B-MOW's Garage...Misc. Projects and Random Rig Builds

[B-MOW71]

I wouldnt say mastered brian lol. But i have done quite a bit of welding n fab work on full size stuff. Plus a little body work too. Its supposed to rain tomorrow, so i may go to the shop n work on the 6x some more

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I have also done quite a bit of stick and MIG welding in the past. This silver solder is new, though is very similar to brazing. I have brazed some in the past, but not much. Doesn't seem to hard, so I think with a few more projects under my belt they'll start to look better.

Nice! The jig is a great idea. Always a bonus when the bumper is straight

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Thanks smog! The straightness and keeping the width to fit the chassis was my main concern. This seems to work out well as is.

 

[B-MOW71]

New stuff delivered today. The new NSDRC RS700 V2 Special Edition Orange Servo arrived. It also came with a clamping orange and black servo horn. Along with the servo, I ordered the SORRCA legal roof rack made of carbon fiber.

The orange accents on the servo and horn almost look like a copper. Looks very good and is a low profile servo.

 

[B-MOW71]

Got the straight axle Phoenix out of the shop and onto the trails. A group of us went to a lake reservoir to run the rigs. The water is still down, so the banks were dry and had exposed rocks to drive on.

Only issue with the exposed banks was also the exposed fishing line.:roll: Had some fishing line and vines get wrapped around the front axle. Other than that the Phoenix did great as it always does.

 

[B-MOW71]

This build had been in and out of the shop for many years and I still can't get it done! Now today it is back on the bench and getting some much needed attention.

I started this GCM J2 Skeleton build way back in November 2018. I did have it out once for a quick test drive back in 2019, but then it got put on the backburner while other builds became more important. I've tried to revive the build many times, but it always ended when I planned to build a roll cage for it. Not having the experience or the equipment to braze or TIG a cage together seemed to always send it back to its home on the shelf.

Well, here we go again. Plans to build a roll cage for it. This time I do have brazing equipment, tube benders and now a brand new TIG welder. So I'm hoping it can finally get 'er done!

Here's how she sits today. Not much has changed over the years. I did get the rear battery compartment done a few years ago. Today I put in a brand new HW 1080 G2 ESC and motor. Rewired and routed wiring to tuck all in up front. Everything must be located up front under the hood since there is no other room for electronics or equipment.

The hopes over the next few months is to get the roll cage bent up and welded together, sand the body down and give it a fresh coat of paint.

Anyways, here's how it sits now.











New Axial 10.3 straight axle conversion kit was installed last year...I think. Blue Amazon wheels with JConcepts lil' Landmines will be staying. They should look pretty sweet with the paint job that I have in mind. More on that later.

Inner fenders were from Shapeways many years ago. That was before the big price hike and then the collapse of Shapeways!

The shocks are my original Incision shocks off of my Vanquish VS4-10 Origin. I could never get them to stop leaking when they were on the Origin and they sat in a box for years. Pulled them back out and rebuilt them. Knock on wood, so far they have not spewed any oil out while it has been sitting on the shelf. I'm sure once the shocks get some cycles on them, the oil will end up on the axles.

Hope to have more on this build later. I don't think I ever made it's own build thread back in the day, so I'll just post updates here.

 

[Ballistic17]

Very cool build.

 

[B-MOW71]

Very cool build.

Thanks! These GCM J2 Skeletons are cool rigs. The perfect platform to build a short wheelbase rig. The China JK 2 door bodies fit perfectly on this chassis. I really need to get this build done and out on the trails!

 

[twade984]

Damn that’s a sick looking rig man

 

[B-MOW71]

Damn that’s a sick looking rig man

Thanks! With these, all and I mean all (or most of it) of the weight is over top of the front axle. It should climb like a goat! The battery really only has one choice for placement...out back.

 

[B-MOW71]

Picked up this lil’ Grom last week. Very cool little truck at a great price. The blue version the one I was after, but my local Hobbytown only had 3 red and black in stock.







