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ChrisPhilpot

Hornet sidebars and tyres

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As a bank holiday weekend project, I am in the process of building a re-re Hornet from scratch – my first R/C kit build. So far, it's been remarkably trouble-free; the biggest crisis was one of the impossibly small springs from the rear suspension boinging out of my hand, and having to hunt around on the carpet with a torch upon finding I had no spare!

However, I have come across a couple of sticking points and would richly appreciate the advice of the members of this forum:

1) The plastic side bars (or side bumpers, I think they're officially called) seem a little flimsy. Is their plastic construction simply a consequence of the cost of the kit, or does the flexibility serve a purpose? If not, are aluminium hop-ups available? (My eBay trawl has been fruitless!)

2) I'm having a great deal of difficulty getting the rear tyre inserts to slip into the rubber tyres. I've found an old thread which has a couple of suggestions, but neither adjusting the angle nor using detergent seems to have done the trick. Am I being a pillock and missing something?!

Hope you're able to help – many thanks.

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1) The plastic side bars (or side bumpers, I think they're officially called) seem a little flimsy. Is their plastic construction simply a consequence of the cost of the kit, or does the flexibility serve a purpose? If not, are aluminium hop-ups available? (My eBay trawl has been fruitless!)

Flexible plastic does not snap on impact. Aluminium nerf bars will bend on impact, and not bend back. Aluminium nerf bars are also rare and expensive being vintage parts.

2) I'm having a great deal of difficulty getting the rear tyre inserts to slip into the rubber tyres. I've found an old thread which has a couple of suggestions, but neither adjusting the angle nor using detergent seems to have done the trick. Am I being a pillock and missing something?!

Use more force. They are a tight fit.

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Push the wheel centre, with some force, into the tyre at 90 degrees to each other , then once it is sitting in the tyre, basically sideways , then rotate the wheel centre whilst manipulating the tyre and the wheel centre will drop in .Don't try to push it in parrallel to the tyre :o

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Much much appreciated! They're in, and my thumbs are recovering! :o The front wheels were so easy, I didn't want to snap the rears and was probably a bit too weedy with them.

A bit of brute force and elbow grease and they're sorted!

Many many thanks.

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Another question has arisen, if I may ask for your help once again—and sadly I suspect not for the last time!

With my radio gear on order, I've skipped ahead a few steps and assembled the three-part front and rear wheels. Upon attaching the rear wheels to their respective axles, there's about 2–3mm of 'wiggle' between the plastic spacers locked onto the axles and the actual wheels themselves. Whilst this sounds minor, it's enough that the wheels are able to slide freely between the lock nut and the spacer, and at the far end of this reach rotate freely on their own without turning the axle.

Is this normal? If not, any suggestions as to what I might have done wrongly? Thanks everyone.

Edit: Here's a photo, if it helps to understand where there's this wiggle room. This shows the wheel engaged with the plastic 'spacer' attached to the axle itself via the short metal shaft; the gap between the wheel and the lock nut is probably 2mm.

6080267294_33b8f3fd97_z.jpg

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The locknut is not fully tightened in the photo. Keep turning the nut until it is fully tightened against the wheel. A few threads on the axle should be sticking through the other side of the nut.

To answer your question about the nerf-bars (sidebars). They are supposed to be soft and flexible by design. The softer plastic absorbs shock and resists breakage far better than harder plastic. They will be nearly indestructible once attached to your Hornet..

There are vintage aftermarket aluminum nerf-bar kits that were sold in the 80's. They pop up as sales or trades on Tamiyaclub and Ebay on rare occasions.. Keep an eye out for these kits if you want something more robust. Be aware that these nerf-bar kits can be expensive since they are vintage parts that went out of production almost 30yrs ago.

Hope this helps.

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Oh goodness, do I feel stupid! Cheers dimblum, you're a star; it seems the answer to most of my questions so far has been "stop being such a wimp"!

All points taken about the aluminium nerf bars. I'll keep an eye open and should some be on sale I'll see if I fancy picking some up – though, as this is going to be a runner, you're all quite right that I'm probably better off with something with a bit of flex. Especially with my rubbish driving (it's been years)! ;)

A final question on paintwork (a little way off yet): is it better to trim the excess shell plastic before or after spraying? :)

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Just to let you know there is actually a set of aluminium nerf bars for sale on the for sale section on this very site!

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Ah, so there are, jammin23! Thanks for pointing those out.

