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zomboided

Monster Beetle Resto

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Even though there are loads of Beetle restoration threads, this is my first attempt at a proper restoration. It's gonna be a light runner/shelf queen.

Here's where I'm starting from

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Gave it a run to see what state it's in and the motor is good, but the front is a bit broken

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Gear box seems in really good condition

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And finally, all ready to clean. Found another couple bits that need replacing though...

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So far it looks good to me. Do you keep the original nose cone or do you build a new body?

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I think the nose was replaced at some point as the spotlight bar mounting points are gone. Gonna have to make something up, but that's fine as the body will get lots of attention

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Definitely following this, will be interested to see what you do with the spot light mounts!

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Spent 2 hours cleaning up the old shocks and removing the tree tabs properly. All shocks still had oil in and the diaphragms are in good condition. I'll replace the o-rings and fill them tomorrow.

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Shocks assembled, gearbox cleaned and metal polished. Waiting for an order of nuts and bolts now...

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Rebuilt the gearbox a couple days ago, but very excited now as I've spent all day cleaning, filing, sanding and polishing the metal and plastic bits and I'm now ready to start assembling the chassis!

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Made a start last night...

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Then continued this afternoon, but had to take the front apart a bit and free up the movement of the suspension

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And finally, put the gearbox and suspension on. I'm using the frog re re universal joints but it looks like the rubber boot is rubbing on the inside of the swing arms. Have I done something wrong, or do I need to lose the rubber boot with the UVs? Anyone else seen this problem?

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It's a lovely build, but the weak points are so obvious! Can't see there being a re re on this chassis unless Mr T makes some pretty big changes

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Great work so far matey, the ORV always looks great when it's just been freshly built (especially when it's a vintage one).

Keep up the good work!

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No problem with the rubber boots on the universal joints on my model, but I did have to leave off the recommended zip ties for the joints going into the rear trailing arms. I was of course able to attach them to the drive cups going into the gearbox.

And that is a marvellous Monster Beetle chassis! Do you think that the same improvements made to the re-release Frog and Brat could make it a better candidate for a re-release? I get this feeling we will see a new Monster Beetle sometime...

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Thanks for the kind words guys...I put the old wheels on tonight and took it for a spin around the kitchen and it's a nice little steer!

No problem with the rubber boots on the universal joints on my model, but I did have to leave off the recommended zip ties for the joints going into the rear trailing arms. I was of course able to attach them to the drive cups going into the gearbox.

And that is a marvellous Monster Beetle chassis! Do you think that the same improvements made to the re-release Frog and Brat could make it a better candidate for a re-release? I get this feeling we will see a new Monster Beetle sometime...

I've got some black hardware coming to make the gearbox look better where it meets plastic (black bolts with bright nuts and washers are wrong....), so will have another look a the rubber boots when it's apart again...I've probably messed something up (let's not talk about that page of my printed out manual being missing!)

I've not tried to build the re re Frog or Brat, but it does look like one of the issues (the rear shock mount onto the chassis) is now on the chassis in a chunkier mount? If I was bashing this, I'd be looking for a way to properly beef that area up for sure, or mount the shocks more vertically on a new brace.

I'm also not feeling the front shock tower. It looks like the servo cover is expected to be on tight (with zip ties...) to help keep things rigid. I believe that back in the day you could get an aluminium brace that connected the top of the shock tower to the rear of the chassis which I imagine would help loads.

I'm also not wild about the little black metal front arms. When I bought this one, the plastic mounting the bumper connects to was cracked where the metal arms attached. I suspect a heavy impact happened to the front wheel! I've put a new plastic mount on, and I've put a couple O rings either side of the arm and it's tightened up, but the design just seems less strong that something like the WR02.

And the gear box...I'm impressed with the state of mine, but it's had an easy life with a standard silver can. I totally understand why there are so many mods in this area. Might be a fun project to do a brushless beetle to see how effective some of the mods are, but parts are too expensive for this beast!

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Black hardware and gold wheel nuts arrived so I was able to finish the gearbox and attach a really lovely pair of new wheels and tyres. What was really cute was the 'Made in Japan' stamp on the wheel barrels :) Also polished up a torque tuned motor and put that on too. Still gotta get the final esc and receiver before I fix the wiring.

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Couldn't resist throwing the shell on. Week off work next week so I'm planning on working on it loads.

