euphorik

So theres alot of Aussies on these forums I noticed. I remember one time we were about 50km off the shore of Perth and the captain decided we had to come back to hawaii an not pull in. I was pretty mad. I have always wanted to visit Australia. I will one day. Alot of Australians come here to Oahu on vacation and there always the best to party with down in Waikiki. Haha

TTR_EB4

went the model shop today, And he had failsafes in yay, so i got one and i dont hav to worry about batteries going dead and my car crashing and costing me more money to fix it!! it cost $28 bit expensive for a thing thats like 1 centremetre squared lol. well im happy hop everyone else is, Firebird got those pics of ya on roader yet, hangin out to c what it looks like.

grizz1

TTR - Good work on the failsafe. That $28 might save you a lot more

Jas the Ace

Hey euphorik, just think that you have been a lot closer to perth than I have, and I hear there are a lot of wonderful people over that way! Isn't that right mozzz?....hello mozzz....
But if you ever happen to be sailing around SE Queensland and notice a tiny 17ft boat bobbing around in the water pop over and say g'day. I'm sure your captain would understand.....if not give him a whiff of nitro fuel and he will soon come good.

I have a question on servo savers, something I have never had to play with. My mate has chewed through a couple steering servo's recently, and I was wondering if it was his servo saver and/or adjustments. What is a basic paddock bashing set up for these little gismo's?
I recall reading something a while back but as I haven't needed it, I have forgotten it. [&o]


Forget the wife, and enjoy life!!
(but ask for her permission first)

euphorik

Haha. Im sure my captain wouldnt mind that at all Lol. My sailing days are over come July. Ill be discharged July 18th and moving back to new york. Cant wait for some snow again The cold I can do without though []. I finally got my digi camera back so I will take some pics of my buggy as soon as I put it back together. I took it all apart to clean it good and have a good sense of every piece of her.

TThib

I have a question... I bought a "project Hurricane" today and disassembled it all down for a slow rebuild. I have the center differential in my hand and noticed the "grub screw" on the casing. If you tighten it all the way down, it locks the diff. Whats the deal with this screw... how tight do you tighten it? I'm going to put some new fluid in it tomorrow and was wondering how this should be set.

hrdcoreglf

If you dissasemble your diff you will see that that set screw is there so that you can pull the set pin that holds on the diff cups. when you over tighten it hits the gear inside the diff. It should be just a hair in from flush on the outside of the diff case.

grizz1

Right on hrdcoreglf - I normally put a dab of RTV sealant on the grub screw once it is in place as well. This stops any diff oil from working it's way down the thread of the grub screw and leaking out (which seems to happen sometimes. Especially with the lighter oils).

Jas - You want the servo saver screwed up tight enough so that it doesn't make your steering ineffective, but not so tight that it doesn't break apart and take the shock off your servo. I find if I wind the screw up about 5 - 7 mm from the bottom that this is about right. You can check if it's set right by getting someone to hold the servo horn real tight while you try and turn the wheels. You should be able to part the two servo saver halfs with some effort, but if it parts the servo saver too easily you should nip it up a bit more.
You may need to remove the saver from the buggy to adjust it, as some of them are swines of things to adjust. The spring often has sharp ends that grip into the metal when you try to turn the adjusting wheel. You get half a turn out of the wheel , then it springs back to where you started. You get sore fingers and very frustrated very quickly. Just pop the steering brace off, undo the two screws under the chassis and lift the whole steering post assembly out. Take the spring and file the ends round so they move easily when you reassemble everything. Adjust the thumb wheel out of the buggy, then reassemble everything. You will find with the spring ends rounded off that you can now adjust the thumb wheel in the car if necessary.
If the servo saver is too weak, you get really sloppy steering. Too tight, you get wicked steering response but run the risk of killing steering servos one after the other.

firebird78

tried my first paint job and trim job tonight...will charge the camera and try to get some pics posted 2morrow night...didnt turn out real good...but didnt turn out real bad neither...will prolly order another body and give it another shot..lol..this one will be ok to run but want to do a better job....prolly wont be able to tell when its cruisin down the road..lol..wing didnt come out the same color...still looks kewl...will need to clean my buggy to get pics of it..lol...its a lil on the dirty side..lol

TTR_EB4

buggies are ment to be dirty, thats what its all about, ive seen buggys clean as anything (i dont think they use them off-road)

Jas the Ace

Cheers grizz, it sounds to me his saver might be a bit tight, we did notice from day one his steering was very quick and at times he said the steering was far to quick to have control. I will pass on the advise to him and he can set it up as a general setting and see how it goes, but it sounds like it could be the cause of him chewing up servos.


Look fwd to seeing some of those pics guys, and don't forget to tell us about the breakages too,


With the diff screw mentioned earlier, is that the one that can adjust the 'slip' of the diff aswell?

TTR_EB4

Im racing for the first time tomorrow, im kinda nervis but im really excited, im scared im going to wreck by buggy lol and BTW i know i didnt spell nervis rite lol. ill let you know how i went when i get back..

Jas the Ace

Don't be nervous mate, its all a huge build up of excitement that is going to be released when you hit a track with a few other equal people. It is such a buzz to have any form of track to race or try and race against ya mates. And just remember it isn't as easy as what it looks on the internet or videos, but every one there is in the same frame as yourself. I reckon as soon as you get home and see what very little damage you have done, if any, you will be busting to go again. That is the basic addiction of the sport. You will love it TTR.
And while you are there just stick ya nose in and see what other people have done to their cars, you can learn a lot with your eyes and on the spot questions.

