Rebirth of an abused R/C
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:44 pm
A few years back I found this Traxxas Spirit at a pawn shop for a hundred bucks with the transmitter, three batteries and a twin peak charger.
I had a bit of fun with it driving it up and down the street. Eventually I realized the motor was too hot for the ESC. So I began the process of discovering how to improve this slightly okay vehicle. I remembered this chassis from when I was a kid and first getting into R/C. Traxxas released it as "The Cat" buggy, a knock off (some would argue upgrade?) of a Nikko design. So, I knew the chassis could handle some light off-road duty. I thought it would be fun to make it a bit more versatile, intead of just a pavement runner.
Somebody already replaced the MSC and the Stinger motor. It had a Duratrax Autosport forward/reverse ESC and a Trinity 16T motor in it. (Sorry I don't have any pictures of the chassis before I began work.)
First step was to reinforce the chassis since it likes to break near the battery recess. I made a lower chassis plate out of scrap Zip Zaps packaging and mounted it with some extra xmods screws I had laying around.
Next was to reinforce the rear shock mounts, again with Zip Zaps packaging and xmods screws. Also, I reinforced the shock mounts on the transmission/swing arm with nylon zip ties and CA glued them in place.
I replaced the crappy original front shocks with 4Tec front shocks. I had to reuse the lower clip to attach the shock piston to the control arm. I also replaced the crappy rear shocks with Rustler front shocks. It was a little bit of a tight fit, but there is plenty of travel. (I don't know if you can see all that in the pictures.)
Inside the chassis, I found that more reinforcement was needed. More Zip Zaps packaging, more xmods screws and more CA glue was used to reinforce areas demanding more strength.
AM Receiver and XL5 ESC were salvaged from my Slash during an upgrade. The XL5 replaced the Duratrax ESC since that Trinity motor kept tripping the thermal shutdown. Waterproof receiver box and waterproof Traxxas 2056 servo complete the internals. The antenna mount on the side of the receiver box was removed to make the box fit. I CA glued it to the outside of the chassis. I left the Trinity motor.
I stripped the chrome paint from the wheels using Easy-Off oven cleaner and dyed them black. Knobby tires ordered from Tower Hobbies give it enough traction to run through the grass.
I modified some other Traxxas body posts to hold a HPI Ford '56 F100 body. I used some clear paper/scrap booking glue to adhere the stickers to the inside of the body before painting. To pretty it up I slapped some metallic ruby red, and silver in it. It's not a very good paint job, but I'm not a very good painter.
It's taken me about three years, seven different chassis repairs, and lots of play testing. A careful eye on sales, discounts, and coupons kept my budget low for this project. Total cost including buying the truck is just under $250. Most expensive part was the body. She'll never be a racing truck, but will tackle my yard easy enough. Enjoy!!
Comments, critique, and heckling welcome.
I had a bit of fun with it driving it up and down the street. Eventually I realized the motor was too hot for the ESC. So I began the process of discovering how to improve this slightly okay vehicle. I remembered this chassis from when I was a kid and first getting into R/C. Traxxas released it as "The Cat" buggy, a knock off (some would argue upgrade?) of a Nikko design. So, I knew the chassis could handle some light off-road duty. I thought it would be fun to make it a bit more versatile, intead of just a pavement runner.
Somebody already replaced the MSC and the Stinger motor. It had a Duratrax Autosport forward/reverse ESC and a Trinity 16T motor in it. (Sorry I don't have any pictures of the chassis before I began work.)
First step was to reinforce the chassis since it likes to break near the battery recess. I made a lower chassis plate out of scrap Zip Zaps packaging and mounted it with some extra xmods screws I had laying around.
Next was to reinforce the rear shock mounts, again with Zip Zaps packaging and xmods screws. Also, I reinforced the shock mounts on the transmission/swing arm with nylon zip ties and CA glued them in place.
I replaced the crappy original front shocks with 4Tec front shocks. I had to reuse the lower clip to attach the shock piston to the control arm. I also replaced the crappy rear shocks with Rustler front shocks. It was a little bit of a tight fit, but there is plenty of travel. (I don't know if you can see all that in the pictures.)
Inside the chassis, I found that more reinforcement was needed. More Zip Zaps packaging, more xmods screws and more CA glue was used to reinforce areas demanding more strength.
AM Receiver and XL5 ESC were salvaged from my Slash during an upgrade. The XL5 replaced the Duratrax ESC since that Trinity motor kept tripping the thermal shutdown. Waterproof receiver box and waterproof Traxxas 2056 servo complete the internals. The antenna mount on the side of the receiver box was removed to make the box fit. I CA glued it to the outside of the chassis. I left the Trinity motor.
I stripped the chrome paint from the wheels using Easy-Off oven cleaner and dyed them black. Knobby tires ordered from Tower Hobbies give it enough traction to run through the grass.
I modified some other Traxxas body posts to hold a HPI Ford '56 F100 body. I used some clear paper/scrap booking glue to adhere the stickers to the inside of the body before painting. To pretty it up I slapped some metallic ruby red, and silver in it. It's not a very good paint job, but I'm not a very good painter.
It's taken me about three years, seven different chassis repairs, and lots of play testing. A careful eye on sales, discounts, and coupons kept my budget low for this project. Total cost including buying the truck is just under $250. Most expensive part was the body. She'll never be a racing truck, but will tackle my yard easy enough. Enjoy!!
Comments, critique, and heckling welcome.
Personally I would have never thought of making a hot version of the Sanford and Son truck, but that's just me. 
Really though, it looks great.
