this could be heaven or this could be hell

[peuge73]

So here is the story of my Traxxas poject....
It started last summer (2013), with an e-bay auction. This kind of auction with a detailed text like "OLD TRAXXAS VINTAGE CHASSIS PLATE VERY HARD TO FIND RARE LOOK DONT MISS"
I could not let it go for an other home, and as I wanted to get back into a vintage built, I thought that a TRX1 would have been a real good way to remember my 90's races.

So here is the starting point:




After a few days, I fixed my project: it will be a vintage basis car, but actual racer. May be a kind of OIN for Traxxas.

As it's a very long time I did not practice Traxxas cars, a lot of informations will have to be collected and builds to be experimented: this could be heaven in case of success, or hell in case of failure.........

[harry697]

Looks like the start of a nice project!

Are you sure those are TRX-1 parts though? Hard to tell, but the more I look at them, I think they're Blue Eagle parts.

[BMKTW2]

this could be hell .........

[spennyy2k]

Looks like the start of a nice project!

Are you sure those are TRX-1 parts though? Hard to tell, but the more I look at them, I think they're Blue Eagle parts.

Yeah the rear tower isn't trx1, it should have 1 large hole in it

[Lonestar]

Choliiii

I've kept a lot of the parts bag stickers when I rebuilt mine (the Black Widow...) let me know if you need some parts compatibility help

a+
Paul

[peuge73]

you're right!
I dont't have your sensibility: I thought it was a TRX1 chassis, but it is not.
I realized it recieving the parts, and I checked some dimensions with other vintage TRX1 owners.

So I went for some researches on the net, checking what my score were...I whent to that conclusion that TRAXXAS made trucks near the TRX1 (i knew only the buggys TRX1 and 3!), and that my chassis was one of these.

I had to improve my Traxxas timeline knowledge for the trucks.
These 2 purchases help me a lot for this:



I made a fine analyse of these 2 trucks got out from the bay...

Edit: thx for your proposal Paul, I will surely contact you!

[Lonestar]

Need to start working on my trx myself btw! I'm struggling to find enough time to work on the modern cars these days... so that might still have to wait a while

Paul

[peuge73]

according to the last 2 new arrivals, I was able to check the evolutions between what seems to be an Eagle (Graupner renamed) and an Eagle LS (white one).
On the front side:


biggest difference is the wheel axle, much longer on the eagle (black).

The shocks are the same except the color. No teflon for the black graupner edition.

On the rear side:

Smaller arms on the earlier car: the graupner eagle.
An intermediate adaptator make the car reach the same width.

The arms mouted on the car when recieved were not the right ones, but more a TRX1 set (due to the personal history of the car). The right set was still in the box anyway, you can see it in the middle of the picture.

Not any difference regarding the tranny, except that the wite car had a Thorp option diff on.


The slippers are completely worn out, and corrosion is sightly present everywhere inside the trans case.

[harry697]

Sounds about right. LS stood for "long suspension" but in reality the front suspension wasn't really any longer than the original. The differences were the axles, like you already mentioned, and the 1931R arms on the LS had 4 shock mounting positions as opposed to the standard 1931 arms which had 3 options.

[GoMachV]

It was longer than the Eagle, but not the Blue Eagle iirc.

[harry697]

It was longer than the Eagle, but not the Blue Eagle iirc.

I'm almost certain that the Eagle and Blue Eagle had the exact same front and rear suspension along with matching rims and tires. I think the Hawk was the one that was shorter with the 1731 front arms.

[GoMachV]

Ok I had to go look back at the December '90 rcca and it was a fairly long arm. I could have sworn it was short with deep offset wheels

[peuge73]

after a better understanding of Traxxas trucks timeline, I went back to my project.
To race an 'Eagle truck' in actual classes, I need first a good tranny.
I had a look of what is done all around, and I found the proline preformance one. Interesting. The diff and slipper are up to date. To check the compatibility, I have contacted Proline customer service, but they were not able to confirm that their tranny could fit my vintage chassis.
So I bought a trans case, and checked it directly to the chassis.


Answer is clear: to fit I will have to drill some additionnal holes, and also it is not OK regarding the rear bulkhead.
So I turned back and looked for something more realistic and easy to implement.

[peuge73]

then I saw that MIP had a ball diff that fits the rustler / bandit / etc.
url=http://s493.photobucket.com/user/peuge73/media/Traxxas/P1020754_zps2926406c.jpg.html][/url]

Diff is really smooth and I felt really optmistic with that start.

[peuge73]

For the slipper, I went to an STRC axle + V2 asso material.



After assembly:



But bad surprise at this time: the complete trans is not free....
I verified with changing the diff for the other I own: the diff is the root cause. It seems that MIP gear is not round.
I Try to make it work a few time to get a first wear....better but clearly not at the right level!!!!

So I went back to the standard Traxxas ball diff (but a new one): free trans, but in my point of view, this differential is really hard to adjust. We will check on the track when time will come.