My First Project Traxxas Bullet / Bug ?

[nvxwax]

My first post, Sorry its a project question, Just kinda excited about it lol.

I got a Traxxas Bullet off Ebay a wile back, It has been sitting for months, I thought about selling it till i found a project build by tecnica2001 at TamiyaClub.com.

I have shortened the pan to fit a Beetle shell, I also flipped the rear end around to limit the motor from sticking out (Got the idea from back when i had the 6 gear RC10 lol, Yeah i had a bunch of holes in it to I plan on getting or building a VW motor to stick in that back. My question is does anybody see a problem running the car like this? Im not sure if it will be a runner of shelf-er yet, I could not flip the top shaft like in the RC10 without a lot of work. The rear arms are on the correct side of the car, I have also added spacers under the front of the gear box to match the original tilt (not sure what to cal it)

Anything else you see that might be a problem let me know I have just started. I have my Monster Beetle shell on it for now, Will be replaced with a Sand Scorcher Shell as soon as i can get a complete kit at a descent price. The wheels will stay but the tires are being shipped as i type

[mikedealer]

only problem i see will be that you will need a reverse wind motor since the tranny is mid mounted but its reversed rather than flipped, if that makes sense... maybe someone else can confirm?

[scr8p]

definately need to reverse the rotation of the motor.

[harry697]

Reverse rotation motor as stated above.

And the "tilt" you are talking about is known as squat.

[markt311]

I have some NIP front arms if you need them, I see yours are cracked.

Nice project, I love the old Traxxas stuff.

[jwscab]

cool project.....just run a modified motor of some kind so that you can adjust the timing of the motor, and you can run it backwards. Stock fixed endbell motors are timed to spin the normal rotation, so they would be slower. With an adjustable endbell, you can make it whatever you want.

[Mr. ED]

and to complete he above: if you use a brushed moter that has been run before it's best to replace the brushes after you adjust the timing too.
(Or you could turn each brushes 180° over in its guiding). The reason is that a used brush has a sharp trailing edge. When turning the oppoiste direction it may break and scratch your collector.
I'm not making this up; read it somewhere long-ago. But I don't know if it is really making sense because I've never had issues like these with my reversing ESC's.

enough non-sense: the project looks great and I'll be following this thread with pleasure

[nvxwax]

Thanks Guys,

I have a few old adjustable timing motors hiding somewhere, I never knew you could adjust the timing to reverse them. I understand the flipped brushes statement also, i guess its mainly because of the ware pattern running on the armature, do you just turn the end bell 180 deg to reverse them?

Again thanks for the comments, Not sure how long this project will take, Kinda depends on money and locating some parts at a good price lol

[Mr. ED]

No need to turn it 180°, just swap the leads to the moter, and then turn the timing to negative. Neutral puts the screw in the middle. So you take a look at how many degrees it is at now and move it about the same angle from neutral; the other way.

[nvxwax]

Small update, I'm still waiting for the body and some other odds and ends to come in (should be this weekend )

I narrowed the front by 1", The front width was way to wide, I did not want to shorten the arms so i sectioned the shock tower and front bulkhead, Turned out pretty good.

I have the tires on that will be used when the model is done, The front pink wheels are temporary, For some reason the front wheels that came with the car are wider then stock, It looks like a combination of a front outside bolted to a rear inside piece. The car had a 1:8 scale car body on it when i got it.

I have also replaced the broken front arms. I still have to adjust the ride height. I want the car to be a little lower.

[Mr. ED]

MMM, I'd love a couple of those servo mounts. That looks like a part I could use in many projects.
Probably it 'd be good to have a small topdeck and new 1 piece front shocktower. The narrow nose section looks a bit fragile now.

[nvxwax]

Its actually pretty strong, I'm going to build a top plate as soon as i find some material. Im holding off on cutting the original top plate up, Its in really good shape, I'm going to track down some .125 aluminum plate for the top deck, I have mounts from the bulkhead all the way back to the motor mount. that should make it like a tank lol.

[markt311]

looking pretty good, I love the home built projects. There's nothing wrong with restoring a car, but taking something that's kind of rough and making it your own is where actual fabrication skills come in handy. The only thing that worries me is the strength of the stock transmission. Very good start on your project though.

[nvxwax]

looking pretty good, I love the home built projects. There's nothing wrong with restoring a car, but taking something that's kind of rough and making it your own is where actual fabrication skills come in handy. The only thing that worries me is the strength of the stock transmission. Very good start on your project though.

Yeah im not sure how the transmission holds up in a bullet, i used to have a sledgehammer way back and could not kill it lol,

[klavy69]

As long as you stay away from brushless that tranny should be strong enuf for you. It'll be a cointoss between the tranny and the front shocktower now. If you get the material for your top plate you might just want to use some of it for a one piece shocktower. Looks good though.
Todd