"Frankenstein Rustler" 2 speed tranny.

[Jaydiaz1993]

Hey Nitro R.C. lovers!
Today I bring you guys the "Frankenstein Rustler" which was made out of 2 used cars (Rustler and Jato) and a few new parts..
I wanted it to look different than the regular Rustler (grey upper chassis) and since the Jato's tranny is black I decided to black out as much as possible so it matches.
Hopefully you guys like it and it actually helps those who are interested in building a 2 speed Rustler

First thing first I just want to start by saying I would suggest buying a new lower chassis (blue aluminum) and using the old one as draft as the tranny might not align the first time and using the new chassis once you've got everything traced, measured & aligned properly.

The reason I say it it's because even my final draft came out a bit crooked but I managed to rotate the transmission enough that it aligns evenly. Also I would suggest using the gas tank holder to align the engine first before placing the tranny so it actually falls into place smoothly.
You will have to cut a piece/edge of the gas tank holder as the fly wheel makes contact with it, in order for the flywheel to rotate freely.

After you've aligned the chassis correctly and cut the edge of the tank holder the engine should fit just fine in which case you can now remove it and place the tranny where it will go or make the necessary adjustments if needed for it to fit.
Before setting up the tranny and the rear suspension mounts I went ahead and removed the gas tank holder so I could maneuver without any issues. This is optional you can keep the gas tank already set if you would like but the screws that hold the tranny also hold the engine so you will definitely have to remove the engine.

Once the suspension mounts are set you can start placing the rear suspension arms and the back bulkhead.
The back bulkhead will not fit in the original holes so you will have to make new holes for it to fit.

Also make sure that the transmission is secured before placing the shock tower, I did this by drilling 2 holes on the bulkhead and connecting it to the transmissions back portion.

Once thats done you can place the shock tower and start connecting the rear suspension and battery holder.

Now you can place the tank holder back and start mounting the upper chassis.

So far this is where I'm at with the build.. This week I work all week so I won't be able to finish it until like the 10th of Nov. But if there's any questions please let me know I will try to answer to the best of my ability

 

[Greywolf74]

Good job man! Ill be interested to know how she holds up compaired to a regular Jato.

 

[Jaydiaz1993]

Good job man! Ill be interested to know how she holds up compaired to a regular Jato.

Thank you @Greywolf74 I honestly can't wait to try it out! Right now the only thing I can tell is that is much lighter than the Jato (my friend has one) but obviously I haven't finished it so it's not the final weight... Once it's up and running I will weight both of them and see if it's true I did put a 50t spur gear instead of a 54t so it should technically be faster than the Jato stock? I will put a gps on it to find out

 

[johnnydmd]

Great job!

 

[Jaydiaz1993]

Great job!

Thank you! Honestly if it wasn't for your post about the 2 speed Slash I would have been completely lost haha so I appreciate you

 

[johnnydmd]

Thank you! Honestly if it wasn't for your post about the 2 speed Slash I would have been completely lost haha so I appreciate you

Glad it was of help! Really cool to see more people taking advantage of the 2 speed trans in nitro applications.

Now if only Integy would wake the hell up and start making more of the aluminum cases...my pleas with them have been met with snobbery and ignorance. Meanwhile I know of dozens of people myself that would buy five or more of those things.

 

[Jaydiaz1993]

Glad it was of help! Really cool to see more people taking advantage of the 2 speed trans in nitro applications.

Now if only Integy would wake the hell up and start making more of the aluminum cases...my pleas with them have been met with snobbery and ignorance. Meanwhile I know of dozens of people myself that would buy five or more of those things.

I honestly can't wait to see what type of power I'm able to produce with this new set up and if possible I will be changing to a big block in the future but first I'm going to have some fun the way it is now.

I myself would love a steel case for the tranny, it does seem the 1 speed is a little bit "tougher" than the 2 speed tranny case and I've also read that I will have to change the gearing eventually to a steel gearing because the 3.3 is a little too strong for it over a prolong period of time. So if you do find a steel case for sale and you've already got yourself some please send me the link so I could get one as well

 

[johnnydmd]

I don't have another aluminum case, I search every day though, lol.

If you go big block, you must get the Hot Racing steel gear kit. Otherwise you'll blow those plastic ones up in a heartbeat.

 

[Jaydiaz1993]

I don't have another aluminum case, I search every day though, lol.

If you go big block, you must get the Hot Racing steel gear kit. Otherwise you'll blow those plastic ones up in a heartbeat.

What brand is the aluminum case you have right now? Integy?
& I will definitely get the steel gearing from hot racing I was actually thinking of getting it now for the 3.3 but I'm going to wait until the stock ones blow out first

 

[johnnydmd]

Yup, it's Integy. Took me a year to find one sadly.

