SRTracer's trx1 resto-mod

[SRTracer121]

howdy yall! got me a few new toys over the holidays and i figured this is the perfect project to use as my test bed.

first new toy is my fujifilm s4500 camera which will be my new camera for everything, has exactly the features i need to shoot rc stuff, but just complicated enough that ill need most of a build thread to figure it out. yall will have to bare with me as i learn the camera. i hope to have perfect pictures by the time the build is complete.

the other new toy is, you guessed it, a parts lot traxxas trx1, bought it off a member of the traxxas forums sight-unseen.

this is my first 2.14 gearbox traxxas car and my first true traxxas race buggy since i gave up trying to piece a trx3 together 2 years ago. not sure where im going with this car, it may be an offroad buggy to play with, it may be a full blown oval car that i can use to battle it out with rc10's in our sportsman latemodel class. just gonna play it by ear, ive got everything i need to do either or. no custom chassis or flipped gearboxes this time around though, just a rear motor buggy with some basic changes to fit the style.

so rambling over, here is das car as i got it...mostly. only a hand full of screws holding it all together, a lot of it is simply sitting on the chassis. which aside from some errant holes is in decent shape. have not cracked open the gearbox yet but i know the diff needs a rebuild and the whole thing needs cleaning.

[DennisM]

This is imo the coolest Buggy Traxxas ever made - Looking forward to following this build.

[klavy69]

since i gave up trying to piece a trx3 together

what parts did you have troubles findin?

another trx1 You'll have fun and love it...

Todd

[jwscab]

shouldn't have much trouble on the rest of the parts for the build, maybe the rear arms, but otherwise, you have the hard to find stuff. good start!

[SRTracer121]

biggest thing when i was trying to piece together a trx3 was i always seemed to be a day late or a dollar short on stuff when it popped up. gave up and sold most of what i had collected on ebay (not much).

figured id run bandit rears w/ srt carriers, srt rears w/srt carriers, or bullet rears w/ bullet hubs to make up the offset, kinda like my lto_srt has.

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well ran into the first and hopefully last speedbump, right outdrive yolk center screw was stripped, tried to save the yolk but i couldnt. i think ill go to steel ones anyway.



once inside things were dirty but the gears were totally fine for a runner, ive got plenty of diff gears (just so happened to have a few) and the plastic idler can be swapped to a new aluminum or steel one with a little brain bower err i mean 2 extra bearings or bushing. top gear and diff gear were wear free though. a little bit of rust but very very minor.



tranny case was dirty inside and its got lots of debris in it but i cant figure out from where. diff adjuster hole is not really lined up right so ill drill/tap it to a larger size (m4 or 5-50 maybe?)



chassis looks good, can you figure out what 4 holes arent factory, if not, well, i cant help you there



ok so maybe i can....



there it is all torn down.



started thinking hard and putting together what id need too, aside from electronics, i need new male trx shafts, bandit rear arms, n-rusty rear arm mounts and shims, slipper setup (maybe), turnbuckles since i only have a few technacraft and mis-matched junked traxxas links, need new half shafts, and a servo saver for futaba because all i have laying around is hitec, airtronics, and a few broken futaba.

i want to dye the white parts, decided to strip the anodizing on the motor mount. need to make a front tie-bar. either swap completely for velcro or make a fiberglass battery strap (probably option A). and lastly i may need to make a front shock tower for tc3 shocks and/or b4 fronts.

oh and i need a set of front shocks, cant seem to find my last nip set of bodies and shafts in tc3 size and ive only got one set of spare b4 front bodies, that'r used.

on the camera side, im playing with light balance still and figuring out how to get super crisp close in shots, kinda there but the quality is meh. either too washed out or too dark

[klavy69]

Looks like you got a decent plan to work from anyway. One thing I'd add to your 'to do' list is drill your output shafts on your tranny so you can 'pin' your new steel outdrives. That is one of the things I wished the prodiffs had done for them already anyway. There wasn't a real need for this when the trx1 was being produced but with the newer lipo bl power you'll pry end up with in there it will be much needed. Keep the updates coming.

