41 replies to this topic

[Kevin_Mc]

I've decieded to start a thread about my Clod build, I haven't taken any pictures but will do in the next few days. I got it as a birthday present and decided it needed a cean up. The shell just now is black with an extra hole for the aerial so that will be getting filled then i can rub it down and decide on a colour. I'm not a fan of the stock Clodbuster decals tbh so these will be delicately coming off. I actually prefer the blue and black combo of the Super Clod but i'll decide later one when i start the shell.

I took out all the Futaba radio gear to start off with and after seeing how dusty and cobwebbed the rest of the chassis was i decided to strip and clean it. I'm glad i did as the gearboxes were both dry (althought the truck had never been run). There were also four ball bearings at the end of each axle but the rest were all nylon and brass bushes. I've ordered a new set of bearings from RCBearings so once they arrive i can continue with the rebuild.

[Percymon]

Enjoy the build Kevin - Clod is a very enjoyable project.

When i did my mod clod it was possibly the most enjoyable build i've done.

[tonysmini]

As Percymon said, the Clods are a brilliant build, and you can see the areas where the odd mod will improve it.

Just wait for the snow, they are almost unstoppable.

[Kevin_Mc]

Cheers guys, that's good to hear

That's exactly what I'm wanting it finished for, a run in the snow, even the tyres look like they'll tear it up

[Kevin_Mc]

Is there any way of removing the decals from the clodbuster shell without destroying them? I don't want to use them on the shell but I don't want to tear them off as I know they're worth a fortune and it would be daft to ruin them.

[Zac_F83]

Is there any way of removing the decals from the clodbuster shell without destroying them? I don't want to use them on the shell but I don't want to tear them off as I know they're worth a fortune and it would be daft to ruin them.

no peel them off and toss them (they likely won't come off in one piece anyway- mine didn't) use lighter fluid and a paper towel to get the adhesive off then wash the body in luke warm water with dish soap

OR peel off the decals and spray the whole body with over cleaner.. (it won't harm the body just takes the paint off- I do this on all the model car bodies I mess up the paint on)- then do the soap and water to clean it

[Kevin_Mc]

yeah there was no chance of them peeling off nicely, i tried steam and a hairdryer but after the first two the next one peeled the paint (no big deal as it's ****!) so i just pulled them off. They removed a lot morenpaint, but the black had reacted with the original red underneath so it peeled off easily leaving a black, red and white body!

The plan always was to change the colour and use other stickers so it's not a big deal as it was going to get a clean and rub down anyway

[The Mad Modder]

Can't wait to see some pics of this fixer-upper.

Easy-Off oven cleaner(the stuff in the yellow can) is my 1st choice for removing paint. Depending on the type(s) of paint on there it will either take all the paint off with only few quick applications or barely touch it. Some types of paint need to be soaked in a bucket of brake fluid for several days. I once painted a body with Tamiya lacquer spray and it resisted oven cleaner and brake fluid. Surprisingly, I was able to remove it with denatured alcohol.

When you clean the gearboxes, one trick I learned trying to remove nasty black grease stains from white nylon gears is tooth paste. Scrubbing parts with toothpaste and an old tooth brush really worked well for cleaning away tough greases.

[calicool]

Looking forward to pics

[Kevin_Mc]

I'll take some pictures tonight. I've replaced the broken knuckle, got the bearings in but I still have the msc. I'll probably move to an esc at some point soon but I'll see how it is with silvercan motors and the msc for now.

We've had snow when I was away in Germany so I'm wanting to get it out to see how it is

Will foaming oven cleaner remove the horrible paint from the body (like it does with chrome plating) or should I be doing something else to strip it? I'd like to get it stripped this week and see if I can come up with a design for the paint work, the standard look doesn't do it for me.

Edit: where can I get a set of scale hella light covers? They don't need to be the same size as the clod spot lights as I have a plan for them elsewhere?

On the subject of lights, I'm wanting to get a set of working bulbs into the front grille light buckets, is there any straight fit system and can I use a four channel handset to turn them on and off?

[Yonez]

What is a good but not too pricey servo for the clod?
Tried a standard servo in mine, absolutely not strong enough.

[Sayer]

What is a good but not too pricey servo for the clod?
Tried a standard servo in mine, absolutely not strong enough.

Dunno what you consider pricey, but I used a Traxxas waterproof high torque servo for my Jugg2 build and it's definitely strong enough.

[gravetxt-1]

What is a good but not too pricey servo for the clod?
Tried a standard servo in mine, absolutely not strong enough.

Hitec HS-645MG servo is rated at 9.6kg torque @ 6 volts and is very reasonable in price and robust i had one in my clod for twelve months before i sold it. Currently i have two of these in my txt-1 for 4 wheel steering when the truck is moving i get the front wheels to turn 75% so not bad performance for the price. You will see slightly more turn in the front wheels with hs-645 to be honest i would just stick with standard servo no matter how powerful the servo is you will never achieve any decent amount of turn in the front wheels with just one servo for steering. Unless you mod it and install servos fornt and back like on txt-1.