 

[gandalfnz]

Amazing work mate!
Thanks for your patience and sharing this great build with us.
Something I always wanted but didn't have the courage to do.
In the end, as you know, I got a Jato, and have just sold my Nitro Rustler yesterday.
I kinda dont want your Rustler to be faster than my Jato....

 

[Jaydiaz1993]

Yup, it's Integy. Took me a year to find one sadly.

I just emailed them to see if I'm able to order one, or to send me info on where I can get it custom made
Hopefully they don't answer with snobbery and ignorance and I actually get a straight response. I do feel the more people ask for it the more chances of them making it since they cater to the public right? Or atleast as a business owner I would lol idk

Amazing work mate!
Thanks for your patience and sharing this great build with us.
Something I always wanted but didn't have the courage to do.
In the end, as you know, I got a Jato, and have just sold my Nitro Rustler yesterday.
I kinda dont want your Rustler to be faster than my Jato....

Thank you! It been fun building it, it wasn't really that hard I believe aligning it was the worst part (and it's still crooked) lol but I think that has to do with me since I've never actually drilled anything in my life once I get more money I will reorder the chassis and make it straight forsure.
And if you already sold your Rustler you have nothing to worry about because the Jato is still bad ass and with the right tuning I'm sure it will be as fast if not faster than mine. Until I mount the 46 teeth spur gear in which case my rustler is going to FLYYY. I'm honestly hoping to reach 75+mph since I've reached 65+ mph with the 1 speed

 

[gandalfnz]

Did you bolt the tranny onto the chassis only?
Is it also screwed into shock towers like on the Jato?

 

[Jaydiaz1993]

Did you bolt the tranny onto the chassis only?
Is it also screwed into shock towers like on the Jato?

I screwed every hole the transmission has on the bottom to the chassis and I also screwed the transmission onto the bulkhead before putting the shock tower

 

[gandalfnz]

Those holes in the rear bulk, you drilled yourself?
The diff gears on Jato tranny are exposed at the bottom?
Did you use any spacers in between the chassis and tranny?

Sorry for the questions, I'd love to install 2 speed Jato trans on my Slash.
And, rusty and slash are almost the same cars.

 

[Jaydiaz1993]

Those holes in the rear bulk, you drilled yourself?
The diff gears on Jato tranny are exposed at the bottom?
Did you use any spacers in between the chassis and tranny?

Sorry for the questions, I'd love to install 2 speed Jato trans on my Slash.
And, rusty and slash are almost the same cars.

Yes, the bulk head already has like a slid we're you can see the transmission so I just dotted it up so it aligned with the holes on the tranny and drilled some holes, it was super easy.
I did not use spacers between the chasis and the tranny however for the slash it might be a bit different, I did see Johnnydmd put a platform underneath the transmission to raise it so it might help? You would have to ask him. The diff. Gears are partially exposed and it does not touch the chassis at all I rotated the spurgear to have the gear move and it was moving smoothly.
No worries man I'm happy to answer, I can talk Nitro all day! Haha but that would be a badass project and if you decide to do it I will try and help as much as I can I believe the slash is an extended chassis right? So it might be easier to fit it.

 

[Jaydiaz1993]

Update: installed both the steering servo and acceleration/braking servo as well and it was pretty easy but here is a preview of what it should look like if you're interested I know when you buy a jato tranny it comes with no manual so here you go

Also the Yokes that fit the traxxas Rustler will not fit the Jato tranny so you will have to order the Jato yokes which are m3/12.5

Remember to connected the half shaft spline to the Yokes before actually connecting them as it can be difficult to connect them once the yokes are mounted.

Same thing with the rods that connect to the back tires to balance them. It was a pain in the ass to mount them because I should have done it before placing the tranny in place.

 

[Jaydiaz1993]

Once everything is connected the completed chassis should look something like this...
I still have to change the fuel lines since one has a hole in it and I moved back the transmitter so I can have the gps strapped in place instead of using a magnet since last time I crash the magnet and the GPS went flying so I don't trust it.

I still got to rebuild the engine and break it in, set up the new 2 chamber exhaust and mount the new tires and cover body which I will post tomorrow

 

[Jaydiaz1993]

Finished Frankenstein Rustler 3.3
Hope this helped you guys if you have any questions I'm always here to help

 

[gandalfnz]

Looks factory....
I will order my parts soon, and try to do a 2 speed nitro slash.
Send us some vids of those speed runs.

Would be nice if you could put together a final list of the parts you used, tips and tricks on some parts of the build that were challenging to do....etc.

Thanks