Finally had time to take it for a drive. I gotta say it’s fun and very durable. I ran it up and down my gravel driveway and drove it like I stole it! It took all of the abuse I threw at it and it begged for more. This brushed system has more than enough power for the size of the rig. It’s kinda hard to control on gravel. It’s so small and snappy that a gyro might help keep it more stable.

Battery lasted about 20 minutes before it shutdown. Not sure if the battery died or if the motor overheated. Th motor was extremely hot. It does have a small fan blowing on the motor, but I’m not sure that it is getting enough airflow since the body and interior seal off the chassis so good. The inner fenders that are attached to the underside of the body do an excellent job of keeping rocks and debris from entering the chassis, but seems to limit airflow. I may look into cutting openings in the body before the next run to see if it helps in getting more air to the motor.

Oh and the clipless body system…is genius! It’s so easy to get the body on and off and it never came loose during the run.

 

[B-MOW71]

Life's been busy, works been hectic and haven't had time to login for awhile. Hoping that all will change soon!

I have been tinkering with rigs on and off and do have some new stuff on the bench. I've had my lil' Redcat Ascent 18 on the bench for the last couple weeks and will be starting a new build thread on it soon.



Also trying to get a few rigs ready for next weekend. There is another RC River Cliff Trails event next Saturday and hoping to make this one.

Also hoping to get back on my GCM J2 Skeleton build soon.

Now I'm off to go have some beers and celebrate another birthday today!!

 

[hnoroian]

Too many projects to work on, looks like my workbench

 

[high plains drifter]

Happy Birthday, Brian. Hope you can get in some relax/ recoup time before things get hectic again.

 

[JimrC]

Aways good to check this thread out and see what yer up to

 

[smog]

Happy Birfday B!

Ascent Jimny?

 

[Goro Majima]

Is it his actual birthday or he is celebrating with another person's birthday? Either way, y'all don't stay out too late now! lol

 

[B-MOW71]

Too many projects to work on, looks like my workbench

Yeah, my bench always seems to be like this. Always too many projects at once.

Happy Birthday, Brian. Hope you can get in some relax/ recoup time before things get hectic again.

Thanks drifter!

Aways good to check this thread out and see what yer up to

Thanks for checking in!

Happy Birfday B!

Ascent Jimny?

Thanks for the Birfday wishes! No Jimny, but something cool looking.

Is it his actual birthday or he is celebrating with another person's birthday? Either way, y'all don't stay out too late now! lol

I did have another birthday, thankfully! Them staying out too late days are long gone!!

 

[cul8tr]

I have all 3 Arrma groms. I put 60wt shock in the shocks and diff fluid f 7k and r 3k. I was thinking about trying some rally wheels and tires for a lil more grip for the buggy and sct.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Happy belated birthday!

 

[89Industries]

Re. Arrma Grom -- we have the Typhon grom and 20 minutes on the stock battery seems about right with throttle at 100%. Lasts longer for my kid who is smart enough to turn the speed down (after he smashed it into his toe).

I picked up a Lectron 2s 2000mAh 25c battery and made an adapter for it. Last longer and I don't notice any difference from the 30c stock battery to the 25c Lectron.

I am also quite impressed with how durable it is considering it gets smashed and flipped and jumped at full speed so much. Makes me think the Arrma guys could build a nice durable crawler.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Re. Arrma Grom -- we have the Typhon grom and 20 minutes on the stock battery seems about right with throttle at 100%. Lasts longer for my kid who is smart enough to turn the speed down (after he smashed it into his toe).

I picked up a Lectron 2s 2000mAh 25c battery and made an adapter for it. Last longer and I don't notice any difference from the 30c stock battery to the 25c Lectron.

I am also quite impressed with how durable it is considering it gets smashed and flipped and jumped at full speed so much. Makes me think the Arrma guys could build a nice durable crawler.

So many people are killing the Grom diffs on FB. I'm not saying FB bashers are the brightest group though.

Traxxas is releasing a mini Maxx apparently and that should hopefully make Arrma include better diffs with the Groms.