CJ's Defender mods.. An ongoing saga...

**cyclicscooby** · May 6, 2015

Hi Guys.

I've been busy over the cold months, modding my lovely Landy..

Nothing mad, or OTT, just a road going, mud splattered, weekend warrior..

I've made a light controller, operated via the two spare channels on a 4ch Tx's gimbals (Rudder and Elevator) that switch 40 odd LED's in the car... Maybe that's a bit OTT.. !!

Converted it from an original 80's CC01 to an Ascender chassis. I know that's been done a 100 times already, but i've reused a simple invisible method, already utilised on my CC01 install..

Made some ally bits, and bought some too..

Oh, and just paneled the rear windows yesterday, with a removable panel.

I hope you find it useful for your rig..

So.. Let's crack on..

I just happened to buy a car mag, after month's of 'plane' mode, with a replacement chassis for the Landy in mind. I saw the Ascender and after a bit of research, ordered one, not realising it hadn't been released..!!

This meant I got one of the first batch of kits, just as it was going 'viral'.. Nice to be current, after running a 25yr old unscale underpinning..

I got a Savox waterproof servo, and an Etronics Brushless combo. All my planes are BL, so it's about time the car was pulled into the 21st century.. That and the 'shorty only' battery.. A 4000mAh 2s in this case..

As she Sat on the CC01.. Narrow axles and WISHBONES..!!! Ahh.. 'Not scale' alarm..

000 Original CC01 Landy

With the Ascender chassis built to it's shortest length and without the bumper extentions, the front of the chassis butts up behind the grill and the front axle is located PERFECTLY in the arch.

The front shock tower's are a knat's knee off the underside of the bonnet.. Like it was built for this shell..

Using 12 mm (half inch) Ally 'L' bar, available from Local RC shops, DIY places, etc. I installed one strip, screwed to the two shell mounts, behind the grill. It's in, in such a way that it's wedged tight behind the panel. It's also tight between the headlight bowls, so there's zero play, creating a solid place to start..

Two shorter pieces are then screwed together, back to back, to form a 'C' shape. The thread's poking out the back of the 'C' are ground flush. This is then bolted to the previous strip..

So, looking into the upside down shell, behind the grill n light's..

Note: The two forward facing screw head's, inside the 'C'. These help locate the chassis' front X-member..

12 Front body mount

The chassis' front X-member with two notches to locate over those screw head's..

13 Front X member

Looking straight down now, with the X-member inserted into the 'C'. With M3 nylock nuts, it just happens to be another perfect fit.. Lucky eh..

14 Front Mount Attached 1

From the side, right way up.. There is no play up n down, and the located notches stop any side to side movement..

15 Front Mount Attached 2

**cyclicscooby** · May 6, 2015

You could barely get a piece of paper between the tower's and bonnet.. Another lucky coincidence..

16 Front Upright clearance

Because the front mount slides in, the rear needs to drop in..

More L shape ally.. I used the original bumper extension holes in the rear of the chassis. Because the unscrewed side of the 'L' sits on the chassis rail, theres no movement.. Then put a large hole in the overhang, for the 1/8 scale body post's mounted in the shell..

17 Rear Chassis mount

Once the front has been slid in, the chassis drops into the upturned shell, where it locates onto a pair of cut down 1/8 scale body posts.. Each short post has a 3-4 mm silicon sleeve too, to absorb tumbles, and stop any rattling...

The ally strip holding those is bolted on using the original 3 bumper holes

18 Rear Mount 1

Fully home, awaiting a clip... I only ever fit one cuz it's so snug.

19 Rear mount 2

20 Rear Mount Attached

**cyclicscooby** · May 6, 2015

The centre transmission and chassis are just visible under the sill..

21 Mounted chassis to sill

The front wheel's look pretty good..

22 Front arch

The rear's, IMO, sit slightly too far forward

23 Rear arch

24 Body On - side

At this point, the rear tower's clearance can be seen.. Not much room left for those seats, let alone 40 plus LED's, their wiring, controller, and battery..!

27 Rear upright clearance (from inside)

**cyclicscooby** · May 6, 2015

To address the rear wheel placement, I added half a mm to the 4 rear links. Turns out, that's a single M3 washer..

32 Rear Links with half mm

With the extra half mm, I think it sits better..

35 Rear Arch with half mm

36 Plus half mm wheelbase

Because my Arduino board has to squeeze into the back, with the seats, I had to raise them about 12-14mm.. Not ideal, but..

If you haven't got a shed load of electronics, you could trim the seats around the small gap between each seat. You'll get them down the depth of the seat base atleast..

37 Interior Raised 1

38 Interior raised 2

**cyclicscooby** · May 6, 2015

My lighting board uses 5v, but i'm using a 12v LED driver to power the two 3 watt spotlights, so I had to use a 3s battery to power it all.

It's made from 3 cell's out of an old laptop battery (Li-Ion, not LiPo). Very similar to A123's.

It's mounted behind the dash using a strap across the two dash screws. It's not as light as a LiPo, so all the better for being directly above the Ascender batt..

39 Lighting 3s relocated

The main lighting board, mounted under the rear seat's..

40 Lighting main board

I designed the daughter board to plug onto the main board, but there's not enough space, so I made a patch lead, and installed it remotely, on the rear panel..

41 Lighting daughter board relocated

Even with that adhoc re-design the rear tower's were still touching my board..

Here they are as standard. The small bit petruding from the top is for the original body post's, but I don't need those...

42 Rear uprights before

So off with their head's....

With 2-3mm removed, they sit a fraction off... phew..

43 Rear upright clearance

And that's how I Ascendered my Landy..

Next installment will be the lighting system..

