Tribute to my Dad's 79 F100 featuring Banzai

[Shinchu]

Oh man i have been watching headquake since before i got my yeti. I actually credit headquake as part of the inspiration to get into scale. Haha thats probably true for like 90% of us here!

As nice as his work is... yeah its TOO nice lol
I would consider one of those 3d printed ones... debating on selling my yeti but i was also considering a raptor based rwd baja modernized version of my dads truck? Dunno...

What i DO know is...

I installed the new 86t spur gear just now.

Um, gentlemen...

ITS ALLLLLLLLIIIIVE!!!! ITS ALIVE!!!

Im sorry i didnt get it on vid... i got emotional, like watching my kid take first steps. I gently cruised around my garage floor, making sure everything was good. Then i gave that little tamiya 27t can a good squirt of barely charged 3s power in low gear...

Wowwwww!!!!! Man this sucker rips!!!
For a non comp, tribute 1.55 based trail truck... it sure does scoot! Then i manually clicked the trans into high gear...

WHOOOOOAAAAAAA BABY!!!!!!!!!!!

this could give my yeti a run for its money! Andmits just a brushed tamiya 27t on a 12t pinion!
Its tempting to see what it would do with the 16t pinion, but i remember what was said about cooking the motor. I dont even know how long its going to last on the 12t with 3s power, honestly. But, i have that rc4wd 35t just waiting...

Oh man... it drives so great. Well, over smooth concrete, anyway!
Got a bit of rain here tonight and most of tomorrow. I havent water proofed the rx yet and i doubt radiolink stuff is even close to water resistant.
That said, wednesday i will get some vid of its maiden voyage, its first shakedown on some terrain in my backyard.
Nothing serious. And its going to be naked like c-3po in the phantom menace lol "my PARTS are showing?! Oh, my!!!"

Let me finish by thanking all of you, every single person who posted in this thread. Your advice, support, and encouragement is what got me this far.
And Ernie, this would still be a couple frame rails and a battery tray without your selfless contributions to this project.

THANK YOU!!!!

and trust me, there is WAY more ahead. Its a running chassis. Still lots of scale body work, and possibly a full scale correct suspension rebuild.
Stay tuned, and thanks for reading, posting, and helping!

ASCENDER, ASSEMBLED!!!!!

 

[CODYBOY]

Oh man i have been watching headquake since before i got my yeti. I actually credit headquake as part of the inspiration to get into scale. Haha thats probably true for like 90% of us here!

As nice as his work is... yeah its TOO nice lol
I would consider one of those 3d printed ones... debating on selling my yeti but i was also considering a raptor based rwd baja modernized version of my dads truck? Dunno...

What i DO know is...

I installed the new 86t spur gear just now.

Um, gentlemen...

ITS ALLLLLLLLIIIIVE!!!! ITS ALIVE!!!

Im sorry i didnt get it on vid... i got emotional, like watching my kid take first steps. I gently cruised around my garage floor, making sure everything was good. Then i gave that little tamiya 27t can a good squirt of barely charged 3s power in low gear...

Wowwwww!!!!! Man this sucker rips!!!
For a non comp, tribute 1.55 based trail truck... it sure does scoot! Then i manually clicked the trans into high gear...

WHOOOOOAAAAAAA BABY!!!!!!!!!!!

this could give my yeti a run for its money! Andmits just a brushed tamiya 27t on a 12t pinion!
Its tempting to see what it would do with the 16t pinion, but i remember what was said about cooking the motor. I dont even know how long its going to last on the 12t with 3s power, honestly. But, i have that rc4wd 35t just waiting...

Oh man... it drives so great. Well, over smooth concrete, anyway!
Got a bit of rain here tonight and most of tomorrow. I havent water proofed the rx yet and i doubt radiolink stuff is even close to water resistant.
That said, wednesday i will get some vid of its maiden voyage, its first shakedown on some terrain in my backyard.
Nothing serious. And its going to be naked like c-3po in the phantom menace lol "my PARTS are showing?! Oh, my!!!"