[Yonez]

Thanks for the tips.
Went for the Traxxas servo. Can't go wrong with waterproof in a clod.

[Kevin_Mc]

i could do with a stronger servo too, may look at improving the steering. its pretty weak as it is just now, a better servo horn and stronger servo itself would help but i may look at a servo on each axle like shown in this thread

Some pics of it so far -












The Chrome isn't too bad but just starting to peel away and the only bad part is the badge, i'll re-chrome everything at some point but it's fine for now. I can't decide what colour to do the body, i want it mostly blue and was thinking of a really cheesy American flag theme. Proper 1980's but it might be a bit OTT.

I quite like the Super ClodBuster body but it's not really original.

PS what are those round light lenses from? they're not from the grille but they're too small for the lights on th roll bar. Any ideas?

[TWINSET]

PS what are those round light lenses from? they're not from the grille but they're too small for the lights on th roll bar. Any ideas?

Aren't they off the 58064 Celica ?
It's something totally unconnected like that, or I could be mad.


Edit - not mad;

From 58065 Clod Manual


Celica Manual

[Kevin_Mc]

you're a total genius! i hadn't noticed that is i haven't been paying any attention to the body in the manual yet. They came in a bag of spares with the Clod when i bought it from feePay but i couldn't place them.

Cheers!

[MadInventor]

you're a total genius! i hadn't noticed that is i haven't been paying any attention to the body in the manual yet. They came in a bag of spares with the Clod when i bought it from feePay but i couldn't place them.

Cheers!

They also fit in the front bumper of the bullhead, in case you decided you want lights in the front bumper as well.

[Kevin_Mc]

Before work today I stripped all the chrome parts. The front grille quickly shed all the chrome as did the roll bar and spot lights. The rest will take more of a soaking and scrubbing but I'll get there eventually and rechrome them.

I haven't attempted to strip the body of paint yet, I'm too scared to try Nitromors as it'll probably eat the plastic but I don't want to sand it and remove the Chevrolet badge. I'll see about using brake fluid but that's a bit too pricey and I have no spare bottles kicking about.

More pics tonight.

[Kevin_Mc]

chrome stripped from the grille, roll bar, light pods, brackets but not the bumpers The chrome literally fell away from the grille which was scary lol

I'll need to gently rub the bumpers down before they get re-chromed.

[MadInventor]

Before work today I stripped all the chrome parts. The front grille quickly shed all the chrome as did the roll bar and spot lights. The rest will take more of a soaking and scrubbing but I'll get there eventually and rechrome them.

I haven't attempted to strip the body of paint yet, I'm too scared to try Nitromors as it'll probably eat the plastic but I don't want to sand it and remove the Chevrolet badge. I'll see about using brake fluid but that's a bit too pricey and I have no spare bottles kicking about.

More pics tonight.

Nitromors will definetly eat the plastic, don't use it anything other than metal ! . Brake fluid is the best option. If you don't want to buy new, is there an independent garage you could cadge some old from that's been drained out of someones car ? I'm sure they would happy for you to take it off their hands so they don't need to dispose of it.

[Leethal Driver]

DON'T USE NITROMORS! I tried it on an old MB shell (more out of curiousity to see what happened) and it will eat the plastic and leave a damaged surface.

Brake fluid or DeSolvIt are the way to go. Maybe try oven cleaner (Mr Muscle) - just needs a bit of elbow grease though to remove the paint with one of those soft scouring pads you wash up with.

Seeing this reminds me I need to start my SuperClod rebuild, might throw in a pic over the weekend for comparison .

[Kevin_Mc]

I thought Nitromors would be lethal, I've only used it on a set of alloy wheels and it ate through my glove! I didn't want to be the one to confirm it will eat an abs shell, I'm glad you got there first LD!

I've tired oven cleaner and it didn't do a thing, I've managed to find about 2 litres of brake fluid from a mate's garage so I'll pick that up tomorrow and leave it soaking. Any idea roughly how long for?

Pics of the SuperClod would be cool

[berman]

That grille looked quite good from your pics! I would just get the grill replated, and buy the super clod parts for the bumpers and roll bar as it should be significantly cheaper.

That chassis looks mint by the way, nice basis to start from!

[MadInventor]

I thought Nitromors would be lethal, I've only used it on a set of alloy wheels and it ate through my glove! I didn't want to be the one to confirm it will eat an abs shell, I'm glad you got there first LD!

I've tired oven cleaner and it didn't do a thing, I've managed to find about 2 litres of brake fluid from a mate's garage so I'll pick that up tomorrow and leave it soaking. Any idea roughly how long for?

Pics of the SuperClod would be cool

Soaking time in brake fluid depends on the type of paint and the number of coats. When I did some paint stripping on an old king tiger, I left the bits in one pot of BF for 24hours, then took them out, cleaned them up with soapy water and a toothbrush. This removed 95% of the paint. They then went back into some cleaner BF for another 24hours to remove the final flecks of paint from the detail mouldings. However, other bits I've dunked have come clean in 3-4 hours, it's just pot luck on the type of paint.