Ph3nyx

Hello
I did a full review in french for www.rcf1.fr
(Indoor video footage around 13mn)

+ YouTube Video

ta04evah

iTrader: (2)

Yes, it is very much a disappointment, not as much as the Serpent F1 was, but it's close up there. Another thing which I forgot to mention was the king pins, why aren't they polished like 99% of all other kits are? I don't know whether to leave them how they are with the black coating or take them out to polish them so the suspension movement is smoother.

Don't get me wrong, but I still do like the car, but with all those things I mentioned while building it, I was thinking half way through "Maybe I should have bought a VBC instead".

As for whether or not a kit is "boring" to build or not, I expect when I buy a kit and pay a good amount of money, it should go together without any need for me to "modify" the parts in any matter to complete the build. Which was the case when I built my F113, that had a more enjoyable experience because 99.9% of the car went together with no fuss, nor no need for me to sand, dremel, cut, trim, or modify in any other way, and this was a car made by 3 Racing which others consider poor quality.

BTW, as I didn't have any other ball ends to replace the ones that pop off easily, I replaced the balls with the ones from a F113 as they are a bit bigger ball, and the ball end stays put while adjusting the turnbuckles.

Anyway, time to move on from this and focus on getting the car finished & setup to race, and will report on my results.

Regards
Rob

jdawg81

iTrader: (1)

What are good front springs to use on medium to high grip carpet? Are the kit springs good enough or should I be using something different?

malcnz

I find the kingpins as they are are as smooth as any f1 I have built which is quite a few now.

I also had an f113 and find it hard to believe you thought this built up better and higher quality as found the front end on it very very frustrating to get clearances right plus those small front shocks etc were prity junky.
Lets hope it goes better than your experience so far.

I wonder if its better for a ballend to pop off in a big hit rather than break an arm or hub? but if they coming off after just a gentle tap then yeah replace them.

CFRacing

well guys finally tested my stj and it went good,it will push at corner entry but can throttle it all the way from mid corner to the next corner with no loss of rear grip,will test with 700 oil,stock front end,(was using tamiya one) and pitts 571-575 tires.

ta04evah

iTrader: (2)

Today I finished installing the electrics into the car. Even with a shorty lipo, Hobbywing Justock ESC, and a micro receiver there isn't much "real estate" to place & hold the electrics in.
Also cut out the body & front wing, and mounted them onto the chassis, using a Speed Passion front wing T bar & low downforce wing that came with the front wing kit. I wanted to use the same Serpent F1 body that evochick uses, but they were out of stock of them, so I went with a mark 1 Speed Passion F1 body shell, and used a Serpent F1 rear wing at the back.

To mount the Serpent rear wing onto the chassis, I used the steering "posts" that weren't used as I also went with direct steering. I used short cap screws to attach the posts onto the rear wing mount, then just used 10 mm cap screws to bolt the wing onto the posts. By using the left over posts, it actually looks like they were meant for that purpose and don't look out of place.

I had to cut out a significant amount of lexen at the back, from the Speed Passion body so that the rear pod could move freely, the Speed Passion Mk 1 F1 body is a bit narrow at the rear.

Was a little disappointed that I could not get the gear ratio I wanted due to the very limited amount that the motor can travel before it rubs up against the shock springs. Needless to say I was very glad I didn't have to drill & thread extra holes on the motor to shoe horn it in that very small rear pod, if the motor wasn't going to fit, the car would more than likely have it's fate decided by the ebay gods by now.

So, now I must wait until the weekend until I can try the car on a track, and if the initial drive goes favorably, it may even be raced on the same day.
Overall satisfaction rating so far? - Right now it's probably lower than I would have liked due to the problems I had en counted while building.
Confidence in the car? - Again, more lower than it should be, which I'm hoping will change for the better on the weekend.

It was around this same time just last year that I had bought & built up a new F1 car with high expectations from it, a car that had come highly rated & recommended through various channels, but those expectations along with many other things were quickly smashed soon after the car was put on the track.

Anyway, looking forward to the weekend and hopefully I'll return with good news afterwards.

Regards
Rob.

evochick

iTrader: (5)

Rob I think you and I went into the builds looking at it from a different angle.

My thoughts have always been that this SpeedPassion Crap they are using is going to be crap, how can I make it better and livable with.

