" James Hetfield would be proud! :ror:

I decided the interior would be styrene over a metal base. First I built a shroud over the t-case as a basis to build on top of.
1063063322_JbDBH-XL.jpg


Then I welded a plate across the rear framerails that I could eventually screw styrene to.
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Add some wings to serve double duty. They provide a nice, wide base for the cab floor, but they also will help support the batteries which will reside under each wing. These will come in handy particularly when the rig is upside down. ;-)
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Trimmed out some floor templates for the cab and bed that will help me accurately cut the styrene later. That big hole in the middle has a distinct purpose.
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The fuel cell covers the hole and the ESC will be mounted inside with the wires underneath out of sight. I think it should work out pretty nicely...I hope!! :)
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The floor will end up being a tad higher that I wanted in the footwell area, but I think it's a small price to pay to have the batteries where they are located, i.e. low and fairly far forward. I actually ended up having enough room to fit my 3s batteries in there, too. Not that I would EVER consider an idea as silly as running 6s or anything. 8)

Oh, I got my RC4WD hubs in the mail. There's no tool to screw them on so I screwed them on top of the wheel lock nuts. Fortunately, there was plenty of thread available. They stick out a little far, but they look better than the exposed threads and lock nut! :) You can see the rear hub in the last pic. I'll get more tonight...
 
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Pics of the RC4WD hubs on the CAC EZ-loc wheels. There's a nylock nut under the hubs. I think it's an improvement. What do y'all think?

Before:
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After:
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I'm also thinking of replacing the outer stainless screws with black ones to make them less noticeable, but leave the inner screws silver so they look like lug nuts. Thoughts?
 
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