ruebiracer

Hi again,

thanks hprt for your infos, now it´s quite clear to me with your detailed infos!

@niznai:
I really had no problem to build the kit shocks, as they are std. cva from Tamiya and definitely no crap in my eyes. I just had 2 bubbles in one I had to fix. What else should go wrong? But I reworked them meanwhile with 3mm rebound during built, to reduce the "gas force" (push out force).But I use the red foam inserts above the rubber cap.
Also I switched to a TRF shock guiding instead of the 2 O-ring which reduces friction, also TRF pistons which have a better guiding and also less friction especially under side forces. It´s a cheap upgrade as this extra parts are sold separately.

About the slop: For sure the M06 is not better as any M-Chassis before, shiming is a "must" in my opinion. But with that and an aditional grub screw in the rear uprights it gets very less sloppy. (worlds apart from a TT01)

I never spent monay on an M regarding Aluminum uprights, as they are very expensive and I always have the fear that they crack or bend during accidents? What´s your experience here, guys?

And, what I forgot: Steering slop is not a big matter, I think. My straight line wander in the beginning was again a cheap servo (Futaba FS200 Speed), which I thought to be enough for an M. But, It didn´t manage to center the steering very well and failed on the track by not turning in (2 times in a final).
So I switched to my Touring car´s Savöx 1251, which solved all my issues.
They are so great stuff for the price, if you compare it to a Futaba 9551 or similar...

BR,
Matthias

caltek1

iTrader: (38)

I couldn't agree more with having them all in the same thread and I do like the idea of cross pollination of ideas.

BTW,

I like the bling, cause it adds that "WOW" factor. :lol

Later,

Calvin.

tony gray

iTrader: (7)

I've suggested about 5 times to keep everything in the main Mini Cooper thread, and every time someone resurrects this one within a day...

It's not hard people, they're all m-chassis cars...

Granpa

Well I'm pleased you enjoyed my efforts to, as Stitchy puts it, stir the pot a little. Won't be posting much for awhile cause there are too many projects that need my attention. Like to do some posting cause it helps me organize my thoughts and give careful consideration to what I'm posting. After all, no one wants to look like an idiot, tho that doesn't seem to stop some.

Projects waiting to be done are converting one of my M03L cars to a MWB and replacing those electronics with those I'm buying for the M06. I'll use those in the M06. Sorting out the M05 MWB cause that car is just EVIL. Even Kevin Nino, the M05 master except for Brandon, couldn't get it too much better. Hoping the diff change and a couple of other things that will remain hidden behind these blood shot eyes will transform it. If I'm wrong, that way I'll not look like an idiot. If it works, then we'll just add them to the bag of "tricks" to be shared in time and when the mood hits. Then there's a new M05L to build cause I had my other M05L working very well before I changed to the MWB and made an evil, bite the hand that feeds it, SOB of a car. Then there's the M06 to build. Also the Xevo to go thru

As to your question, it shouldn't make a difference. If it does the beveled side shold go towards th small cone washers.

Granpa

Wish I could give you a better answer than this one, but the K0 purchase was prompted by a racing buddy who knows more about this stuff than I ever wanted to know. He made this suggestion after test driving my car. "Your car is dialed, but your esc is really hurting you". At a later time he told me to get the KO.

Granpa signing off for awhile. It's been fun and informative.

caltek1

iTrader: (38)

Bob,

Good luck with all your projects. May you make peace with the evil SOB, MO5M.

Calvin.

niznai

Yeah, thank you, too busy earning a living. But I had fun building the little piece of crap and I'll have even more fun driving it.

I have absolutely no idea why they came up with the brilliant idea of these absolutely useless shocks, perhaps instruction for the kids at show and tell hour. There is absolutely no way you can bleed the excess oil out of there when you screw the caps down tightly and the diaphragm is squashed to seal. For soem reason the piston is pushed down and air is sucked in. I tried bleeding the shocks at the bottom and I think it can work but you have to find a way to put the silicone o-rings back whilst evacuating the oil in their little seat instead of compressing it back in the shock body. As I said, the bodies being clear you can observe very well your utter failure.

This experience made me rethink all the shock building I have done in the past on Tamiya kits. The black (normal) shocks in cheap kits never seemed so hard to build, but then again you don't know how much air is in there. And don't rely on listening for the dreaded squish sound to detect air. These clear shocks have demonstrated for me that even when they don't squish, they still have air inside. I really start to appreciate Xray shocks and understand now why they went to the length of designing them that way.

