[Some pix back in P5] - "Blue Is Better" TRX-1 Resto-Mod (2017/07/07

[jkelm24]

Dude,

Pretty flippin' fantastic start. I just love this car in any configuration. Don't give a rip if some view the TRX-1 as "derivative". Most excellent and sally forth!

Mark

Agreed! If the TRX1 doesn't get your pants tight, you might have been too young or too old to fall in love with it in 1991. It's almost as if the JRX Pro and Team Car got together and made a love child... single carbon deck and long suspension from the Pro, and 3-gear tranny and swept front arms from the Team Car.

Jon

[Lonestar]

Cheers for the kind comments guys

I think the steering is FINALLY nailed...

The issue with the previous config is that the left bellcrank was hitting the servo mounts... so had to disassemble once more, pull out the dremel, and go for it...



Done... you can see this was white plastic originally (cringe)



Nothing a sharpie can't fix



Now reassembled...



but... still doesn't work More disassembly, more dremel, more trial and error...



and finally - halleluiah...


(It's the lighting - doesn't look that bad in real life! )

Off to rear 'buckles now! The ones I had were too long... more dremeling again! (and even more needed after that...). What I can say is the sparks from Titanium are VERY different from those steel-generated ones. The Titanium's glow "white", the steel ones are more yellow. And cutting that damn titanium with a disc was a pain btw. Remember to always wear protective glasses when you do this, one of the discs just snapped and jumped god knows where through the workshop... eye protection is a must!!!



Only blue in the rear now, studs, buckles, all blue



Cut the shock mount screws and changed that configuration a bit, too



And blue servo. Might as well do it fully...



More soon, hopefully!

[Coelacanth]

I just use a hacksaw with fine-tooth blade for cutting down turnbuckles or overly long screws and such. It only takes seconds and no worries about shattered Dremel wheels...then a minute or two of filing the rough edges off and call it done.

[Lonestar]

Last post about steering geometry, I swear I'm also getting slightly frustrated to be honest

Spent more time tinkering with links... Basically, there is a reason why Traxxas was using thinner "captured" balls: otherwise some ballcup always hits something when the suspension is fully compressed or fully extended Just like I remember from my black widow project

I've tried this:


and that:


but the least sub-optimal solution ends-up being this one:

with some ballcup-arm rubbing. Then again, if this prevents the front from lifting too much under throttle, this might not be a bad thing after all, esp. on the ever-understeering TRX-1!


I also ran out of 'buckles, but who needs buckles when one has grub screws and blue-ano'ed washers aplenty


enough with the front suspension... electronics are next

Till next time,
Paul

[klavy69]

Nice so far and glad I'm not the only one that gets frustrated with the trx1 front end

Todd

[Lonestar]

Nice so far and glad I'm not the only one that gets frustrated with the trx1 front end

Todd

For sure... that's when you really understand that the AE crew were fully mastering their art back then... there's a reason why the RC10 was THE car to beat for 10yrs! Maybe it's its imperfections that make the TRX1 so likeable after all

[Coelacanth]

I learned a few tricks myself dealing with the tight confines of the Optima's steering system (the links, tie rods and even the rod going to the servo), and ball ends rubbing or binding. One of them is to use these hex ball nuts instead of the usual ball studs, screwing them in from the opposite side with a 3mm screw, cut down enough so that the screw doesn't protrude through the hex ball nut. I also hacksawed off the "shoulders" of the hex ball so all that's left is the ball and the "neck", if you will. At least with my cars, this allows a full 4.8mm ball-end to pop onto the hex stud almost right down to the surface of the mounting point, instead of having several millimeters of space, and it's about as low-profile as you can get.

You could go even more low-profile by using open-ended ball-ends, a bit like the ones you're using already, but for those I recommend Delrin ones as they pop on tighter and don't wear out and loosen as fast as the plastic ones do.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/3Racing-3RAC-BS48H5-LB-4-8MM-Hex-Ball-Stud-L-5-10-pcs-LB-/182430349720?hash=item2a79b23998:g:F9UAAOSwjDZYhMsT

[Lonestar]

I learned a few tricks myself dealing with the tight confines of the Optima's steering system (the links, tie rods and even the rod going to the servo), and ball ends rubbing or binding. One of them is to use these hex ball nuts instead of the usual ball studs, screwing them in from the opposite side with a 3mm screw, cut down enough so that the screw doesn't protrude through the hex ball nut. I also hacksawed off the "shoulders" of the hex ball so all that's left is the ball and the "neck", if you will. At least with my cars, this allows a full 4.8mm ball-end to pop onto the hex stud almost right down to the surface of the mounting point, instead of having several millimeters of space, and it's about as low-profile as you can get.