Todd

p.s.wish I'd known about the trx3 issues...have most of what you would've needed here and a few locals have a few sitting around too

[SRTracer121]

planned on a 17.5 blinky so im not too worried but that had come to mind.

[SRTracer121]

as much as i may whine about where i work i do have enough time off between night shifts and days off that i can get rc crap done if i get motivated.....



so err yeah, i done been rc wrenching. woke up early and gutted my 272 sprint car for some parts. stole the...

• .71 AE FT rear shocks
• factory works oval conversion shock tower
• bulkhead
• srt steering knuckles/spindles, c-blocks, slipper
• blue eagle steering bell crank.

also did some shopping last night before i hit the rack, got me a set of unobtanium shock shafts and FT tc3 shock bodies (p/n 3964 and 3990) to go with them, also looking at picking up a A&L JRX ball bearing bell crank set since lets be honest, the stock nylon set blows big time. http://vintageteamaandl.com/

rummaged a bit more in my parts boxes and found some good looking turnbuckles for F/r camber links as well as a drag link. as always, dubro captured ends and rpm ball cups on the ends.




not everything is pictured since a bunch of stuff is down in the garage soaking in water and my super secret cleaning solution (simple green concentrate and tide ).

started on some fabbing too as you can see, started on the tie bar for the front and did up the battery strap. made from a piece of rc104.1 graphite battery strap i found at the track a few weeks back.


tiebar in progress

[SRTracer121]

cleaned the parts and mocked up what i could pics in the AM' for all of that also finished the front tiebar.

got a body but i want to keep that a secret for now, here is a hint though... http://www.floridaracingmemories.com/PalmBeachSpeedway/palmbeach01/palmbeachl1.htm

that Z2 car is a bad looking mofo! would look better in my colors though.

on the way to the lhs i swung by a buddy of mine's cabinet shop, guy has tons of nifty old rc stuff and along with the body, i also got an A&L steering rack (err most of one), and a sheet of old parma 1/16th g10 that ill be using for a front shock tower.

when i got to the hobby shop i brought a RPM slash 4x4 front bumper that is just the right size for the front of the chassis so i wont need to do too much cutting, also got some nitro rusty rear a-arm mounts. they did not have any bandit rear arms or complete axle sets, and i struck out looking for a set of the original 3/32 chrome trx turnbuckles for steering links. also picked up some black oxide m4 c.s. screws some serrated trx blue nuts (i like blue nuts ) and a parma fiftyfive body for the previously mentioned guy as a late xmas gift (stopped by on the way back to give it to him)

also, got a line on a legal 17.5 system for 50 bucks so win there too

edit: i am a massive idiot and shouldnt be allowed to buy anything for myself....

had the rear a-arm blocks in my hand at the hobby shop, they were +1 degree set in black too but some how they never made it to the register because it isnt on my receipt and it aint with my stuff. gotta call them when they open and tell them what happened.

[SRTracer121]

picture time













need to fab up a drag link bar now that im using the a&l bellcranks. have it figured out, just need to cut it out.


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i had a very detailed and lengthy phone call with one of my racing buddies this morning about how i want to do the front shock geometry. i really cant decide whether to do a laydown setup like my lto srt or an upright setup more akin to touring cars. they both have gives and takes for the track we run and what i can manage as a driver. i decided im going to make 2 towers, a tower design taken from speedy's xxx oval conversion http://www.speedysracingparts.com/0ae902a0.jpg and and another designed like the McAllister rc10 lowering kit http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee156/AutoMaggerIX/_DSC3031.jpg and im going to play with both setups.

got my shock bodies in the mail today too and im a little annoyed because i was expecting the older silver ft set and instead got the dark grey/black ones. picture in the ebay ad showed the prior. however i kinda like it i guess, just dont like that the rears dont match.

