aeiou’s ReRe Trailing Arm Buggy Build

[aeiou]

I’ve been wanting to build an RC10 trailing arm conversion runner for years as I’ve never actually driven one. I came close once with an A&L build, but when it was done, I just couldn’t bring myself to run an actual vintage chassis. When I saw that GoMachV was making fiberglass chassis plates and rear towers that accept Andy’s trailing arm kits, I knew it was time.

My goal for this build is to have a buggy that my son and I can take to the track to mess around with and “experience” what a trailing arm car is like to drive. I’m going to use mostly ReRe parts together with the Andy’s TA kit and a couple of other relatively easy to source vintage parts. That’s why I’m adding this build to the Re-Release forum since it’s more of a ReRe with some vintage parts (versus a vintage build some with ReRe parts - something I just can’t and won’t do with any of my vintage builds, BTW). Even with this build, I still feel like the vintage police are going to break in at any moment and slap the cuffs on me. Nonetheless, I’m doin’ it anyway.

Here’s the pile of parts I started with:

I did a quick mockup using Andy's front end parts, but I'll be swapping those out for AE ReRe parts... maybe. Shocks are leftovers from my Worlds ReRe build. I started with the Team Car/Champ style front tower, but GoMachV made me a couple of different front shock towers so I could try several setups.

Since it’s an Andy’s ReRe of sorts, what better lid than an actual Andy’s reproduction Renegade, right?

I’m a big fan of Andy’s stuff, but I’ve never really liked the design of the Renegade body. But hey, it’s a true reproduction painted by Andy himself, and it fits the theme, so the choice was a slam dunk.
This one was actually hand-signed. The other bodies I've purchased from him on eBay have had a sticker in place of an actual signature. Cool.

Edit: I tend to use the terms reproduction and re-release for anything that's not original vintage.

[aeiou]

Mounted up the nose braces. I think they came out pretty good for just eyeballing it with a hand drill. I used my better eye. I still need to countersink the chassis mounting screws. I'm just using button heads for now.

As for the A&L steering kit I'm using - it's a used vintage one that I grabbed from mikea96's eBay store for a good price. Keeping with the theme, however, you can get new ones from Daryl Lane's http://vintageteamaandl.com. I really like how the FG link on this kit goes with the other chassis pieces.

[aeiou]

I did a quick mockup of the main parts of the chassis. I used an Andy's rear bulkhead for now until I modify the ReRe piece. I think I'm digging it.

[DaveM]

Very nice!

I like everything,

the Andys body looks sweet.

[GoMachV]

Looking great Paul!

[scr8p]

This should be a cool build.

[aeiou]

Thanks, guys. I'm pretty stoked about this build. I made a bit more progress this morning.

You know, I've built a couple of Andy's buggies with the trailing arm rear suspension, but this is the first time I've ever tried to mount up a set of 1.7" rears. I was a bit surprised at just how little clearance there was with these wheels. Actually, it was scraping a tad.

After a little redneck engineering...

I think it's good to go now. Close enough, anyway.

I ended up using 4 shims on the outside and none on the inside.

I'll also need to use some long set screws to hold the shocks. Even with the button heads, there's not much room for the tires.

Now a break to watch some of the Peach bowl.

[GoMachV]

Ahh, I was using the button heads and they were REALLY close....never thought about setscrews. Great idea

[Bottom Feeder]

Looks fantastic, but man, you need to get rid of anything white and dye it all black!

[orangemazda]

Cool build!

[joey_zrl]

Definitely following this totally awesome build! Trailing arm buggies have always caught my eye.

[aeiou]

Thanks, guys. I won't be dyeing any parts on this one. The 2-tone black and white doesn't bother me as much as it once did. Dare I say I've even grown to like it...

[aeiou]

I've decided on the parts for the initial build so I'm moving forward. I'm going with the Andy's front arms as they are super easy to find, plus, I don't know what I did with the set of World's arms I was going to use.

For the front end, I needed to do a little Dremel work on the ReRe parts to get things moving freely.

Just a couple of before and after shots.

Even though it's not required for the Andy's T/A kit as it is for others like A&L, etc., I tweaked the ReRe rear bulkhead to follow the lines of GoMachV's cool custom chassis design.

Here's where I am this afternoon. I decided to start with the extended version of the older style front shock tower.

The spring collars are just there for looks. I wanted to mimic the look of the vintage Team shocks - trick the eye, so to speak.

[DaveM]

Sweet,

Nice touch with the bulkhead.

[aeiou]

Thanks.

I had a little time tonight, so I got a good bit of final assembly done.

I wanted to use the white shock bushings to match the collars and cups, but they are too snug in the molded caps and caused binding. I had the red aluminum big bore mounts leftover from a previous project. They provided the perfect spacing and allowed the shocks to pivot enough to eliminate the binding. Plus, I think the red bits should look good with the body once it's mounted.

I still need to order some 3/4" 4-40 set screws to mount the rear shocks to the trailing arms. The 1/2" ones I used are too short.