Losi jrx2 pro thing build

[stevejc]

Its an Austin A60 farina banger, he even won a world final, just to add a bit of provenence to the colours

Well, it arrived today and im a very happy chap.






Even came with a box full of bits, theres probably enough in there to build another car.



CNC machined tub chassis and gearbox made from aerospace 7075 alloy, front and rear carbon shock towers and afew other bits here and there. Its a lovely thing. What i didnt realise from the listing is its got full alloy TLR front steering setup and rear hubs, for what i paid for the whole lot it wouldnt have even bought steering and hubs . I wanted to get them so its a bit of a result. Its dirty and dusty and theres afew scratches underneath but nothing a rebuild wont fix. It may not be vintage, but wth the dust and dirt and afew rusty screws its worthy of a rebuild.

So far ive got a rear wing for it, but as for the body im not sure. Cab forward seems the most common option, but i think they look horrid, the stand rear cab losi body is ok, but it seems a shame to put a standard body on a far from standard chassis, so the only options i seem to have is the Bugle Boy Racing body, which is nice, but too sleek, or the FTW Blade, which is ok, unless anyone else has any suggestions for a rear cab body that will fit the 22 well.

First things first, rip it apart and see what i need, get the velcro and othe foam crud off it, and buy more alloy, servo posts and possibly front bulk head. Ive got a pot of caustic soda in the garage and im contemplating dropping all alloy in it and getting it re-anodised all the same colour. We'll see.......

[Corsa]

OOhh I like that!!

[Mr. ED]

TBG has a custom body too

[stevejc]

Thanks for the suggestion of the TBG body but ive since realised the chassis is a different shape to a standard one, and a standard 22 body wont fit, which isnt a bad thing really because one of the bodies i already have almost fits, so im going to look at what else is available for that car.
Chassis is all stripped and cleaned, shocks were an odd mixture of parts so i gathered all shock parts that were included in the spares and now have a matching set of four. Now that ive taken the car to bits i can see that it was in dire need of a rebuild, shock fluid was brown and some of the screws were stuck in. Rear bumper was snapped off but i found a new one in the spares. Tonight im going to take the diff apart and see what its like in there.

[stevejc]

When i first started taking this apart i realised the screws are metric not imperial like the xxx, which meant i couldnt use the my small stock of losi screws, which was a pain until i realised i had more left over from a mardave build, and they were the same m3 screws. After I sorted the shocks out and cleaned the chassis properly, along with treating the plastics , I received afew new bits and put some bits together.


When I had a proper sort through the spares i found a rear bumper which was good as the one on this was broken, and a piece of carbon fibre that i thought had got in there by mistake, it looked like it was for something else. I held it up against the bulkhead and realised the holes were the same width, the same as a servo, so i tried bolting it on and it fits perfectly like its made for the job, so i guess it must be! It sits right against the bulkhead and presses down against the V bracket making it quite ridged. Also got a pair of alloy servo posts and waiting for more TLR alloy goodness to turn up.
The shocks were built up out of a pile of parts, cleaned, and the caps and rings were stripped and polished. Ive put them back together but the need a seal kit so theres no oil in them. Ive still got 5 1/2 shocks left, so thats 1 spare set and one for a keyring .




Happy with it so far, waiting for some bits to come now before i can do much more, including a body. When trying to work out what to do about a body for it I checked the xxxcr body up against the lines of the chassis it turned out to be a pretty good fit, so I looked up about alternative bodies for the xxx and found a Jconcepts Illuzion body for the xxx, and bought it. Also waiting for some more carbon and alloy to turn up

[stevejc]

Got the front end back together properly now, well sort of. After putting the steering rack in I put the front brace on and realised it fouls on the standard steering setup. I wasnt going to upgrade the steering due too the cost of it, but seeing how naff the standard steering is compared to the rest of the chassis it would seem a shame not too finnish it off, so to justify the cost ive thrown some stuff at ebay and once its sold ill get steering as well as some wheels and tyres.




Before I bought the servo mounts i shopped around to see what I could find and found a comment from someone saying that for one of the aftermarket versions, part of the standard chassis had to ground away No grinding going on with this chassis!! So I settled on the TLR ones that fit a treat, as does the new camber mount. Almost bought an alloy bulkhead, but it seems kind of pointless with the carbon brace and servo posts stiffening it up. However, if think it needs one thats been stripped and polished, just for the bling of it, i might.
Before i put he front end back on I gave it a full strip down and greased all the pins before putting them back in, but one inner hinge pin was so rusty it was almost seized, and luckily, there was one in the box of bits, so in it went, along with one front arm that was badly marked being replaced with a good one from the box. Also, one side of the inner hinge pin brace was badly oval'd, and once again the bag of bits saved the day. There wasnt a huge amount of bits that came with the car, loads of plastic bits i didnt need but no much in the way of anything else, yet so much that ive needed was in there

As well as finding the rear bumper in there to replace the snapped one, i found another piece of plastic which i assume is a different kind of bumper, so that went on too



With all the cars ive done so far i dont like throwing my work wages at them, but of course, buying and selling this and that for a bit of extra on the bay just means that now and then, i will throw money at them, its what hobbies are for!

