The bama phoenix

[indybama]

It FINALLY came lol. Dang fedex is so stupid, next time ill spend a lil extra for UPS. They were supposed to wait til 4 pm today, but i signed the tag they left on the door, so they dropped it off about 1 pm today. Couldnt wait to get off work.

Got home to see this wonderful site on the porch. This is my first actual 'kit', i like to buy what i want n make my own 'kit' per say. Brung it in, opened the box n there she is in all her beauty. Almost didnt wanna cut the seal lol. Cant wait to get this thing built, but its goina be a bit of a slow one like my C1 build. Im puttin this in the 1.9 section because i wont be using the VP chassis for this one.

I followed suit to bmow n figured id display the parts out. Luckily i got the correct stub shafts for the front axle. N fellas, this thing goes together beautifully. The plastic feels good, doesnt feel like it wants to strip out. The gear mesh is smooth. I seen where some mentioned the bearings not seatin properly, so far so good here.

The VP grease is good n sticky, really like it. The manual is pretty nice too, pretty well illustrated n easy to follow. I got the axles assymbled this evening, ill work on more tomorrow.

Heres a lil eye candy for now...

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[twade984]

Good progress already, I look forward to seeing this come together!


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[indybama]

After gettin the axles done, which went together so smoothly, i put it up for the night. Kicked back to watch the livestream n was tempted to start on the trans. Had to keep tellin myself 'just wait, u got tomorrow' lol. Im a bit impatient n like to see the final product. Tryin to take it slow with this one. Dont wanna rush n mess somethin up or make it look meh

 

[B-MOW71]

Hey, nice to see you got a start on it! Looking forward to seeing what you have planned for it. Curious to see which chassis rails you decide to use.

You know, I was thinking the Phoenix would look damn good sitting inside a GSpeed CF chassis! I may do this in the future!

After gettin the axles done, which went together so smoothly, i put it up for the night. Kicked back to watch the livestream n was tempted to start on the trans.

It's funny you say that! I ended up building my trans while watching the livestream!:ror:

 

[indybama]

Thanks brian! Im plannin on pickin up a v3 chassis here soon n finesse that beautiful vfd twin between them rails. I think the winch mounts for the v3 will work good for the dig n o/d servos. Wanna see about using micro servos to try n keep it as light as possible.

Id like to use the stock body as well, but we'll see how that goes when we get there. Definantly dont want to poke holes in that body. On the mention of the body, ive found a local place to have decals/stickers done. Im in the process of gettin some ideas before i get them done. Just so happens, theyre only about a 1/4 mi from my house n didnt know it lol. So when i get to work on the body, ill have a design ready n waitin. I think yall will like it.

My plan is to get the trans built tonite, but we'll see how that goes. More updates comin soon. Thanks for checkin things out fellas!

 

[indybama]

Well, i managed to get some more work done tonite. Didnt take as many pics as i planned. I got pulled in by how smooth this trans went together n missed the pic opportunity.

Vanquish really nailed this one. They were able to drop the price a tad n still made an exceptional rig. Im lovin every minute of this build, n hope yall are too. May have to pic up another one, n maybe get my boys one as well. The grease they put in for these kits is super sticky, like bubble gum in your hair sticky lol.

Ive read that some people have had issues with the e-clips bending on them. Thankfully mine popped right on. I found it best, for me anyway, to roll the e-clip to one side as youre puttin it on. Hold your thumb kinda on one side n use a flat screwdriver or the like there of. Then just roll it from your thumb to the other side, just be easy with it n dont tilt it. That seems like whats happenin n causin them to bend.

I didnt tighten down the cover for the shift arms all the way yet. Goina snag a one of the heavy duty nytrile gloves we have at work n make some better shift boots. So ill have a few more update pics of the trans a lil later on.

Heres a couple of pics before n after. Think ill attempt the shock tomorrow nite, or maybe the links, im not sure yet.

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[B-MOW71]

Lookin’ good! I agree the trans was fun to put together. Good idea on the glove for the shifters. I’ll be doing the same soon.

I didn’t have any problems with the e-clips either. I just gently put them in the groove and pushed them on.

The shocks go together fairly easy. Just be gentle with the shock collars and they should go on ok. Once they are started on the threads, they thread down pretty good.


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[Fookison]

Congrats Indy on your new build! Looking good so far! Still waiting on my order. Taking forever to get to me! You and Brian will have yours worn out before I get mine done! Looking forward to building mine and following your lead!
Cheers! Looking forward to the updates! Keep them coming!
Doug


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[indybama]

Thanks doug! Its been a fun one so far for sure. Hopefully it wont b long n youll have yours in hand

 

[Goos3]

Lookin good man, wish I had room for another kit on my table.

