First Ever Drive Of An Srb!

[retroman]

Well I've finally done it, Got the Champ running!

Built a battery pack this week, ESC came through the post today, robbed the receiever out my Hornet, and excitedly went out into my backyard for my first drive of a Super Champ.............

What a horrible thing to drive! LOL, loads of understeer, the sheer weight of the thing makes it difficult to stop using braking.....Very quick in a straight line though. It's definately put a huge grin on my face, well apart from the time I accidently rolled it.....Whoops! Luckily no damage, and I was running the worst shell of the two I have.

Will I run it again? Definately. but I think it will be a very wide open space. I think that a lot of the problem with the wild understeer is because there is no rear diff, and most of the weight is at the back. Might try running it on old rear tyres as well, as I did have a new pair on the rear, and I don't think they helped very much. Too much grip. I was impressed by how quietly it run, and the old Johnson silver can I fitted, with the white end bell, certainly gave it plenty of go.

Not a bad first run, one drive shaft grub scew shook itself loose, and so did the steering servo saver. Must dig the thread lock out. All in all, great fun. I think I'll return it to the shelf now, until I can summons up the courage to try driving it again!

Rich :-)

[bigoggy]

glad to hear you got it runing. cant wait to see it.

[retroman]

Cheers Dude,

I'll bring it along to the next Clumber Meet. I'm going to try improving a few things on it first, then I might give it a run while I'm there. :-)

[Origineelreclamebord]

Nice to hear you enjoyed driving it I've driven mine once or twice as well (still not finished mine), it does understeer quite a bit, but it became much better when I replaced the scorcher front tires and wheels for Brat/F150 Ranger wheels and tires.

Btw, are there any diffs for these nowadays that are affordable? (Something like a thorp ball diff, but then not as hard to find etc).

[retroman]

I've heard of the Thorp diff, but can't remember ever seeing one! Could definately do with some form of diff in the back, because as soon as I gave it any power, it just went straight on!! I have to admit, I had the rear gearbox on my Associated B4 in bits the other day and thought "that looks a similar size", but it's way too big. I think the biggest problem is that most cars with rear diffs use dog bones on the end, where as the SRB has the UJ's bolted directly to a solid axle.

I'll give the Ranger wheel and tyre combo a try next time out. I've got a Brat, so I'll rob the wheels off that :-)

[Live Steam Mad]

Very interesting! Has anyone on here run a SuperChamp with a differential? If so, which differential did you use, and did it still understeer badly?

If it helps I have a MIP diff. in my F-150 XLT (SRB) and it hugely improved the turning circle. Haven't tested it for understeer since it is more of a shelf queen and light runner (not for skidding, and besides all the land surrounding my house is concrete or Tarmac and I would have to really rip the truck about to skid it). I also have a Jakes' diff. and a Thorp diff. for some other of my projects. All 3 kinds of diff. have separate entries in my (long disused!) showroom with some nice pictures to look at plus description. The instructions for them all are on TC as well (I have them on my HDD if really needed!).

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[B.M.T.]

There was a kid racing a Super Champ when I started (86), and that had the Thorpe diff in it.

On the track, you would not know it was anything different from any other buggy out there at the time. It was modified in other respects, Wild One wheels and pin spikes, Parma Chenowth body (for Frog, so it loked like a lexan Champ shell) and other aspects, but it drove around beautifully. Much smoother and better road holding than Frogs and Hunters, which seemed to be the majority of other things in his race.

[Mud-Plugger]

Sorry chaps, but to put a diff in an SRB is a sin. There's nothing more exciting than to have to fight an SRB round a bend using the throttle to cause oversteer as you go in, and to come out of it on opposite lock. These thing were never meant for the track and having a diff will only slow things down when you're going over loose terrain. Have a look at the early promotional videos, on the sand and the rough that's where they should be!

Mud.

[mongoose1983]

Maybe I'm too conservative when it comes to classic models, but I have a Super Champ myself, and rather than having it painted diff (still in a vintage fashion), I would not modify it for any reason. If you want to run a fun thing, then there are thousand models out there to just go out and bash, but MODIFYING an SRB comes to me as a sacrilege, man!

Anyway, whatever you decide to do with your Champ, I wish you the best of luck!

EB

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[retroman]

OOPS, I think I opened a can of worms!

