Behold!! - The Munchkin

Finally my Lunch-Kin project comes to fruition.


It all started when I acquired the VLB chassis kit less wheels & body from Ebay for less than £30, it was just too good a deal to pass up.

I already knew from looking at others' LB's I wanted to fit CVA's, front chassis brace & a few other hopups. The parts bin was raided for 3 of the 5 shocks & a new built pair robbed from the Junkyard dog.


With the suspension sorted I needed to address the front tub flexibility, a cross brace was made from some M3 stud, a couple of 5mm adjusters & 2 ball tubes from a TT01 kit.

I wanted something different for the front bumper, so a few minutes with the drill & I had an adaptor plate made from a scrap of left over carbon fibre. The bumper itself is a CRP Brat one, trimmed strategically to mount flat.

I modified the steering servo position to centralise the servo saver & balance up the steering slightly, (OK so the LB is hardly the most precise in that dept, it was just a design exercise really). New steering rods are 55mm each. I drilled a couple of additional holes in the chassis & trimmed the servo mount block slightly to get it all to line up, then solvent welded a small patch over the gaping hole left behind.
The front swingarms are strapped together with a tyrap to stop the flapping about.


The gearbox was assembled with an additional shim washer between the diff & the left hand gearcase bearing to take up some of the end float on the rear axle. That should also ensure the diff lives longer as it should have better engagement.
The wheels & tyres are Wild Willy 2 parts, I wanted chrome rims & really like the WW2 design. This meant a slight change at the back, out went the plastic drive hubs & in came a set of cloned Frog adaptors, I make them myself, because I'm not paying a tenner for something like that when I can easily spin a pair up on my lathe.


With CVA's fitted all round, plus a 3rd rear shock, the handling is much improved, but the wheelie potential is significantly reduced. After all, half the reason for having a VLB is the hilarity of watching it scoot around like a collie with worms, dragging it's butt on the ground. :D
A silver can was never gonna cut it, tried a Sport Tuned, it was quick, but still no aviating the front. Poking around on Ebay again, I came across a used Peak Dynasty, 19T spec motor. After a stripdown & clean up, the brushes have quite a bit of life & the comm just needed a clean & in it went........
Et Viola !!
I have my wheelies back again, there's enough torque to lift the front up to about 1/4 throttle, after that it's just moving too fast.


The rest of the electronics compliment is all pretty standard stuff:
Hitec 27Mhz RX
Mtroniks RV11 ESC
Acoms AS16 Servo.


After a nasty experience recently with a brand new Tamiya style battery connector, everything has been changed to Anderson Power Poles, vastly superior performance for basically the same price.


The bodyshell is the infamous Scalextric Mini Clubman (this was my intention for it all along), it's mounted using modified TT01 posts, stock rears & drift fronts threaded onto the cross brace then cut to size.
The shell is 1/12th scale, designed for Mardave V12 chassis' & the VLB tub is too long. The front is well below the body line anyway, & cutting it would have seriously weakened the front. The rear is much easier to deal with, a cut & shut plus some solvent weld on the tray at the back took 20mm off the length allowing the tail of the shell to drop neatly over. As this is beyond the shock mounts it doesn't really contribute to the strength of the chassis & is unlikely to cause any real trouble.


There are still a few little things remaining before I can declare it totally complete;

Braces for the rear shock mounts just to add a little more strength to that area

I really ought to tape the RX down :p

Glue the tyres to the rims (I'll use PVA just like my Monster Beetle)

Sort out some kind of antenna

A few decals for the shell & possibly a number plate.

Many of the ideas here are blatantly stolen from other members, Mymonsterbeetleisbroken & Skip665 to name but two & thanks should go to them for their input.


So there you have it, The Munchkin.

Why The Munchkin ? I'm sure you'll work it out ;)

Hope you like it, feel free to comment.