About slop, I used to be very nervous in the past and built everything to my TC standards, i.e. no slop at all. That is completely pointless in a mini. They handle fine the way they are.

For instance you could take the side play out of the wheel axles but what's the point? If you use the foam thingies (as pointed out earlier) they will act as buffers, pushing the axle out and in case of contact, they'll absorb some of the shock which is a very good outcome especially since the crap bearings I use wouldn't take much abuse before crapping themselves.

Using quality ballcups and good balljoints is a waste of money. Play in suspension and steering is a compounded effect from all the loose plastic parts more than the sloppy cups/balljoints in the kit.

I did it in the past on my M02 chassis and then realised the suspension arms are so soft, it doesn't matter. On that car, you can even replace the shocks with rigid rods it wouldn't matter. Still love it though.

monkeyracing

iTrader: (10)

I've got to disagree on one point. There are a few places in the M chassis cars where removing slop can make a difference. It has for me anyway. The side to side slop in the axles is one of those places. I've found it helps my car track a little straighter and makes it more predictable. I also try to have my steering turnbuckles as accurate as possible.

All the other slop can stay.

The one place where slop is bothering me in the M-06 is the rear uprights. I thought the slop was caused by collision damage, but after taking everything apart and measuring last night, I think maybe it was just a bad molding job. The toe on the left rear is about where it should be, while the toe on the right is non-existent. I checked the suspension shafts, how the lower control arm was built, the upright and came to the conclusion that there's a problem with the upright being a bit out of whack and more undersized and sloppy than one would usually expect.

I'm going to chuck a set of alloy pieces from my other mini on there to see if my theory/measurements are supported. I hope so. If that's not it, then I'll replace the control arm. If that also fails, then I suppose the whole back half of the chassis is wonky. It happens.

EDIT: The slop was in the upright. I put it on another car that I know is otherwise good and it threw the toe way off on that one too.

hprt

iTrader: (9)

I'm sure someone else has confirmed this already, but for those not aware the M05 front bar fits on the M06 without issue. I used the short links off the M05 rear bar.

niznai

There is no point in that. My car tracks perfectly straight. I have not even bothered to measure anything, let alone try to shim out the play in the rear wheels which are wobbly as world economy.

Which begs the question, why would you bother to take out all the play in one component of steering? The front wheels flop about like a sailor after a week on shore. Wheelbearing play alone generates about 3 to 5 degrees of toe out depending which way you pull it. That being given, why would you even bother?

Nah, leave it be and have fun with it for what it is.

I have an M05 specced up to everything I considered useful and has no play anywhere, just like my TC sedans. Well, it cost as much as a TC sedan. That's not the point of the mini class.

As I said before, if you want something really good in a mini size and RWD, get the ABC Goose. The Naked S version is a piece of jewellery, trust me. And for about 200$, it's cheap as cheaps.

ruebiracer

Hi guys,
I finished my body finally, just some small things to do.
Thought maybe you´d like it, some oldschool.
He´s back, and fits perfectly on the M06 Chassis, finally the engine is at the right place...

BR, Matthias

RossoTorro

iTrader: (1)

Looks awsome, got a couple of beetle shells on it's way from rcmart myself.
I had same idea as you about making a Herbie, decals ordered from UK.

niznai

More pictures, please, some detail if possible. I am interested to see how you stripes go across body detail (hood edge for instance)

ruebiracer

Thanks for the kind comments guys!

It´s not been my first Herbie, I also still have my M02 Herbie converted to front wheel drive for racing in 1997.
At that time I did my decals on the ink printer. But now I used also decal sheets from UK. The ones from "screenprintdigital" are fantastic, very sticky and flexible. For the Herbie stripes I use Tamiya decal sheets and cut of the stripes with a ruler and scalpel, because I find the available finished stripes to wide etc, and the self made stripes last forever, once applied. There is no bubble or corner they do not stick into.
No problem for more pics, but unfortunately I´m not at home at the weekend, but will post them on Monday.

BR,
Matthias

RossoTorro

iTrader: (1)

I bought these...

http://cgi.ebay.com/RC-CAR-RETRO-TAM...item3cb4fa3b10