Luv Chrisie.. xx

**the watchman** · May 7, 2015

This is a nice job

Did you narrow the axles ? The d90 body imo fits better onto this chassis than the scx10

Top job so far though, its a cracking chassis the ascender.

**TurboFurball** · May 8, 2015

That is looking cracking, be interesting to see it all lit up!

**cyclicscooby** · May 12, 2015

Cheers Guy's..

I haven't narrowed them yet. I will be looking into it tho, for reasons that are about to become clear..

I decided, I'm gonna do the LandyLites bit as a separate post, cuz it needs it, plus it might not be for everyone.

Luv Chrisie.. xx

Edited May 12, 2015 by cyclicscooby

**cyclicscooby** · May 12, 2015

As good as it look`s now, sat on the Ascender, there`s too much daylight coming thru the arches. So I decided to build a set of wheelarches and sills to cut out the light, and more importantly, protect my electronics from the elements..

4 arches, joined by sills, down each side. A back plate ties the two rear arches together, whilst the front`s lock into an ally bar.

The whole sub-assembly slide locks into the front, and rests on the shell at the rear. It`s screwed in using the 4 sill mounts already in the shell..

As it happens, the plastic `I` beam (scale RSJ) fits wonderfully over the bulge inside the shell at the sill line.. Nice..

Front arches

Because the chassis slides in from the rear, the rear side of the arch has to be narrow enough for the shocks to pass.

Here you can see the shock cutout, and the narrowing..

The rear arches sit on the inside of the Landy`s hips, below the rear window..

The sills are also 1.5mm sheet, with `I` beam strengtheners on the inner and out edges..

**cyclicscooby** · May 12, 2015

With the Ascender chassis installed..

Front shock clearance..

**cyclicscooby** · May 12, 2015

Front steering at max, max deflection, and plenty of clearance..

The rear arch..

...And max deflection..

Ready to roll...

**cyclicscooby** · May 12, 2015

Of course, there`s only one way to test this...

Get her MUDDY...

...Underside... Proper dirty...

With the chassis removed, here`s the topside.. Not bad..

Inside the shell... Looking good...

The main purpose of the arches is to protect my lighting board.

Spotless... Job`s a good un`..

So far, after 2 months of abuse, only the rear plate has broken, when I forced the chassis in.. Doh..

Many many stones and twigs have tried, but it`s holding up well...

Hope you find it useful..

Luv Chrisie.. xx

**cyclicscooby** · May 12, 2015

Wheels and Light guards...

Ok, I cheated for this post.. Had a day off and bought some bits...

First off, some steel wheel`s, to help compensate for the ever increasing weight of the shell... That`s my excuse anyway..

From www.rcbitz.com

Weller 8 spokes.. They do sit slightly wider than the previous plastic `Landy` wheels, on the same tyre`s, unfortunately.. I`m going to investigate the axle narrowing process...

They look superb imo... Just as you`d expect to find on an average UK Landy..

I figured i`d get a spare too, so it doesn`t look odd..

The old spare was just screwed to the original rear door wheel post.. The steelie would probably break it, so required a rethink...

A homemade carrier, out of brass bar, as per full scale.. The original post had to bite the dust tho..

I also got a set of discs from the same place.. Didn`t realise when I ordered them, but they come with REAL wheel nuts, and a tiny `socket`.. !!!! Bonus..

Unfortunately, they widen the stance, even more again, with the steelies, so for now, altho i`m gutted, they`re staying off... Boh ho..

**cyclicscooby** · May 12, 2015

Next, over to www.RadshapeRC.com

I`ve already used these guys for my Hpi Mustang Ground FX project..

They also do a beautiful set of disc`s and calipers, in various colours...

2 large discs for the front, 2 smaller ones for the rear. Even come with replacement bearings for the caliper mounts..

Their `high detail` intercooler is also worth a look. All metal with silicon hoses, and even hose clips... Nice touch..

But, back to the Landy...

It got a set of headlight guards..

I was going to build my own out of brass, but they wouldn`t have looked this good.. or been as strong..

They`re cut / stamped out of a single piece of metal, then folded, to form a very strong little structure.. Supplied with the M1.5 - M2 bolts..

Getting there, bit by bit.. Next time, some ally bashing..

Luv

Chrisie.. xx

**cyclicscooby** · May 12, 2015

I forgot to mention... After advertising the two www`s above, it seems only fair to say that I got the Ascender kit, and BL combo from ModelSport.. Used them before.

I know how to relate BL motor specs to a plane, but had to ask Modelsport for some advice with the car, wanting a `trailer`, not too slow or fast, and their recommended Kv is bob-on.. Plus it all arrived exactly on the put-back release date..

Thought it only fair, especially as this is their site. !!

Luv Chrisie.. xx

**cyclicscooby** · May 13, 2015

Back to blisters and a sweaty brow, after the bolt-on stuff...

I offered up the Ascender bumper to the Defender. Suprisingly, it sorta fits, and even `works`, but not on an average weekend warrior..

So back out with that 1/2" x 1/2" Ally `L` bar...

I cut a narrow line next to the elbow of the `L`, then bent the vertical face with pliers. Once happy with the curves, I just cut n filed the topside flush..

It should need some epoxy behind the cut, for strength, but as yet, after a month, it hasn`t budged, even with a 4.5Kg car behind it..

Thought i`d fit the fairlead off my old 3Racing winch too...

Fitting was more of an issue.. I decided it`d be easier to mount it to the shell, to maintain my current shell mounting setup, but the shell`s not really impact proof..

I ended up fitting a piece of `L` bar flush behind the grill and used the 4 holes for the spots, to mount it.. It`s surface area should be sufficient not to damage the shell, plus there`s zero play cuz the shell mount / chassis is pushed up tight behind it...