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RC-Dad

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About RC-Dad

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  1. Its been a little while since last update, so here is what we've been up to: Sunday 5th October: Went to TORCH and had another chat with some of the members there. Another warm welcome was received, race control even cleared the track for 10 mins prior to the finals so we could have a quick blast round with the Sand Vipers - much appreciated! One thing became clear...the Vipers just aren't up to the task of running round the TORCH track...there's a large jump that all the members cars fly off and land on top of the following table top(?) - some even nearly clear that too and seem to land virtually on the down slope. Unfortunately the Vipers weight and lack of speed mean they fly off the jump alright but come down hard half way up the up-slope to the table top... They land with an almighty slap so I'm not sure how much of that they'll take. We had to make our way from the track at 1pm due to other commitments... plus William's steering was locked on hard right after he had an 'off'...it seems the servo saver had slipped round 30 degrees or so...having realigned everything and given a quick test run up and down the driveway it seems to be holding firm...it's a dead cheap servo though and certainly not racing spec so not sure how much more we'll get out of it. Sunday 12th October Went to SHRCCC today and had a blast! William did really well despite the issues I'll detail in a bit. He is really getting into things and I could see his driving skills improving throughout the morning today - I think the main issue now is that he learns to take it slow whilst trying to recover from going off the track...he tends to go full throttle to try and clear obstructions which invariably leads to another high speed crash without having managed to rejoin the track properly first. I feel like I've learnt loads as well as having a great time...here's the summary: 1) The repaired servo from last week didn't make it around 1 practice lap so initially I only booked William into the day's racing...however SHRCCC member Lee came to the rescue and sold me a spare servo - I just managed to fit in time for Heat 1 and was able to book in at the very last minute. 2) I fitted the servo saver using an inappropriate screw, and without using any thread lock (new servo has a metal spline) - this came loose in Heat 2 causing an early retirement. Luckily Dave kindly let me use some of his thread lock however the screw was too short and narrow so this didn't help much...the car didn't make it through another round despite starting each round then having to retire due to loss of steering. 3) Tyres - boy do they make a difference! I was a touch sceptical about how much difference they'd make at this scale/ weight but flipping heck...William's Sand Viper (as well as having all the servo issues) was still also running the stock Holiday Buggy wheels and tyres...I've ordered Schumacher tyres and foam inserts (to go on some newly acquired large dish wheels) but these haven't arrived yet as they're on back order at the supplier. The track was soaked in dew first thing and it was like driving on ice with those HB tyres! So, to keep William running we've now swapped and the yellow Sand Viper is his - it has some cheapo spiked tyres and the servo works/ is reliable. On that basis William had a great day's racing and I managed to start every heat (and the final) but only finished the first heat...after that the servo caused us issues each time out. William finished every round and as well as thoroughly enjoying himself he also improved as the morning progressed. I've ordered thread lock (Tamiya branded stuff) and also some M3 screws (10mm and 12mm lengths) - the thread inside the servo spline looks still to be in good condition so hopefully the 12mm screw with thread lock applied will create a firm fix. Will take the car out for a good "bash" at the local BMX track once we're all fitted (and the ground is dry) to test things out. Roll on the 26th October so we can go racing again!
