SyCo_VeNoM

Well if whoever read about my Brama 10b running a 8.5t brushless disaster, might have read I decided to make the Bramas chassis out or aluminum. But unfortunately that didn't pan out, seeing I couldn't locate a metal gear that would fit in the differential to use. I contacted HPI and they pretty much said I'm SOL on the gear and there are none that will fit. So I gave up on trying to make a stock looking Brama which lead me into my next project
I'm making a frankenbuggy that would make Dr. Frankenstein proud

so far heres the parts list (quite a few borowed from my brama build)

Diffs, diff casings off of a HPI MT, along with the hubs they sit in. Had to modify the driveshaft cup to accept the aluminum Brama drive shafts. Also the shocks, and servo saver are from a MT1.
Motor mount off of an E10
Spur gear assembly off of my Brama along with most of the radio tray, C-hubs, rear hubs, battery holder, and the aluminum drive shafts
Arms are from a Tamiya DF-02 (no not my DF-02 ordered a new set for this), steering knuckles will be aluminum ones off a DF-02 also.
Front shock tower I have no idea what its from all I know its the rear shock tower off some HPI RC (either firestorm or some Nitro RS4 bought a few different part tres while making some custom mounts awhile back)
Front bumper Ordered a RPM bumper meant for a Bandit/pede. Will see if it will fit with some slight modifications.
Wing and wing mount I'm not sure yet, I'm thinking of making the brama mount work by shimming it some to make it ount right on my rear shock tower.


I already made the proto type out of a cardboard box (pics below) and found 1 slight issue. I'm going to have to lengthen the chassis by 2mm's right after the battery compartment's front leg. Other than that everything so far fits perfect for a 1st try, its actually kind of shocking how the Diff mount screws lined up perfectly centered seeing I eyeballed it on the 1st mock up . Only time will tell on the final version that I cut out of aluminum (the prototype is sitting on the aluminum sheet that will be its chassis ). Its going to be around 5mm's longer than a DF-02 it seems in the end

Didn't put the arms on due to having to order the mounting screws, but they do fit and I had them hooked on with a pin I borrowed off another RC for a little while to test them. To make them fit the HPI diff hub I had to dremel about .5MM off the hub.

J.D.T

nice project, I suspect you are going to want some front kick up, try a washer or two between the chassis and front diff housing it will help with bumpsteer

SyCo_VeNoM

was planning on bending the plate a tad bit which is why I need the 1.5mm extra length. with it flat as it is the fits perfect.

Brainanator

My Feedback: (1)

sorry for being blunt, but I've had bad experiences with cardboard chassis, I think you should choose something with a little more rigidity, also, the cardboard will fall apart if it gets wet, nice try though.


I'm just jokin =P, looks like a sweet build, can't wait till have the motivation to build something custom.


edit: please highlight my post if I piss anyone off....

SyCo_VeNoM

honestly I was tempted to run it as cardboard if I had the damn hinge pins I'm waiting for. After I popped the parts on i was like HMMM its probably stronger already than the bramas chassis

SyCo_VeNoM

well cut the chassis out of aluminum (glad I found a use for the jigsaw I bought a few years ago) and drilled the holes and mounted the parts that I have on hand. Was a royal pain in the rear getting the 2 rectangles cut out in the proper size that the diffs need. Also was wondering why my spur gear was binding thought I had the rear too close. Turned out the spur was hitting the bottom of the chassis so I had to grind some out so far so good. Next I have to take it all apart and grind the edges down some to clean it up and cut some strips out to weld onto it to make a pan and brace that run down the center.

also got the RPM bumper looks like it will fit with some minor modding

genitor

Looking good!! I've been thinking about doing something like this. Putting together my own rc with parts from others.
I'll definitely refer to this thread when i get started.

