Final Build Photos
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| Submitted By | |
| John James |
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| MENIFEE, CA, United States of America | |
| Build Information | |
| Readers Ride Title | Sand Halen |
| Vehicle Class | Scale, Buggy |
| Chassis Brand | Custom |
| Chassis Model | Custom |
| Custom Chassis Brand and Model | I located a one off built chassis on offerup that was beat-up, incomplete and needed a lot of work to adapt the parts I wanted to install to create this one of a kind build. Builder of the chassis is unknown and it appears they abandoned the project due to the difficulty and geometry of the chassis and cage. It took a lot of work but the results speak for itself. |
| Body Brand | Custom |
| Body Model | Custom cut aluminum plating |
| Custom Body Brand and Model | Custom Aluminum Panels |
| Power System | Electric |
| Electric Motor Brand and Model | Globact 550 12T Brushed |
| Speed Control Brand and Model | Traxxas XL-5 |
| Battery Brand and Model | Traxxas 7600 7.4 Lipo 2cell |
| Wheels and Tires Brand and Model | BAAD Racing Aluminum 2.2-3.0 39.4 mm width 21.4 mm offset Tires: Proline Mohawk 2.2-3.0 front, Dumont 2.2-3.0 rear |
| Shocks Brand and Model | Proline Powerstroke front and rear (50 weight Team Losi oil) |
| Axles Brand and Model | Front: Traxxas 3637 Rear: Integy HD Steel Drive-Shaft polished sleeves |
| Paint Brand and Model | Krylon ColorMAXX Banner Red for the body and panels Krylon Fusion Flat Black accent Krylon Fusion Flat White accent Krylon Fusion Clear Gloss sprayed over accent panels |
| Graphics Brand and Model | Custom Painted inspired by Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat Guitar |
| Scale Accessories Brand and Model | Seat, 4 point seat belt harness, window nets, fire extinguisher provided by RC WORLD. |
| Radio System Brand and Model | Traxxas TQ 2.4 GHz |
| Other Options Brand and Model | Traxxas Caster Blocks Traxxas steering Blocks Traxxas Turnbuckles Traxxas Stub axles Traxxas Steering Bellcrank Traxxas Bulkhead Integy heatsink and fan Integy receiver box cover Integy Front/Rear Arms Hot Racing Polished Gear Cover |
| Further Description/Back Story | I check Offerup regularly for vintage RC's or any good deal on RC's that someone decided the hobby wasn't for them. I came across a photo of a custom metal buggy based on a 2WD Slash format and scale. It appeared to old, unfinished and abandoned as a project. I contacted the owner but it was already sold. Fast forward a couple months and it shows back up on Offerup being sold by the latest owner who is only 10 min from me. I immediately contacted him and the buggy was mine. It sat for weeks on my work bench waiting for an inspiration to hit. Being a huge fan of 70's & 80's rock and metal it was a punch in the gut when Eddie Van Halen passed away. I have always been a big fan of Van Halen (not Van Hagar-lol) so when Eddie died, my mind went straight to that buggy collecting dust on my work bench and Sand Halen was born as a tribute to Eddie and my youth. Upon taking apart the buggy I quickly realized why it was sold twice over. The geometry and measurements were off and the entire cage was racked sideways. This was not going to be an easy build. The welds appeared to be solid so I thought heating up the cage and straightening it out and pulling the front out to fit a billet bulkhead might be possible. It worked and hope for this project was back on the table. The overall theme was inspired by Eddie's Frankenstrat Guitar so the build had to be red with black and white accents. Not wanting to drown the project in red billet, I used several items including the arms, axles and gear cover in polished aluminum to really set off the look. The polish represents the strings and guitar tuning knobs. I had to test fit the parts as they arrived to make sure they would fit and holes lined up. Again, this took a lot of finesse and re-drilling to make the parts fit correctly. Once the test fitting was done, I removed the parts and started to sand and paint the Van Halen inspired paint job. This was time consuming and because I have no air brush experience this project was done using rattle cans. However, with patience and proper tapping I achieved the look I was going for. Once the paint on cage and panels was complete the installation of the parts came next. I never intended this to be anything other than a Shelf Queen but I still wanted to be fully running and functional. Although the running ESC is Traxxas, when it's on display I installed a Redcat ESC simply based on the design and red billet design because the Traxxas blue stood out too much. Knowing it ran properly was good enough for me so my focus quickly turned back to the overall look and theme. To add to the scale look I added a race seat and harness along with a fire extinguisher and window nets. Not wanting to leave out any details since it's a Shelf Queen, I added black felt to the inside panels and headliner for a finished interior on this buggy. The highly polished BAAD Racing Wheels really set off the colors and with the addition of Proline Sand Tires, this completed project Sand Halen. Of course Eddie, Alex, Michael and Diamond Dave were cranked on the stereo during this build providing me inspiration. I've been asked if I would sell it, and my reply is I'd have to be 5150 to part with this RC. |
Build Process Photos
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