Electric f1 to nitro conversion.
 

Hello

I would like to recreate an f1 car that will be driven around my street or in carparks. The only problem is that I can only find electric tamiya ones and well, electric has no soul and does not suit an f1 car. And I might have a .18 nitro engine I can use, saving me from buying pricey electronics.

I have seen an f201 on here fitted with a four stroke and I was thinking it would be a fun project to fit a f104 (maybe f104w) with a nitro engine. Any ideas on how to go about it?

I do plan on using this as well so it has to function, no use in an rc car cluttering a shelf is there?

Hi,

Oh yes. An interesting project idea.
I, for one, have thought of doing but never have. (As, I suspect, many others have .....)

Like you said, I have seen 1/10th Nitro F1's before aswell. The biggest issue I would say you'll have in attempting this is shear space!
Things are going to be soooo very cramped considering the geometry of an F1 car.
If I was going to do it I would start with 3 things. The chassis, the body and decide on the wheels you will use.
That way you have the constaints under which you'll have to work with.
I might add this will be closely followed by the engine you will use.

This is just off the top of my head. :blush:

Keep us updated as you get going through this.....

Regards
BM

Kyosho has a Nitro F1.

Not enough room to really do a 10th scale unless you use the Kyosho engine and drive train. you can get that car for around 250.
DO you have a link to the 201 converted? i just happen to have one of those on my shelf doing nothing!
I think a cool project would be to make an 1/8 scale nitro with a .15 or .12 and 3 speeds!

Kyosho had one, I was one their website earlier today and saw one on there, unfortunately it hasn't be around since 2011.

I'm thinking I might start with a tamiya f104. The McLaren kits are around $150(aud) and look very good, there are some other classic bodies as well that kind of appeal to me.

I also have en engine out of an rc car I bought years ago off ebay, I crashed it first run and couldn't get it running again so I got a new kyosho engine for it. I have just looked at the other engine and it is a gsm 2000 and I can't see why it won't run, no scoring in the sleeve but when I turn the crank the sleeve moves with the piston, so I'll have to look at that.

If this engine runs then it will be pretty cheap to get my f1 car up and running.

Not sure why but when I posted I couldn't see your post mantisworx.

I can't post links but if you Google 4 stroke f201 in images its the first picture.

The 3 speed 1/8 would be cool too but I can't find a chassis to use, not much on eBay Australia.

The Kyosho KF01 is still around and worth checking out.

The best person to help you devise a way to do a conversion like this is MikaR from Finland. He did a nasty conversion of a Spada 09 using a OS FS-26 4-stroke engine. I believe he posted a couple of videos on You Tube. And, he used the Spada 2-speed which made it wickedly fast. He has done other conversions on vehicles before. Good luck with the project.

And do not forget the Serpent 1/8 F1

From what I can find the serpent one is discontinued, and was quite expensive to start with.

If I can't find a way to do this I might do a rally car, preferably one that looks like a group b quattro. Any ideas on something different I can do with a rally car? I would like something a bit different than just buying and running a car.

I've always wanted to convert a race spec 2nd hand nitro such as a shepherd V10, mtx4 or 733 etc that you can grab for a bargain.

You may have to give the mid section a retro look, I'd include air induction to carby and it's going to be trick in the mid section, engine cooling and shell design, I would look at an off road 1/8 buggy wing for the rear, and then make a nice front nose cone section.
Then send a pic to FIA, to show the 2014 F1 designers of their nose cones, the difference between, "pretty" and "pretty ugly" means!

A 1/8th scale would be even nicer!

Wow seems like lots of people have thought about it.

1/8 would be cool but I might start with 1/10, easier to get an f1 chassis. I was thinking running some pipe from the pontoons to cool the engine, and then one from the air duct to the carb. I would probably have to use some mesh of sorts to keep stones out.

On the note of the nose cones, I don't mind the new ones, the McLaren and mercs look quite alright. The lotus us a bit odd but I don't think that will last. Their more worried about the noise now, its very quiet but I thought the sound was good, no earplugs were needed and I thought it was a better sound.

My nitro version certainly won't have any noise problems.

I agree that 10th would be nice but there simply is not going to be enough room to make one that looks like the current F1's which is what i would like to build. Just look closely , they can barely fit an ESC battery and 540 motor, imagine stuffing a fuel tank,RX batt,engine, trans and clutch under a 10th scale body! I have already drawn most of it up in CAD and there just is no way, without most of it sticking out. Where as if you go with 1/8 scale its still very tight but possible.
http://i770.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps30dc23d7.jpg
http://i770.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps12212bf3.jpg

I was into RC bikes a few years ago and right now there is an open source site that basically provides CAD files so you can have parts machined or 3d printed and you can basically build yoru own bike via the internet. This would be an awesome project for an 1/8 scale nitro F1 car! the biggest hold ups are going to be the body/wings and the tires. But the body can be 3d printed in sections fairly easily and the same for the wheels but tires may be the hold up although I am sure there is something our there that will work and be accurate. I would prefer rubber but foam may be a more viable option.
The F201 suspension arms would be great for the rear and can still be purchased easily. I also think that you can use a 10th 2wd buggy for the base to work off of. the TeamC TM2 uses a 2 gear rear gear box like and 1/8 scale buggy but smaller.
Here is a vid of the one i built a few years ago and as you can tell its a TIGHT squeeze!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNLt0wUjurQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gQfVTzJJNQ

Very true, MikaR has built some of the most amazing conversions I've ever seen. Here's the 4-stroke Spada you're talking about from almost 5 years ago. Equipped with a 2-speed with twin belts no less!

http://www.snrt.net//VONERRR/SpadaPipe1.jpg

I'd bet if anyone could pull off a nitro F1 conversion, it would be MikaR. :nod: