My 1968 VW Type 2 Bus Conversion

RC bus, a break from the real thing
by Harold Williams
June 2014

In an effort to get more competent using my mill and lathe I started making rc parts for a few of my old rc's. Now living in snow country I also got interested in tracked rc's. I bought a rc snowcat to get some ideas on how to convert my bug monster truck to 4 wheel drive/steering with tracks.

I was so disillusioned with the snowcat that I set about redesigning the drive system. This lead me to building different tracked drive systems. As luck would have it I ran across a photo of a real tracked bus. I could only find a couple of rc bus bodies, a 1/10 scale from Tamiya for their Type 2 bus rc. Also one from Team Blue to fit the 210mm wheel base Tamiya M-05 chassis. HPI also makes a body that is out of production.

Click on photos to enlarge them.

Snow Track Buses: The red & white bus is based on the Tamiya Type 2 body. See more info and pictures here.

The blue & silver Martini bus is based on the Team Blue body. See more info and pictures here.

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  Martini Chassis With Tires
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  Martini Bus With Tires

V.W. Salt Flats race bus: As I was looking for new project ideas, I came across a photo of a car transport with a tilting bed. The unique feature of the tilting bed was that the wheel housings rotate to raise or lower the bed. Once that was completed I decided to build a matching Bonneville salt flats style race bus. I had to make the chassis as narrow as possible to make sure the rear tires fit inside the wheel wells without rubbing. I used another Team Blue body for this project. See more pictures here.

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  Transporter
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  Chassis

Pumpkin Bus: Custom aluminum chassis using a RC4WD transmission. Straight axle with the transmission as the suspension via the front mounted shock. Front suspension adjustments are camber, caster, toe, and wheel base length. Losi 1/18 shocks. HPI 8 spoke wheels & tires. TeamBlue body. See more pictures here.

HPI VW single cab bus: NOS HPI VW single cab body with a modified Tamiya M-05 chassis. HPI cup racer 4 spoke wheels, HPI cup racer 26mm wide front tires, unknown fat rear tires. To get the tires to fit under the body the front & rear track width was narrowed. Also converted to rear cantilever shock set up. More pictures here.