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Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 5:05 pm
by mtbkym01
Been a few years since I’ve logged onto the forum, but I’ve had a bit of a resto/rebuild bug bite whilst I’ve had a couple weeks leave, have already knocked over a Monster Beetle, and am more than halfway through a Turbo Optima with belt drive. RC10th gave me this old Bullet a few years ago, and I’ve decided I’ll get stuck into it, it’s not gonna be fully restored, just a strip, clean and rebuild with whatever I’ve got laying around to get it sittin on all fours again.
A954B18D-C747-42DD-AB12-D26AEAA75705 by
Kym mtbkym01, on Flickr
72FA4496-7CFD-44BF-98F8-66F16F6D2ECB by
Kym mtbkym01, on Flickr
795BFA23-0767-4D70-A563-A2781E065FD1 by
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Damn, a broken gear case, dunno what to do with this?
7F708357-02DC-4F87-9442-005BF012A835 by
Kym mtbkym01, on Flickr
Now this intrigues me, I also received this body which is “clear” although it’s almost a yellow colour, is this normal, or has this been discoloured, and what will it do when I paint it?
99521E64-3C9B-44B4-8696-08B98FC56410 by
Kym mtbkym01, on Flickr
Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 6:01 pm
by jwscab
The body is old and has aged, that's why it appears yellow. I would say it's probably almost like glass fragile now. Be super careful.
As for the broken case, that's pretty standard for a bullet that gets run moderately. You'll need to find a new case. There are Traxxas equivalent setups you could also retrofit, but also require drilling holes for separate arm mounts eBay is your best bet for a new bullet case.
Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 6:24 pm
by mtbkym01
jwscab wrote: ↑Wed Jan 23, 2019 6:01 pm
The body is old and has aged, that's why it appears yellow. I would say it's probably almost like glass fragile now. Be super careful.
As for the broken case, that's pretty standard for a bullet that gets run moderately. You'll need to find a new case. There are Traxxas equivalent setups you could also retrofit, but also require drilling holes for separate arm mounts eBay is your best bet for a new bullet case.
Ok thanks for that. Will be interesting what the shell will look like painted, I’m thinking I’ll go a darker colour.
I’ll have a look around for the gear case, but being in Australia, a lot of parts out of the US are ridiculously expensive to post, like between $18-$30 USD

Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 6:31 pm
by jwscab
Yeah, darker color for sure. You are very lucky, you have two body sets. The roll cage is very hard to find so very good score.
If you don't mind drilling the chassis, you could retrofit rad, hawk rad2 or hawk2 gear cases.
Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 6:39 pm
by jwscab
Also, you will want to boil all the parts. Traxxas white nylon gets pretty brittle. Not the gear case though, it's a nylon blend and will distort. Although it's already broken so.
Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 8:42 pm
by mtbkym01
jwscab wrote: ↑Wed Jan 23, 2019 6:39 pm
Also, you will want to boil all the parts. Traxxas white nylon gets pretty brittle. Not the gear case though, it's a nylon blend and will distort. Although it's already broken so.
Great info, thanks
Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 8:48 pm
by mtbkym01
jwscab wrote: ↑Wed Jan 23, 2019 6:31 pm
Yeah, darker color for sure. You are very lucky, you have two body sets. The roll cage is very hard to find so very good score.
If you don't mind drilling the chassis, you could retrofit rad, hawk rad2 or hawk2 gear cases.
Those gearcases are just as invisible it seems, I might just rebuild it as is, as it won’t really get run anyway, will just sit up next to my other early 2wd’s.
Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 8:59 pm
by mtbkym01
Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 9:35 pm
by jwscab
I believe that gold comes out more like the gold anodizing of the chassis. It definitely doesn't match the cap.
Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 9:45 pm
by jwscab
For shelf duty you could glue it back together for sure.
Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 10:16 pm
by mtbkym01
jwscab wrote: ↑Wed Jan 23, 2019 9:45 pm
For shelf duty you could glue it back together for sure.
Unfortunately I don’t even have the missing piece

Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2019 5:46 am
by mtbkym01
Stripped and cleaned everything, and now starting the rebuild, using pics off the net as I can’t find a manual online, and didn’t really pay attention whilst disassembling as I thought I could use a manual
Also got the body painted, metallic blue which has become an aqua colour, looks quite good in sunlight
7B813BB2-1D30-4FA2-A431-7C132B0B7664 by
Kym mtbkym01, on Flickr
C55C8900-893C-4469-B283-674E9FA1BAC1 by
Kym mtbkym01, on Flickr
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Kym mtbkym01, on Flickr
Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2019 8:01 am
by jwscab
The 'blue' looks great! The bullet is very similar to all of the Traxxas cars /trucks up to the trx1, so you can look for any of the manuals that are around to find similar assembly pictures. I'll check to see if I have the manual electronically.
Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2019 9:13 am
by jwscab
Re: Traxxas Bullet Rebuild
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2019 9:13 pm
by mtbkym01
Actually really enjoyed this rebuild, just waiting on some stampede front steering blocks and axles, and it’ll be complete
991F659E-04BC-4D38-AC54-1E0E96BDE7AE by
Kym mtbkym01, on Flickr
5B1E26A6-C258-44E2-B64B-336FDD27E9B0 by
Kym mtbkym01, on Flickr
Shocks are “3 Racing” for a Kyosho ZX5 that I’ve had here for a long time, think they’ll do the job
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Kym mtbkym01, on Flickr
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Kym mtbkym01, on Flickr
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Kym mtbkym01, on Flickr
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Kym mtbkym01, on Flickr
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