PROJECT COPPERHEAD Help please

[thespencer]

Ok im new here so i thought i would show my most recent project. I call it a tlt but the only things that were on the stock tlt was the axles. Its got the tlt axles, custom chassis, and a stampede tranny. It will have a copper theme with copper links, copper colored chassis (not made of copper) and copper battery and electronics trays. And to top it all off a copper painted bronco body. With the project name painted on the tailgate.

shock mounts not permanent



tamiya paint cans under opposite wheels

All the copper parts will be soaked in salt and vinegar (gives it a very nice shine) then polished with brass-o (also gives nice shine) and then coated with clear coat. All the copper painted parts will be painted then clearcoated.

[cousingrandpa]

Not enough articulation That is very cool bro, & Welcome to the site. Can't wait to see it all finished with a body.

[thespencer]

Im sorry to say that my grandfather passed away about two hours ago. I will be traveling to columbus mississippi (bout 3 hours away) and staying there for a few days. The project will suffer from this. I had originally planed to finish it by the end of september but im getting rid of all deadlines for this project. Ill finish it whenever i get a chance. Some adjustments have been made to the final paint job. Along the side toward the bottem of the body it will hopefully say: In loving memory of Clayton Whitlock.

[Rock Spyder]

Welcome to the Site Spencer....
And nice truck project... Looks great..

I am sorry to hear about your grandfather and if there is anything any of us can do for you Please let us know...

The loss of a Loved one is tough and we are hear for our members in any time of need....

Good luck, and our best wishes to your family...
Tom
And everyone here on RCMX

[txtmisery]

`Hey Spencer , Welcome to the site.

One thing you might want to consider on your polishing deal .
Brasso leaves a type of oil on metals in the shining process . Your Clear coat wont stick to it .

Trust me after years of shining belt buckles and brass when I was in the military I figured out quite a bit of what would not stick to brasso polished items .

Paul

[thespencer]

well after about a month with no rc at all my "trigger" finger was beginning to twitch. I had to drive something or i was gonna freak. So i started on the electronics tray. Its basically done i just need to make it look pretty. I was going to make a battery tray but i didnt have enough material left to make it out of what i wanted to so i got a peice of plexi i had the zip tied it to the cross braces in the chassis. ghetto yes but hey it works. Also it was only 2wd because i broke a shaft.

Anyway i took it for a test drive and its at about a walking pace all full throttle which is about where i want it. I went crawlin over a log pile in my back yard. It got stuck mostly because of the 2wd. So i quit cuz it wasnt worth it. Later a found a shaft so im gonna take it out again today and i will post pics.

[thespencer]

ahh another depressing update. After the runs this morning i decided to go with a new shock mounting location for the rear of the truck to keep the chassis from leaning to one side when throttle is applied ( i think this might be called torque roll?) it worked great when i tested it in the den but when i got outside i ran into another problem. I am running pede half shafts and i think i put to much angle on them. I think that they were at such an angle that they wouldnt spin and the turning from the wheels being pushed across the ground made them come apart. Whatever the problem is i think that limiting the travel of the shocks is a good idea. Ill try to get to that tonight and run it tomorrow afternoon after shool. Sorry no pics i really didnt do anything worth taking pics of.

The future of this project is unclear ive already gotten an offer for a trade for a decked out emaxx that is hard to resist.

[Unruely]

Man, I like the looks of that. I see a lot of potential it it. I think maybe I will have to get myself something like that soon. Looking good

Martin

[thespencer]

AHHHH more trouble today. Finally got all the bugs worked out with the drive shafts coming apart but then on todays first run (it also just so happens to be the last) the nut that held the rear top two links to the chassis came off. I guess i missed that one when i lock tighted the rest. Anyway while i was attempting to climb over a 4 inch by 4inch piece of wood ( I had already done it once but forgot to get a pic) i heard a clinking sound. I later found out that was the first spacer falling off the threaded rod that held the top links on. Well i got over the wood and floored it for a victory lap. That was a big mistake. The whole back end shifted out from under the truck and it dragged the chassis across the ground. Kinda like a dog dragging its butt across the floor.

So well tonight will be spent doing math homework and fixing the truck again. I guess its just one more reason to spend time with my BRAND SPANKING NEW DREMEL!! my dad bought it yesterday because our old one died bout a week ago and he needed one for tile work.

aint she purdy? wanted the one that came with the flex shaft but my dad said we can get it later when he gets his paycheck

we are also looking into this scroll saw because we have such a small area in our "shop" and it could replace some of our other tools.

[Rock Spyder]

Sounds like you need to do like the rest of us lay back Watch TV and play video games......LOL

Good luck getting it back together and I love the Dremel
Wanna Trade my used one for your new one?

LOL

Tom

[thespencer]

Finally i made it threw a complete run without anything breaking! Anyway i got some pics for yall. This is the second half of the run the first half was spent driving on a mound of 4inch by 4inch blocks of wood and its kinda hard to get pics of that so yall can just use your imagination.....

anyway started off with some stretching.


second a little warm up exercise. I drove it into this position then kept going back and forth between my neighbor and my driveways.


next was a trip to this hole in my yard caused by the gutter being broken. Its to deep for my to drive into( and actually get back out of) but if i gun it i can shoot the truck across it long ways.


next is some of my favorite place. Its a small ditch between my house and my neighbors. Its full of dirt, grass clipping, and small tree branches.




thats its for now. After i mount the body its off to the natchez trace for some real rocks. they have just built like 5 new bridges in my area for the new trace and on the sides of each bridge are rocks. Big rocks like the size of my head rocks (and ive got a pretty big head)

[dabid]

Lookin' good, are the diffs locked? My only other advice would be to try and lower the battery, but if you can't, oh well. Have you thought about 4 wheel steering? It makes all the difference on my Clod with locked diffs!

[thespencer]

right now the center and rear diffs are locked. Yes i am going to go with 4ws but first i need to order a stronger servo and i also want to wait until the truck is wider because it flips alot now. Also once i get 4ws i will lock the front diff.

[thespencer]

wow ok alot has happened since my last post. Unfortunatly none of it happened to the truck. But all of the things will eventually (hopefully) help with the truck.
first thing that happened was my dad bought me and 50 brenz-o-matic mini torch. Just bought it out of the blue. He had known for a while that i wanted it for a while and just came home from work one day and said got ya something. its in the back of the truck. He also bought me and dremel flex shaft for our new dremel.

Second thing is i learned how to cast aluminum and zinc and have succuessfully done both. Once i get the process down i plan to ATTEMPT to make wheel widners for the tlt.

Third i broke the truck again. Its minor just the drive shaft broke where it goes to the axle. no biggie.

Forth i shocked the crap out of my hand working on our new gerage door opener. The plug (which was damaged) from our old gerage door opener was pluged in and i reached over to unplug it (not knowing bare wires were showing on the side i couldnt see). Well im sure yall can guess what happened next. I fell flat on my butt and just kinda sat there for a little bit. We went to the doctor the next day just to make sure i didnt screw anything up to bad. Im fine.


ANYWAY now that we are all updated....can anyone give me some tips on brazing with a mini torch. Ive never done it and i no nothing of what im doing.

[Rock Spyder]

MAn if it was not for bad luck you would not have any luck at all...LOL

TOm

[dabid]

Not to take away from what happened to you, but I laid my hand across some 700v electric fence once.......ouchie. I guess I know how you feel.

Are you going to top it with a body or what?