Experiments with stiffening my chassis (read: adding weight) led to a decision to not only shake some pork, but go for a retro look just for fun. It's looking a lot like the outdated (but not yet vintage) race karts that one could find running around pits and fields (usually with a Briggs grafted on) until people started collecting and restoring them.

I'm having fun, and am posting this to see if anyone else gets a chuckle, too.

Starting at a flexible 125g, I started cutting. Adding 2.3mm spring steel to independently stiffen the tail and the nose was worth every gram it added. The chassis now concentrates it's flex evenly, progressively, and aft of the centerline. The unused slots will be filled with lighter, removable/replaceable rod, if needed, for tuning.

Steering is next, I'd appreciate any clues on this.

Enjoy!

Got nothing but to tell you can't race it with the way it is now. Don't you have a copy of the rules for racing? Also when you removed the two sides you'll now have more flex. This will create traction hops in the rear. Looks good for drag type setup or speed runs.



Lead

I am nowhere near anyone who races these. We'll be making our own rules out here. I'd like to see a copy of your rules, though. I'd also like to see pics of any proportional steering conversions... I can't seem to find any.

The chassis is at least twice as rigid as the stockers, and flexes in a far more progressive manner... 2.3mm spring steel is considerably stiffer than styrene. In stock form, a front wheel can be lifted without compressing the spring, and given Styrene's limited memory (great for forming and modelling, not so much for tuned flex), there is no way to make it hold, or precisely return to a given dimension without using another material to back it up.

Try this: If you put your stocker on scales, at 4 corners, and weigh them... then flex the chassis and weigh it again... you will find that you cannot return to the original numbers without allowing the kart to rest on a flat surface for quite a while. This is why styrene isn't used for structural parts in typical racing applications, and is often used, instead, in motorized models (that sometimes look like race cars) to save money.

I have another 1/6 coming, for parts ($8, ebay). If there is real interest, I will set up and document repeatable and accurate side by side tests of all this, for tuners and builders, before tearing it down. I performance modded my first slot car in the mid '60s, and built styrene static models before then. That's fast approaching a half a century of working with the stuff... Styrene and I are old friends. I am retired from building high performance custom 1:1 vehicles and parts, and am enjoying returning to my roots. It's more fun to mod when you don't have to worry about killing a client with 1 mistake.

I understand spec racing... and understand how much fun it can be... but to pay someone else to do my mods is no different, to me, than paying someone else to eat my ice cream.

Wow just got back into town wow again. drag it cut it and we'll keep rocking out chassis..... cant say more than that





Robert

LOL! You have a deal! I think they call it symbiosis?

This wasn't intended to go this far, I bought it out of curiosity. It wasn't until I saw the quality of the design, the molding, and the construction that I reached for tools. I'll be having a lot of unauthorized fun with these...

Is there a published parts list with prices?

Brought my driver down to a scale 5'10" or so, and adjusted his posture to better fit a seated race position.

While mocking up steering, I noticed something I had never seen before: The F wheels are riveted to the knuckles, without bearings or bushings. What are the differences between my '04s and the '12s?

I can't seem to find pics of the steering mods, but I measured it all out... and it won't be difficult to convert it to a larger version of my Turnigy mini setup. Easy to make, and as it is a clamp it allows adjusting the Akerman angles to suit various tracks. Simply loosen 2 screws on the bottom slightly, and slide the servo forward or back.

Hello again got some great sleep after the long drive. Man its hard to get back to things again when you have time off. Anyhow, well I was amazed and all eyes on what you were doing until you whipped out a the other kart as shown above. You lost all my inerest in the project when you did that sad to say. Its not our brand so Im stepping out of this thread. Some of the other may post but thats all up to them. Great job on the mods so far!







Robert

I found something, after trying dying with patchwork results, that can color the entire suits. The bluish tinge of his cuffs is the result of trying to color them with permanent marker when the dye failed, before the Duplicolor was used. No matter how many coats, it bleeds through.