  2. So, after a great time at the DT02 Challenge held at SHRCCC on 28th September, its time for me and William to get into racing at our local club (TORCH). We've already been down once and ran our (at that time stock) Holiday Buggy round the track a few times. Since then I've acquired a rolling chassis Sand Viper and also an additional Sand Viper body shell and wing. At the moment I'm in the process of converting the Holiday Buggy into a Sand Viper using the additional shell I got, plus some spares ordered online. I'm also turning the rolling chassis into a runner for me to use. Here's where I'm up to so far: William's car: - Removed the 540 Sport Tuned motor and replaced with a silver can 540 - this was at William's request as he was a bit overwhelmed with the speed of the ST motor at the DT02 event - Replaced the HB shell mountings for the Sand Viper mountings Still to do: - Replace the HB wheels and tyres for more suitable ones (Super Gripper has provided links for these, Rob from TORCH has also been very helpful in this respect) - Trim the body shell so it fits around the Carson front shock tower brace For now I think that will suffice for William...I want his skill level to rise so it is equal to the performance of the car before doing anything else. I think once William progresses much beyond this setup I'll buy him a Sand Viper so that we can keep the HB for fun times - JWeston made this recommendation to me a week or so back and now I'm starting to realise the level of hop-ups that will be necessary to make any DT02 competitive I can see his logic. My car: - I've rebuilt the gear box using new A-tree parts as the original had seen some action and a couple of the screw holes used to mount it onto the chassis where shattered. Nice surprise when I opened this up to see it already has the ball diff hop up fitted - I've put new bearings in as part of the gearbox rebuild - don't think this was strictly necessary but as I had some spares hanging around I figured I might as well whilst the whole thing was in bits - I picked some white Sand Viper wheels up from Smitchos at the DT02 event - the rears are on and fitted with some cheap Pro-Line RED tyres I bought (£2 so seemed a bargain!). The rears are fitted, just need to swap the fronts over - Installed the 540 Sport Tuned motor - Replaced the bearings for the rear wheels - the rear left wheel seemed to be binding and wasn't spinning freely - all sorted now Still to do: - Fit electrics. I've bought a TEU-105 ESC, an Etronix Pulse Transmitter/ Receiver, and a Acoms AS17 Servo that all need to be fitted - Fit same wheels/ tyres as will be fitted to William's car Lee (Super Gripper) has given me an extensive shopping list of items needed to properly prep the cars so they're competitive at TORCH...I'm looking forward to working my way through that list as our skill levels increase and we start to feel limited by not having these items in place. I will put a photo up of the two SV's once they're prepped and ready for a blast around TORCH this coming Sunday afternoon
  3. I'm in the same boat as the OP, and also about to start racing this winter...found a friendly local track and plan for me and my lad (6) to have a go over the next few weeks. We'll be running a Sand Viper each, not madly hopped up for now...both ball raced, oil shocks, front suspension brace. My lad will be running a 'silver can' 540 and I've decided to have a crack with a 540 Sport Tuned. Like alfagta said, not planning on worrying about position, but want to gain some track time, start learning how to set up the cars, find the racing lines and master control of the car by getting clean laps in that should start to get quicker. I'm planning to start a thread in the Racing section once we've got going this weekend. In the meantime I'm prepping the cars up (one is a HB2010 conversion, the other needs converting from rolling chassis to runner). All good fun, and as long as it stays fun, we're in!
  4. Had a good delivery today myself...a TEU-105BK to go in the Sand Viper rolling chassis picked up from Rallyebaz on Sunday, plus an assortment of bits to help me complete the conversion of HB2010 into Sand Viper, and to complete the new Sand Viper... There's more on the way too, including servo, Etronix Transmitter/ Receiver, plus an assortment of DT02 bits bought from Percymon on here too... Hoping to be out with one, if not both, Sand Vipers at the practice session at TORCH this Sunday afternoon...
  5. Just wanted to add my thanks to all those involved in organising yesterday's event - it felt like a very well run day and the lad and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Special thanks to Lee too for all the help and advice in the run up to the event so we were sure our car would be ready for the day. William is still absolutely thrilled with his trophy - he fell asleep holding on to it in bed last night and has taken it into school with him today to show off to his friends and teacher...however he probably won't mention his blatant corner cutting on the final "U" bend immediately before the main straight...
  6. Thanks Mastino...that's really useful info...much appreciated. And thanks also to all others who have replied to this thread...nice to be made so welcome here.
  7. Thanks for all the replies. Basically I'm trying to go from a standing start to having two race-ready off road buggies whilst maintaining some control over budget! Given the improvements made to the HB to get it ready for this Sunday it seems like a good platform to build on for my son to use in races - I can then start out from scratch with a new kit. Doesn't seem like a one-way street though and we could always turn the converted Sand Viper back into its original HB form without too much hassle. Going to download the Sand Viper manual this morning and check for any other bits/ pieces I'll need. Thanks to JWeston for the tip re. the DT03 Neo Fighter buggy - looks interesting and like you say the price is right but will need a fair few hop ups...decisions decisions!
