Jozza(2)

In my R/C painting book they recommend a product called "Poly S Easy Lift Off" which removes paint but doesn't affect Lexan. It's an American product (the book quotes ELO part Number 542143 if that's any help)... I've just done a Google search, apparently it's ethylene glycol monoethyl ether There's a lot of info on it though, so it might be worth a try..

I think from memory of my XR-311 that it was a standard car fuse, in the days before the cartridge fuses were used. If you still have the metal ends of the fuse, one of them should have the rating engraved on it, take that to a car spares shop (one of the old fashioned ones, not the supermarkets!) and they will probably be able to supply you with a replacement.. In fact, if there's any old fusewire left inside it, a good car spares bloke will be able to recognise what it's likely to be. I reckon it's going to be something like a 15amp 12volt slow blow fuse. (But I might be way out on the amperage; after all, I sold the XR311 nearly 20 years ago now []

I agree with Deano - TC members are friendly as is the site - there's a few sites which have almost as many rules as the BRCA and it makes you frightened to say anything for fear of breaking them.

quote:Originally posted by TWINSETYou'll need it[] Note for life; If you think you busted the washing machine, always ask the female operator before feeling guilty[!] Turns out she busted it and forgot to tell me! id="quote">id="quote">Twinset, use it as a good excuse to do some washing machine hop-ups - full oil dampers, ballrace set, race motor and a new paintjob; it will look great, and you could put it in your showroom under "Other Makes" []

To check if it's the servo, plug it into the other channel in the receiver and see if it works (use a separate receiver battery if you normally use the ESC or receiver power from the speed controller). If the servo doesn't work on that channel, then it's at fault, but if it works, then there's a problem with the radio gear. You may find that the prob is a break in the wire to the servo or in the little plug which goes into the receiver too. I've had this before, unplugged the servo, plugged it back in and that's been enough to clean it up and get it working. Or, use it as a good excuse to spend a bit of money for a lovely upgraded servo [] The Futaba servos are good, and they are cheap too. I got Futaba 3003 (?) servos for £14 (about $20) and the torque matches a high torque Hi-Tec one which cost me twice that (the Hi-Tech is faster though)..

If the Nicds have had fairly heavy use it's more likely that they are no longer accepting a charge, rather than the charger being at fault. If you are considering replacing your packs with NimH cells then it's likely that you will need to change the charger too. If you are happy with your charger, I would advise you to get a new Nicad pack (if the charger's a peak one it will handle all Nicds up to 2400) and if that works fine then just get some new packs and keep the old charger..

I agree Malcolm, I must admit I was surprised for it to melt the paint, as I haven't seen that mentioned anywhere and I would have expected it to have been. Can't think what could be the prob though, I used Tamiya paint on the body and also some Humbrol polycarb paint, and it melted both of them equally. Could it be something to do with the way I did the paint? Don't think so, as it was a good paintjob I think.. Also, it was a week after I'd painted the body so it should have been dry! I'm going to try it again on a scrap plastic bottle and see what happens.

NimH and Nicad sticks are getting similar in price now though (probably due to the popularity of NimHs). A 3000 Sanyo NimH pack is the same price as a 2400 Sanyo Nicd stick, and the NimH will give more runtime. I agree that Nicds don't really require much in the way of looking after if you run them flat every go, and also I still think the Nicds seem a bit more "punchy" to me (but the NimH sticks I've got seem to be getting better now after a few charges).

You can buy ShooGoo in a LHS near me [] But it costs a fortune, would probably be cheaper to import it from the States! I did notice that it's a petrol based glue, which means that it could have the same issue as FenderMender where it dissolves the paint, but I haven't tried it yet so can't comment on that. I know that ShooGoo is the one mentioned in most US publications and magazines though, and I've never seen any mention of it stripping paint, so might give it a try. If you live near Chelmsford, you can get ShooGoo from the model shop there, but it's £3.20 for a small tube....

quote:Originally posted by Stefani am 2.06 .. how many feet ? don't know id="quote">id="quote">6 feet 8 1/2 inches [] So there you go Tamiyapunk, you can drive a real one after all [8D]

quote:Originally posted by TamiyapunkI'm about 6'8", so I think a real mini = out of the question... id="quote">id="quote">That's no problem, rip out the drivers seat and drive it from the back [8D]

Carson shocks eh? I ordered 70mm ones, which are the right length, but they arrived and are 80mm long [8)] They fit okay, but on the outer mounting position on the suspension arms. See this topic for details..

