JennyMo

I managed to unpack some of my RC spares and tools that arrived from the UK this week, including of course some ice for Ozzy's fridge! It's thirsty work this trail driving... (on private land of course!) Jx

Nice! - similar to the MC Moho by the look of it? [Bob] Haro really is a name from the past - a total BMX bandit! - in fact I bought a Skyway because of his influence! Jx

The sun came out today, so I thought I'd have a go at rigging up my GoPro Session to the roll-cage: (note. this one is a still not a video ;o) I think Ozzy and I are going to have a lot of fun with this in future! Jx

Hooked-up my GoPro Session to Ozzy's roll-cage... (note. this one is a still not a video ;o) Oh the fun we're going to have with this now! Jx

Ha ha - don't you start giving me crazy ideas too! ;o) Jx

Aha - why have I only just found this thread?! It's great to see so many older bikes, and subsequently being upgraded with a few new parts - much like our 80's and 90's Tamiyas too I guess? So, here's mine: It's a 2001 model Mountain Cycle San Andreas DHS - I built it up using all brand-new parts at the time, after originally just buying this set of disc wheels for my GT LTS (yes, I still have that too) - only to find the options for a rear disc mount/conversion were limited at the time - so I thought OK, I'll buy a new frame to go with them (and had always fancied a San Andreas anyway) and then realised I'd also need a new fork (with a longer steerer, and ideally more travel too to match the 6" rear of the DHS), and it really went from there really... much the same with buying a few parts for an existing RC car and ending up with a whole new model too I guess! If anyone is interested in the spec, it's as follows: 2001 Mountain Cycle San Andreas DHS (6" travel version) with Fox Vanilla coil shock. Rockshox Psylo fork (5" travel - coil spring) Middleburn RS7 cranks/spider/triple chainring - 24/34/44 full Shimano XT transmission (BB/shifters/derailleurs/chain/11-32 cassette) WTB speed-disc rims on Hope hubs Hope Mini hydraulic discs f&r (160mm rotors) DMR V8 pedals X-Lite PSS1 Ti/kevlar saddle Easton EA50 seat-post (I have two, a regular 400mm and a shorty cut-down version to get the seat really low) Kore B52 stem (40mm) Azonic (O'Neal) 2" riser bars Cane Creek headset Lizard Skins grips and X-Lite bar-end plugs Up until recently it was still sporting some 17 year old WTB Velociraptor tyres, but I've now replaced those with some Continental Vapor 2.1s (the widest I could go on the narrow 17mm rims you see). So as you can see, what started out as a modest price wheel upgrade to my existing bike, ended up being a blow-the-budget build using what was essentially a role-call of the leading MTB component manufacturers of the time - and as such, I'm loathe to change anything about it really as it is effectively my time-capsule mountain-bike of the period*. *for info. Currently my other bike - a 1997 model GT LTS 3 - is still in transit from the UK, and I'm not so precious about keeping that original as it's already had a number of changes and upgrades over the years (including Judy XL forks and the main frame triangle being powder-coated black) - in fact I've just ordered a 1x10 transmission (including some tasty RaceFace cranks) to replace the old LX/SLX 24 speed triple set-up, so I'll add that one to this thread too once it's built up! Right, you've inspired me to go out for pedal this afternoon! Jenny x

See what you made me do @Grastens !!! Jx

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Hi Bus' - I don't have my micrometer to hand (it's still in transit from the UK), but eyeballing it with a metal rule it's more than 4mm but not quite 5mm diameter - so I'd say 4.5mm, which would equate to 45mm in 1:1 scale, so pretty much on par with a real roll cage then. Hope that helps... Jenny x

Looking good! Screen Print Digital (on ebay) do a series of Dakar specific decal sheets - if you ask them nicely (like I did for the STUMPkamper) you can get them to change the numbers to the Truck Category (5xx) and also scale them slightly smaller (eg. 1/14th) to fit the panels on the truck more accurately. As for a colour, anything goes really - depending on the sponsors... Red Bull is a bit obvious really, although that always looks good - and the shape of the truck actually lends itself pretty well to the prancing bull and yellow circle? Being a Mercedes, then perhaps metallic silver as a base colour at least? Jx

Ha - great project - glad I was able to help a bit! As for the driver, it's a shame but I've already sold my Terminator Willy - he would have been perfect! https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=121923&id=25648 Still, it looks like you are a dab-hand with the filler and scalpel already, so why not have a go at carving one yourself?! Looking forward to seeing this one come to life! Jenny x

I agree - it needs something along the side panels - either a wide-screen graphic/airbrush style mural (I'm thinking a wild west stage-coach and horses to be suitably 70's tacky), or else some side racks with a surf-board perhaps? I also like the idea of twin moon windows - you could even make them look like MoonEyes ? Keep it up mydoddy69 - it's looking fabulous! Jenny x

Bless you Bromley... we're all just playing of course - some of just use a bit more paint and metal that's all ;o) Jenny x

A quick update now that the planetary gearbox has arrived... I've chosen to swap my Tamiya Torque Tuned motor from the Jeep (as it is actually directional, and I realised the transmission layout meant it was running in reverse when going forward in that installation), which means I now have a hearty 540 motor for this build - that ought to run in the correct direction once the 180° transmission layout is installed - result! So I bolted the motor to the gearbox, and set about trying to fit it in the rear of the car: Turns out it is a perfect fit - and even better, because I'd reduced the width between the chassis rails to 50mm, the supplied engine mounting brackets fit perfectly on the outside of the chassis-rails, and line up with the original holes in the gearbox mounting plate without needing to cut or drill anything - bingo! I also took the opportunity to rejig the upper links (in an effort to have them clear the bottom of the motor on full compression) - and ultimately also repositioned the lower links on the chassis effectively shortening the wheelbase by 12mm. The result is that there is more articulation (almost fully compressing the 100mm shocks), and the upper links actually clear the motor in that side to side orientation - and only just touch the bottom of the motor under full [equal] compression. A bit more tweaking ought to see it clear under every scenario, although this is always going to be a balance since I want the motor sitting as low as possible in the chassis ideally, and level - as my intention is to fit a scale engine cover over it - particularly as it will be visible through the rear window. photo. new longer upper links, currently only touch at the axle end on the very end of the motor housing during full compression. photo. this will look cool with a scale V8 engine cover I feel! photo. mock up with new wheelbase - now currently 270mm or thereabouts. Ultimately I'm going to have to wait until the 2:1 transfer case arrives - as the prop angle may be a bit severe - and if so, the engine will have to be canted forward unfortunately, which may look a bit odd with the manifold cover on, we'll see... The other thing I want to try before I finally cut the chassis rails and fabricate a floorpan, is to swap everything around and see if I can't get a slightly lower profile installation using the curved 'front' of the chassis as the rear instead - the only issue may be the fewer number of mounting holes at that end of the chassis may limit the perfect layout? More soon! Jenny x

Just reviving this old thread - looks like I'm having trouble again... I did the other day while editing my Mega-Bug build thread posts, and sure enough, having trouble again even with this really short post - I'm getting the same message: 'this post can no longer be edited due to being moved or too much time has passed'... even though I tried to edit it almost instantly. Hope you can help Twinset! Jenny x