The Frankenbuggy

[Frankentruck]

Chassis is prepped for drilling. Holes being added for battery cradle, steering servo, and gearbox reversibility. I haven't decided if the servo is going to be left or right mounted so there will be both options.
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[Frankentruck]

Battery cradle / shock tower installed. I also put in a set of Custom Works CVDs, but at full hang with the rear suspension they are a little too short. I guess I'll need to limit the rear shock travel a little, or switch back to dogbones.
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[GoMachV]

Typically you want a little sweep in the angle of the bones. Since you are making your own mounts it would be easy to move them back a few mm. They like being in an arc with the arm. Also if you narrow up the mounting you can shim them side to side, similar (in function, not appearance) to how our pro sets were

Not super apparent in my pic but it’s the best pic I can find on my phone. Doesn’t take much.

[Frankentruck]

Thanks for the tips!

[Frankentruck]

My mid motor layout is very pressed for space. Moving the arms aft will cause a clash between left shock and the end of the gearbox top shaft. Moving the arms inward will result in that shock clash occurring and no longer having enough room for 540 sized brushless motors. Flipped into the rear motor layout, I would have a lot more clearance to work with. I think limiting shock extension is the corner I'm painted into for how I want to be able to setup the buggy.

[Frankentruck]

Next step is picking the right sized tie rods. I'm guessing that Lunsford and RPM are the primary options, and then Custom Works for some ball studs.
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[GoMachV]

Lunsford may have ball ends as well, they mold their own and they seem pretty nice. I do not know what ball sizes they offer (they do sell titanium ball joints as well ). My recommendation is always to call and talk to Scott Hughes, he can get you fixed up. Super nice guy, and an ex big time racer.

[juicedcoupe]

Consider Schumacher as well.

They have many different lengths turnbuckles available, in steel and titanium.

Many of their ball cups are 4.3mm, which is the same as the Custom Works studs.

CRC also has some ball cups that are similar to B3 cups.

[Frankentruck]

So this is the gearbox I originally wanted to use, except in the laydown configuration.
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Looking it over, the outdrives fit the CVD pin and ball ends very well. So that would have been fine. The mounting holes on the front side of the diff are not the same distance to the diff center line as the mount holes on the back side, so this wouldn't have been reversible. I've recently modified the T2 gearbox so the top shaft can be on the right side (which is the right) so the motor will spin the correct direction. I'm noticing that this motor plate puts it's motor in the same location as my mid position T2 gearbox. Also the motor plate has the same 3 bolt mouth pattern clocking and spacing. Which should meat that I can use this motor plate (91428) with my T2 gearbox, as long as I use correct screws with it. But then I can also use it's close fitting gear cover, as long as I use a 78 tooth or smaller spur gear.

[Frankentruck]

After a closer comparison, it's not as close of a match as I was thinking. But it's still a candidate for 'make it fit'.
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[Frankentruck]

With some hole relocations the motor plate did fit, however the motor mount position isn't compatible with the contours of the T2 gearbox. So next thought is to reshape the T2 motor plate to accept this gear cover.
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[Frankentruck]

Rather than butcher the T2 motor plate I decided to make a new motor plate. I had something kicking around the garage that was just right for being sacrificial material.
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[Dadio]

Nicely done , I'm all into upcycling

[XLR8]

Good on you!!
I like to repurpose whenever I can. Rather than buying what is needed, why not try to make if from something you already have.
By the way, that metal plate reminds me of a NASCAR carburetor restrictor plate - the incredibly rare two-barrel version.

[Frankentruck]

Good on you!!
I like to repurpose whenever I can. Rather than buying what is needed, why not try to make if from something you already have.
By the way, that metal plate reminds me of a NASCAR carburetor restrictor plate - the incredibly rare two-barrel version.

That's actually what it was, a restrictor plate . It was previously a crude attempt to match an oversized carb to an engine many years ago. I figured this was a better use.