Cen Gx1 Restoration Project, Ford Focus Wrc '01

[Live Steam Mad]

As mentioned here, along with pictures of the chassis ;-

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=58251

I bought a CEN GX1 from a LHS several years ago in absolutely dreadfully used and knackered worn out condition (another stupid mistake of mine , I was ripped off in my personal opinion ) for 50 quid, anyway it's a Tamiya TA-01 chassis but glow engined (basically), and the engine is Transverse mounted.

It is a (licensed ?) near identical copy of the Kodama Engineering (KE) Glow / Gas / Nitro Engined chassis Conversion kit for Tamiya's TA01 and TA02 chassis cars, and is also near identical to the Thunder Tiger Nitro Sedan, and is also near identical to the Thunder Tiger Gas Conversion Kit for TA02 chassis.

You can see more info. on these other kits here ;-

http://blog.roodo.com/tamiyaclub/archives/4926317.html

http://blog.roodo.com/tamiyaclub/archives/1052402.html

http://blog.roodo.com/tamiyaclub/archives/1176378.html

http://tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?c...27&sid=3346

http://tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?c...238&id=8411

The thing that would bother me about the Thunder Tiger one is the availability of spares, I had a look and it seems just about impossible to find any spares for it? Apart from a Gasket Set that I found for the PRO-12BZX Engine. So I'm kinda glad I picked the CEN copy as parts seem to be easier to find.

I thought I might as well post pic's and description here as I go of the restoration.

Step 1) I suppose is to get hold of the rear differential by taking the rear gearbox rear cover off. Upon examination of the teeth of the diff. there seems to be moderate to more severe wear but with luck might get some life out of it before it strips and becomes FWD only. Next is to remove the 3 off, 2mm dia. x 6mm long self tap countersink head screws from the diff. cover. Then I am presented with the problem of how to get the diff. case to open. I put a larger sized Tamiya stock kit Allen key into the diff. outdrive hole and pulled and it was a bit awkward but hey presto we have the diff. apart.

It's a geared diff. with metal bevel gears. Looks Tamiya-like. Inside the diff. was typical Chinese grease going like toffee like in my old Optima.

Part numbers are ;-

Differential Case ( white plastic case and lid plus 3 screws ) = U-GX13 4.50 GBP

Differential Gear (Y shaped silver colored item with 3 shafts that gears rotate on, 2 large silver colored gears with a slot in the centre of each gear, 3 small silver colored bevel gears) = U-GX11 4.50 GBP

The Diff' gears are very similar to Tamiya ones. Maybe hard Nickel plated Zinc castings? Or Aluminium alloy?

Pictures below.

Now I remember why I bought the GX1, I wanted to make a glow engined model of the 1:1 Ford Focus WRC '01 which has a transverse mounted engine, and I wanted a glow engined car with transverse mounted engine, and Tamiya's chassis' such as TG10MK1, TG10 MK2, TGX, etc have all got longitudinal mounted engines. Plus this was (kind of!) a copy of a Tamiya chassis, and I am a Tamiya fan. Kyosho's TA01/02 glow engined conversion kit uses the engine also in longitudinal mounted mode so would not be suitable.

If I could only fit reverse to it I would be over the moon LOL... oh yeah and a 4 stroke OS engine! I wish! Wonder if it can be done?

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[Live Steam Mad]

Here is the body which I ordered from the same LHS years ago, it's the CEN Ford Focus WRC 01 body. It's very nice looking I feel, and gives Tamiya a run for their money . Unfortunately the cutting out and decalling is like I would have done way back when I was a 10 year old kid so it's not that great.

It was 50 GBP, I had to pay full retail price for it

I will be doing two of these cars if possible, one a 4WD car to match the WRC one, and one a FWD car in Group N colors & decals, if there is such a thing. I think it's the closest that I'll get to a model RC version of my own Ford Fiesta MK6 as no one seems to have done one of those yet?

Here is the pictures and details for the 1:1 Ford Focus WRC '01 ;-

http://www.supercars.net/cars/687.html

Note the picture of the engine in the engine bay, it's a transverse mounted engine, that's why I wanted to get an RC model with a transverse 4WD transmission to match it.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[Live Steam Mad]

Fairly recently I found complete, used, GX1 front and rear chassis sections being sold separately, and a separate chassis plate and belts etc. and bought all 3 lots at remarkably cheap prices, and most of the parts were actually in pretty good condition, unlike my wreck that I first bought. So I set about dismantling this latest haul in parallel with the wreck chassis.

