NOT JUST OUTSIDE THE BOX, THIS CONCEPT DESTROYS THE ENTIRE CONCEPT OF THE BOX !

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Well, I've been running my Pimp Cane Clod for about 4 months now and I thought I would try another TLT based crawler for next year to see how it compares to my current comp set up.

The CMRCRC season just wrapped up and the 07 season is just around the corner so I figured I had better get started.

While cruising the ORCRC site and I came across this awesome chassis design and contacted the builder (Bluemeanie) who had several for sale.



The BMVII arrived a few days later and I then placed an order for a TLT kit from RCP and waited for it.

A short time later it arrived and I started taking stock on what else I needed to complete this build.

Ordered up a few other items (like my new brushless Revolver from Holmes Hobbies) and set them aside for this build.

First off is the BMVII chassis. This chassis is so far out side the box that it is insane.

Minimalist in design, extremely light and small in size, needs no shocks, links, or link mounts, and is extremly affordable even before you figure in the cost savings of the unneeded items.

After I assembled my axles, shaved them, installed a set of Slinky Sam's aluminum axle ends, and a set of R2J's knuckles, and the new HPI wheels w/ a fresh set of Mashers, the axles were ready to go.

I started to work on the Stealth tranny I'm using on this build (like I would use a Pede ) and installed it on the BMVII's tranny plate. It's built for the Pede so it's more than ample for the Stealth's tiny footprint.

Assemble was a breeze, I countersunk the holes on the chassis so that the 3mm stainless hardware would set flush and 8 bolts later. (4 in front - 4 in the rear) the chassis and axles were assembled.

Yeah it was that easy!

Talk about light, the chassis, tranny, and motor combined weigh in at 10 oz's!

Just for reference, a lathe motor alone weighs just over 6 oz's!

The CG on this chassis will be unmatched!

The chassis, tranny, motor, tires, wheels and servo weighed in at 3 pounds 1 oz. and the heaviest thing above the top of the tires w/ be the body!

I'm still waiting for my Mamba Max and Spektrum DX3 to arrive and I haven't settled on on a body yet (come on Pro Line, re-release the CJ8 ) and I have a few other little things to take care of.

But it's a start, can't wait to get it on the rocks!

Decided to call this one the Shadow Project and go for a menacing all black theme and stray away from my trademark silver w/ the barbed wire.

Below are a few pics of the start of my build, enjoy and eat your hearts out!