Pistonhead

That last location is Chapel Porth and the Wheal Coates mine near St Agnes in Cornwall - coastal mining areas generally seem to have the most entertaining terrain to drive over, makes for some really technical and scale driving 😎

It’s been a while so time for an update…. The weekend following the previous post, I took to Loe Bar again, it had rained heavily three days prior and was very wet and extremely muddy - the tires performed brilliantly - clearing the mud out of the tread, even at low speed, then proceeded to hook on rock remarkably easily. The rig didn’t make it home completely trouble free, and towards the end of the run the transmission developed a clicking and grinding noise. Upon inspection, the transfer case managed to ingest some grit - two pieces on an idler in the teeth, and a 3rd embedded in a bearing plate - ended up stripping, cleaning and rebuilding the whole transmission with fresh marine grease and without the spur cover and vanity cover over the top shaft. Been out with it a few times since then with the Vanquish dual stage inserts and it’s so stable and predictable now it’s unreal. Enjoy the video and photos!

Tool bag and some new wrenches!

Spent another few hours on the bench this afternoon as the bearing kit came in, allowing me to rebuild both axles again and fit the SSD knuckles, and also received some long RPM Traxxas rod ends and fitted them to one end of all three front links. This stretches the wheelbase by 9mm, bringing the axle forward and away from the rear of the fenders, and improving the approach angle and overall stability as well as massively improving the stance too - i’ve always thought it looked too short in the front end and this gives it better proportions. Before After While I’m happy with this setup for now, i have found a supplier in Australia i plan on buying from that will build a custom set of titanium links and custom tuned shocks for a reasonable price. I’ve also bitten the bullet and upgraded my drivers too - my Arrowmax drivers weren’t that comfortable, with the knurling being particularly savage, and were getting very sloppy after only really building and maintaining just this rig, so thought i’d get some higher quality. I’ve had Tekno wrenches in the past, and loved the quality of the tips but the handle was just an open tube at the top and again, not the most comfortable to use. A quick look around the net and found these Protek TruTorque SL drivers got rave reviews, and weren’t that badly priced at only £50 the set. I’m probably more excited for new tools than i was for the wheels 🤣🤣

Spent a couple of hours this afternoon mounting up the new tyres before giving the lettering a couple coats of paint…

Mounted and painted the Falkens…

SSD brass steering knuckles and some Vanquish Falken Wilpeak M/Ts for the Phoenix

She’s home and settling in well and already knows her name. She’s already showing her character lol

Brought this little pup home yesterday… Meet Lola

Had a set on both my SSD Trail King and my SCX3 and they transformed the way they drove

Had a good tinkering day yesterday, cleaned and serviced the front shocks, and shimmed the pinions in the axles - the rear is back to buttery smooth with one shim, the front is showing signs of higher wear, and although one shim did improve the lash, but still felt a tad rough so i may need to add the second shim, although it drives noticeably quieter now. Adding the second shim isn’t a major job, especially after seeing and feeling the state of the of the bearings, so I’ve ordered a fresh set of bearings for her, so i’ll be pulling the axles apart again to change those out, also figured that while i’ll have them apart again, i’d also had some weight up front, in the form of some SSD brass knuckles, weighing in at 71g each.

She’s a purebred French Bulldog, she’s coming to us with all her certificates, jabs and treatments up to date, with her last round of jabs and treatments in a fortnight included in the price.

Picking up this little lady on Thursday, her name is Lola

Took the truck out properly this afternoon around Loe Pool and the Penrose estate near Helston - a relatively easy walk and trail run totalling just under seven miles, well worth it if you’re coming down to Cornwall. Have found my axles are getting very loud now, so will need to pull the axles apart in the next few days and shim the pinions - thankfully these shims are already on the car for safe keeping as part of the build. Despite the sticky mud along most of the run not giving the best conditions to break in a new set of tyres, and although i’ve vented these there’s still not much give in the carcass, but they did start hooking up pretty well towards the end. Definitely worth keeping as a spare set. Less than a mile from home and she gets stuck while going slowly through mud hole, throttled out just fine 🙊Quick dunk in the river and she was clean again lol

i’ll find out tomorrow lol, i’ve never run these yet, but i have vented them and i’ve been told they’re actually pretty good once broken in. Did a couple more bits this evening, i refitted the stock hexes as the wheel nuts weren’t catching the nylock properly, as well as fitting the shorter lower shock rod ends to lower it a bit. Then i practiced painting the lettering on the stock tyres for when the Falkens arrive lol

Finished revamping the Phoenix apart from tyres, took her out into the street for a couple pics in the sunlight. I know i liked it a lot in orange with black wheels, but love this colour and wheel combo so much more, the whole truck really pops now

Paint arrived this morning so got started on paint and body prep early afternoon. Slightly annoyed at the fact i got a reaction on the stripe and more bleeds than any other body i’ve painted as i’m a perfectionist. That said, i’m still mega pleased with how she’s turned out, just waiting on the Wildpeaks now, plus one more detail when they get here…

Finally gotten round to digging it out of the garage for the first time in nearly a year. First thing on the list was the transmission, rather than rebuild my existing gearbox, I opted for a complete new VFD transmission kit because I wasn’t using the extra functions the Twin offered, and it was a cheaper option, although i did have to strip the old transfer case of its alloy bearing retainers as the kit only came with plastic versions. Also ordered a replacement cab, as I decided i’d freshen her up as she was looking a bit tired, along with some new wheels and tyres to really set her off. Wheels are SSD Boxer 1.9s and arrived today, and will be shod in the Vanquish Falken Wildpeak M/Ts 4.65” tyres and i spent this afternoon placing a small dab of thread lock on each of the screws on the front ring, and gotten them mounted up on my still unused kit stock tyres as curiosity got the better of me lol

Last week he brought be a new VFD to build and fit into the Phoenix, plus a new body shell… And today he brought me some rather gorgeous SSD Boxer wheels

Completed the mock up last night and i’m well pleased with how she sits now.

Finished the mock-up on the Scania

I’m keeping it simple as it’s my first truck, thinking yellow (Tamiya TS16) with a black grille, low and light bars

Got carried away today and gotten the side skirts, 5th wheel, front arches, cab floor and most of the cab assembled and plopped on the chassis for a couple of photos. Won’t be much longer before i can start pulling her apart for paint, but that mean’s clearing some space in the garage to do so. In the meantime, she’ll go on display in the front room.

Spent a few more hours on the Scania this afternoon - starting to resemble something now 😎

More progress this afternoon before work - got the transmission assembled and locked in 1st gear - stock motor is only a placeholder until final assembly, also mounted the rear arches, wing tops, battery tray and fuel tanks. Transmission was a joy to assemble, took plenty if time doing it and didn’t have to pull anything apart to redo - result! From here on out, everything is being assembled without thread lock because it’s all coming apart at least twice between now and final assembly. Definitely starting to resemble a truck now - gaining some decent weight too!