what kind of stuff u and ur buddies got..? sounds like i need it all!

birdie-in-texas,

We have excellent used batteries (the latest number Panasonic SMH packs, tires, I have a Millenium charger, some friends may have a used power supply, etc. You name it, we got it.

Ray

BTW_better inest in a soldering iron!! hahaha!! Oh- the best body to run is the Parma EXP Speed 8.

what do you want for the millenium...? also for batteries..i just called hobby shop and they run 6-cells for stock and modifird both...is a big track setup for impacts...

Let me get back to you in the morning. I am hitting up my small circle of racing buddies to see what we can come up with for you. Millenium will be about $85.00-mint condition, etc. Batteries are out of USTC A-main contenders cars. All very high runtime/voltage packs from Promatch-if they are willing to sell them!! i thoink they will. You'll need to match runtimes on the 4-cell packs and build 6-cell packs out of them. Not a pronblem to do at all.

i just made arrangements to get the futaba 9602 servo for the car...where do i get that body you mentioned..?

what about motors..?

i have an "in" on a speedo..was thinking about an atom..but motors and gearing for electric and tweak boards and all that other crap are all new to me...i usually just pull the trigger and start yelling!:eek:

Ray,

How bad damage does the outdoor racing do to your 12th scale?
Hows the uneven pavement handle? Or is it a concrete track?

MaShaun

Originally posted by rayhuang
Good servos

KO PDS-947 FET
Airtronics 94145
Futaba 9604 (???)
All very good servos.

Hop-ups are not needed on a 12th scale car. If you want to spend big-bucks get a Niftech or IRS axle.

For outdoors-I think you use TRC Grey rear tires and TRC Pink or Magenta fronts.

Speed controls are: Novak Cyclone or Atom. LRP Quantum Sport or Competition. GM V12 and the little Keyence are also good I hear.

I can get you hooked up on chargers, tires, batteries, etc from myself and friends if you like. Our 12th scale season is over here in Cleveland so we all have tons of stuff!!!! hahaha!!!!

I cant give you a good set-up, but this I can tell you. The little cars need to border on perfection!!! Just make sure nothing binds and the car is not tweaked at all.

I love driving 12th scale!!! 8-miunte heats are cool too!!!!

Birdie,

I talked with a guy who has some batteries for you. These are top- shelf Promatch 6-cell packs from Sanyo. Sanyo HV 3000 packs with 1.15++ voltage and excellent runtime. Check out www.promatchracing.com to compare!!! You'll see these are better then what he even has listed on his website. Talk to your local LHS as well so that you know what numbers on batteries mean (since you prefer sniffing castor and nitromethanol)!!!!! Also, we put together a Millenium Charger with a TPS Model ps-11 power supply. But, this is not the place to talk prices so Ill e-mail this all to you later privately!!!

I want to be sure you know we are here to help answer your questions first-then "sell" you stuff later :p

We can help you get a motor tuned, chassis set-ups, etc. right here.

For pavement its all about managing the bumps and getting grip!!! I think running outdoors would be murder on a 12th scale chassis, but jack the ride height up a little and its probably not too hard on the chassis. besides running on pavement you might want to raise ride height to generate more grip.

Birdie,

Motors-get a couple trinity P2K2's and a GM3. The GM3 for really fast tracks and the P2K2 for the ones where you need more bottom end and torque. Some E-brushes and green and red motor springs. Actually-the best bet is run whatever the majority at your tack is running and ask them for rollout, brushes and springs!! One thing for sure-6-cell stock 12th scale is gonna be fast!!!!!!

Tweak the car the old fashioned way!!! I'll explain later!!!

Should be able to get the body anywhere!! just order part number:Parma 10125 or 10125L for the lite-weight one!!!

cant think of anything else right now!!!

i found the bodies at Tower...so i will get a couple..i was gonna ask what brand TPS is..? i know what a millenium is of course, and the batteries sound great, but also i know those good quality batts are really expensive...i asked yesterday at the hobby shop, and they run 5 minute heats with a 5-minute main..they say that is about all you can get on that size track with the electric cars..and from what i heard..most guys run the chameleon pro's with good numbers...and almost everyone runs 2400's....does that make sense?

and what is rollout..?

sorry i am dumb...:confused:

and thanks for everything..

you can email me at birdie@birdiesworld.com

thanks!:thumbsup:

AAARggghhhh. Wrote a long post then lost it.

Rollout is vitally important. It is a measure of how far your car moves forward in one revolution of the pinion. It is the only way to compare apples to apples with other competitors. For example if the TQ gives you his gear ratio (say 32/100)and you put it on your car and it SUCKS, the two of you probably have very different size rear tires, therefore your rollouts are totally different. This is not a factor in 1/8th buggy as all tires are probably pretty close!!!