[stevejc]

Got the gearbox stripped and rebuilt, didnt do anything with the diff, its smooth as silk and doesnt look anything like a standard one so i thought it best left alone until I find out what its like inside so i know what im going to find when i get there.


I havnt put the wing mount on because im still working out how i can mount it in a better position to suit the wing im using, or use a different mount altogether if i can find out what will fit


New carbon fibre mudguards, fixed on with titainium screws. Carbon fibre and titainium to deal with mud. Truffles to a pig?
Just noticed i need to change that old black nut.



Next is to mount the body, which is going to be alot of guess work, just got to remember to ignore the cut lines.

[Coelacanth]

That looks like it's gonna be a beast. I love me a badass bulletproofed buggy!

[stevejc]

Got more done to the back end today. The wing mounts were badly warped, so i thought id try putting them in hot water and gently bending them straight. It almost worked but they wernt quite right. Id noticed there were 2 holes on the side of each mount, and i had a couple of alloy posts left over from a Mardave build, it tried them in place but they were slightly too narrow, so i dug around and found 4 2mm nylon spacers, and they fit a treat and pull it all straight and solid. the mounts were also a little short from the shock mount to the pins for the wing itself, more digging found 4 blue alloy spacers and more nylon spacers, with those in place the pins are more in the middle of the wing i plan to put on it.









Authough its a bit more new school than vintage, the wing and body ive got should make it look a bit older than the chassis is. Going to have a go at the wing next.

[stevejc]

Today i did something i wasnt going to do, but due to the fact that i couldnt fit a piece of carbon with the standard part fitted, i splashed out on an Exotek steering rack conversion. It started with a bag containing these bits


As standard it all looked like this, very black and plastic.


All fitted up and looking a bit more of a match for the rest of the car


And with the bulkhead and carbon fibre brace back on, its gone. I have now been accused of making money disappear. Point taken. But more carbon fibre makes me happy.






In other news, got the rear wing fitted. Its a Losi XXXCR option part. I had it left over from the xxxcr2 build after i decided to fit a 22 wing to it.



Now to crack on with the body, which is a Jconcepts illusion for the xxx.

[Mr. ED]

Nice body, but isn't it too narrow at the front and middle?

[stevejc]

Its deceptive, it certainly looks too narrow, even sitting here looking at it now, but the rear of the body is well over an inch wider than the chassis, and both start to taper in at about the same place, and line up well at the front around the servo posts. It wont be until i trim the body that ill find out exactly how it going to sit, but i know its going to fit. The only problem i might have it at the very front where it goes under the shock mount/over the bulkhead, but if it means chopping the front off, so be it.

[stevejc]

Wheels arrived today, and 2 tyres. 2 tyres are now on 2 rear wheels. The writing is more white than grey, either way im happy, i likes wheels i does.

[stevejc]

Made a start on cutting the body, which was more guess work than cutting cut lines. I removed the front shock tower and the back end, so i cold make a start on getting the front end cut with the back end easily dropping into place. Once i was happy with the front end i started on the back end. Then it dawned on me, where on earth do i start? The body needed to be cut to clear the gear cover, but i couldnt tell where gear cover sat in relation to where i needed to cut, I sat here most of yesterday trying to work out what to do and how to start because i didnt just want to guess i. Then at work today i had an idea pop into my head.

Take a camera and a mini tripod, and take a picture.



Remove the back end, without moving the chassis, and add the body.


Put onto the lap top, grab a sheet of clear plastic and stick it too the screen. Trace around the gear cover.


Can you see where this is going?
Scroll to the next picture and there we go.



Well, its a start.

[stevejc]

Yesterday after a week of looking at my plans of where to cut it, i started cutting. And low and behold, it worked.





Its not as good a fit as my losi xxx but its a more awkward shape. there is a bit of a gap part of the way around the gear cover, but i might be able to disguise it later on. It needs a bit of fine tuning at the front but ill do that when the new front shock tower arrives as the one thats currently on there means i cant get the body on without taking the tower off and refitting it. Also waiting for front tyres and once everything else is complete the last thing will be paint. Ive got some offcuts to test an idea on, but it will probably foul up and ill end up sticking to plain and simple.