[SRTracer121]

EDIT: sorry about the size, stupid photobucket wont let me resize anymore. i hate the new version *pissed off face*

a little progress!

got the steering rack done but im not sure i like it yet. feel like the drag bar is too low or too high depending on the ways i mount it, thinking ill have crazy bump steer either way but mounted under the bellcranks, the rod ends catch and screws drag on the chassis. however mounting under the bump steer will be of the sorta good variety meaning as the arms travel up through the turn itll draw the inside tire into a tighter turn but kinda push the outside out a little, giving me a ton more toe out basically.



shock bodies came in as i mentioned. not keen on the color but they ought to be smooth as butdah'

compared to the ones ill be using in the back...


good on springs too :p


also when i came home last night i stripped the anodizing off the motor mount and brushed it up real purdy like.



for refrence here is an srt motor guard, blue eagle motor guard, and a sledge rear skid with good anodizing.



also did up the front body posts, some old stock associated posts for the rc10gt.

[SRTracer121]

its been a few days since i updated this so lets do a cram session here and get caught up....

still no shock shafts, the guy used snail mail and took like 4-5 days just to ship it. he wont be getting great feedback thats for sure. cant make shock towers till i get the shocks.

i did get a different bellcrank though was looking for a motor mount heat sink i had and found these in the bottom of my ae parts bin, dont know when i got it, why i have it, and least of all who i got it from but i have it and its mine!

i had to mount the servo in a different spot though, no other way to do it cleanly. also offset it slightly so it has a smoother range of motion and its on the left side of course mocked it up with the stock tower and there is very little bump steer till you get the the extreme top of the arm travel

also got my motor and esc from the guy, motor is a speed passion "sportsman" club spec 17.5


while i was back there i rebuilt the diff and got the tranny bolted together, hopefully for the last time for the course of this build.


holy overkill gear ratio batman! most of the fast guys running this class are geared in the mid to low 5's im geared 31/81so im right there (like 5.5 something)


funny story about the gear ratio, i scoured the internet far and wide looking for a gearing chart for the 2.14 box and couldnt find it but didnt want to sit there and write one out myself, however i also forgot that i have a trx3 manual... on my wall... right behind me... with the gearing chart in the back.

also got the rear shocks rebuilt and mounted. 35wt oil with kipps red and white respectively, for whatever reason the preload collars didnt want to thread so i just slapped some of the plastic preload spacers on instead :p

so there she sits



i worked on the body last night too, yall wont believe what i did, im rather proud of it myself

[Lonestar]

. One thing I'd add to your 'to do' list is drill your output shafts on your tranny so you can 'pin' your new steel outdrives. That is one of the things I wished the prodiffs had done for them already anyway.

interestingly my trx-1's brand spanking prodiff had the holes drilled in the output shafts already... to be pinned indeed. Thought it was standard (hope the pic sizes properly, not hosted by me...)



weirdly enough the instructions don't show the holes...



Interesting TRX-1 nonetheless. What slipper setup are you using? 6 pads or 12 pads? I haven't managed to make mine work like I really wanted...

Paul

[klavy69]

interestingly my trx-1's brand spanking prodiff had the holes drilled in the output shafts already... to be pinned indeed. Thought it was standard

I thought it was also Paul til I got my first NIP proball dif assy. and it had none drilled. My next one had them drilled. you got my curiosity going So I checked 2 of my runners and have one of each. Don't know if either of these are OEM though so that won't tell me anything .
Todd

[harry697]

interestingly my trx-1's brand spanking prodiff had the holes drilled in the output shafts already... to be pinned indeed. Thought it was standard

I thought it was also Paul til I got my first NIP proball dif assy. and it had none drilled. My next one had them drilled. you got my curiosity going So I checked 2 of my runners and have one of each. Don't know if either of these are OEM though so that won't tell me anything .
Todd

I'm fairly certain at this point that the ones with holes are newer, so they will work with the newer style drive shaft pins. The older ones don't have them and were meant for the older out puts that have two grub screws and the 3mm screw in the center of the diff out drive. At least that's the conclusion I came to after buying a half dozen new and used pro-diffs.