Rollout = (Tire Diameter * 3.145) * (pinion/spur)

Also, with this equation you can derive the gear you need when you switch from small used tires to bigger new ones!!!!! No Guessing!!!

So you guys run 19turn class-very cool. It should be a very fast car to drive-so lots of fun!!!!!

2400 packs may be the ticket at that track, but battereis are all about Internal resistance and capacity. The newer Sanyo 3000 HV and Panansonic SMH packs have very low IR (Internal Resistance), high voltage and longer runtime. If nothing else, the 3000's should be faster than the 2400's for the last couple of minutes!!!! But battery talk is like talking about religion-everybody has an opinion-including me!!!!!

High voltage-long runtime packs are very expensive. 6-cell packs can be $80 to $95 bucks new. Try and find someone you can trust and buy his when they are only 6-12 months old and you know he takes good care of them.

TPS power supplies are highly regarded in the shortwave radio/electrical equipment arena. Not well known to RC racers, but very good none the less. Maybe even cleaner power than our power supplies since they are used for scientific equipment.

Check out Josh Cyrul's Switchblade in RCCaraction mag this month. Thats a Speed 8 body.

i have seen the guys run on our track..they turn faster lap times than the guys running 4WD serpents with JP .15's...i suck at driving pretty much anything, so i figure i will be lucky if i finish a single heat...i am gonna go with a good stock motor, and just try to finish the race...i have discovered that a lot of times, the fastest guy won't win, he will simply break first...i actually won races with a TC3 just because i managed to finish all of the heats and then the a-main..not because i drive very good...i was running a 2WD and a 4WD impact for a while..but every time i touched the things, it was $50 bucks in parts and tires, so i got into off-road cause it is really a lot cheaper for me!:D

We'll set your car up to have a nice little push-then put a big bumper on the front of the car!!!! hahaha!!! Dont sell yourself short. A 12th scale car will make you a better driver with any car!!!!

that's what they told me about a B3..so i got one..it is so freakin twitchy that it just sits on the shelf...a new factory team B3..only been raced on nite, and then just sits there...why? cause i suck!!! i guess i can rob the cyclone out of it for this little 1/12th scale car..i bought the futaba 9602 for it yesterday..so i am getting closer to having the stuff i need...now if i can only get some mad drivin' skillz...:D

what is a speedmerchant...?what speed controls do you guys use...?

The speedmerchant is a pretty cool 12th scale car!!! No T-plate!!!
Uses springs in the back instead of the t-plate.

On your B3, if you take off the Graphite chassis and put on the plastic one-you might find it a LOT easier to drive. Its heavier and more forgiving. Takes the twitch-out!!!

I use an old Novak Cyclone-only because its what I have. If I had a choice it would be a LRP Quantun Competition or the new Cyclone C2.

uh....what's a "T" Plate..?

i am done with the B3..i ought to get rid of it...i have not even touched it in a least 6 or 7 months...it has brand new speed gems2 13-triple...the "platinum" i could put that in the sitchblade! ha ha ha talk about a broken car...ha haha:D

Birdie-start here for your car.

"I would start with TRC Pink rears and TRC Purple fronts, thin t-bar, .020 front springs, 25wt with a green center spring."



Short and sweet and right from Josh's mouth!

awesome...a good starting point! now i just got to manage to figure out how to adjust things, and i should be rocking!

:cool:

In a general set-up way- you always want to run the chassis level. Rake one way or the other can drastically alter the balance of the car. Sometimes you might do that on purpose-but since you are starting new-go with equal ride ehight front to rear. Measure as close to the front axle line as possible, under the Dampner tubes and at the very back of the pod. Rememeber if your pod is drooping down, that will lower rear ride height. Just keep that in mind!!!

If you re pretty happy with the car-but maybe want just a tad more steering-put the front of the car lower than the rear. if the car is just a little too nose happy or twitchy-you can sometimes raise the front ride ehight. This mellows the front end. Rememeber though, to raise or lower ride-height in small amounts in a 12th scale car can be time consuming and expensive (need to true tires, change ride height pills, raise front suspension up or or lower it down-which alters toe!!!). Better to just learn what size tires keep your car at the preffered ride height and rake and leave it that way!!!!

Thats why you see me selling tires all the time. I know on my Rev.3 what size tires front and rear I like. Once they fall a couple millimeters-I use them for practice or sell them.I guess thats all for now!!!

sounds like i need some sort of set-up board...will the little cars fit on the hudy? what do you guys use...?:confused:

Nah, a small, cheap cutting board will do just fine.

For setting tweak, some folks use the "25 cents on a tire" method. Me, I use the MIP tweak station. The newer MIP tweak stations fit 1/12ths a lot better now, too.

For camber I just use the RPM camber gauge.

