TINY with a twist

[PANDAbox]

Hey guys,
This thread will be for the build up of a 'copy' of SlinkySams TINY build from 2007. Ever since I had seen that buggy built it was always stuck in the back of my mind. Sure, other people have built moon buggies, small, lightweight rigs. Nothing seemed to do what TINY had done. To me, the buggy had changed the game. Rigs were built different after that. Back in 2007 it seemed like using a 2wd buggy trans was obsurd when eveyrone was using Stampede trans. Therefore, my build won't be an exact to the T type build; namely because I want to build the rig to suit me and the more 'modern' things being used today. I will also be building the rig with 3/16 brake line and brazing it vs. solid rod as I don't have access to a welder.


Chassis:
3/16 Brake line
Solid rod for reinforcement
Brazed

Suspension:
Proline power stroke shocks
VP shock mounts in the rear
Custom built panard bar mount or a HandBros mount
Tamiya link mounts mounted vertical to the outlining skid

Rims/Tires:
1.9 Axial Walker Evans Rims
1.9 Proline Flat Irons
1.9 Rc4wd Rock Crushers

Body:
RCP threaded fab tabs to mount up the siding.
I'm not sure if I will go with Lexan or Styrene panels.
Lexan I could easily trace, mount, and paint them.
Styrene would be easily done with a template and could allow me to mount tabs on the 'inside' for shelving ie: esc mount, velcro for batteries.

Drivetrain:
MIP X-Duty Spline female in the front
MIP Summit Spline in the front
MIP X-Duty Splines in the rear

Front Axle:
Axial CVDS
Axial High steer Knuckles
Axial HD locker

Rear Axle:
Axial Straight axles
Axial Straight lockouts
Axial HD locker

Electronics:
LRP brushless crawler esc
Airtronics 94780m servo
Airtronics RDS8000 crawler radio
2s Reedy 1600mah lipos
In the event I run light bar or leds for taillights etc I will use a smaller Reedy lipo for lights/accessories

Miscellaneous:
Axial 'Recaro' seat
Proline Optima battery
SS hardware throughout



I grabbed these pics from SlinkySams thread so you guys can see the original build up of the rig.
Head over here for the original build as well:
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/tamiya-tlt-crawlers/75858-project-tiny.html

*credit to SlinkySam for the pictures*


Now onto the build itself:

So starting off, I wasn't sure if I would have a build thread for the little terror, half way through I started to take pictures.

Link mounts throughout the rig will be Tamiya from the TLT-1.

The 'main' panard bar is to high. I'll have updated pics of its new(lower) location.

The trans will sit a bit higher, thus allowing room for the motor mount, spacer, and motor itself to clear the cross brace.

Side view before I started to clean up some of the joints.

 

[sweli]

Nice start!
Are you going to have enough space behind the seat for the motor?

Did the original rear axle design eliminate torque twist when climbing forward??

 

[ctrwannabe]

Are you going with an offset rear axle?

 

[PANDAbox]

Nice start!
Are you going to have enough space behind the seat for the motor?

Did the original rear axle design eliminate torque twist when climbing forward??

Thanks man. The space behind the seat will be for the receiver or esc. The motor will be mounting on the opposite side. I'll have a spacer made up to mount the motor on the same side of the motor mount as the spur gear. To support the motor in the addition of the mount will be a brace from the endbell to the chassis rail.

Are you going with an offset rear axle?

Ultimately, yes. I plan to run RC4WD Black Widow axles. The other option is to pull out some of my TLT-1 axles and run a similar setup like SlinkySam did.

 

[PANDAbox]

Update 2:
Just one of the time consuming nodes throughout the chassis.

So one of the 'different' things will be the styrene skidplate. This will allow weight to be low, have things mounted to it, and I really don't have the equiptment to work with thicker steel. Here is a rough idea of the skid.

The general layout to be mounted to the skidplate.

This will also be the first time I ever use electronics besides Reedy. I've raced with there stuff for the last 11 years or so; but these Gen-ace batteries are extremely small, powerful and inexpensive.

 

[PANDAbox]

Update 3:
The overall idea is to keep things small and compact. I will definietly need to utilize every inch or millimeter of space that I can.

Note that the motor will be mounted on the same side of the motor mount as the spur gear.

The motor will essentially hang out in the void with the Proline lexan bug motor covering it.

 

[PANDAbox]

Coming together nice

Thanks Bigkiki, I appreciate it!

 

[PANDAbox]

Update 4:
So with the rear panard bar layout setup correctly now, it was time to finish everything else up.

Using TLT-1 mounts, I used a single for the driver rear, and a double mount for the passanger rear.