In order to remove the grease (gone to toffee yellow) from the metal gears of the rear geared differential I used a cloth to quickly wipe the worst off and then used a smoker's toothbrush (for it's much harder bristles than normal) dipped in a little White Spirit (Mineral Spirits) and the gears came up clean and bright.

Then I had a look at the 2 speed Spur gear assembly. This would appear to consist of item code : U-G84302-32 42T Green CEN GX1 Spur Gear and U-G84302-03 38T Yellow CEN GX1 Spur Gear. Both Spur gears on both assemblies that I have (both are 2 speed) are basically destroyed, the teeth have been mashed on all 4 Spurs. So I decided to dismantle the assembly, first you remove the 3 screws from the green (bigger) Spur gear, the screws are VERY tight in there (may have been threadlocked) and a normal Tamiya large Philips head screwdriver wasn't enough to undo them. So I gripped the destroyed Spur in a table top vice and used a Stanley screwdriver (with ratchet and interchangeable tips, the black and yellow one with the quite large handle) and with only fair torque the screws came undone.

Then I realised that you cannot remove the screws from the yellow (smaller) Spur gear as the black flange plate with centre bearing prevents this. So I used first a small and then a medium flat bladed screwdriver and carefully and slowly levered at intervals 120 degrees apart until the black flanged plastic plate and it's centre needle roller bearing (?) came out of the large thin ball race in the yellow Spur gear.

Now I have to buy either 2 or 4 replacement Spur gears depending on whether I want to get 1 GX1 chassis working or 2.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[Live Steam Mad]

I decided today to have a go at dismantling the engine block and cleaning it. It is a second hand much used CEN NT16 engine with the carb. attached and everything else stripped off it (long ago, just after I bought it used, I stripped it into little bits and put it all in bags) but I didn't understand how to remove the carburettor.

It seemed to be attached by a blackened Steel threaded stub which was depressed 0.5mm below the hole in the left hand side of the engine casting (which has no slot or anything else that you can grip it with, which is what I didn't understand, i.e. I wondered how the heck are you meant to be able to remove it? I assumed that the top half of this stub on this side is unthreaded) and this stub stuck out the other side of the engine casting (right hand side) by 3 to 4 mm and is about 3mm diameter.

I'd tried using WD40 to maybe loosen some rust and then gripped the end of the stub with fair sized pliers and tried to rotate it but it didn't rotate the slightest. I could tell since I scratched a vertical line on the head of the stub on the other side to see whether it rotated at all.

I wondered what is the proper tool to remove this part with? I centre punched the head of this stub (!) and had thought of using my bench drill to drill out the stub and then be able to remove it!

Had the previous owner put a wrong part in there or threadlocked it in or something? What is going on here?

Or does the manufacturer put this stub in precisely to stop you EVER dismantling the carb. from the engine?!

Then I looked through some OS .12 engine exploded diagrams (for inspiration) and realised what the deal was, the stub has a curve in it 1/2 way along it's length that I couldn't see, which acts against the side of the round carb part that enters the body of the engine casting. There is supposed to be a nut on the end of the stub which is to tighten and cam lock or jam the carb into the engine casting.

Whoops. Looks like I damaged the thread on this "Carburettor Retainer" stub part for nothing, since immediately after I understood the above I realised that I could hit the threaded end of the stub with a hammer and it would release. So I gently tapped a light hammer against it and it immediately released the carb!

Cool. Finally got the engine apart.

I found a replacement Carburettor Retainer on a web page listing which says "CEN NT16 Spare Carb. Retaining Post and Screw" and it's item code = SP45-9 1.75 GBP ;-

http://www.anticsonline.co.uk/2047_1_1365859.html

The engine was rather dark grey in colour, covered everywhere in dirt, grit, and NitroMethane / Oil filth, so I tried using White Spirit and Smoker's Toothbrush on it and wow it came up really nice quite quickly but it was slow going.

Finally I got sick of the White (Mineral) Spirits and tried Simple Green (UK formula) that I bought (using it in the "standard concentration" if I remember right) and mixed up a year or two ago. Worked just about as well, engine is coming up quite bright and nice at least compared with the horrid dark color it started with.

Picture below shows the engine with just a quick clean up early on on the CEN logo with the liquid and some of the rest just with a cloth.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[Live Steam Mad]

I found a parts listing for the NT16 engine on CEN's website in the form of an XLS file where you have to navigate within it to the correct tab to see the items ;-

G70340-19 NT-16 Cylinder Head Button $10.00

G70343 NT-16 Engine (rotary) $129.99

G70343-02 Cylinder Head (NT-16) $17.99

G70343-09 Crank Case (NT-16) $29.99

G70348 NT-16 Engine (sliding) $129.99

G70348-33 Screw $4.35

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[caddyshack @ the chop shop]

Hi L/S/M

Im sure i seen a boxed one of there two nights ago on our local auction site, was not under nitro just under r/c cars

you could try modelspot.com its in the uk i know @ one point all they stocked car wise was cen stuff racks of it, & no longer have them in there but good chance the guys have it boxed up in there stores.