You could go even more low-profile by using open-ended ball-ends, a bit like the ones you're using already, but for those I recommend Delrin ones as they pop on tighter and don't wear out and loosen as fast as the plastic ones do.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/3Racing-3RAC-BS48H5-LB-4-8MM-Hex-Ball-Stud-L-5-10-pcs-LB-/182430349720?hash=item2a79b23998:g:F9UAAOSwjDZYhMsT

Yes - but that'd go against the black-and-blue scheme I've had in mind for this ride for a while. But I agree, hollow hex balls a la Xray shock mounts are the shiznit

[Delorean]

Thanks very much for bringing this build back to life, some great ideas and tips

The car look fantastic!!

I want a carbon chassis for my TRX1 now!!!

[Seabass]

I am so happy to see this car back on the building block. It was a very special car that has a ton of features you will never see on a TRX1. I cant wait to see it finished. BTW, I have another TRX1 and will need to start a build thread on it, since it has already started getting some custom resto mod treatment.

[Lonestar]

Making progress, although one step at a time for sure

Time to work on the electronics... This is one of the steps I fear and despise the most: rewiring a vintage speedo. This usually takes a lot of self control and patience, both of them I don't have much of. I had identified the electronics a couple of years ago already:



Gently used "true" IPC Wires are shot, though... work needed...


It's the real deal - for the wrong brand car


Managed to open it without breaking the tabs!


Somehow I managed to remove the wires without making a mess... even more of a feat given how the PCB looks like lace!


Believe it or not, but I did do this myself!


Looking good if you ask me


With marking:


and without


I think It'll good on the car


The LRP was a good base to work on. But this is something I really, REALLY hate to do. There are so many ways to screw it up. Actually, since we can get competitive-level $40 BL controllers these days, I tend to buy new ones every time instead of rewiring the old ones... So this was good therapy for me.

The mill is an LRP Pink E - in fantastic shape. DIdn't take many pics but the cleaning was done with some cleaning gum. I remembered I had trued it a few years back before storing it, so no reason why it would be any worse than what I remembered


Till next time

Paul

[Lonestar]

I am so happy to see this car back on the building block. It was a very special car that has a ton of features you will never see on a TRX1. I cant wait to see it finished. BTW, I have another TRX1 and will need to start a build thread on it, since it has already started getting some custom resto mod treatment.

Cheers Jake - I feel priviledged to have it. Looking forward to seeing your new one!

[matt1ptkn]

DIdn't take many pics but the cleaning was done with some cleaning gum.

Can you elaborate any further on this "cleaning gum"? This has me curious. Thanks for any info!

[Lonestar]

DIdn't take many pics but the cleaning was done with some cleaning gum.

Can you elaborate any further on this "cleaning gum"? This has me curious. Thanks for any info!

sure - this:

https://www.serpent-parts.nl/a-37189307/silicone-oil-glue-grease-tyre-fluid/cleaning-balancing-gum-large-103232/

Serpent repackages it, but it's an automotive product (brand: Teroson , product: Terostat). It's like play-doh except it sticks, so you can "pat" the stuff you want to clean with it and it sucks it up, while still not breaking up. Once it's loaded with gunk, it has become grey-ish anyway, you just throw it away.

It's an IC RC must-have, I discovered it as I was racing 8th onroad and everything needed to be clinically clean - works well for general clean-up too

[Lonestar]

Made up my mind on how to lay electronics out after trying different things yesterday evening

Modern packs are longer, so the battery box spacing wouldn't work unless I drill the chassis, which I'm not really feeling up to... Hence I'll go shorty.

Which means electronics could be laid out old-school like this:


Or new school like that:



The new-school look also allows shorter wires and cleaner install, especially on the motor + side, which I should be able to solder directly on the bullet plug to the Lipo+ - as opposed to splicing the Lipo+ wire somewhere along the line, always a PITA.

So, new school it will be


Need to order a couple of CWF battery bars, too. RC10's work, from memory

Till' next time - soldering and body/wing finish are next. Getting there...