Brazed up some 3mm nuts to attach body panels. I still have yet to decide if they will be aluminum, styrene, or lexan.

Overall shot of the rear panard mount and rear shock mount.

Rear shock mount.

This is my first time really incorporating sheet metal into a chassis. Seems to be easy to work with, definitely not like styrene though.

A more recent shot of the chassis as well. I still need to mount up tabs for the roof skin, front shock and link mounts.

A side shot of the rig with the essentials mocked up.

 

[ctrwannabe]

Looking good so far man!

 

[PANDAbox]

Looking good so far man!

Thanks ctrwannabe. It seems to be going along pretty well. I have some good updates in store. Just have to finish a few things up.

Needing ideas for the axles. Not sure if I should go with a TLT-1 setup, or try and mod Axial axles and utilize some 'beef tubes'.

 

[elsewhere]

the rear of your chassis is giving me a headache trying to figure out what it looks like!
the geo is wicked lookin!

 

[PANDAbox]

the rear of your chassis is giving me a headache trying to figure out what it looks like!
the geo is wicked lookin!

It must be the way its photographed. If you need a specific picture just let me know and I'll be glad to get a picture of it for you.

 

[PANDAbox]

Update 5:

I added some RCP threaded tabs to the bottom. I will bolt up the skid to these 4 tabs and attach the trans, accessories, and seat to it as well.

All 4 tabs mounted up.

Made this brace up out of some steel.

Mounted to the trans, and yes it's at a angle for a reason.

Here is the setup mocked up in the rig as well.

Also got started up on some seat mounts for the Axial seat.

Using some small 2x3mm cap heads I'll affix the seat to the mounts, which should be glued to the skidplate.

 

[Modbug]

Cool details and different, I like it."thumbsup"

 

[PANDAbox]

Cool details and different, I like it."thumbsup"

Thanks for checking it out!

 

[PANDAbox]

Update 6:
I got around to finishing up the seat mounts for the Axial Recaro Seat.

Here they are brackets mounted up to the seat.

I also got the main skidplate finalized with the proper holes and positions drilled for the trans, seat, and battery. Here it is mounted up to the rig.

The skid itself is 3.2mm thick, so I beveled the edges around the 4 sides as to reduce any 'hang ups' I may encounter.

Here is a top view of the main skin with the Axial brace to help distribute some of the load.

Also started working on a dash and side panel. In a full size, it would be to cover the trans etc, and in this case it does the same. It will also help me hide the esc, receiver or battery.

The main gauge cluster will be uptop vs. recessed in the dash itself. Something a little different I figured, and I got the idea from driving my moms Saturn. Yes, I know it's a Saturn.....

Another option for a seat will be Reigns resin seat. This is a little smaller in size, and to me it fits the rig better. I'm not to sure on making a set of 'trick' mounting brackets, but we'll see.

 

[ctrwannabe]

Man these updates are killer , this is making me want to get back to work on my ferret buggy. I like the seat rails I think they get skipped to much when people are building. Also like the cage to trans brace that's prety slick. What kind of torch are you using? Keep the updates flowing man!

 

[PANDAbox]

Man these updates are killer , this is making me want to get back to work on my ferret buggy. I like the seat rails I think they get skipped to much when people are building. Also like the cage to trans brace that's prety slick. What kind of torch are you using? Keep the updates flowing man!

Thanks man. You should definitely pull the rig out and get to work on it! Thanks, I feel the same way about that. In fact, in one of my old rigs I had made a simple mount, and I always dreaded that. The brace was something I made up real quick and it seems to look really good I think.

As for the torch, it's just a regular MAP gas setup with a standard tip, nothing special. Although, lately before brazing up two joints, I'll sand the ends with a Dremel Flap disk wheel vs. sanding/scotch bright pad like before.

Thanks again for checking it out.

 

[PANDAbox]

Update 7:

Cut up a VW motor from a Proline 1/10th crawler body.

Another shot of it as well.

I'll fab up a piece of styrene that bolts to the fan shroud to close off the back of the lexan motor. Hoping to squeeze in a firewall behind the seat as well, the hope is that helps cover some of the trans/motor mount.

 

[PANDAbox]

Update 8:

The main gauge cluster will be uptop vs. recessed in the dash itself. Something a little different I figured, and I got the idea from driving my moms Saturn. Yes, I know it's a Saturn.....

I opted to change out the Axial seat for a Reign setup. The Axial, albeit an awesome seat, is just to big for the setup and feels a bit out of scale.

Here's just an overall shot of the seat, shifters, and dash.

And an overall shot with the gauge cluster mocked up in place.

A front shot as well.