288LikesTamiya mini cooper
08-05-2015, 08:28 AM
Tech Regular
I've done one out of plaster of paris. Secure the body well tho, as you will get bulges where you don't want bulges if you know what I mean 
Of course this means nothing without a Vac Former. Do some research, its definitely possible, and can be a lot of fun, and a mass of headaches lol
Of course this means nothing without a Vac Former. Do some research, its definitely possible, and can be a lot of fun, and a mass of headaches lol
08-05-2015, 09:19 AM
ER1c pointed out the TCS situation and that you could vary the tire diameter by stuffing. Unfortunately, by doing that, you will reduce grip by reducing the contact patch or area of the tire By the "ballooning" that inevitably occurs.. The only "successful" attempt at this I've seen is this one which was used to win
the TCS Nationals about 10 years ago. What was done was to double stuff, but the tire was glued to the outside edge of the wheel thus making the wheel itself larger an getting away from the "ballooning" and it's attendant loss of grip. This was addressed in the rules the following year.
Double stuffing belongs with the DoDo bird except in the hands of a "real" pro. It's an expensive deal cause if you guess wrong, you just wasted a set of tires, inserts and rims.
the TCS Nationals about 10 years ago. What was done was to double stuff, but the tire was glued to the outside edge of the wheel thus making the wheel itself larger an getting away from the "ballooning" and it's attendant loss of grip. This was addressed in the rules the following year.
Double stuffing belongs with the DoDo bird except in the hands of a "real" pro. It's an expensive deal cause if you guess wrong, you just wasted a set of tires, inserts and rims.
You really want to avoid double stuffing your tires ...I was just pointing out a reason that some did double stuff.
Honestly if your driving your car in a parking lot and not racing against others the tires won't matter a ton. I'd just get some S-Grips all around for parking lot fun. They'll work great. Yet I think you opted for the Shimuzu's? -those will be fine too. Sorry, if I missed what your purpose for dialing your car in was ...but if for bashing a lot of this stuff won't be too noticeable (in my opinion).
08-05-2015, 09:24 AM
Okay, I am taking a one month break from racing. I have some personal stuff I am dealing with that is almost complete but this is also a good opportunity to go through all my cars (the mini in particular) and tweak and re-evaluate areas for improvement.
On order:
-Flourine coated Tamiya bearings to replace the nylon bearings I've been using.
-Lightweight rear wheel axles to shave a few more precious grams (I am about 5 grams over weight)
-Swapped my motor from a Revtech 21.5 to a Speed Passion "MMM" 21.5t. The revtech is a bit "blocky" in its movement and not smooth. --only way I can describe it. Also the lead driver is running a Speed Passion MMM at our club ...and I had one in my F1 ...so just doing a motor swap (my F1 is plenty fast thanks to gearing).
-Cleaned out inside of chassis and taped all seams and holes
-Sprayed a thin layer of silicone spray on internal gears (super thin/small amount just to get the gears slick)
--hoping i'll see some improvements w/ this change. As you can see most of my changes reflect the need to reduce friction in the wheels and gearing.
On order:
-Flourine coated Tamiya bearings to replace the nylon bearings I've been using.
-Lightweight rear wheel axles to shave a few more precious grams (I am about 5 grams over weight)
-Swapped my motor from a Revtech 21.5 to a Speed Passion "MMM" 21.5t. The revtech is a bit "blocky" in its movement and not smooth. --only way I can describe it. Also the lead driver is running a Speed Passion MMM at our club ...and I had one in my F1 ...so just doing a motor swap (my F1 is plenty fast thanks to gearing).
-Cleaned out inside of chassis and taped all seams and holes
-Sprayed a thin layer of silicone spray on internal gears (super thin/small amount just to get the gears slick)
--hoping i'll see some improvements w/ this change. As you can see most of my changes reflect the need to reduce friction in the wheels and gearing.
08-05-2015, 10:13 AM
Agreed!
You really want to avoid double stuffing your tires ...I was just pointing out a reason that some did double stuff.
Honestly if your driving your car in a parking lot and not racing against others the tires won't matter a ton. I'd just get some S-Grips all around for parking lot fun. They'll work great. Yet I think you opted for the Shimuzu's? -those will be fine too. Sorry, if I missed what your purpose for dialing your car in was ...but if for bashing a lot of this stuff won't be too noticeable (in my opinion).
You really want to avoid double stuffing your tires ...I was just pointing out a reason that some did double stuff.
Honestly if your driving your car in a parking lot and not racing against others the tires won't matter a ton. I'd just get some S-Grips all around for parking lot fun. They'll work great. Yet I think you opted for the Shimuzu's? -those will be fine too. Sorry, if I missed what your purpose for dialing your car in was ...but if for bashing a lot of this stuff won't be too noticeable (in my opinion).
Yeah, I know you're a TCS racer so have to use the S-Grip for racing. So am I, but still will throw on some PS just for fun. For your info, you can use the PS tire with no changes to your set up. You can't go the other way cause you can squeeze a little more out of the car with the PS tire and it won't translate as well. I do use the 454 tire in front tho with cyano on the sidewalls.
I hope you didn't think I was stepping on your post and wasn't intending to. I am very enthused about the 60D PS tire and was pushing that rather than disagreeing with anything you were saying.
08-05-2015, 10:21 AM
A little steep? Last batch of mini bodies I bought worked out to about $10 each. Had to buy in bulk. But, the HPI shells tended to sell for $20 Canadian when they were available. Someone's gouging!
