AndyT ©

On a small to medium tack the NTC3 will hold its own against most other cars if its setup correctly

Jap TC3

It's not just small to medium track... big track as well..

I'm still running my 4 yrs old NTC3 (upgraded to Version 2 rear suspension), believe me I beat our local MTX4, RRR, & 710 this morning at our local track..

I have evo-RR and RRR... but now go back to me previously shelved car NTC3..

Dude... gear ratio for long track: 20/54 and 27/48 .. you'll be fying over 710, MTX4 and RRR on the straight and cutting infornt of them in the corner..

These is odd .. the ratio is not in AE table.. try it.

Jap TC3

cut the clutch shoe (3 shoes with stiff copper spring), lighten the main clutch bell & 2nd speed bell.. whooooop.. there it goes..

one more secret: make small lines inside clutch bell using nip of screw driver to make the inner surface rough... this will prevent clutch slipping..

This minor mod will suprise you..

Jap TC3

look at the picture..

very small flywheel, small clutch shoes... holes on the clutch bells, gear...

AndyT ©

Excellent posts....great hints Jap TC3.
I didnt know that there were extra AE ratios available besides the ones listed.....i found my FT NTC3 to be undergeared when racing at the Moorebank track here.....it would hit peak RPM about half way down the straight and really cried out for more gearing.
I also found the aluminium front cvds didnt like this track too much either....i actually sheared one clean in half at peak RPM down the main straight
I noticed from your pics youre running a 3 shoe clutch...is that the AE one or aftermarket?
Cheers

wayne

thats some awesome tips there jap TC3 gonna go alter my clutchbell and 2 speed bell on my NTC3 RTR + and those ratios dont appear in ae table you are right - I will make a note of the ratios club is supposedly going to a much bigger track - again thankyou for your tips

AndyT ©

There was a tip in here quite a while ago that drilling a 1/64" hole in the clutch shoes will also help give it some better kick out of the corners.......i`d never tried it but would be interested to know how much affect this actually had on performance.

tommi

iTrader: (7)

Now I know why you're still running your NTC3 and keeping the RRR... Wicked mods!

AJC13B

Oooohhhh!! Things to try!!

wayne

ok I went to try the clutch bell mods on a rtr clutchbell - if you got a rtr the clutchbell and gears are a one peice assembly - so no drill holes in clutchbell and the inside of clutchbell was ubersmooth i talking POLISHED smooth as it (the bell) is hardened as the gears are it is impossible to rough it up by machining but i did rough it a little with some emery with the bell in a lathe at really low rpms hopefully the rough inside of the bell will make it bite better - downside I shat one of the engine mount screws and will need to order em from the usa as I am out of spares - how dangerous would it be to run car with three engine mount screws? anybody done it?

decided against altering the 2 speed bell at this time - one mod at a time and all that - anyway I shall see if it helps any

Aphinity

I've run with 3 engine mount screws before.

One tip for all nitro cars. If the thread is a course thread (meaning NOT the ones in the head of the engine.. do NOT do this to those), I highly suggest using blue threadlock on the screws. This will keep them from falling out. As a rule, I always use blue threadlock on any screw that threads into metal.

If you ran 3 screws and threadlocked them, they shouldn't come out at all. In fact, just to warn you, they will be difficult to remove in the future as well, especially if the part that they thread into gets hot at all. Engine mount screws rarely need removing anyway, in my experience, so this is a good place to use the blue threadlock. It's worth it relative to losing a screw that puts you out of the race by stripping your gears out.

AndyT ©

Another easy to do handy hint for the NTC3 is to give the pivot balls a polish...and also the hinge pins. This will help free up the suspension and keep it nice and smooth
To polish the pivot balls.....wrap the thread in some rag and mount it into a Dremel or electric drill....then its simply a case of using some polishing compound to bring these parts up to a nice shine....then do the same for the hinge pins
Cheers

ae_ntc3

yes this certainly helps free up the suspension.i have also noticed that if you tighten up the pivot ball covers over the pivot balls too tight then this also binds up the suspension.

AndyT ©

Yep....overtightening the pivot ball covers will definitely seize the suspension movement right up
One other option for freeing up the NTC3 is to "modify" the diff cases.
The bearings for these "snap" into place and when the cases are assembled and tightened, there will be very slight binding on the bearings.
To free this up, each half of the case needs to modified slightly using a hobby knife.....the recessed plastic area of the case where the bearing sits can have some material removed to free up the bearing. Remove only very very slight amounts of material at at time. Put the bearing in the case, the turn that half of the diff case upside down.....when the bearing falls out of its own weight the job is done.....the secret is dont remove too much material from the cases
Cheers

wayne

are you referring to the little ball things the steering arms mount on in regards to this?
and as for the hinge pins are you referring to the pins the suspension arms pivot on? I already tried a mod on this forum and I ended up trashing one of my engine mount screws it probably wasnt in too good a condition in the first place but it stripped out real fast and Ii had to slot it and drive it out with flat blade screwdriver and I scratched up the chassisplate some slotting it - the diff mod sounds interesting - next time I service my diffs I may try that one and its surprising that ae would make the bearings such a "tight fit" in the cases - there must be a reason keep crap out the diff perhaps?