 

[indybama]

Thanks goos3! I dont rightfully have room, but had to have this one lol. This thing is goin together so nicely. Cant wait to get it out on the trail/rocks

 

[indybama]

Hey yall, got the shift boots made. The gloves are the harbor freight ones like i thought. Theyre HARDY 9mil black nitrile gloves.

Whet i done was cut a decent chunk off the finger n used the tip of the 1.5 hex driver to make a hole in the end. I stretched the glove over the tip n used the scissors to cut around the edge of the hex tip.

Then slide the tip of the glove thru the outter cover on the o/d side n i used a tack to poke the holes for the screws. If u use the tip of the hex drive after u poke the hole, it helps stretch it open just enuf for the screw. Then i used the stock boot as a backer to pinch the glove between them. Just be careful so u dont tear the glove. I put the screws in thru the excess of the glove n screwed it to the trans before cuttin the excess off.

On the dig side i done the same process, except i put the stock boot on first because of the tab on the outter cover. So it was pinched between the trans n stock boot, instead of between the cover n the stock boot.

All in all, i think it came out pretty good. Itll definantly help keep the dust out. The hole in the tip stretched over the arm quite snuggly too.

Hopefully this helps yall

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[twade984]

Looks good Adam, I may have to give this a try myself


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[indybama]

Thanks tom! I think its goina work out pretty good. Not that i go in water or mud, n if i do its not very deep n i creep thru it.

So i got busy on the links earlier. Didnt take long to get them done, even without the use of a tgh rodend tool or a szerba tool lol. I just used 2 hex drivers n wound them down.

Also got the driveshafts put together as well. They go together about like the wb8hd driveshafts. But they feel a lil better quality n i like the fact they have the alignment notches on the side of the tubes. Makes it easy to phase them.

Then decided to put the rear cage together. I dont know if im goina use the center cross brace or not. Since im goin with a v3 chassis, i may get the gspeed cheater drop bed. Thatll help with scale points...

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[indybama]

Mornin guys, i finally broke down n built the shocks this mornin. I unfortunantly had the same issue most everybody has with these shock. 1 of 4 shock collars went on perfectly, the other 3 fought me pretty good. I tryed multiple times to start them n they would start to cross thread.

I tryed to use hot water to heat them up with no luck. A little lube didnt help either. The one thing i found to help thread them on was to turn the collar upside down. If u run the threads all the way thru the collar, i went 2 or 3 threads past the start of the shock body threads, it will thread on the shock alot easier the correct way.

When puttin the pistons on tge shock shafts, i used a magnet to kinda help keep from dropping the eclips. Be very easy with these so as not to bend them. They went on fairly easy, but i did have one try to escape in the midst of poppin it on lol. Luckily it didnt go far.

I checked the piston in each shock before runnin the rod down thru the orings in the bottom. 2 of the were smooth, the other 2 were a lil tight. Upon inspection, wat was catching was where the piston was on the parts tree. I trimmed it just a touch n they slid in perfect with no binding. Made sure to put a lil shock oil on the shaft before i pushed it thru the bottom orings. The manual says to fill them within 8mm of the top. I filled mine to the bottom of the threads n they feel pretty good. My caps screwed in with no issues. I also inspected the shock bodies before i put them together. Theres a few members that have had issues with chips n burrs at the top of the shock bodies.

Other than the collars bein a pain to start threadin on, the shocks went together quite well. Hopefully they perform as good as they look

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[Sniper4370]

Look'n good Bama.

 

[indybama]

Look'n good Bama.

Thanks sniper! Really enjoyin this build. Fixin to order the gspeed v3 chassis for it hopefully this comin weekend. Cant wait to get it out. Still have to decide color for sure. I see alot of blue ones, n my fav color is purple, but the wheels im goina use is blue with orange accented wheels.

Ive got a scheme in mind though

 

[twade984]

Nice progress. I hate building shocks and I have terrible luck, but the way these went together I’m hopeful they will work good.


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[Fookison]

Hey Indy! Thanks so much for the rubber glove tips for the shifters. Great detail and excellent photo record. I will definitely follow suit, er glove! ;-)

 

[indybama]

Thanks tom! Hopefully they work well. Shocks are such a pain sometimes.

Thanks fook! I got the idea from another member iirc. I seen someone else do it, but they used a thicker n different type of glove. These seem to work rather well. Though they can be a bit tricky to get them positioned right.