Let me finish by thanking all of you, every single person who posted in this thread. Your advice, support, and encouragement is what got me this far.
And Ernie, this would still be a couple frame rails and a battery tray without your selfless contributions to this project.

THANK YOU!!!!

and trust me, there is WAY more ahead. Its a running chassis. Still lots of scale body work, and possibly a full scale correct suspension rebuild.
Stay tuned, and thanks for reading, posting, and helping!

ASCENDER, ASSEMBLED!!!!!

Hey Chris,
Glad to hear those gears a spinning!!! I will try and get the shift servo mounts in the mail tomorrow. "thumbsup"
Ernie

 

[Shinchu]

and i'll send some electronic green stuff your way...

I'm reeeeeally tempted to pull the trigger on that 3D printed body... just need to be careful about heat warping. i almost wonder if i should cut it apart, separate the body panels and cast it, try to copy it in ABS from molds?

its a 313 wheelbase. at that point, i might as well do leafs out back and jump on the front radius arm kit from GCM when it comes out.
but I'm gong to need to free up funds, and the bank of spouse is not granting loans at this time lol
its not looking good for the yeti...

* currently working with HEYOK on a winch controller setup...

 

[CODYBOY]

Hey Chris, sent out a package this afternoon, you should have it in a few days.
"thumbsup"
Ernie

 

[Shinchu]

Thanks Ernie!

if you haven't heard, SoCal got a pretty hefty serving of some unknown liquid from the sky? my back yard is nearly submerged as i type this. first time getting this much rainfall in my new house, backyard has ZERO drainage. not sure how soon i can get a vid up of the bare chassis running. i'll see what i can do when i get home.

good news is, my CROSS wheels shipped from china! now the wait for the slow boat...

 

[Itali83]

Re: Tribute to my Dad's 79 F-150 RANGER LARIAT

Eyeball engineering tells me that you can get a max of 9mm offset to drivers side for the differential. Not sure if that'll help your situation. That's both ways, keeping it linked in the front or swapping to leaf springs. Each creates their own challenge. I'd honestly almost stay linked in the front and do leafs in the rear. From my experience leafs in the front from scratch is a bit of a tuning and fitting pain. I know you want scale and true to your dads truck but none of these are truest scale and a line needs to be drawn somewhere.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Shinchu]

thanks for posting that, Ben.
yeah my dads truck was actually 2wd anyway. so I'm fudging already but i want to at least make it accurate to the 79 fords that were 4wd, and they had radius arm with a coil up front.

i need to save up and do this all as almost a "PHASE 2" of the build. an evolution of sorts.
next big plans for that would be:

the 3D printed 313 wb body ($225 incl. bed topper)
GCM rear leaf stage 2 kit (~$70?)
GCM radius arm front kit ($xx?)
driver side pumpkin mod ($xx?)

all that would cost me well over $300 so... I'm really wondering if i should sell my yeti to do it. thing is the yeti is what got me back in to RC again so its hard to let go.

 

[Itali83]

Re: Tribute to my Dad's 79 F-150 RANGER LARIAT

That's fine. I've got the blueprints made up so if and when...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Shinchu]

Would you be able to work your magic on my codyboy axles or do you need a fresh stock unit?

I would love to be able to say my axles are CODYBEN! Loloolol

Sooooo... maiden voyage today! Just a nice roll in my backyard, nothing serious. Have a look!
https://youtu.be/nHFlQP_Eb3Y

And a sample of its capability, great approach angle without a body! Lol
https://youtu.be/ma8nNIj-SZc

Thats it for now... battery was on a storage charge, and i havent mounted the servo, so no high gear mud bogging today lol
Still need to waterproof the rx and im waiting to get a winch controller before sealing it up.

So stoked it really drives nice!!! Cant wait to get the body mounted, get my cross 1.55 wheels and mount my dirt grabbers so i can give my son his growlers back for his barrage haha

Thanks again! Its really coming together now!

 

[CODYBOY]

Would you be able to work your magic on my codyboy axles or do you need a fresh stock unit?

