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Moment with Mike: Project XXX - Part 3 "The Build"

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Mike Garrison

0 Dec. 27, 2012, 10:05 a.m.

12/28/2012

By Mike Garrison

LiveRC.com

Some kids wake up on Christmas morning ready to rip open presents, play XBOX, and eat candy from their stockings. I, on the other hand, woke up Christmas morning with one thing in mind...Project XXX.

The UPS man (my Santa Claus) delivered two full boxes of parts to my front door on Christmas Eve. In the spirit of the holidays I decided to wait until Christmas morning to dig in. As I opened the box I was greeted with Losi XXX-4 parts galore! Chassis, shock towers, a-arms, tie rods, shocks, belts, gears, and more.

I started off trying to salvage whatever possible on the original Project XXX buggy, but quickly decided a far less frustrating approach would be to build off of a NEW chassis with NEW parts, using only the old parts where absolutely necessary.

(Left - Spare parts box is fully stocked, that is until I started replacing old parts. Right - I only used the new parts that were absolutely necessary to use...the number of empty bags filled an entire trash can)

After invading all of my new parts and accessories I only had to replace the following few items. Below is a list of those parts, and my reasoning for doing so:

Chassis - The super-glued front end of the original chassis I'm sure offered premium flex, but I prefer a stiffer car.
Front Shock Tower - While many prefer to mount their shocks on the inside hole, I didn't want to be forced to do so, seeing how the outer two holes were broke off.
Rear Shock Tower - Doubling up a shock tower is a well-known trick, tripling or maybe quadrupaling a tower with JB Weld is a little overkill.
Front A-Arms - The precision sun baked arms shattered while taking off the front shocks.
Rear A-Arms - Runaway CVD pins had custom milled and lightened the end of each rear arm.
Rear CVD's - A CVD is not actually supposed to look like the letter "C"
Rear Hubs - TLR makes shiny ones, I like shiny objects.
Belt - The belt I was wearing wouldn't go around me anymore.
Spur Gear - A pro racer trick originally on this car was a "step spur" in which the teeth are worn in a wavy pattern from side to side and front to back.
Slipper Assembly - Was required to replace with a new chassis, since the original one was welded to the old chassis.
Tierods - The bent Mini-T tierods probably would have worked, however, I wanted to bring the buggy back to original as possible.
Shock Bodies - Instead of using limiters to limit the travel, just use dented shock bodies.
Shock Shafts - While shock shafts with slotted grooves up and down provide an excellent shock oil squirt gun, it doesn't do much for suspension.
Wing Mounts - Maybe the pro racer trick was to run without a wing, but I'm not good with change, so I put wing mounts back on.
Front Differential - When building your XXX4 the manual says to use diff grease, not tire glue.
Rear Differential - 5 of the 8 diff balls were still in mint condition, but it was the missing 3 I was worried about.
All Ballstuds, Screws, & Nuts - If "Gorilla Glue" is really as strong as they say it is, the pro racer used bottles and bottles of it.
Battery Strap - Sharpie flames are cool on your 9th grade English notebook, not so much on your battery strap.
Gear Cover - Similar to the wing, optional.
Front LCD's - THANKS to all of the Facebook help and the guys at Stormer Hobbies and AMainHobbies, I was able to replace broken front LCD's and return the XXX4 to a 4wd vehicle.

(With the help of TLR & Losi the Project XXX is looking fresh, but the original mud-stained and rusted parts have tainted my work area with an odor similar to that found in the house of an elderly woman with a overpopulated collection of indoor cats)

(For added durability I equipped the Xtreme Racing heavy duty towers front and rear)

(Left - Fresh gears, belt, and gear cover look good and also return the car to an actual rolling chassis. Right - I'm not even sure this bronze motor mount will work properly, but it sure does look good)

(Left - Shiny hubs, I love shiny hubs. Right - A fresh new chassis with RCScrewz stainless steel screw kit adds serious bling.)

Despite what you may think, I did NOT replace all of the parts on this buggy. Here is a list of the parts I did not replace and the reasons why:

Front Bumper - Losi no longer offers the front bumper, therefore my MEGA bumper will have to do.
Body Clips - As I mentioned in Part 2 of this project, the body clips I found in the chassis tunnel are in mint condition and in no way need repair or replacing.

(Attention all Mod 4wd participants, I may not be as fast as you...but I can guarantee you that I can mega plow through traffic better than anyone on the track, so WATCH OUT)

(I saved the old chassis and belt simply because I'm going to send it as a late Christmas present to an ex-girlfriend, she can hang it from her car mirror and be the one blessed with the aroma of rotting R/C car and mud)

All-in-all I am anxious to finally hit the track with the Project XXX buggy. Assuming the remaining parts arrive in time (fingers crossed), the Project XXX buggy is almost set for the final chapter, "Part 4 - Raceday" next weekend at the HobbyPLEX for the sold out 2013 Novak Offroad Race!

Stay tuned for Project XXX - Part 4 as well as daily race updates, live scoring, audio, and track cam from the Novak Offroad Race right here on LiveRC next weekend (January 5-6, 2013)!