Robb's Bolink Invader #2 & #3

[morrisey0]

Well, I finished up the O/R, so time to get into the 2nd Invader of my trifecta. This one will just be set up as a typical pan car Invader. This one is just going to be a refresh, not a show restore.

I started off with an early version green chassis, and I initially wanted to stay with that, but it is slowly being converted to a later black chassis version. Outside of plate colors, there are a few other differences over the life of the model.

This is the foundation.

Broke everything down, cleaned up everything as best as possible, and then sat down to day to start assembly. First to put together was the rear pod, and this is where the cheating starts. Right off the bat, I didn't like the main chassis plates, so new black versions were ordered from factoryworks.com I was fine with this addition of black, because to be honest, I liked the mix of green and black on my O/R, so a nice mix was fine for me. And then when I go assembling the rear, I really cheated and went with a later shaft and differential set up, with black hubs, off a later version. I went this route because TBH, it was new and sitting in front of me, and was cleaner than the original parts ended up.

Then add on the main plate. This actually takes a little bit of artistry to get everything lined up, and proper spacers are installed and such.

[morrisey0]

Then moved onto the front. Just more cleaning and reinstalling. Most of the hardware on this build is new. I stupidly thought most of the fasteners with 4-40, so didn't really order anything, and then found out is is actually mostly 5-40. I found enough screws in the stash to make it work, and had a few bags of official Bolink 5-40 nylon lined nuts. I also managed to lose a few spacers of various widths, but had an official bag of Bolink spacers on hand to handle that.


Got the front basics on.

Then shocks and such added.

I had already checked out the stash of bodies, and found a NIP Bolink Indy body, and the body actually lines up with the posts of the chassis, so that was the choice. Problem with the body is that the front arms now stick out, and TBH, they aren't all that pretty, so now there is a chance that black front arms will be installed soon.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

Cool deal! I know I'm in the minority, but I love 32 pitch gears on classic pan cars.

[coxbros1]

Cool deal! I know I'm in the minority, but I love 32 pitch gears on classic pan cars.

If your in the minority, there's some people with serious issues out there

[morrisey0]

Well, I felt guilty about being lazy on the rear driveshaft / diff set up, so I cleaned up the original set and got it installed. There isn't a lot of difference between the two, but I just felt like the car should have the earlier style that it came with.

Later on top, earlier on bottom.

[morrisey0]

Then I started thinking about electronics. I picked up an old NIB AristoCraft / HiTec "Challenger" system, with two servos and a non-BEC Rx, a few weeks ago from an estate sale, and since I wanted to run a MSC on this, that system just spoke to me to be used on this car. The problem is that the Invader radio plate doesn't have all that much real estate to begin with, and then when trying to top that with an Indy body, you kill quite a bit of the vertical area also. And yea, the Bolink MSC set up is a brick.

So yea, trying to fit all this with a batt pack just wasn't going to happen, so I got lucky and found a NIP Aristocraft BEC circuit on ebay, and that is on the way. That is MUCH smaller than a batt pack. Even with that, it is tight on the radio plate, but I think it will all get there just fine, and the body will fit.

One of the things that bothers with this set up is that everything is in one spot, but the servos have 10" leads on them. I am all about spiraling the wires, but not that much. So, I did the research and found out exactly what Molex plugs and pins AristoCraft / Hitec used, and have some coming in so I can shorten up the wires quite a bit.

[morrisey0]

These wheels aren't completely period correct for this car, but I believe they are visually correct.

[morrisey0]

So, while waiting on a couple of small parts, I thought I would just dive into Invader #3. Its a M/T, or monster truck, but you would have to be told that because it doesn't look like any other monster truck from back in the day. Bolink was just trying to adapt its Invader platform to other types of vehicles so they could sell more with very little changes. They did the same thing earlier with the Digger 10 version of the Round Tracker. So, with the Invader, they created the O/R Offroad, and the M/T Monster Truck.

So, what makes the M/T look like, and ready to go out and compete with Blackfoots (Blackfeet?), Sledgehammers, Double Dares? Well, nothing really. It came with about 3.5" tires on it, so smaller than RC10T tires and all other trucks of the era. It came with the same shocks as the pan car Invader; it just mounted them more vertically. It came with a gear reduction box between the motor and rear pod because those 3.5" tires would have strained just a simple pinion and spur. At the end of the day, RC10Ts, LXTs, Hawks, Outlaws, Blitzers, etc. were technically better monster trucks than the Invader M/T was.

I am missing all of the before pics of the truck complete. This is the day that I got it. It came in a lot, but the M/T was the main truck I wanted. The seller told me that he had never run it on the ground, only did "vrooms" in the air. This seemed unlikely to me, but after inspecting it, I think that story is mostly legit. There was grime on the spur gear, and a little grass on the chassis, but no visible scratches or any damage on the undercarriage.

I started into teardown yesterday, and got all the G10 cleaned up, and ran all the aluminum and brass through the ultrasonic and then the tumbler overnight, so a lot is already ready to start building. So far, I have found one incorrect nylon spacer installed, and all the rubber spacers are shot from being overtightened and split, but so far that is all that needs to be replaced. I am planning on putting this together with 95%+ of what it came with, chassis wise. Even the fasteners look pretty good, so most of those will be reused.

[morrisey0]

Seriously, if you aren't using an ultrasonic and a tumbler, you are working too hard! I have pretty much no effort in this. On some aluminum pieces that have some staining on them, I find the best way is to clean / polish them with a wheel, and then run them through the tumbler for the finish that I like. I rarely like my aluminum polished.

After this cleaning, I did find the old oilite bushings for the gear reduction to be in pretty bad shape, so those will get replaced. The driveshaft bushings also have some scrapes, so they may get bearings in their place.

[Frankentruck]

Let's see the tumbler you're using. I'm curious now.

[LurkingCAT]

Good choice! Now you have a proper early setup - really like it with the predominant Schumacher spur.

Well, I felt guilty about being lazy on the rear driveshaft / diff set up, so I cleaned up the original set and got it installed. There isn't a lot of difference between the two, but I just felt like the car should have the earlier style that it came with.

Later on top, earlier on bottom.


INVADER 10.jpg


INVADER 11.jpg


INVADER 12.jpg

[morrisey0]

Let's see the tumbler you're using. I'm curious now.

I buy nothing but the best! Number one rule of this tumbler is to make sure you tighten down the top very well before using. If it gets loose, everything on that center shaft starts vibrating against each other, and the machine will kinda self destruct. Ask me how I know. But that was on an earlier version which didn't have a good lock down design. This one looks even more updated than mine, so hopefully they improved it further.

The media is a bit expensive, but I really do like it ............ except that it makes its way into all round orifices in the 1/4" range, and they can be a pain to remove.

https://www.harborfreight.com/5-lb-metal-vibratory-bowl-59476.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/5-lb-rust-cutting-resin-abrasive-tumbler-media-63672.html