17 replies to this topic

[Ember]

Having been fool enough to put my hand up for the Rally Proxy, I figured it was time to stop enjoying the few cars I've got running well and revisit the basics on a few cars. So, last Sunday, with a day to myself, I shut myself in the track room, gathered some 'tool's and looked at my side of the shelf for a place to start.

Scaley GT40 was the closest and as yet, pretty well untouched other than magnet out and new tyres on. So... an hour of basic work on that. Superglue cuffs on rear nylon bearings, pinion adjusted slightly to improve the mesh, bearings glued in place, lower profile fronts, Mitchell-ins on the back (thanks Johnnyfly). Trued, not glued, still to tackle that, but have proved its need to myself. Lapping track beautifully, with no added weight. I'll see the proof tonight in our weekly Friday evening at the track. Weighing in at 25g less than HisLordship's Scaley Ford GT. Will be interesting to see.

So... On to the next. A bit of time spent on SCX Skoda Fabia. Second most fun car of my collection. Jiff applied to rear crown to bed. Cleaned, lubed. Same to the front one. Bearings glued. Lowered profile on the front tyres to drop the guide down a bit. All sorted. Now virtually un-tippable.

What next... Hmmm.... Looking over my side of the shelf again. The PinKar Beetle waving and jumping up and down sent shivers down my spine. Not yet. I wanted to keep this on a positive swing. Scaley Torry? Needs new wheels. Those babies are SQUARE! I know. Let's revisit the Bullitt.

So. Opened it up and stripped out what I'd done to it before. Put the Pioneer tyres back on so we're back to the original starting point when the maget came out. Back on the track for some tenuous laps and observation. Like a proper American Musclecar it pushes through the corners rather than attempting to turn. Right. I know what to do here. Guide out, washer over the shank and shank lubed before replacement. A spot of glue on both pinion and spur seeing as they slip a bit. Chassis trimmed to allow some float. Ok. Back together and back on the track.

Better. Mostly going around corners rather than through. But the tail is trying to overtake when it does attempt a corner.

Back to the bench, a 2g plug of lead in the middle of the chassis, just in front of the motor. Body nice and loose. Back on the track. Better... Definitely better. But still too much slide. Fun, but not quick.

Mitchell-ins worked for the other Ford. I'll try them. Popped them on. Trued them up. And back to the track.

Oh no! Looks at a corner and surrenders. Hmmm. I thought this car was American, not French (appologies to any Frenchman reading this. Nice cheese by the way.) Ok. So. Not the Mitchell-ins. MJKs work nicely on everything else, I'll try some of them. Fitted. Trued and back to the track.

First corner roll. Hmm... Tighten up the body screws again. And off we go for another tentative lap.

First corner ok this time. A bit of hop. Second corner is a big sweeping uphill climb, well it's big for my track. Bounced its way through that one. Along the straight like a shot fox. Heavy breaking for the dropping corner at the end (don't want to plow into full stop rock). Down the hill and into the R1 right swing before the big rising sweep. Rolled.

Ok. Put it back on its feet and continue. Slow and easy around the sweep and another quick change back for the middle straight. Nope. Rolled again. Too much grip.

Ok. So.... Too much grip with the MJKs. Too little with the Pioneers. Any suggestions of where to go from here?

Embs

[rick1776]

Hi Embs,

So youre using johnnyfly's Mitchell-ins. Ha ha ha. Now I wonder where he got those from?? You will have to bite the bullit and glue the tyres on, especially if you are using Mitchell-ins. When you say the mitchell-in surender in the corner what do you mean. Can you be more specific as to what the car does while cornering.

I think youve done the front end wrong. You should have lowered it, not raise the guide. If the car bounces you probably need to glue the tyres. There is also another trick you can try but you'll have to PM me. Ya never know youre hubby might copy it.

Edited by rick1776, 03 September 2010 - 11:35 AM.

[Ember]

Its a definite grip and roll out. The Mitchell-ins are way too grippy for the Mustang. Though it does the same thing under the MJKs, just on most corners rather than all corners.

Ok. It's been asked before, but, what glue for Urethane on plastic rims? And what for Urethane on alloys?

The guide has been lowered. Not raised. Washer below chassis, not above. It has achieved the more familiar slight nose in the air stance that I'm used to seeing on Mustangs.

Was that a Call me... Call me now, Rick?

[rick1776]

I cant find your email Embs, sorry Ive lost it, if ya have mine just send me an email and I'll ping ya back.

[Johnnyfly41]

Oooops,

not just Mitchelins by the way, Mitchelin "F" series.

I am in trouble.

Probably Ember can figure out who my "International team of scientists" is now.

Ember, I use hard as nails nail polish to glue my tires on to plastic rims.

I use acetone to clean the tire and rim.

Everyone has their favorite method to glue the tires on, wedge toothpicks around between the rim and tire, whatever works for you. Nail polish has worked well and can be removed if need be. Thick CA is probably better, but on plastic rims, well, that might be the end of them when you need to change tires.