For toe, I just eye ball it. I have yet to find a company that makes a _Good_ toe gauge for 1/12th. I've tried a lot of them - niftech, rpm, etc.

-Rich

Rich, try setting the car on its nose-perpindicular to the surface plate and measure toe w/ camber guage flat on surace plate. Works great on my chassis anyways.

I would Ray, but I have a bumper on the front so it wouldn't be level. But, that is definitely a great way of doing it. I do that for the rear toe on my touring car. :)

Yeah- I didnt realize I could do it till I took off my foam-bumper this weekend. What is your bumper made out of on your 12L??? COuld I make one out of Kydex or rill it just shear off the screws in a crash?? Not that I crash!!! BTW-I havent been to the race shop yet. I'll try soon and get you info on all the Kydex I have their!!!!

uh....what is kydex..?:confused:

Hi Ray,

Yeah, I want to have the bumper be of kydex and foam. So, I'm going to put the kydex under the foam and butted up against the lower suspension arms. The foam would be on top and extend out a little bit from the front edge of the kydex piece.

No problem -- if you can bring it on Sunday that would be cool. If you can't no biggie!

-Rich

Better bumper to scoop up 1/10th Touring car bullys in practice!!!!

Birdie-Kydex is a plastic material that is fairly stiff and easy to bend, drill and cut. It comes in sheets and is available in many different thicknesses from the Hobby store. You can make bumpers, transponder mounts, etc.out of it.

You sound like a radio announcer reading from a Webster's dictionary. :D

Originally posted by rayhuang
Birdie-Kydex is a plastic material that is fairly stiff and easy to bend, drill and cut. It comes in sheets and is available in many different thicknesses from the Hobby store. You can make bumpers, transponder mounts, etc.out of it.

"AAAAnnnnndd now- a word from our sponsors...."

Hey, you're responding too quickly. Get back to work. I'm guessing you and Rich work for the same company. Boooooo.

this car i got is going to need massive freakin work...it is a very old switchblade..i have called trinity to see if there is anything i can do to make it a updated version car..but it looks like i have spent a lot of money for nothing...i am dissapointed as hell to say the least..and it is my fault..i expected the car in the magazine..instead, i got an old ass plastic car with a lot of missing parts from the look of it...i will post pics at my site after lunch

birdie - if the car is a rolling chassis and can be run, I would just run it as is. Since you are new to 1/12th, you can get a feel for 1/12th with that car. The front end on the SB requires a lot of work, however -- if you change your camber, it affects your toe and castor on that car. I wouldn't worry about hop-ups for that car. Just learn on it and then when you feel comfortable with driving a 1/12th, then maybe upgrade to a newer SB.

I drive the AE 12L3. It's nice and simple. And, there are parts pretty much everywhere. Plus you can get one for cheap on eBay. :-)

-Rich

cool! thanks for the advice...

if you wanna see mine..i just posted the pics of it at my site..here is the address:
http://www.birdiesworld.com/switchblade.html

let me know what i can do or not do, i also need a parts list and a manual..i have no idea in the world what i am doing with this car..

any info from you guys is greatly appreciated!!

birdie :cool:

Believe it or not-I have a manula for a SPashet 12SJ or something like that. It might be the same as this one!!!! Let me go home tonight and see if its the same or close to yours. I owned one of those for about three months!!!

awesome!! it just looks like there are a bunch of pieces missing...the least of which is the servo mounts..there is an antenns post thing..like a anti-roll over thing, but i cannot figure out how to get the dam thing on...plus the front suspension is boogered...one side moves up and down , the other seems frozen..so i have no idea...i am a pain in the ass huh? LOL!!!:D

Birdie-Take it all apart!!! Roll the pins and etc. on glass or anoher super smooth surface and make sure nothing is bent. Polish with metal polish-rubbing compound, tooth-paste. Rebuild it and then come back on here on how to set Caster and Camber. Servo mounts are no biggie. Where is the cross brace and damper tubes??? The guy who sold it to you better have told you those were missing!!!!!!

Birdie - yeah, if that is all the parts you got with the car, then I hope you didn't pay more than $40 for that car.. :( You are missing some vital pieces - like Ray mentioned. You need the cross brace, the side damper tubes, the cross brace mounts... If you don't have those parts, I'd complain to whoever you bought that car from.

The antenna mount has a ball stud on it -- the center shock connects to that. There is a hole in the chassis where a counter-sunk screw from the bottom of the chassis goes into the plastic antenna mount. The antenna mount should be oriented so that the center shock is centered in the chassis when connected to that ball stud.

For your servo mounts, that isn't as big a deal since most folks mount their servos flat on the chassis the Trinity 1/12th cars. It takes out the bump-steer.