I would love to be able to say my axles are CODYBEN! Loloolol

Sooooo... maiden voyage today! Just a nice roll in my backyard, nothing serious. Have a look!
https://youtu.be/nHFlQP_Eb3Y

And a sample of its capability, great approach angle without a body! Lol
https://youtu.be/ma8nNIj-SZc

Thats it for now... battery was on a storage charge, and i havent mounted the servo, so no high gear mud bogging today lol
Still need to waterproof the rx and im waiting to get a winch controller before sealing it up.

So stoked it really drives nice!!! Cant wait to get the body mounted, get my cross 1.55 wheels and mount my dirt grabbers so i can give my son his growlers back for his barrage haha

Thanks again! Its really coming together now!

Hey Chris, The brass is glued in and then bolted so it would probably be tough to not ruin the housing trying to get it out. Remember these are suppose to be bullet proof! ;-)
I can donate a housing if Ben wants to take it on. "thumbsup"
Ernie

 

[Itali83]

I'm at a point in life where spare time is zero. 3 little ones and a house to get ready for renters. I have a housing and some brass and can make that part. May take a few weeks. But I will not have the time for making the offset axle shafts. Mr Ernie would have to step in. Let me know, kinda want to make an offset axle for my 1.9 truck just 'cause now lol. PM me if you want something made up. I may make the axle up anyway next time I'm on the lathe, just not sure when that'd be.

Ben

 

[Shinchu]

Ben, i am a super patient person when it comes to projects like this. and i absolutely understand being busy (18 years of navy so far, just bought a house, 9 y/o twins, one with autism) so you take all the time you need.
PM me so we can set up an agreement for price, whatever you think is fair as long as payment plan is ok.
you would need my current front axle to combine the offset pumpkin and still utilize Ernie's steering setup, right? seing as you'd need to lengthen/shorten the axle shafts?

i once waited a whole year for a custom lightsaber to be built. everything else has been easy lol i could use downtime to work on the body.

Ernie, i still owe you for the servo mounts and... aw heck expect another donation in the usual amount soon. let me know if that's enough to cover the mounts and the housing. i think i got a couple more to go anyway. still figuring out utility bills and such in the new place. thanks for your patience.

you guys watch the vids i posted above? other than reverse into a bush at about 80% throttle, i did pretty good my first time driving with one hand, filming with the other hahaha
expect more vids. wife has donated one of her old iphones, and even the 6 has a WAY better cam setup than my dog-chewed tablet.
i didn't know how much fun it is filming your rig, no wonder so many people do it!
Durok i see your comments. thanks and yeah my yard dried up pretty good, just enough "tack" left everything stuck to the tires lol and i could get up those bricks if it was a 1.9, and maybe if that leaf pile was gone.

so yeah... i think maybe this CODYBEN axle setup might be a thing!

 

[CODYBOY]

Ben, i am a super patient person when it comes to projects like this. and i absolutely understand being busy (18 years of navy so far, just bought a house, 9 y/o twins, one with autism) so you take all the time you need.
PM me so we can set up an agreement for price, whatever you think is fair as long as payment plan is ok.
you would need my current front axle to combine the offset pumpkin and still utilize Ernie's steering setup, right? seing as you'd need to lengthen/shorten the axle shafts?

i once waited a whole year for a custom lightsaber to be built. everything else has been easy lol i could use downtime to work on the body.

Ernie, i still owe you for the servo mounts and... aw heck expect another donation in the usual amount soon. let me know if that's enough to cover the mounts and the housing. i think i got a couple more to go anyway. still figuring out utility bills and such in the new place. thanks for your patience.

you guys watch the vids i posted above? other than reverse into a bush at about 80% throttle, i did pretty good my first time driving with one hand, filming with the other hahaha
expect more vids. wife has donated one of her old iphones, and even the 6 has a WAY better cam setup than my dog-chewed tablet.
i didn't know how much fun it is filming your rig, no wonder so many people do it!
Durok i see your comments. thanks and yeah my yard dried up pretty good, just enough "tack" left everything stuck to the tires lol and i could get up those bricks if it was a 1.9, and maybe if that leaf pile was gone.

so yeah... i think maybe this CODYBEN axle setup might be a thing!

