WL Toys 124017 build "Purple Haze"

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bozo

What, me worry?
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Location
St. Pete, FLA
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  2. Scale Builder
I'm not a big fan of WL Toys offerings, but Wally Mart had a clearance sale on the 124017 brushed with 3 batteries for $89 back in Dec. '22 (since out of stock).
There's a lot of chatter on the net about these cars, and a ton of info on mods/hop-ups etc. so I bit the bullet and ordered one.
First impressions were mixed... some parts were really well thought out and some were just bone stupid.
I decided to see what I could do to make this into something that would look good, run well and (maybe) be durable.
This is a finished build, unfortunately I didn't document the process.
A lot of the valuable info came from https://www.quadifyrc.com/rccarreviews/144001-upgrades-every-one-of-my-guides-here

Note: this thing is hard to work on, WL must use Uber-Locktite- I had to torch a lot to get the motor mount and motor off.
First off, regreased the diffs and rebuilt the shocks. Then decided to convert to brushless.
There's enough room for a 3650 motor, as well as 2845 and 2440 motors. I dug in the parts bin and came up with 3 combos to try.
Universal motor mounts are available on ebay, and even tho the gearing is .7 mod there are 15t, 17t and 22t pinions available in that pitch. Unfortunately based on the design converting the spur to a more common pitch is not really easy.
After experimenting, I found that the 2440 4600KV ran best all round. The 3650 3900KV motor/esc combo ran too hot, and the 2845 3400KV just didn't have the "oomph".

Next was cosmetics.
The stock body I think is ugly and garish, so I ordered a Phat Bodies 'HAMMER' meant for the LC racing EMB long wheelbase. Fit like a charm and left a lot more room than the stock body for lectronics, etc. Instead of paint, I decided to wrap the body with purple/blue carbon fiber wrap. This stuff is great! easy to form (with a heat gun) and thick enough to add some reinforcement. Added some exhaust from a Goodwill find toy and a front end from some Traxxas parts bin find.
New wheels and a lot of LC racing parts, as well as a new TX/RX (DumboRC X6 w/gyro). Added a lot of purple anodized stuff for some bling, as well as a COB lighting kit from ebay.
Lots of fab work and mods, and here she is....
'Scuse me while I kiss the sky...:D
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Wow I like that all way around!! Super coil
Cool^^
 
I was going ask same thing I like that carbon fiber look
 
Turned out awesome! I want it lol good job!! 👏👍
 
Thanks all, it was a fun build!
Might try that on my SCX24 body
There's lots of videos on Youtube on how to work with wrap, but there's a few things I learned specific to RC bodies.
The rolls are big (1' x 5'), so there's a lot of extra to practice with. I used empty water bottles.
Use a heat gun, a hair dryer won't cut it.
It's easier to do the body in sections, keeping the carbon pattern in the same direction. I overlapped the seams about .25", they blend acceptably.
The heat gun is tricky...
Too much heat and the body deforms (water bottle test proved that) so hit it hard and fast so the heat doesn't get to the lexan.
You only get about 2 tries before the wrap starts to get brittle and won't shape anymore (kinda like quenching on "Forged in Fire"), but if there's a screw up it's easy to pull it off and try again.
Bubbles can be cut sometimes with an xacto and then rubbed out with a cotton swab.
I still ended up with bubbles that won't go away... oh well...
 
I'm not a big fan of WL Toys offerings, but Wally Mart had a clearance sale on the 124017 brushed with 3 batteries for $89 back in Dec. '22 (since out of stock).
There's a lot of chatter on the net about these cars, and a ton of info on mods/hop-ups etc. so I bit the bullet and ordered one.
First impressions were mixed... some parts were really well thought out and some were just bone stupid.
I decided to see what I could do to make this into something that would look good, run well and (maybe) be durable.
This is a finished build, unfortunately I didn't document the process.
A lot of the valuable info came from https://www.quadifyrc.com/rccarreviews/144001-upgrades-every-one-of-my-guides-here

Note: this thing is hard to work on, WL must use Uber-Locktite- I had to torch a lot to get the motor mount and motor off.
First off, regreased the diffs and rebuilt the shocks. Then decided to convert to brushless.
There's enough room for a 3650 motor, as well as 2845 and 2440 motors. I dug in the parts bin and came up with 3 combos to try.
Universal motor mounts are available on ebay, and even tho the gearing is .7 mod there are 15t, 17t and 22t pinions available in that pitch. Unfortunately based on the design converting the spur to a more common pitch is not really easy.
After experimenting, I found that the 2440 4600KV ran best all round. The 3650 3900KV motor/esc combo ran too hot, and the 2845 3400KV just didn't have the "oomph".

Next was cosmetics.
The stock body I think is ugly and garish, so I ordered a Phat Bodies 'HAMMER' meant for the LC racing EMB long wheelbase. Fit like a charm and left a lot more room than the stock body for lectronics, etc. Instead of paint, I decided to wrap the body with purple/blue carbon fiber wrap. This stuff is great! easy to form (with a heat gun) and thick enough to add some reinforcement. Added some exhaust from a Goodwill find toy and a front end from some Traxxas parts bin find.
New wheels and a lot of LC racing parts, as well as a new TX/RX (DumboRC X6 w/gyro). Added a lot of purple anodized stuff for some bling, as well as a COB lighting kit from ebay.
Lots of fab work and mods, and here she is....
'Scuse me while I kiss the sky...:D
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Dude beautifully done
 
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