ca'ing carbon chassis edges?
 

Hey guys,

I just got myself an exotek r18II conversion for my 18r, and I have been told to ca the edjes of the chassis and top plate. Is this very common, and what does it actually do? Any tips would be great too :)

Thanks

ca'ing the deges will help to prevent the material for splitting in the event of a bad crash. I also like th efact that it take sthe sharp edge off and it looks good too.

This is a good article on how to do it.


http://www.teamcrc.com/crc/modules.p...rder=0&thold=0

Why top plate ?

thats a great article.
personally, ill never do it.
id rather buy a new chassis in the event of it splitting. i dont have that much free time.

sealing with colour
 

I have scene some pictures of people chassis with the sides sealed, and coloured. How is that done? I have scene it blue and red trims. Looks good.

Good day!

Sorry I did not reply to your pm, I have been busy. I did the chassies prep with 1 coat of CA wet sanded the CA with 400 then painted the edges with Tamiya water based paint. I then carfuly sanded the top and bottom edge of the paint to make a clean stright line. Then I applied a coat of CA, wet sanded with 600 and polished with automotive polish.

http://s738.photobucket.com/albums/x...20and%20paint/

Just be aware that the paint can still be chipped off in even teh most normal of crashes on the race track, especially in TC. Looks nice, though.

Thanks
 

No worries. I can relate to being busy lately.. Thanks again for the info.. It makes your chassis stand out.

Although it is common, I have never ever done it, and I have never had any delamination.

Delamination is usually caused by poor quality material and over flexing, and is largely a thing of the past in carbon fiber today, but splits and splinters are still a problem when the edge is compromised. Hit a plow disc hard enough on an asphalt track at speed and you'll see plenty of splintering.

My first TC5 chassis split and splintered all over the place in rather dramatic style after a lanuch off of one of those mentioned plow discs. The car tumbled, and by the time it came to rest, there was a 1 inch chunk missing from the plate and splinters everywhere. Since replacing that plate and CAing the edges, no issues with several similar repeats of the launch (until we removed that set of plow discs from the high speed straight!).

Outdoor racing I think CAing is a good insurance policy. Indoor carpet, probably overkill.

The car will be used mostly on carpet, and maybe a prepped outdoor track. I will most likely be ca'ing the edges just to be safe....would doing the top plate be beneficial?

I don't think it's necessary

You can use blue threadlock to seal the edges too, Apply it with a Q-tip and let it dry for awhile. It works just as well as CA without the headaches. Leave the top plate alone, no sanding or sealing required.

If you do CA your chassis, the best stuff to use is the Losi Red thin CA tire glue. Most other brands, including Super Glue leave a white residue which can even be gooey at times!

The losi glue dries nice and clear!

You may want to do it for looks but if you do, do not do any edges that will affect the way the part fits.