SyCo_VeNoM

I've ran into a few hitches like my drill skipping a teeny bit when drilling into the metal... on 5 holes... Tried a old 1950's drill press that was in the basement but it was less accurate than me holding a drill.
maybe tomorrow I'll get around to the "fun" part of trying to do brazing with aluminum. I gotta braze support strips onto the chassis(still have to cut them). after that its pretty much done till I get the hinge pins. After those come in I have to hit up the LHS to size up turnbuckles(mine are a tad too big fully screwed in ), and a body than finally wait for my RX's to be delivered (damn slow boat from china) than hope it drives straight

I also fit the RPM bumper on, had to cut a tad more than I wanted but it seems on there solid and won't break off easy I'll take a pic probably in the morning seeing I'm damn tired

I swear I spend less time fabricating parts by hand and from scratch than some people build pre-packaged kits

genitor

A center punch to put a little indentation for the drill bit tip to sit helps with the skipping drill bit situation. If you don't have one a nail with a hammer works too

SyCo_VeNoM

actually I used a scratch awl like I used to do with sheet metal years ago, but the drill still popped out.

Still the bits I had kind of sucked and the drill I was using is probably from the 50s (maybe older)
not like it really matters it will work either way. most the problems I had was on the front end which the RPM bumper covers pretty nicely

rclugnut10

My Feedback: (1)

also idk if your bits are as old as your tips but i've used a few bad bits at school, and those could also be the problem

the lug

SyCo_VeNoM

In all truth pretty sure it was the ancient drill
The chuck seems to be a teeny bit loose. I should probably take it apart some day and re-tighten it. But that will be a project for another day (that I'll probably forget about)

plasmaedge

<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; background-position: initial initial; "><span mce_style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; " style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "><div mce_style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; background-position: initial initial; " style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; ">im liking your new chassis, how thick is your sheeet of alloy??<div></div><div>Sorry about your brushless brama failure, not a suprise though.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Im thinking about doing this with a new df-02 chassis shape an diff stuff and modding it a tad!!</div><div></div></div></span></div>If i do ill make a thread.

SyCo_VeNoM

its a little bit over 2.28mm's thick (.09 inches). Teeny bit thinner than a MT2 G3.0 chassis plate but a bit thicker than a old MT1 chassis plate.
Yea the bramas failure was no real surprise. I was more disappointed in how it failed instead of the fact it failed. I was actually expecting the motor to rip itself out of the chassis in some kind of awesome display(sadly that would have made me happy) not the rear diff's drive gear to break due to it being made from plastic and the rear to just snap off. It was the fairly mundane end to it that actually cheesed me off.

I thought about it with the DF-02 that seems like it might be a royal pain to me seeing the way the chassis is formed, and how the hubs where the arms hook on are moulded in the base chassis. It should be possible though to bolt a sheet of aluminum under it though (I'd only go like 1mm for that just to strengthen it).



BTW update swapped front shuck tower to a little bit smaller one mounted the front arms an extremely ghetto way (just to see if they fit) and found I have to do a little bit of grinding on one side. But hell its really starting to look like a RC now. Glad I bought that RPM bumper also

Still left is to find a place to put body mounts. I know where I will put the rear one but the front one is making me thing a little. Also still have to disassemble it to start on the aluminum braces. So still a bit a work ahead before I can say its done

SyCo_VeNoM

OK cut the sides of the tub and bent them. Also have the center brace, and grabbed a piece of scrap aluminum for the inside wall of the battery compartment.
I also figured out where I'm going to put the front mount for the body. I'm going to screw it onto the piece of plastic that connects the front diff case to the steering servo saver set. I put JB weld in it to try and make a solid surface to drill into. I'm going to let it sit for a few days.

Seeing some people might want to know how I went about it I traced the actual metal chassis onto a 1X3 piece of woof and cut out the 2 sides as copies. (pic below) I then took a hammer and whacked it till it formed a close shape than took it off the mold and bent it a teeny bit further so it went flush to the mold.

I then layed it out on the chassis to check the lengths. the one side (labeled S1) is a bit too long and I'm going to have to cut it down a tiny bit more in the rear. But hell its actually starting to look like a buggy pan chassis
Next step trying to weld(Brazing) the pieces together. This is the only step I have doubts about working.

SyCo_VeNoM

Well did the Brazing of the parts.

