105 replies to this topic

[Pablo]

.047" brass rod bracing for the tongue

 

 

Bracket bracing, .047" up top and .063" bottom

 

[Pablo]

I still haven't played my "one set of rails soldered full length" card yet

 

 

[Bill from NH]

If you feel the rails need to be soldered together, you could try the "half-length" first, but it might not make any difference. Iused to stiffen up a chassis with silver solder, but these weren't inlines, with a few exceptions.

[Pablo]

Appreciate it, Bill.

I'm not worried about it; just want to use it to my best advantage. I chose the outermost front axle supports

 

[Pablo]

7 gram "shakey" lead weight

 

[SlotStox#53]

Nice bit of low c of g with that shaky weight/lead. As low as you can get it.

Car is looking good Pablo

[Jairus]

"Out of the box Paul!" I like it.

[Pablo]

Thanks guys. First time I've soldered to lead. Thought it would be tricky, but it was easy

[Ecurie Martini]

Wondering.........I routinely read the build threads on this forum to pick up ideas that I can use - like the above lead shaker.  I have zero knowledge of the various competition classes and associated rules.  In the pond that I like to play, "rules" are typically WB, Track, tire specs (min/max diameter & width, material, shape) motor spec (sometimes) and body material - again typically molded, resin or GRP.  When I use wire in chassis builds, it is almost always steel or spring tempered stainless.  It is stronger, lighter, much less likely to bend in an accident and both its lighter weight and strength (less wire needed) allows more opportunity to weight tune within a given design goal.
 
So - my question:  Why is brass rod so widely used with the weight penalty and need for multiple parts (I assume to provide adequate strength)
 
EM

[Jairus]

Weight can be your friend Alan.  If it's kept low enough of course.

Brass is easy to work with and has great harmonics as well.
But.... this proxy class requires the chassis be all brass, so... ;-)

[Half Fast]

Pablo

 

You are going to scare everybody else away with this Premo build

 

Cheers

[Pablo]

Alan, like Jairus said, no wire allowed for this build. The only non-brass item allowed is a small tongue of any material.

No brass sheet allowed, either. Normally I'd make my shaker platform using .015" brass sheet with thin wire pieces inside tubes.

Then use double sided tape to attach the weight atop the platform. It can be removed, moved, trimmed, etc.

This time, I don't have that option.

 

Thanks Bill, but I doubt I'm scaring anybody  

The spec motor is so docile, I'm sure a simple jaildoor chassis with no tricks would work fine.

The emphasis is on beautiful cars and having fun. I can visualize them eating fish n chips and quaffing ale as they drive them

 

I gave up trying to find firm enough and large enough donuts for my JK wheels.

Plan "B": my >1" OD wheels arrived today

 

[Lowrider]

Congratulations, sir. You have provided me with another difficult question.

 

Lead was not specifically banned in the rules, why would it be? It's the usual method of tuning chassis balance.

On the other hand, the chassis are supposed to be made solely of brass rod and tube and Pablo has changed lead from a tuning aid where it is added to an existing chassis to an actual chassis component which has been expressly forbidden. Taking this theory to extremes, I could imagine a large chunk of lead being used as chassis pans with a simple rectangle of brass rod forming the perimeter. Not what I had in mind at all.

 

I think I'm going to have to be a little arbitrary here and ask you to remove the lead employed in this way and think again.

Might I suggest a 'concertina' of brass rod formed into a rectangle of the same size? You could overlay one rectangle over the other if you wanted to add further weight.

 

Looking forward to the next challenge.

[Pablo]

I'll remove it, no problemo

Thanks for the clarification

[Bill from NH]

It sounds like solid pans made of parallel brass rods would be legal, just a longer rectangle.

 

 

Lee Gilbert was right!

[Ecurie Martini]

Gentlemen - thank you for the clarification.  The only chassis material rule that I have encountered is the other way around - prohibition of the use of carbon fiber laminate in a few proxies.  I still like the little lead shaker idea - it's filed away for future use.  While I recognize that weight can help, I find that I have been going lighter recently, either because motor specs are tight and low powered (e.g. FC-130 cans, 14K RPM max) or plotting results over time points to lighter cars finishing higher (VRAA)

 

EM

[Jairus]

I suspect that these cars will benefit more from tire tuning than from chassis movement.  Too much traction, they tend to roll over. Thus the "Drifting" term.

[Pablo]

I agree, Jairus.

 

Adding lead weight down low always loosens up a car no matter where it's placed.

The further forward the placement, the looser it makes the rear.

 

My intent with this particular weight was twofold:

-plant the flag to avoid deslots

-make the rear end drift happy

 

 

The reason behind making my "shaker" isn't a weight shift trick at all.

It's simply the best way to place weight down low in that location without making a hard connection between the rails.

 

The location I chose is to counteract the weight of the motor and balance the car fore and aft.

By adding weight forward (theoretically) it actually promotes the rear end to drift and plants the flag in the slot.

 

I 100% understand and support the decision to not allow it.

Onward   Here are my pans

 

[Pablo]

[Pablo]

 

[Pablo]

No, Red, I didn't forget. Brass sheet isn't allowed so I had to be creative on the placement

 

 

 

[Bill from NH]

 

[Pablo]

These Pro-Track CNC wheels are really sweet.

My fronts independently rotate on a 3/32" solid axle

 

[Pablo]

My Hawk 25 motor with ARP pinion

 

 

 

[Pablo]

Flag Tips Tricks and Parts:

-Parma standard thickness flag

-Turning Man 2 degree steel tongue

-TQ 20 lead wire (my new favorite)

-TQ clips

-Koford nut and spacers

 

John Clow trick: put a spacer up top - during practice, if you need to add one, there it is.

Coastal Angler trick: round off the corners of the nut that contact the wire during flag rotation.

Pablo trick: don't trim the flag shaft too short - if the car is raced at a track with deep braid recess you'll wish you hadn't.