Don't worry chaps, I'm not out to bash/ mutilate/ or harm my Champ in anyway. I've invested far too much money, and time into the build for that! It would be cool if I could get a diff that fits directly into the gearcasing, just to see if it is a little easier to drive. Mind you, my first drive was on quite grippy concrete, which probably made matters worse.

I agree, there are plenty of cars that are far more worthy of bashing, I've just bought an Associated B4 (second hand) for that! Oh, and I wound up with enough spares to build a Sand Scorcher type chassis for a bit of abuse, but, it is built out of stuff that a restorer would turn their noses up at (corroded gearbox, cracked radio box, etc).

I've got those promo video's for the whole SRB range on DVD. Man do they make these things look tough! Particularly impressed when the Super Champ is launched of what looks like a 30 foot drop, and then just carries on!

[Origineelreclamebord]

Mind you, my first drive was on quite grippy concrete, which probably made matters worse.

It results in much, much more understeer. In fact, my scorcher's first run with the smoothee's still on it didn't turn at all when giving throttle. When I released the throttle, it still didn't steer for the first second (or two) and just kept going straight. After that it slowly started decreasing the understeer until it was standing still and by then it had made a reasonable turn.

The smoothee's are, I think, made for soft terrain like sand, where it digs in when you steer. The tires are already thin, and the surface it uses on the front is even further decreased by the round shape of the tire. It's made for a soft surface where it digs in. On an onroad surface it doesn't work... It's like trying to drive a Top Fuel dragster on a (small) roundabout at 30mph... It somehow (strangely?) doesn't work

[Taman]

I've got those promo video's for the whole SRB range on DVD. Man do they make these things look tough! Particularly impressed when the Super Champ is launched of what looks like a 30 foot drop, and then just carries on!

I've always wondered if after that huge drop and the camera stopped, did it fall apart lol

Its a very impressive drop.

[retroman]

I've often wondered how many cars they must have broken just to make one advert!! I think if I tried that stunt with my Champ, it would probably explode on impact! :-)

[mymonsterbeetleisbroken]

The smoothee's are, I think, made for soft terrain like sand, where it digs in when you steer. The tires are already thin, and the surface it uses on the front is even further decreased by the round shape of the tire. It's made for a soft surface where it digs in. On an onroad surface it doesn't work... It's like trying to drive a Top Fuel dragster on a (small) roundabout at 30mph... It somehow (strangely?) doesn't work

Very true!

I prefer to drive my scorcher on sand, or dusty surfaces where you can kick the rear wheels out and have some opposite lock

[retroman]

Like the photo :-)

I think the next run I'll give the Champ will be on dirt, at the next Clumber Meet. Don't mind getting it dusty dirty, but I think I'll avoid mud! At one point it was getting so it was looking too nice, and in danger of becoming a queen. So..........I stopped myself from polishing bits,etc, and built it as a very clean and tidy runner.

Can't wait for the weather to improve a little bit, so I can try again! :-)

[retroman]

Gave the Champ another run this evening, much better this time!!

Gave some thought to the problem, and decided to try the following things; increased the rear spring tension on the mono shock, tightened the ties up a little from the band stoppers to the rear FS plate, then fitted a set of "Super Gripper" tyres to the rear, that are originals, with not much tread left!!

Vast improvement, and really enjoyed it this time. Seems like the trick to getting an SRB to turn is power oversteer! I've had plenty of sideways action, and destroyed the old tyres!!!!! Oh well, they were pretty dead anyway :-)

Oh yeah, this time it didn't try and flip over once, just had the front steering linkage shake to bits! More thread lock, and tighten everything up a little more, me thinks :-)

[bigoggy]

bring it to the meet tomorrow. the moto x track is 100% sand. it should be fun on there

[retroman]

Will do!! Hopefully get some decent action pictures of it. Tamiya monkey has quite a talent for that one! He got some great shots of the Frog in flight :-)

[bigoggy]

well you were right. it drove well, and mark got some great pics of it. now you just need to ramp it!

[retroman]

Errmm...... I think Ill avoid ramping it!! Still sat on top of my tool box waiting to be cleaned. The B4 was that filthy I wound up taking the electrics out of it, and dumping the whole thing in the sink!!

The Sand Scorcher rear tyres worked a treat on the sandy surface. Mark took some cracking pictures of itclumber meets gallery