This was a ROYAL PAIN IN THE ASS.
imagine soldering 5 gauge wire that cools down so fast its not funny.
Now imagine instead of the wire you have 2 aluminum plates that like to move and warp. Now imagine instead of a soldering Iron you have a blow torch thats around 900-1000 degrees. And use zinc instead of lead solder.
part of the center brace actually vaporized it got so hot
and why is stuff never as easy as the easy how to video tutorials

Ohh well the deed is done now to get grinding it down to make it look good.



Edit: ok screw this tried grinding it down with my dremel the stuff is harder than the aluminum its holding together think I'll go buy a cheap angle grinder later on, cause at the rate I'm going I'll blow my dremel out way before i'm even remotely close to done.

rclugnut10

My Feedback: (1)

brazing is hard i dunno if you can do Al on a torch but if you can i'd be sure to try and get that done or a stick welder i'm 99% sure you can do it on one of those and that'd get that sucker done real fast like

the lug

Lurp06x

Cool you got your own rc made by "you"! yeah you can weld alum with a mig welder but you need a special torch i think. brazing is fun but it can get messy. i prefer tig welding for these type of projects though more accurate and cleaner looking. but get that angle grinder or see if a neighbor has one and it will look great. grinding can hide a lot of mistakes.

SyCo_VeNoM

I used map gas which was recommended on the brazing sticks instructions
unfortunately the center warped some and is sticking up...

Think I'm going to try and get it hot as hell again in the center and leave it clamed down while its cooling tomarrow(unless anyone has a better idea I've never done this before).
I've always wanted a arc welder but unfortunately the electric in the garage wouldn't support it (Plus its highly likely to get stolen not a good neighborhood, already lost a 10 gal air compressor and a pile of tools in the garage)

evlwevl

My Feedback: (6)

would have bending up the edges of the chassis for rigidity have been an option? Thats what my Sand Scorcher chassis is like and its pretty rigid even though its thin.

SyCo_VeNoM

might have been. I mainly wanted to protect the lipo that will be in it main reason I did the sides. If it wasn't for the lipos I'm getting and how they scare the living crap out of me if they get damaged I'd have left it open and used a velcro battery holder. I wish I didn't do the center brace I doubt it was needed with the 2 sides but ohh well whats done is done now to try and make it work right.

evlwevl

My Feedback: (6)

Youve already put a lot of work into it, I'd go with what you have I think you could find a small plastic box, lets say the kind that holds screws or something and make that work. A lot of guys in the Crawling websites are using similar plastic boxes to waterproof their electroncis and batteries. I would go as far as building one out of balsa and covering with fiberglass. Thats what I do for my airlplanes when im wanting to protect my lipos in case of a crash. You could also build a box out of sheet lexan or acrylic from Home depot. Screw it together or use that special proweld adhesive and it will be super strong and clear so you could actually see the battery, then just fit a holder over the top.

gelbschnee

you need a tig welder man...lol but it doesnt look bad for a torch weld!! im actually impressed you could pull it off [8D]

SyCo_VeNoM

Actually you should see my e-converted nitro mt1's battery box
I cut a stampedes chassis up and screwed its chassis to my MT1's aluminum chassis just to hold the battery (it doubles as a chassis reinforcement )


and gelbschnee your not the only one lol. I was shocked I got it to hold I dropped it after I finished and was like ohh no when it was falling its gonna break off. the stuffs actually on there pretty damn well. I actually spent over an hour in 15 degree weather doing this in the garage (probably would have been easier in warmer weather)

SyCo_VeNoM

Well finally got the sucker flat again.had to reheat the thing to the temps to braze it in the 1st place (some came off had to redo some) while it was clamped to wood (wood almost ignited). but its flat at least, also part of the middle brace broke off from the clamps pushing it down I can truthfully care less it is not bending. My one clamp actually made a depression in the bottom that I beat out with a hammer and none of the welds broke off. Does seem though there are some teeny gaps but its still extremely strong and nothing it does driving will break the sides off. Only thing I see damaging this chassis is being hit by a real car.

I also use a angle grinder to even it out (pic below). Now to remount everything, and hope it still fits all while trying to find a place to mount the rear body mount. and take it to the LHS to get some tie-rods and hopefully a body than to wait for my RX to come in the mail .