08-05-2015, 10:29 AM
Tech Regular
Monkey if you get me an ek civic body I'll fly to Calgary and hug you myself. Also pay for it and shipping of course. Can you???!!!
08-05-2015, 10:33 AM
Did want to comment on bodies bit. I've always felt that initially as you build up your skills, "if you ain't crashin', you're not trying hard enough". You have to test your limits, then push harder. That means, your first bodies will soon look like something that someone ran over. Don't spend a lot of time on "pretty" bodies in the beginning and learn how to patch them up. Window screening and silicone glue, Sho Goo, work as well as most things.
Paint----find a body you don't have to mask and can use a rattle can. Then go out and beat the crap out of it. You can paint a "pretty" body while you're learning how to drive and race.
On a personal note, my cancer is back so have started chemo treatments again. I'll have "good" days and "bad" days. Today's a "good" day so, posted a bit.
08-05-2015, 10:42 AM
08-05-2015, 10:48 AM
Okay, I am taking a one month break from racing. I have some personal stuff I am dealing with that is almost complete but this is also a good opportunity to go through all my cars (the mini in particular) and tweak and re-evaluate areas for improvement.
On order:
-Flourine coated Tamiya bearings to replace the nylon bearings I've been using.
-Lightweight rear wheel axles to shave a few more precious grams (I am about 5 grams over weight)
-Swapped my motor from a Revtech 21.5 to a Speed Passion "MMM" 21.5t. The revtech is a bit "blocky" in its movement and not smooth. --only way I can describe it. Also the lead driver is running a Speed Passion MMM at our club ...and I had one in my F1 ...so just doing a motor swap (my F1 is plenty fast thanks to gearing).
-Cleaned out inside of chassis and taped all seams and holes
-Sprayed a thin layer of silicone spray on internal gears (super thin/small amount just to get the gears slick)
--hoping i'll see some improvements w/ this change. As you can see most of my changes reflect the need to reduce friction in the wheels and gearing.
On order:
-Flourine coated Tamiya bearings to replace the nylon bearings I've been using.
-Lightweight rear wheel axles to shave a few more precious grams (I am about 5 grams over weight)
-Swapped my motor from a Revtech 21.5 to a Speed Passion "MMM" 21.5t. The revtech is a bit "blocky" in its movement and not smooth. --only way I can describe it. Also the lead driver is running a Speed Passion MMM at our club ...and I had one in my F1 ...so just doing a motor swap (my F1 is plenty fast thanks to gearing).
-Cleaned out inside of chassis and taped all seams and holes
-Sprayed a thin layer of silicone spray on internal gears (super thin/small amount just to get the gears slick)
--hoping i'll see some improvements w/ this change. As you can see most of my changes reflect the need to reduce friction in the wheels and gearing.
08-05-2015, 10:52 AM
08-05-2015, 10:55 AM
I'm posting this in case anyone missed it in the racing forum. It may give some of you ideas. Or nightmares!
Mega Mini Madness at the Brownie's Hobbies Sunday Grand Prix hosted by Jackson R/C
Mega Mini Madness at the Brownie's Hobbies Sunday Grand Prix hosted by Jackson R/C
08-05-2015, 11:08 AM
Yeah, I know you're a TCS racer so have to use the S-Grip for racing. So am I, but still will throw on some PS just for fun. For your info, you can use the PS tire with no changes to your set up. You can't go the other way cause you can squeeze a little more out of the car with the PS tire and it won't translate as well. I do use the 454 tire in front tho with cyano on the sidewalls.
I hope you didn't think I was stepping on your post and wasn't intending to. I am very enthused about the 60D PS tire and was pushing that rather than disagreeing with anything you were saying.
I hope you didn't think I was stepping on your post and wasn't intending to. I am very enthused about the 60D PS tire and was pushing that rather than disagreeing with anything you were saying.
------
I like your suggestion of the PS tires, ...yet I no longer run my cars on anything but a prepped track ...and when I do I like to try to run w/ what I race with ...to keep my skills up and continue to tweak my car.
08-05-2015, 11:10 AM
Interesting stuff, eR1c. Almost seems like you want to do a free wheel derby test. Remove pinion, place it on your chassis, and let your RC with body free wheel down the driveway with just steering control to see how far it will coast vs your other m-chassis.
...getting down to the nitty gritty in terms of tweaking my mini. But at this point I am only about a 1/2 lap behind the top driver and a few turns behind the #2 spot. ...little by little i'll get there!
08-05-2015, 11:17 AM
On a personal note, my cancer is back so have started chemo treatments again. I'll have "good" days and "bad" days. Today's a "good" day so, posted a bit.
08-05-2015, 11:20 AM
Ha, I am already there! Slightly different technique I am using, but I am measuring the difference in length of time I get w/ wheel roll and gear resistance in the gear box from the previous setup to the new setup.
...getting down to the nitty gritty in terms of tweaking my mini. But at this point I am only about a 1/2 lap behind the top driver and a few turns behind the #2 spot. ...little by little i'll get there!
...getting down to the nitty gritty in terms of tweaking my mini. But at this point I am only about a 1/2 lap behind the top driver and a few turns behind the #2 spot. ...little by little i'll get there!
I built my newly acquired 54000's last night and installed them on my V2. If I have time tonight, I'm going to set the droop and change out the springs a little bit more to trial and error. I'm using the 2 hole piston and yellow #400 Tamiya oil in there to start.