I can do the unis once I have measurements. "thumbsup"
Ernie

 

[Shinchu]

Thanks for the assist Ernie. Looks like i will be posting the yeti for sale.
Im all in. Yeti can be replaced or maybe something better.

I went to work on that gear select shaft for the 2 speed. Dremeled it down and filed if flat on both sides of that T adapter? Made it as slim as possible. The small locknut was actually stripping with only half threads engaged on the shaft.
Got all the way to the nylon now, solid. Tad more clearence for the drive shaft so suspension can work better now.
No pics yet got busy cleaning the yard of rainstorm debris, weeds, and... a gopher.

Trail test tomorrow morning with my clone and his barrage.

Aaarrrrrg!!! Slow boats from china!!!!! I want my wheels!!!

 

[Shinchu]

The slow boat isn't very slow!!!

Trying to install the tires and get them on the truck before my hot date with mrs shinchu tonight, Hubs have teeny hardware as expected. Might need to finish tomorrow.

Look for updated pics of the truck soon!

*first impression, these suckers are heavy!!!

Okay got one and a half done for a quick idea of how it will look...
So far... I LOVE IT!!!!
Really need leafs out back though, that's as low as I can get the rears unless I cut the bed out. But it's really looking great, proportion wise! Gotta take the black paint off and polish/clearcoat those cross wheels. GREAT value there, recommended!!!

 

[Shinchu]

So the wheels are good but i have ideas to make them better.
Cchand 6mm hubs that eliminate the clamp on hex hubs, pulling the wheels in closer (yup it wil still clear the knuckles)
Along with locked up rc scale acorn lug studs
Gcm hub covers? Need recommendations there.

And i forgot to get some today, but i will soak them in 99% isopropyl alcohol to take the paint off the outter halfs, then polish and clear coat them.

*would acetone strip the paint too? Easier to get nail polish remover. Gonna give it a shot.

** okay, got 3 bottles of acetone at target. Dumped the first bottle into a clean salsa jar and it covered all 4 oitside wheel halves easily. So i could do this 2 more times lol
Results at 4pm tomorrow!

 

[Shinchu]

Well I wish I could say this was easy...
Soaking made the paint softer for sure but I used the dremel with wire wheel to persuade the rest of it off.
Not sure how I can polish them any better, used brasso, polishing pad and dremel on the lowest setting, ended up burning the brasso on the wheels and making them dull.

Anyway here is where I am with the wheels

About to just gloss coat them as is.:roll:

 

[Itali83]

Scotch brite pad will probably take the rest off with a little elbow grease. Get the purple kind, its coarse and works well. Don't forget some pictures of your front axle and transmission interference so I can get an idea what's going on and make sure things will work with the offset axle. Send them to the email or phone number in the pm I sent to you.

Ben

 

[Browneye]

air brush man. Make 'em look exactly what you want.

 

[Shinchu]

I think its just the metal. It seems cast not stamped steel. Its a texture thing, very porous. All the paint is gone i just cant smooth out the metal enough for a nice polish. If i try any harder im afraid of taking detail off the wheel or changing shape of the holes.

Its actually not as dull as the pics and my dads were a bit tarnished anyway. If it really bothered me i would just get them chromed somewhere.

I will spray thm with gloss clear tomorrow and they should look a little better.

Ben, since looking at the geometry of the driveline, i think a driver side pumpkin might make it worse. Why couldnt my dad have owned a chevy truck?! Lol so yeah i will hold off on the offset pumpkin for now. I need to focus first on rear leafs to get the body to sit right.
Thanks for your help though.

Chris, you wont be happy until i own an airbrush huh?! Lmao i could, i have a caftsman compressor tank, just need to run hardlines and a regulator to the hobby bench. But... i run out of green stuff easy lol
But yeah between customizing action figures, building rc cars... an airbrush would be handy. Someday...