Project Shorty part 2

In the first installment of Project Shorty I had built up the shortened frame rails using whatever spare parts I had on hand to determine if I could make it short enough to fit the inspiration body. In Project Shorty part 2 I present, "the donor".

I had began pricing the individual components that I needed to complete Project Shorty and it quickly added up to way more than the cost of a completely new SCX-10 kit. Clearly a "lightly used" donor chassis would be a cheaper option. So I began searching for a used SCX-10 for sale in the various forums and online auction sites. I found one and purchased it as what I call a "powered rolling chassis". A rolling chassis is usually just that, a chassis with all the required mechanical parts that will roll when pushed. A powered rolling chassis is one that is a rolling chassis plus the "power" items (servo, motor, esc). I purchased it without the advertised wheels, tires or body and without a radio as the offered ones weren't needed for this build. It did include an original Axial motor, a Traxxas 2075 waterproof servo and a Tamiya TEU-104BK esc. The esc is not a crawler specific esc so it will be replaced eventually but it is a good place to start to test Project Shorty.

It was originally an Axial Dingo kit but has had a few upgrades from the Axial Poison Spider I believe. Additionally it provided me with some extra pieces that were critical to the theme of Project Shorty, most notably the winch and the shackles for the new bumper. It also included (which aren't shown in the picture) the original metal suspension links which I will be shortening instead of using my temporary 3mm threaded rod method.

I will begin by disassembling the entire chassis back down to the kit parts, cleaning, inspecting, repairing, refurbishing and generally bringing every part back up to like new quality and then customizing them. Next the pieces will be put back together using the shortened frame rails.

Wheels and tires have been ordered and the body set should arrive tomorrow. The only remaining items to order are the front bumper and the radio/receiver combo which will also be customized to match Project Shorty.