  8. Thanks SteveU30 - I've got some bits left on some of my sprues that definately aren't needed for the HB build, but look suspicously like body mounts for an alternative body. Looks like "Project Sand Viper Conversion" is about to begin, alongside a build of a new Sand Viper for my good self...
  9. Hi all, Just finished installing the hop ups to make my previously stock HB2010 eligible for next weekend's DT02 challenge event. We took the newly tuned HB out for a spin yesterday and was impressed by the massive increase in speed that the new motor and full bearings have given the buggy. We've also been down to the TORCH track last Sunday afternoon for a blast round the track there - great fun and should be even better now we've got the 540 motor in there. However, the poor HB body shell is already starting to look a little battle scarred...I lost one of the headlights yesterday as a result of a head-on smash (fortunately the red plastic seems to react postively to super glue and the shattered plastic is now back in place, for how long remains to be seen!). I've also got cracks around the roof area. This leads me think that the HB shell isn't going to withstand the rigours of weekly racing...plus having been down to TORCH last week we were definately the odd ones out, and of course the body shell, driver figure, etc are all adding weight. So, the aim is to get both my son and I in a position where we both have a car to race - at the moment the Holiday Buggy is our only RC car - we're both total newbies to this hobby. I'm planning to buy a Sand Viper kit to build for myself to race and gradually hop-up over time, plus experiment with camber angles and so on. Initially I was thinking I'll have to buy two sand vipers, however I then realised that HB and Sand Viper are based on the same chassis. A quick google search showed I can buy a Sand Viper body shell and wing online for about £10 which got me thinking - how easy is it to swap out the HB shell for the sand viper shell? I've got a few bits left on the M and D trees that look like mounting points for body shells - are these the ones that I'd use for the Sand Viper shell and wing? What else would I need to change? I'm planning to go back down to TORCH the first Sunday in October and talk to them about entry requirements for their races - I'm assuming I'll also need to change the wheels and tyres for Sand Viper wheels and whatever tyres are permitted in races? If anyone has done this, or can advise feasibility it'd be much appreciated.
  10. So, with just over one week to go, I'm finally in receipt of all the parts needed to upgrade my HB2010 to meet the entry requirements for the challenge...going to have a very enjoyable evening tonight fitting all these bits, then me and the boy will be out this weekend practicing and enjoying all the extra speed...
  11. Hi Jedward...nice to hear from you...yes, Super Gripper has been very very helpful already...great to feel so welcome especially as a pair of complete beginners. Will keep an eye out for you on the 29th...sounds like I will be repeating your experience from last year.
  12. Hi, I'd be interested in this. Very, very new to everything, at the moment just running a 2010 Holiday Buggy. I'm exploring local tracks/ clubs (live in Winchester) but I'm keen to explore some more and also meet others who share the same hobby. My son William (6) is also enjoying racing the buggy so if he is able to run on the meet that'd be great, and also help me secure the vital "pass out" to come along. Timing wise - I'm assuming this would be held on a weekend?
  13. Hi, Booked my son in over the weekend...we're both very new to R/C - we built our first car (Holiday Buggy 2010 Red Edition) over the bank holiday weekend this August. I've got a 540 Sport Tuned motor on the way from eBay this week and hope to fit it (to replace the stock 340 motor) over the coming weekend and also get out on our local BMX track for a bit of practice. At the moment we have one 2400mH 7.2v stick pack - how many additional batteries do you think I'll need with me to get my son through all the races? Also... I'd like to enter myself into the "Stock" class as well (son is in the Juniors as he's only 6 and a total beginner like me!)...we only have the one car at the moment so we would be sharing it - my question is: How many fully charged batteries do you think I would need to make it through the day if we're both sharing the same car? I'll bring my charger with me but it takes 2.5 hours to charge our battery...I also don't know how much of an effect on run-time the faster motor will have... Very excited to be part of this event though - seems like it will be a great introduction to the sport!
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