Put the cars body in the other room when doing this so you dont get a big smudgy on your lovely car.

I may have to change my name on this forum from Johnnyfly41 to "Mud".

email going out to both of you shortly.

Mud

[Ember]

And remember... Mud spelled backwards is Dum.

Sorry Johnboy. Didn't mean to drop you in that one.

Actually, not the F series. Way too soft on what I tried. Just the standard ones. What were they Shore 30 or 40?

[lenny broke]

Hey Emb
If the car is tipping into corners the front tyres could be gripping. Have you tried coating the front tyres with superglue or nail polish? My method is to drop a small puddle of superglue on to a glossy surface like a soap powder box, then rotate the front wheels in the puddle to get an even coating all over the tyre's tread face. tilt the car a bit while rotating to get some glue up onto the radiused bit of the sidewall. let the glue set and try that.
Alan

Edited by lenny broke, 03 September 2010 - 03:03 PM.

[Ember]

Thanks. I've added it to the 'to do' list.

[rick1776]

So thats why your car blows soap bubbles as it goes around the track Lenny

Johhny I knows where ya live son Ha ha ha.

hat coat Im outs here.

[Johnnyfly41]

Darn, I surrendered and confessed too soon, they are not even the "F" Series she is talking about !

I sent Ember a mixture of tires, kind of cleaning out the store. I couldn't remember what was what. she has some of each, F series were labeled.

I need to get molding more F series, I bought a small amount of Unobtainium, already had some powdered bat wing, moon dust, eye of newt, now I just have to find a source for the binding agent, Unicorn sweat. I hear it's pretty hard to find.

Yes, those are Shore 40 tires Ember. Put some F series on there and you can climb walls like your old AFX days !

Something else is up with that car. My scaley mustang stock with shore 40's runs fine and I probably have a bit more grip on my track surface than you do. It will roll out when pushed as it has no weight added, but, still very drivable. It's not dialed in, but it runs fine.

Then again, it could just be the very low standard I set for my cars being a noob and all.

None of the tires I sent you were cleaned of mold release. I like to use dish soap and wash them in my hand first. Prior to mounting and gluing, I turn them inside out and wipe with acetone. I used to wash them before putting them to stock, that was a hassle, so now, I just put them in the drawers straight from the mold.

Good luck, keep us posted on your progress.

j.

[Ember]

Hmmm.... Well.... Ok. That was an interesting afternoon.

Definitely running better by a long shot.

Everything ripped out to start again. Front lowered. Glued in place with the wheels sitting on a piece of heavy paper on a psuedo-setup-block (ie. a lump of 10mm black perspex with a slot/notch cut in the front). Check
Front tyres trued and glued in place with some nail polish. Check
MJK rears fitted and glued in place with some nail polish. Trued and profiled. Check
6g of lead sheet in place. Tested and moved back and forth to try to find the 'sweet spot'. Seems the best place is just below the motor, with the very tail of the square finishing level with the rear axle. Held in place with fine doublesided tape. Covered with duct tape for protection. Check

Tested on the track it's running sweetly. Pushing round the corners nicely with just a hint of slide when the power goes down on the way out. YUM!

Hmmm.... What have I missed. Did, that and that. That. Yeah that's in place. Oh, I know. Haven't coated the front tyres in either nail polish or superglue. Better do that and then it'll be perfect.

So, with an ingrained aversion to superglue, the front tyres get carefully coated with nail polish. I thought about using black or steel grey but thought better of it. Waited for it to dry and put the Bullitt back on the track.

Things should be perfect, right? All the boxes are checked, right? Hmph! Shouldn't have bothered with the last step. Runs good and hard, but then rolls out at the last minute as the power goes back on.

Perhaps I shouldn't have used glitter nail polish.

[rick1776]

Tighten the body screws, or add another 2g of lead or move lead back another 3-4mm and see what happens. Worse comes to worse drive slower Embs.

hat coat Im outa here.

[Eno the Wonderdog]

If it won't go round corners put a faster engine in it.. it worked for Enzo!

[Ember]

rick1776, on Sep 4 2010, 08:46 PM, said:

Tighten the body screws, or add another 2g of lead or move lead back another 3-4mm and see what happens. Worse comes to worse drive slower Embs.

Thanks for that Rick. Why didn't I think of slower.

Seems the ballast needs to be right back inline with the moulding on the chassis. Will fix it on the morrow after a day of shooting cardboard animals with pointy sticks..

[Johnnyfly41]

I quit with those cardboard animals, they soak up the gravy and are still drier than heck.

[Ember]

Yeah but Bambi season is over. 'Sides my licence needs renewing.

[rick1776]

Never upset a lady that owns a gun. Hopefully you'll be the best placed female in the upcoming rally proxy. Otherwise there'll be another Port Arthur incident.

[Ember]

No Rick. Not a gun. The noise scares the tourists away. Bow and arrow is much better. No one hears them coming.