Ok yeah a few things are not very good in your kit like missing parts and misaligned things, but the rest we of the stuff we really knew about and wasn't really a deal breaker.

I also have this vision of a StreetJam being thrown across the carpark on Sunday Morning, you will have to remember it does drive differently to other F1's and will take you a few runs to get your head around it.

This is just a reference for anyone building the kit this should be the definite list of the things that really need have changed or have to do during the build.

Step 3 check and sand height adjusters as may be too tight and install STJ Carbon Rear Axle
Step 4 Use Ceramic Diff balls in place of kit steel ones
Use Smaller Spur gear than what is supplied in kit for 21.5 blinky.
Step 8 Pivot Balls at top and add 0.5mm shim
Delete Step 12,13,16 and 17 and remove carbon bridge from the lower arm plate if using laydown servo. You will need a Servo Saver, Tamiya or equivalent.
Step 15 install STJ Alloy Caster Mount and STJ Alloy pivot balls
Step 18 Install SP Carbon Servo Mount
Step 19 Replace Soft ball cups with Yokomo Ball cups or equivalent
Step 21 Replace with longer 10mm Ball stud for added durability, Associated ASC31285 or equivalent
Step 22 Replace Steering arms with SP Carbon arms
Install STJ alloy capture nut
Step 23 Insert Grub screw (not supplies) in back of steering Axle to lock Kingpin in place once it is installed
Step 25 Use the piston as a guide to install small e clips
Step 26 Required longer body posts for some body shells.
Step 28 Remove a small amount of plastic of bottom of ball cup for greater clearance when using the links in the upper position

The only other thing I have left off is the addition or the Type 2 bladder shock with the machined piston if you wanted to install these. But I think these are 100% necessary to get the car up and running competitively.

Beth.

mtveten

iTrader: (29)

for those not interested in dealing with the SP front end the f104 front end with exotek upper arms fits well and provides the required camber / caster adjustments.

ta04evah

iTrader: (2)

Yes, I know I'm being all negative & pessimistic about it, and I did know what I was getting into after talking to you about it when you showed me your car.
Maybe I've also been spoiled by building Tamiya kits where things go together 99.9% without any issues, sure it's never going to be up there with an xray for build quality, but I expected something better from a Japanese company.

And no, I won't throw the car across the car park, that exercise ends up being too costly as the electrical components often get damaged in the process, things like tires & bodies may reach an altitude though.
I will however have the F113 with me on Sunday to race, just in case the street jam does not agree with me during practice.

One thing that has me confounded the most, is how you managed to get the gear ratio you have on yours, even with a 65 tooth spur the biggest pinion I can use is a 28, and that's with the motor just lightly touching the shock springs.
If it's ok with you, can you give my car a look over on Sunday morning, just in case I've done something wrong, or have missed something during the building of the car.

Rob.

evochick

iTrader: (5)

That is very strange, mine limit wasn't hitting the springs but the motor tabs against the carbon motor mount plate.

Are you using the long neck ballstuds for the bottom of the shocks where it attaches to the motor mounts?

Yep ill be there Bright and early on Sunday morning well from Friday but we are going to the beach on Saturday

ta04evah

iTrader: (2)

Nope, I put the short ones there, my mistake. I was looking at the shocks and something didn't seem right, they work more smoothly now, and can now use a 30 tooth spur gear.

Rob.

evochick

iTrader: (5)

I still don't know how run the Orca with such high gearing, mine was coming off at 70deg 2 weeks ago with the 66/29 gearing and 0 timing

This was with the Ride tyres though which are a little bigger.

ta04evah

iTrader: (2)

And that's with the timing a little past the 10 degree mark.

evochick

iTrader: (5)

That's where I usually have mine, but I thought it as going to pop after I temped it after Q1 and it only got hotter throughout the day. These Orcas are just so inconsistent

ta04evah

iTrader: (2)

The first Orca I bought, and have been running 99% for a year, and has been a great motor, it runs hot but doesn't seem to effect it too much.
The second one I bought soon afterwards hasn't been so good, it's in consistent as well, no where near as fast and just won't work in a touring car, yet Pat from Orange bought one for 21.5 and blitzed us all in 21.5 in the final.

With all motors, I think it's a luck of the draw, sometimes you get a real good/bad one, and other times you get something in between.

p.s The shocks feel more smoother now since replacing those ball ends.