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Can we get a close up of the colour coded nuts and bolts please (we're geeky like that)? ;)

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Can we get a close up of the colour coded nuts and bolts please (we're geeky like that)? ;)

I second that motion, show us ya nuts...

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Some plastic welding, filling holes, sealing the nose cone to the body and preparing to delete the sun roof (as monster trucks don't need sun roofs!)

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Then some P38 to smooth out the welds

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Sanded, mold lines removed, wire wooled and cleaned, ready for painting

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Rear lights have been cut out and a small bracket fitted so that I can install rear lights. Gonna have to get a glue gun...

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I suggest you to wait a couple of weeks to paint it. The filler needs many time to dry and, if not dry, when you paint the surface is perfectly flat then, after one month, you'll find the lines and marks under the paint because the filler retired.

Keep the body parts in a hot and ventilated place to help the filler to dry then check it and add more filler and repeat the treatment.

My 2 cents.

Max

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Or do what I did and put it in an airing cupboard for a week...

Loving the welds, what do you use to stitch the material together so neatly?

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Or do what I did and put it in an airing cupboard for a week...

Loving the welds, what do you use to stitch the material together so neatly?

I don't have an airing cupboard! I live in a stupid new build house with a massive compressed tank thing that fills a **** cupboard. I'm gonna leave it a week indoors before the first coat of paint though. It's damp this week anyway, so it's not the right time to spray.

And thanks! I just used a soldering iron (in a nice ventilated garage) with a small pointy tip and then sanding over the bumps to flatten out before filling with P38. Where I filled the holes in the back of the shell (what are they even there for?!) and the one at the front, I just used bits of a parts tree (think I got this tip from JennyMo?) and tried to attach it and then melt it into place, burning my fingers to try and flatten it out. I also used plastic cement on the roof and nose before attaching, just so they wouldn't move around.

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Here's where it gets OCD....

Wired the new ESC up to the existing MB switch. The ESC has a third wire on the switch for a mode button so all I did was use the red and black pairs on the MB switch inline with the existing switch, which you can see servo taped to the side of the ESC. Also had to replace the plug on the servo as it was a really fat type that didn't fit in the receiver.

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Used the servo bridge to wrap the ESC and servo wires around before routing them to the receiver. Just because this area will be covered, doesn't mean it shouldn't be neat :)

I also used servo tape to install a resistor, just for show. Toyed with the idea of having some wires that went to nowhere, but decided against it.

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Finally, replaced the Tamiya connector on the ESC with a deans, and also in this shot you can see the braiding I added to the motor wiring. Used this braiding on my Mad Bull and really like the way it tidies everything up. Both the battery and motor wires were then zip tied to the rear body support.

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I had to order a couple more sets of black bolts to pimp the chassis a little more, along with a piece of red plasticard so that I can make spacers for the battery compartment to hold the LiPo battery properly.

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Ok, here are the colour coded bolt hardware shots as the last batch arrived today....

Rear bumper and ariel got black bolts, nuts and washers

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Gearbox mounts onto the plastic and the motor bolts are black

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Gold wheel nuts and black front bumper screw. You can't see the newly sprayed matt black arms or the washer mod to tighten them up, but it's there!

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Chassis is now totally finished and I dread to think what it's cost, but I'm so pleased with the result.

Finally, new vintage glass arrived today too! Nobody told me the blitzer glass was without rear window! Didn't matter as I needed the rear light fittings. There was also a slight crack by the rear bolt hole, but fortunately it's not visible when the glass is installed, so I glued it up and moved on.

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Very nice thread. I have had a MB since I was 15 (1995) and recently cleaned it up. I really like your plastic welding for the snout and the sunroof. I thought about that and am far to concerned about the unthinkable happening and cracking the nose! I'm sure I'm paranoid as I drive it lightly but still. I did want to mention that I was able to wedge the esc in my monster beetle under the MSC/servo cover. For me it cleaned up the chassis look and since the esc is maintenance free, it doesn't bother me to have it under that. You can see it in my showroom. Just a thought. Keep up the build!

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Got some 3mm red plasticard and made a couple spacers which are installed on both sides, extending the battery compartment out by 6mm, and allowing a LiPo to fit perfectly! No permanent modifications were made, so it can still go back to stock for shorter batteries

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