What would you do if you got your hands on a fully operational 1/4 scale Conley V8 engine? Most would mount it on a nice piece of stained wood and put it on their desk, and a few of those people would actually fire it up from time to time to show it off to their friends. Virginia native Kevin Holmlund has a Conley engine and has decided to go the extra mile by building a 1/4-scale replica of the Grave Digger monster truck around it. He didn’t go to the hobby shop to buy the parts for this truck; instead he designed and made everything you see here. This is one awesome piece of machinery!
How do you like that scale Grave Digger body? Kevin made the body by making a very large buck and his own custom vacuum forming machine; it takes two guys to make it happen. After only a few tries the body was finished.
That’s not a scale engine used to hide an electric motor; this one actually runs and powers the 1/4-scale Grave Digger. This is the Conley Stinger 609 and this engine features dual carburetors, zoomie headers, spark plugs and electric start. The base engine will set you back $8,258 and the price goes up from there when you start to add the option parts.
Where do you get 1/4-scale monster truck tires? You make them yourself. Kevin spent countless hours making these awesome treads which start life as a standard garden tractor tire. Kevin shaved all the treads off and glued on rubber strips to make the terra type tread that you see here. Yep, that valve stem is for filling the tire with air.
The rear axle is completely custom made. A set of bevel gears and a spool get the rear tires moving while a hydraulic brake system slows them down. There’s a lot of weight in the tires and axle so limiting straps are used to keep that weight off the shocks when the suspension is fully extended.
Here’s the man himself next to his awesome creation. It takes a lot of passion and serious time to make a truck like this happen.
This build first appeared in our Spring issue of Radio Control Monster Trucks, which you can purchase here. We are working on the next issue of Monster Trucks for you right now and it will be on the newsstands soon!
The post Kevin Holmlund’s Incredible Conley V8-Powered 1/4 Scale Grave Digger Monster Truck [VIDEO] appeared first on RC Car Action.