[Live Steam Mad]

Hi L/S/M

Im sure i seen a boxed one of there two nights ago on our local auction site, was not under nitro just under r/c cars

you could try modelspot.com its in the uk i know @ one point all they stocked car wise was cen stuff racks of it, & no longer have them in there but good chance the guys have it boxed up in there stores.

If you mean ModelSport at Otley in Yorkshire then that's too far for me to visit just to see a model shop, since I am in St.Helens, 12 miles from Liverpool.

What "local auction site" are you referring to?

Cheers,

ARG

[Live Steam Mad]

Here are some pictures that I took yesterday of the engine being cleaned, it's come up rather well so far ;-

https://picasaweb.google.com/LiveSteamMad/C...eForGX1Chassis#

Today I finished cleaning the outside of it and started to clean out the gunk from the inside with a cloth. I think I will end up flushing out the bearings as best I can with a spray can (with the "mini drinking straw" dispensing guide) of WD40 or TriFluroEthylene and then I would add just a few drops of "3 in 1" mineral oil to the bearings and hope for the best.

EDIT: OK I flushed the bearings out with WD40 and then they felt quite rough so I oiled them with 3 in 1 oil (light mineral oil).

The bearings in it at the moment are 2 ball races, one at the very front of the engine and one just in front of where the connecting rod moves in it's circle. It is possible to heat the crank case in an oven (wrapped in foil) and then by holding the crank case in an oven glove the bearings would drop out quite easily apparently, but then there is the problem of putting new ones back in later by heating the crankcase again in the oven and then you press them back in with a wooden dowel, they should go in quite straight forwardly, but it does sound like a difficult task to me, and then I don't know where to get the new bearings from or what specification ones I would need.

The bearings in it already are slightly rough but quite tight still and should be quite adequate for the task I imagine, so I'm leaving things as they are for now.

Returning the engine to the manufacturer for a sevice does not seem like an option (would be in USA or China I suppose).

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[caddyshack @ the chop shop]

Hi ebayuk, & no modelspot its local to me they do have a web but will not show cen or tamiya but as i say good chance there boxed away in there store room, worth going on there site to email your part no for bit you need or give them & quick call

its taking shape,

c

[Live Steam Mad]

I have now uploaded the CEN Nitro Handbook which includes information on the GX1, Fun Factor, and SP1 chassis, and NX12, NT16, NX16, and NT18 Engines ;-

http://www.retromodelisme.com/manuel_page/...engine-cen.html

Thanks for the tip on ModelSpot, I'll try contacting them for GX1 parts.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[Live Steam Mad]

I have just uploaded the pages 59 to 62 inclusive from the Irvine Catalog 2003 which shows some of the spares which were available for the GX1 chassis ;-

https://picasaweb.google.com/LiveSteamMad/CENNT16EngineParts

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[Live Steam Mad]

you could try modelspot.com its in the uk i know @ one point all they stocked car wise was cen stuff racks of it, & no longer have them in there but good chance the guys have it boxed up in there stores.

I e-mailed ModelSpot and the reply was "I have some old cen spares in stock but none for the GX1. Most are for the FunFactor2. Sorry.

Regards, Justin". Looks like I'm out of luck.

At the moment I need ;-

G70340-03 Cylinder Head Gasket (I seem to have lost it, either that or the engine never came with one!) and

G70337-05 Lock Nut for Carb. / Carburettor Retainer bolt (Antics have one) (I wrecked the threads)

U-GX39 Engine Mount Plate (mine is in a terrible state, chewed up mounting holes elongated and severely damaged)

U-G70331 Air Filter Complete GBP 5.50

U-G70335P Colored Air Filter Tube - Pink (Air Filter Coupling from Air Filter to Carburettor) also available in Green and Yellow 6 USD

U-G70316 Fuel Tank 75CC with Primer GBP 6.75

U-GX61 Fuel Tubing, 2 pieces 3.50 GBP

Also I need the Silicone Rubber coupling tube that goes between the exhaust manifold and the plastic tuned pipe exhaust, if I want it to be in the configuration that it came when I bought it, the old one was cracked and dried out.

