Cleaning up an old friend - Traxas Bullet TRX-10

[lifeIsAnalog]

I decided to clean up the Bullet. I tore it down entirely and cleaned every surface, corner, inside, and outside. I also peroxided the whites. It is in great shape for such an old buggy. I was reminded of how clunky the steering mechanism is, mainly because of the servo saver having so much slop. Otherwise, I have always liked the Bullet since racing my first one as a kid (and winning quite a few races).

BEFORE:

[lifeIsAnalog]

I think this is the second revision of mechanical speed controller used on the bullet. It differs from the MSC shown in the manual:



A little bit of dirt. Notice the two nuts at the bottom of each steering mounting post. Only a single flange nut is mentioned in the exact paper manual for this car. It caused me some confusion during reassembly

[lifeIsAnalog]

Some teardown and cleaning:







Evidence of a crash:



I really like the vintage aluminum pans:





Here are the white plastics ready for some hydrogen peroxide and sunshine. It's interesting to note that both the Box art and instruction manual show BLACK parts, yet I have never seen a Bullet with factory black plastics.

[GoMachV]

I don't think I have ever seen a straight front tower I bought a new set and it was even bent, but that was due to the shipper lol

[markbt73]

Aluminum seems to generally be a dumb choice of material for shock towers. I had to straighten the rear towers on all three of my Optimas.

I like how it seems to be a mishmash of other companies' designs. They copied Kyosho's gearbox layout, Associated's shocks, suspension layout, and color scheme, and Tamiya's mechanical speed control. But the sum total is way cooler than anything they make nowadays... hey Traxxas, I dare you to re-release this one. In kit form.

[knixdad]

There's a couple Traxxas Re-Re's I'd like to see, this being one of them.

[lifeIsAnalog]

Same here. I would give serious consideration to buying a Bullet re-release.

The rest of the pics are, well, just that. I didn't run into any problems except for certain steps in the instructions that didn't match the accompanying illustrations. Thankfully I had my own pre-teardown photos as a reference.

It really is an awesome-looking buggy.

REBUILD:

[GoMachV]

She cleaned up real nice! Those steering bellcrank posts should still be around, ill keep an eye out

[lifeIsAnalog]

Almost done:






Effectively done. I just need to get a few things:
- new body (will reuse my current rollcage after stripping the paint)
- two screws that were stolen by the sock gremlin

[knixdad]

Looks really awesome.

Also, does anyone else see the resemblance between the Bullet Chassis and the Losi 22 Chassis?

[lifeIsAnalog]

Looks really awesome

Thanks a lot!

Also, does anyone else see the resemblance between the Bullet Chassis and the Losi 22 Chassis?

I had to look up pictures of the 22. I could see how they might seem similar. Looks like it might be more rigid.

[lifeIsAnalog]

Here is the Parts Sheet for this exact Bullet model, for reference:

[Coelacanth]

Very nice restoration job. Looks great all cleaned up.

What's going on with that steering bellcrank setup? Looks like a lot of over-complexification in the design, especially the parts coming off the servo and that weird multi-holed part. I've never owned a Traxxas TRX-10 nor any other Traxxas, but that setup looks over-engineered.

[GoMachV]

It was their way of building one piece that was future proof. You can set the crank up on the left or the right side, and at any angle

[Bormac]

What a sweet rebuild, I commend you on taking on this project. I always liked the look of the TRX10 Bullet. I watch with interest.
Cheers-Jason