-Rich

that is all the parts i got....i am screwed huh..and yes, unfortunately, i gave a hell of a lot more than $40 for it..yet another reason i am not thrilled...i will meail the former owner and see if he has the parts..he is a very nice guy..maybe they just did not make it into the box..

Tell us where he lives and well take him out for you!!!! WHats that saying:Caveat emptor I think. SO i guess we cant beat him up for you!!!! I almost bought he same car-only with the revolver front end. All i wanted was the front end (like you saw in my pics)and I could have gotten you all th rest of the parts. It was on e-bay last week!!! I'll check and see if its still available-though I doubt it.

i do have the antenna mount, and there is a ball-stud on it, but that is all that was in the box..besides three little balls that i think fell outta the diff...i have emailed the guy that sold it to me, but i am sure he will tell me tuff luck...who knows..like i said, he seems like a great guy..i left him good trader feedback and everything...what a moron i am, huh?

Hi Birdie,

Yeah, if he has those parts (he should. I don't know how he ran the car w/o those parts) then you will have a good car. You have the AE style front end, which is very simple. The revolver front end that Ray is referring to is pretty complicated and hard to set up compared to the AE front end.

-Rich

Maybe the next chassis you find-send me a link and I'll check it out. Also-I will pass it by Rich as well as he is knows a lot more about more types of cars then me!!!!

Rich is the man. :)

Honestly though, If that guy doesn't have those parts I would send it back to him.. Seems like kind of a bad deal for you. Whatever happens though theres someone here that will get you hooked up. My dad runs the trinty car so i'll find out what he runs for a setup.

Later

Does anyone make rubber tires for 1/12th scale? If so, where can I get them?

We don't have a carpet track here in San Antonio, Texas but we do have an outdoor track that is asphalt based. The Hobbytown that runs the track runs mostly 1/10th and HPI Micros. I want to run 1/12th but the extra cost of foam tires and buying a truer are not something I want to get into right now. I won a couple of 12th scale cars on Ebay and want to race them in the near future. Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks,

Chris

Ancient-You will need to make your own tires by buying Dow Corning Silicone and making your own rubber tires. but if you are running outdoors and its a well established clug, you "should" be runnning foam tires and you should be able to find someone to true your tires. The rears you could run right out of the package and fronts just need a few cuts. MAybe offer a guy a free pair of tires if he'll true you up a bunch of fronts for you!!!

Ah, the days of dirt ovals. Hard packed nicely watered rolled to a glass smoothness. Running a Custom Works Intimadator with silicone tires and a modified motor. Perfect, as they say.

Well,

The track is on asphalt and isn't very smooth. Although is is smoother than most streets. I think most run rubber but I haven't seen many pans out there either. I know that some run 1/12 out there but I never seem to be there when they race.

About the silicone, do you coat foams or make molds with the Dow and cast your own? If you cast, are they hollow or solid? If hollow, what else do you do?

Thanks,

Chris

Well, the silicone is very thick and seems to self-level. So you put a thin coat on and let it dry. Patience is key!!! Also, make sure you are all set up to do this. You'll need something to hold the tire up that doesnt hit the foam, like a small tube or film canister thta fits inside the rim. Get some good nitricil gloves to wear as youll find your finger works the best to smooth the silicone on the tires. Repeat 4 or 5 times. The results are amazing, but I would bet a 12th scale car with silicone tires on asphalt will traction roll!!! Silicone works great on smooth concrete and other smooth surfaces. But its worth a try!!! Experimenting around is one of the best things about this sport!!!

Chris, Although I am not a great driver-I do take my racing and car set-up pretty seriousely and I have run 12th scale rears right out of the package and the fronts with just a little trued off-no problem. So on asphalt, I am pretty sure you could go with a hard -low wear compound like Purple and run them right out of the package!!! just shim up the front arms and reset your toe out. When the tires wear a little, take the shims out and reset toe again!!! No truer needed. The starting set-up for foam tires on asphalt is Purple fronts and Pink rears. E-amil me if you have any questions!!! I have tons of already trued Purple fronts!!!

Ray has reminded me of the things we did to race in 1980. Twinn-K was still in business. We used their softest rear foam tire, mounted it on the rim, trued it, and then coated it with silicone. The method was to take a big dab on your finger and apply it to a piece of wax paper laid on a flat surface. Then we took the wheel mounted on an axle and rolled it across the silicone to build up the tread. It provided awsome traction on a dusty concrete surface that was sealed. But the sealer was wearing off contributing to the dust.

I recommend you use Ray's suggestion of purple front and pink rears, and use tire traction like Trinity Tweek 2000. Follow the directions. Another thing you can do is use SPF35 suntane lotion. That is all you need. Put it on about 30 minutes before you run and wipe it as dry as you can about 10 minutes before you run. I have also used white and grey rear compounds doing this with great success. Good luck. I think you will have a lot of fun.

David Lee