Good luck and have heaps of fun!!

grizz1

Jas mate - we are getting some of your left over weather here this weekend. It is SH-T. Gale force winds and rain, rain, rain. Still we have had nearly 3 months of wicked sunshine and record temps, so I guess we were due []
That diff screw is purely for the removal of the pin that holds the diff cups and out drives together. You don't want it anywere near the diff gears or it will cause serious damage.

Firebird - painting your own bodies is cool fun. After a while you will get a little adventurous and start trying multi colours and pin strips etc. A couple of things I picked up from the guys at the track regarding painting:

Make sure you wash the inside of the body thoroughly with hot soapy water using an abrasive pot scourer or something similar to lightly scuff the inside surface were you are going to apply the paint (really important, as it stops paint flaking off after a time. It needs a rough surface to adhere to properly).

Heat the inside of the body with a hair dryer immediatly before you apply the paint.
Heat the paint can as well (immerse in boiled water for 2 - 3 minutes is the safest way)

Apply thin coats, and dry immediatly after application with hair dryer. As soon as paint is dry apply next coat and dry with hair dryer again. Continue for 4 or so coats or until you are happy with the finish. Using this method you can fully paint your body in around an hour or so.

Apply at least 3 coats of backing paint over the finished paint work in the same manner, Use either black or white paint to protect finished work, and also to bring out the colours you have used. If you are using light colours or fluoro paint, use a white backing as it really makes the fluoro colours stand out.

There you have it, my entire knowledge base on model painting, he he he - so much to learn

TTR - go hard mate. It's only natural to be a bit nervous. Once your half a lap into your first race, you will be concentrating so hard on staying the right way up you won't have time be aprehensive [X(] Jas is right on as regards having a good look at everyones buggies etc. You will learn so much by hanging out at the track. There are usually some very knowledgable people racing. Look at their set ups, watch what they do, how they prepare their cars for a race. You will learn heaps in very short time.
Biggest thing I found when I started racing is to concentrate only on your car. Dont look at the car coming up behind you, or the car in front. Just watch your car intently and ignore everything else that is happening on the track, otherwise you will loose control and go astray quite often. Drive hard but smooth. If you are slower than the others don't worry. If you stay on the track and right side up, you will finish higher up the field than you expected. Most important of all - just go have some great fun, and drive your buggy like you stole it !!

firebird78

ok here it is..be nice..like I said its my first time..lol...havent done all the holes for air or glow plug yet..wanted to take pics like this first..and I will be doing another..I learned alot on this one..will be same color just maybe not totally black windows..the wing didnt come out right...lol

firebird78

heres some more of my lightning..didnt get any of my hurricane..didnt wanna take pics of it dirty...may try to get some of it tomorrow..will be getting a diff body for it

ehroof

nice ta body bro

firebird78

thanks Eddie..I love pontiacs especially firebirds..lol

firebird78

ttr...give em heck on the track...I hope you do well...i envy you...good luck buddy...grizz thanks for the paint tips...yall are great..and I hope everybody has a blast with their buggies...hopefully mine will be flyin high 2morrow...weather permiting..lol

grizz1

Firebird78 - Nice body, nice colour, nice paint job
Is that a set of drifting tyres I see mounted there ?? Looks like fun Also looks like you have a bit of room to run that baby in too - nice. I live at the end of a cul-de-sac so have a bit of room out the road to terrorise the neighbours with my nitro toys.
What size motor is in the Lightening bro ?

firebird78

.16...was going to upgrade to a .18..but not until I get a handle on it...the steering is extreamly touchy...stock tires..I like it...but there ain much that can contend to a buggy off road...lol..im going to get another body and paint it grape pearl...should be a lil darker but still change colors...

grizz1

Cool. That should get a long nicely with a .16 in it. I have the GS .18 in my Vision on-roader and it rocks. It is quicker than some of the .12 race engines off the mark and up to about half throttle, then they start to rev and haul at the top end and leave me behind a little. I'm picking your standard rubber tyres won't last long. These things wheel spin like crazy. My standard tyres disappeared in about 2 days [X(]. Get a set of foams when they wear out. Run about 40 shore on the front and 37 shore on the back for a bit more grip. With a bit more traction you will really haul a-se [8D]. Even with the foams on you can still doughnut at will - I love these 1/10 on-roaders.
One of the guys brought his 1/8 on-roader to the track the other day. Man what a weapon. It is a Mugen MB4X with a Le Mans style Lola body. He is running a modded Ninja MRT .21 on-road competition motor. These things are unbelievibly QUICK. I was blown away by the sheer acceleration. You really have to see one going hard out to appreciate just how fast they are. So my next thing on the wish list is ........ Might be some time however [&o] as they are not cheap. His car owes him around NZ$2,300 [:-]

TTR_EB4

heys guys, i just got back from racing, its wicked!!!, i was ment to be in the 1:8 buggy begginers class BUT, no'one turned up for the begginers class!! so they put me i the advanced class and guess what!! overall i came 11th out of 15 in the advanced class!!

my buggy went really good didnt break any parts, even the plasic sway bar holders that i was talking about a couple posts back, they didnt break either.. well im happy

Firebird: that on-roader looks sweet & thanks for the advice
Grizz: thanks for the advice..

grizz1

No worries TTR - Congratulations on your maiden race day. Let me see, we will be going racing again - yes ??? I thought so !!!!

TTR_EB4

deffinatly in choice!!