New Zealand bulldog build

[fv432]

cheers matt cant wait myself

at least the idlers seem to be holding ::) ::) ::)

[tiger205]

i like it rob, some really good work, not bad for begginers

        Tony

[philipat]

Looks great, Rob!  Looks like you've upgraded your idler adjuster to an all-metal construction as well.

I have both the PzIII and the Bulldog and near as I can tell the dampers are exactly the same.  It seems to be confirmed by Anzac's post with dimensions on a metal damper that he did on the PzIII.  You could probably copy that one or buy the Asiatam PzIII dampers, turn them around (to hide the oil valve...or file it off) and use them instead.  The only challenge may still remain finding a spring of sufficient strength.

Right now, my brother has a Bulldog that I bought for him to fiddle with in terms of making an Al reinforcing hull and possibly a torsion suspension.  Biggest challenge remains the plastic struts and making the torsion suspension strong enough to be realistic (ie, get rid of 2 dampers on each side).  He has the CAD skills and access to fabrication tools to attempt something like this.  Busy man, though...so, I must learn patience.  :-\

Tony, recognizing the general dislike of a certain forum, Rob left some pretty good photos of his build including some of the suspension.  Here's the link:  http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7768507.

[fv432]

cheers tony LMAO 

phil
yes the original idlers (plastic) broke on its first off road appearence at bovvie was a bit pissed but hey had a bloody great time so it didnt really matter
Yep gone for brass and installed a "nutsert" in the tube so the wheels can be removed

thanks guys for the kind words on the build its very much appreciated

[tiger205]

thanks for the link phil, youre right i'm not so keen on that other forum but unlike their mods, we dont mind links to that forum being posted here, there is some good stuff on there.
rob, from what i can see of those pic's, those suspension arms would be easier to cast than the panzer3 ones would, which is good news

              Tony

[fv432]

havent got one off yet mate but they dont look to hard to do  ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)  ( he says)

[philipat]

No prob...

Look forward to some castings. 

[tiger205]

hi phil
        we will be giving it a go but not just yet, i have never cast in metal yet, so i want to read all i can, and get a bit of practise in, then we will try the bulldog arms, which look a fairly simple component to cast

                Tony

[rad1j]

i broke one of my shocks early on  my bd and ended up going though my hobby junk and found a connecting rod that was from a .21 motor i filled top( wrist pin) hole with soild brass and drilled hole to fit top pin and then filed (portable machine shop) the shaft to fit i wish i had a camera to show you it worked out real good.and is still holding.....j [move][/move]

[fv432]

thanks guys an update the idlers held well but still not happy a revision to the design was necessary lmao  ::) ::) ::) ::)