All I had around was medium gray, and the results looked so much like overalls that I turned them backwards after shaving the velcro on the collar and leaving it open and turned. With a Cat ball cap turned backwards, and short sleeves with long underwear pulled up to mid forearm, he would bear an uncanny resemblance to quite a few guys I've known over the years. Perfect for an old ex-race kart roaming a junkyard or industrial park.

Originally Posted by Team Edge RC

Hello again got some great sleep after the long drive. Man its hard to get back to things again when you have time off. Anyhow, well I was amazed and all eyes on what you were doing until you whipped out a the other kart as shown above. You lost all my inerest in the project when you did that sad to say. Its not our brand so Im stepping out of this thread. Some of the other may post but thats all up to them. Great job on the mods so far!







Robert

I'm sorry to hear that Robert. I'm way into karts... not brands. If I am embargoed here, in terms of info, because I won't run only your brand... then so be it. I have been practically begging for info, and as you can see from the other rigs... I don't need to do anything typical to get the job done. You would not believe what that little Turnigy would do to the Edges, on the track... and the 1/4 would be like a bowling ball amongst fresh eggs. Seriously.

I'll muddle through... lol.

As a full time rc driver I find this comical as you can't compare one scale to another. The Turny is a much larger kart than what I race. Its also based off of Kyoshos kart. Lastly its two totally different power sources. Lipo to NIMH is oranges to eggs LOL. Toss size into the mix and the different power sources theres nothing to compare anything to. I don't get it.



Lead

Thanks, FP. Just a quick look at how you guys do it will be all I need. I'd like a look at your hubs, too. I make my own parts, and am not sure what will come of this edge, now.... but I'd love to see your work.

I need to think about all this. I'm still a little surprised. Here's why:

I'm betting you know this, but bear with me for a minute? When a high memory material is laminated with a low memory material, the result is a part that has all the precision repeatability of the former, and is damped by the latter. The best of both worlds, without bristling with complexity and variables (modern pan cars).

If someone presented me with an idea that had even remote potential to give my favorite rig tunabilty and strength, that could lead to a whole new level of performance... backed by decades of practical experience in that exact field... and that can be tried by using $1 worth of materials, and only requires a pair of pliers...

My reaction would vary from Robert's, considerably.

It's been years since I've been greeted this way in a forum. The last time was when I mistakenly went into a Honda Kiddie forum doing research for a force cooled phase change intercooler (perpetual ice! Woo hoo!). I ran into a huge group of folks who were convinced that the only secret knowledge needed to get into the 7s was the right parts list. Another one of those old "Matthew 7:6" deals.

I'm having fun with my edges as models right now. We'll see what happens.

Love the avatar, BTW. Here's a rig I built, that never failed to raise the hair on my arms... just by inserting the key. Oversquare, roller, 8.6:1... on avgas (106) I could slam the gate and get 22psi. Street legal 10s (in '79), and driven to work daily... it pulled like an absolute B****, right up to the grenade line. It wanted nothing more than to see me dead.

See? I know how to have fun, too!

*

Lead, the fact that I have been eating aspirin for half a century, does not make me a chemist.

There is one place where all scales meet: Cost effectiveness. I will crunch some numbers, and get back to you.

Originally Posted by Full Pull RC

edk,

Glad to see you back I was afraid the big bad wolf ran you off (LOL)

Robert really is a good guy just a little set in his ways. We bust each others chops on here all the time,
then we will go to lunch and its all good. He just moved into my area so we run karts on a regular bases.
Myself I have been into the RC hobby, building and racing for over 40 years and like to think outside
the box like you are doing. I will never be to old to learn something new so keep it up.

Although I would like to see where you will put the esc, rx and battery.
Maybe a 2cell lipo in the driver with the plug in his butt and just plug him
on.

I will get you some pic. posted tonight.

FP

LOL... no, I never could take a hint.

I figured out quickly that Dale was born to smuggle.

I'll check in tonight!