Hot Rod Hearse - TL01 Build

[Mad Ax]

Here's a build that's been hanging around for years and years, and not really changed much despite having loads of plans for it.  Most of this was detailed in a showroom post back in 2014 but here's a recap before we get on to the latest updates:

A HPI Graverobber body was bought and given a light dusting of silver metalflake and flourescent green, before having some teardrops and a skull motif masked off and painted all in black.  The skull and teardrops were then finished off in silver and green.

This is a photo from way back in 2012 when the body was first finished, before any decals went on, back in my old flat.

It was put over a TL01 chassis wearing M04 rear arms, to narrow the rear track and tuck the wheels under the body.  I made an interior from styrene sheet covered with cheap imitation velvet, and the ghoul figures are actually the skeletal remains of those clip-on koala toy things that people bring back from Australia, with their skin removed, and sprayed in white with a mere dusting of flourescent green.  Ghoulish hair came from my wife's Supplies Of Random Stuff.  Coffin made from plasticard - I used the hood scoop as a template for the dimensions, and a decal from the Graverobber decal sheet for the handles.  Then I completely failed to take any photos of it whatsoever.

In 2014, after moving house, the hearse got unboxed and cleaned up, and photographed.  The triangle box you see up-front is my way of trying to hide the empty space at the back of the huge arches.

The body just pushes over the interior, no need for body pins

[Mad Ax]

In 2018, after spending 4 years on the shelf, the dusty old hearse came down for a revival in time for Halloween.

On the big night, the hearse was given a fresh battery and an old speedo and put to work delivering chocolate from the foot of the stairs to the front door.

It got the same use in 2019, although it was a fairly quiet Halloween with few visitors, and it got a year off in 2020 due to Halloween being cancelled.

With 2021 looking to be a good year for Halloween, with lots of decorations going up all around the neighbourhood, I decided it was time the Hearse got another refresh and some new features to make food delivery much easier.

[Mad Ax]

First of all, the hearse got a new FlySky receiver, an old TEU-101BK ESC, and a fully-charged battery, ready for a test-run.  I went with the 101 because I have a dozen of them lying around, and this one already had a Deans plug installed.  It was only after I'd fitted it in place that I discovered the battery wires had frayed and the connector had to be de-soldered and refitted.  Oh, well...

Then the interior went back on for a test-run

And then the body.  So far, so good.

[Mad Ax]

Then it was time to turn my attention to the chocolate cargo pod.  The roof wasn't really working too well - it spoils the fun of answering trick or treat calls when the chocolate falls off half-way to the door.  One option was a crawler roof rack, but a) that means drilling the shell and 2) that means spending money.  Why spend money when I can raid my wife's Supplies Of Random Stuff for some oversized lolly sticks.

[Mad Ax]

It was pretty cold in the workshop this weekend, and the glue was totally not playing ball, so I left the finished product under the halogen lamps for a couple of hours while I turned my attention to the body.  There was still a lot of dust under the hood scoop, so I took it off to give it a clean-up.  While I was under there I had a little idea.

My first plan was to use some Carson Paint Killer on a Contraband Cotton Swab (Greta would not approve) to wipe the paint off the eyes, and see if they would light up red with some LEDs behind them, but a test-run with an LED torch proved the paint was already a little bit thin on the skull.

With a concept in mind, I set out to mock up a proof.  These bread boards are really useful for live testing stuff.

Spooky, huh?

[Mad Ax]

OK - concept proved, I soldered up a red LED and stuck it in place with hot glue.  The brilliant thing here is all the hood scoop assembly makes it easy to hide the wires.

the final result is...  Well, you decide.

[Mad Ax]

Finally, here we are - all ready to go!

[Mad Ax]

After a slow start, Halloween was a roaring success.  It had been raining hard all morning but it dried out in time for the evening's festivities.  The skies were clear but the wind was still strong.  My wife and daughter had carved some real pumpkins that morning, and before they went out collecting chocolate they set them out the front with candles inside.  When I went out ten minutes later the wind had blown them over and put the candles out.  You can't see my house from the street, and we're not on the main part of the estate where the kids go, so if there's no lanterns out front, nobody knows to come knock.

So I had a mad panic to find some heavier candles and set them burning again.  Then it began - the biggest rush of trick-or-treaters I've ever seen.  I got rid of a huge load of chocolate (which is just as well since I'm supposed to be on a diet) and the car was faultless all night.  Well, I say faultless, I'd forgotten that TEU-101 ESCs make that annoying bleed sound when the transmitter is turned off, so I kept the Tx switched on all night (there isn't really time to go rooting around under the car to switch it on every time the doorbell rings, so it just sits there turned on all night).  Well, I'd used my FlySky Tx, which also makes an annoying bleep sound if I don't touch it for like a whole 10 seconds, so I spent most of the night trying to write TC updates at the dining room table so I could hear the door, touching the Tx every time it bleeped to make it shut the heck up.

This went on until after my wife and child got back from coercing unsuspecting members of the public to hand over their confectionary in pain of egg-and-TP over their front door (like a sort of My First Protection Racket game), when I decided to demonstrate to my wife just how foolish I'd been in choosing the 101-FlySky combo, by turning off the FlySky transmitter.  And discovering that the failsafe in the Rx actually sends a neutral signal to the ESC, thereby preventing the annoying bleep sound.  GAH!!

[Mad Ax]

Anyhoo - I was pleased with how it all went, and now the car is unboxed and cleaned up, I might finally get around to some of the cosmetic and functional changes I've been planning for all these years.  First, I figured those huge arches could be filled by a set of open headers poking out - some 12mm dia plastic tube sprayed in chrome should do the trick - and the wheelbase is too short, so the chassis will probably get cut-and-shut into a TL-01XL.  These are the kind of fun little jobs that can fill a rainy Sunday without costing much cash, which is good as I've had a few big-budget builds on recently and could do with reigning in the spends a little bit.

Roll on Halloween 2022

[87lc2]

Very cool!  That body is awesome, haven't seen one of those in years.  Some big headers poking out of those wheelwells would fill the space quite nicely.  

[Nikko85]

Cool car! I like the Pumpkin.

 

[Badcrumble]

Very cool @Mad Ax and very spooky. How much do you need to extend the wheelbase by? My own Unfinished Projects Pile of Shame contains an extended TL-01 (two chassis cut and combined). Pretty sure I have the remaining unwanted chassis parts I could send your way if they would help.

[Mad Ax]

@Badcrumble I haven't started looking at the extension in any detail yet, and it will probably extend by a fair bit.  Thanks for the offer of the extension parts but I think I might not need them, I haven't given it much thought but I was wondering if I could chop the chassis right down and make it into a single deck with some FR4 sheet for a chassis plate.  Should give me room to make a nicer interior.  But I'll bear you in mind when I come to start the job, and if I need any extra TL box bits to extend, I'll let you know    thanks!