I've got another issue: I've bought an Ansmann racing W3.1 2.4Ghz radio set having been assured it would be fine for this car. However, the servo and ESC I have (Tamiya TSU-01 and TEU-104BK respectively) don't physically fit into the Rx (a very small Ansmann R3.1 about 20mm square bundled with the Tx). Please help!! Both ESC and servo look like they *would* fit but for a sliver of plastic on one edge; they have the irregular pentagonal shape of the holes in the Rx, but with this extra bit of plastic in the way.

Any advice? Has anyone used this combination of electronics who might be able to advise me what to do? Was looking forward to getting it going this evening and hope I don't need a new Rx! :-(

Thanks in advance.

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That's quite normal - just snip off the extra bit of plastic from the plug that's getting in the way. I don't know this particular receiver - but generally the plugs fit into receivers with the black wire towards the outside edge of the receiver when you plug them in - best to check the manual for it to be sure you put them in the right way around.

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Cheers Eddystone! Thought that might have been the case but didn't want to ruin the servo.

In the few hours since I last posted… it's finished! Well, mechanically and electronically at least; painting the shell will take this perfectionist probably until the end of next week, especially as I need to make an excursion to buy some paint! In your experience, is trimming the shell/wing better done before or after painting?

One quick query: I don't *think* it's a problem, but whenever I accelerate the force of the motor turning the drive wheels causes the entire gearbox assembly to rotate forward and into the shell with a whack. Equally, reversing rotates the gearbox into the suspension. Is this normal or do you reckon something needs adjusting?

Also, any tips for laying out the internals? There seem to be lots of holes and spaces big and small; how do you attach your electronics to your chassis?

As ever, all help and advice gratefully received. I've really enjoyed this project! :)

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Just installed all the radio gear properly and wow, at full pelt does this car go! Very impressed… or at least going forwards I am. In reverse, meanwhile, the power seems much reduced; the Hornet chewed up damp grass and spat it out for lunch going forwards, but limply struggled to go in reverse with an inconsistent motor sound (as if the wheels are not receiving power constantly).

Should I be worried? Any obvious things to check? Or is this typical of the standard re-re ESC/can? Many thanks in advance.

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The ESC only has 50% power in reverse, its a feature of that particular esc.

Yes by all means cut out the body before you paint it, there should be a clear thin protective coating over the shell, remove this AFTER you paint it, and before you apply the stickers.

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Aaaargh, my body trimming has gone completely wrong - a slip of the knife and pow, ruined. Can you get these shells factory-finished? B)

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Cheers Eddystone! Thought that might have been the case but didn't want to ruin the servo.

In the few hours since I last posted… it's finished! Well, mechanically and electronically at least; painting the shell will take this perfectionist probably until the end of next week, especially as I need to make an excursion to buy some paint! In your experience, is trimming the shell/wing better done before or after painting?

One quick query: I don't *think* it's a problem, but whenever I accelerate the force of the motor turning the drive wheels causes the entire gearbox assembly to rotate forward and into the shell with a whack. Equally, reversing rotates the gearbox into the suspension. Is this normal or do you reckon something needs adjusting?

I assembled one of these a couple of weeks ago. I also assembled one in 1984, but that's a different matter :unsure:. Yup, the thwacking (or clunking) on accelerating forwards is part of the design, some say charm, of the Hornet. You can fix this by replacing those very thin springs in the mounting points with something beefier - I used small-sized safety pins with the sharp bit snipped off. It thwacks on full throttle with a high-grip surface like carpet, but then it also wheelies on carpet too, so that's not where I'm going to be running it!

(And yes, getting the wheels into the tyres is a PITA, isn't it? I don't remember this being a problem the first time round.)

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As a bank holiday weekend project, I am in the process of building a re-re Hornet from scratch – my first R/C kit build. So far, it's been remarkably trouble-free; the biggest crisis was one of the impossibly small springs from the rear suspension boinging out of my hand, and having to hunt around on the carpet with a torch upon finding I had no spare!

However, I have come across a couple of sticking points and would richly appreciate the advice of the members of this forum:

1) The plastic side bars (or side bumpers, I think they're officially called) seem a little flimsy. Is their plastic construction simply a consequence of the cost of the kit, or does the flexibility serve a purpose? If not, are aluminium hop-ups available? (My eBay trawl has been fruitless!)

2) I'm having a great deal of difficulty getting the rear tyre inserts to slip into the rubber tyres. I've found an old thread which has a couple of suggestions, but neither adjusting the angle nor using detergent seems to have done the trick. Am I being a pillock and missing something?!

Hope you're able to help – many thanks.

hi , i have rear shock springs used , but in good cond . cost $ 3 .

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