Actually though I would prefer to fit the original GX1 configuration i.e. the exhaust being part no. U-SP38 Silencer 10.99 GBP, and U-G70334P Exhaust Pipe Pink 3.50 GBP (also available in Black and Green) as I think it would look better, you can see them here ;-

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?...st&id=10379

and here ;-

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?...st&id=10380

and here ;-

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?...st&id=10376

...and I don't like tuned pipes anyway with their peaky power delivery and bad low end torque LOL, so I think I'll now go looking for those parts.

I did manage to find a NIP G70340-04 Piston Pin (Gudgeon pin) and bought it as mine looked a bit worn with blackened lines on it that wouldn't come off when I tried to clean it.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[Live Steam Mad]

More parts cleaned today ;- Crankcase, Crankshaft, Connecting Rod, Aluminium Alloy Piston, Chrome Plated Brass Sleeve (engine is ABC, Aluminium piston in a Brass Sleeve, which is Chrome plated, with no piston ring), Piston (Gudgeon) Pin and little plastic "pip" on the end of the Piston Pin

Pic's ;- https://picasaweb.google.com/LiveSteamMad/M...16_Engine_parts

After looking at the appauling finish on the Exhaust Manifold, I decided to abrade it with P400 Silicon Carbide to smooth it and remove the crud off it. Probably I will try and get hold of the aformentioned short silencer (muffler) that mates directly with it though, instead of actually using this exhaust manifold.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[Live Steam Mad]

I noticed upon trial fitting of the piston in the sleeve that it goes in the lower part of the sleeve with moderate resistance and then quickly starts to get VERY tight and by half way up the bore I can't press it any further up the sleeve. Is this normal?!

The piston looks to be almost brand new, no scoring on it at all.

Maybe it's "just" had a new piston and then they couldn't get it to start! That would explain the tapered bore of the piston sleeve! and the lack of Cylinder Head Gasket when someone lost it! So short of lapping the darn thing I might have to buy a new Piston Sleeve, which is part no. G70340-08, but then again the Piston and Piston Sleeve ("Piston and Cylinder" as CEN calls them) are supplied TOGETHER, so I can't logically see how I have a new piston and old worn sleeve?! I don't understand it??

EDIT : OK I "heated" the sleeve up in my hand for a couple of minutes whilst leaving the piston on my table nearby and then I offered the piston up to the sleeve and what do you know? The piston went easily in the bottom of the sleeve and then was a very nice close fit in the middle of the sleeve and it went all the way up the bore until the head of the piston was level with the top of the sleeve where it tightened up and didn't want to travel further. On reflection it looks as if the piston / sleeve are indeed well worn in and everything seems OK after all LOL.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[Live Steam Mad]

I managed to find CEN's factory on Google Maps LOL. I found the address from my CEN Piston Pin packet that arrived today. The address on the packet is ;-

No. 16, Lane 105, Cheng Fu Rd, Sanhsia, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan, R.O.C.

This means that it is located in Taiwan, China, and that it is in New Taipei City (formely called Xinbei City, as it is on Google Maps) (not to be confused with Taipei), in the district of Sanxia (it would appear that you substitute the "X" sound of the Chinese with "SH" in English, but CEN spelled it "HS" instead, in "Sanhsia" on their product card!), along the ChéngFú Road, on the Lane 105 turn off, and it's building No. 16.

The link for the location on Google Maps is ;-

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source...2,88.65,,0,1.07

(note the CEN sign in red with CEN in white letters on it in the picture).

Cheers,

ARG

[Live Steam Mad]

I learned recently that CEN have an Engine Replacement Program where they will replace your entire NT16 Engine from your GX1 chassis, no matter what is wrong with it, as long as ALL engine parts are present on it (connecting rod, crankshaft, carburetor, engine head, crankcase, piston and cylinder), but you do NOT send the flywheel, clutch units, clutch nuts, clutch bell, clutch bell bearings, manifold, manifold gasket, manifold springs and air filter to them since they will not supply them when they send you the replacement engine.

You get a brand new engine, which of course means breaking it in in accordance with the CEN Nitro Manual that I uploaded (see above).

Price is 60 USD which sounds fair to me.

http://www.cenracing.com/enginereplacement.html

Apparently they do International orders as well. So if I can't get this second hand much used engine to work, I'll be using this engine replacement program to get a brand new NT16 engine from them (I hope).

I don't think any other manufacturer has such a replacement program / warranty! Ideally I would like an OS .15 Engine with a Piston Ring instead of being ABC but I can't afford it, and OS don't even make a car engine with a Piston Ring that I know of

Cheers,

Alistair G.