Hi Jonnyjay, sorry I didn't respond earlier, I just found the "find all non archived posts by me" function in the profile [] The wheels are the stock Baja champ ones, but painted with enamel (I use plasti-kote Odds 'n' Ends enamel, Antique Gold. The first time I did it I used the aerosol, but found that it flaked off, so the second time I used the brush on. It still comes out well smooth, and as the coats are thicker it seems to hold better, haven't had any flaking of the paint and I've run the car in some pretty testing conditions (gritty, muddy, grassy and twiggy). You can get it from Halfords in the UK, and it's only a couple of quid a jar, so far I've done the Baja Champ wheels twice, my Mini wheels and a couple of other static model wheels, and it's still 3/4 full.. Hope that helps John

Sweeeet [^]

Cool - looking forward to seeing it when it's done! I took my Mini to the local club last week, didn't get the chance to race it, but just left it on the stand, and it got lots of comments and a little huddle of people who just kept coming back to look at it. The Mini is one of those rare cars with character, most people seem to love them, regardless of their age, sex, or taste in cars. One day I will buy another real one (not right now though, as 4 kids + me + my wife wouldn't really fit comfortably in one!)

.. if only I had a time machine, I would go back to the 80s and buy a few to put away [] Don't think that one is destined to ever be a runner though!

So it shouldn't affect the steering then? I'm quite happy with the handling, and it seems to handle bumps and rough terrain much better now, but I'm still not sure if I notice an increase in understeer....

I've got a workshop at the bottom of the garden [] Not a patch on wriggle's, a lot smaller, but it's warm and away from the wife and little'uns, and has a telly and stereo to keep me entertained. I convinced my misses (and myself) that I needed it for my tools and stuff, now it's become a r/c pit, and I spend many a happy evening up there. Just got to sort out the wireless network to reach up there, and I will be able to browse TC from there too [}] My Dremel used to be a shelf queen, but now it's a runner. It still looks almost NIB Mint though []

I've got those too, but without the case. The case looks very good though, well worth it. I love the bent longnose pliers, I've found them to be extremely useful over the years, getting into places other pliers can't and holding onto bits which chubby fingers cannot reach.

Hi Mike, you'll find it's the Brinkster account limitations, not NTL. I would take up JesterRace's kind offer! Or use another freebie service for hosting your piccies.. I'd like to see the pics - I love Mini's []

Hehe, bit of a bummer when it gets stuck at the top though, don't think I'd want to be a marshal at that event []

I've just used FenderMender + Fibreglass, but it melted the paint, stripped it like a good 'un and now you can see the mesh through the body :-( I wondered about putting some Nitro laqcuer on the next time though, I figure this might be resistant to the Fender Mender. I will let you all know if it works! Otherwise, it's back to the colour co-ordinated ducktape [] J

Hi turtle. We have just joined a local club, we started by turning up and spectating/marshalling, and generally helping out. You feel a bit awkward at first, but introduce yourself to a few people and ask them about their cars, and you will soon be given plenty of advice, and if you are able to help out, they get to know you as someone who is keen. The first week we were fairly well ignored, as the people have enough on their plates with racing, but once we had been there a couple of times people got to recognise us and were more chatty and helpful. You just need to get the right balance of being friendly without interfering with their racing/pit schedules. Once we had been to the club meets for a few weeks, we decided on the one we liked and were able to borrow their club car to have a try to see if we liked it.

Hehe, "My Dremel is better than your Dremel" [] Maybe there's a dremelclub.com where we can go []

I've got a B&Q one too, but mine was the cheaper one (about 15 quid ISTR). It goes quick, but I find it's underpowered, but there's the advantage that it can (probably) be run off a car battery. The ones with direct mains are more powerful, but I'm not sure if you can get them anymore though.. I've had the thing for years and never really used it until it was time to shorten the Mini body posts, and it did those a treat (managed to cut my finger well too [xx(]). Oh, and to keep on topic, 72/75Mhz is not allowed over here, only 27 and 40 (am and fm) - it used to be 40FM only from what I remember, but I think is relaxed now to allow 40Mhz/AM as well (?). The Hitec and most other trannies are advertised on the manufacturers sites as 27meg or 72/75, but they are all sold over here as 40mhz so I suppose they are just slightly differently tuned for the european market - you can get the Hitec pistol ones for about 60 of our GBP's