Runner Boomerang refurbishment

[Drivetrain 11]

In the next days you will see what I did with the steering rack.

I believe you will be surprised about it.

Max

I look forward to it!

[kontemax 1780]

Holidays means freetime.

Freetime means that I can restart with my projects. Here we go with the refurbishment of my Boomerang runner!

Ok, as promised 9 months ago to Drivetrain here some pictures of my modified steering system. I disassembled the front gearbox to clean inside as I did with the rear gearbox and voilà the steering system. The 1st thing to do is display the protection against sand, debris and little stones.

I encapsulated the steering servo with some lexan protection. The top one is very close to the original one but is tighter and thicker. Then there's the back protection:

Here the lexan plates. This is the cheapest and simpler modification to protect your steering system on your Boomerang:

As you can see there's no dirt inside:

And this is the modification I did. Please be patient, the screws I used are very worn out but they are invisible so, who cares?

The elements of this modification are the front carbon fiber plate, the alloy steering bar, four 730 ball bearings and two sheets of self lubricating Teflon. You can note that the shape of these parts is close to the original parts but there are some differences.

The Steering bar is longer in both sides but expecially on the left side. Also the steering plate is longer in the left side because it mounts the 4th ball bearing that you will see in the next pictures.

Here we have a bottom view. As you can see the steering bar is linked with the steering servo as per original configuration. I though to mount another ball bearing in the servo connections then I left the idea because I had not the total control of the cnc machinery when I did this modification.

The 4th ball bearing. Note the left side of the steering bar.

And this is the reason for this lenght:

The white material is the sheet of Teflon:

De facto the steering bar is precise because I made it with a cnc mill (I made it in minutes because the mill wasn't mine) with hard aluminum alloy, probably 7050 alloy. Infact it doesn't flex anymore and is very strong. The front carbon plate is handmade cutted (and you can see it), it's rough but it doesn't flex. The chassis and the carbon plate accomodate the ball bearings. The steering bar moves between the ball bearings and the self lubricating material. This eliminates resistances, flexions, slop, undesired movements and so on. All system is extremely precise and solid and have no unwanted movement. The freedom of movement of the steering bar can be manipulated tightening or loosening the front screws, so a complete set up is possible.

Here the chassis without the steering bar:

I checked all ball bearings and they are smooth like new. There's no dirt inside the system due the lack of any lubricant like oil or grease so the steering system didn't need to be cleaned but after several hours of use a check is always a good idea.

Here the steering bar and the front plate. No need to be cleaned.

A little bit of alloy remained on the Teflon sheet but is not relevant. The 4th ball bearing is attached directly on the carbon plate.

The general look of this modification is ugly and rough but keep in mind that, at the era, I had no time to dedicate to it and at the end it was an experiment. A good point would be to remake it better but I'm still without free time in my life. At the end anyway I'm really satisfied about the modification because it works very well, the front wheels movement is fast and precise, it has no slop, it is solid and fast. A good ball bearing fitted, precise, fast and torquey steering servo with an Hi-Torque servo saver does the job and some precise and tight ball connectors are a must have to obtain this result. Particulars make the difference. If you note this is only an enhanced system that use the same original concept that doesn't work. The original concept is correct, not the materials.

That's all for the moment.

Max

[matman 1500]

WOOHOO!! we get to see this mod after waiting for so long  .

Great mod  Max , you put in a lot of thought into your mods & time . 

Thanks . One day i may try some of these on , One of my boomerangs .

 

[kontemax 1780]

Well, let's go on with this project.

You can see here a must have optional part if you have an Hot Shot series model:

This part is a brace that eliminates the sloppiness in the front upper arms. The front end of the series is not efficient due the cheap materials and the excessive undesired movements of the parts. You loose almost 1/3 of the suspension movement. This doesn't allow to have a correct sag of the mono shock with the result of the bottoming of the front end or the excessive hardness of the spring to contrastate the loss of suspension movement.

At the end I really lke this front end but it needs some cares.

I took care of the damper mounts, as you can see.

Great breakage in the front end, brilliantly resolved with a brace/bumper mount, stronger than the original configuration. This alloy plate also eliminates the unwanted movements of the lower arms.

The problem is how I will replace it in the new gearbox halves.

The breakage were massive but almost everything is repairable.

The brass wires keep the parts solid and all together.

 There's no parts that it is not broken.

Obviously this front gearbox gave all of itself and will be replaced.

Max

[kontemax 1780]

Well, finally the front gearbox is open to have a refresh.

With great surprice the internal parts are ok, no dirt, no sand or other things.

The gears are perfect, the grease is still good.

No need to clean these parts. I only will add some fresh grease and that's all.

Done!

The gearbox is closed again. I still not replace it because I changed my mind. As you can see the gearbox is badly damaged and repaired with brass wires. It's ugly but it works. And, if it works, why replace it?

At the end the big front breakage gave me the opportunity to make a great modification, the front brace/bumper mount, that is strong, works well and allows to reduce the lower arms unwanted movement. For these reason I decided to keep the gearbox until it is totally destroyed. The problem of the front brace will be addressed with the next gearbox; What I will do? Will I cut the front to mount my brace or will I keep it original? The answer is in the future.

 

Max

[kontemax 1780]

Time to disassemble and check the front hubs. The Hobbyco Universal Joints were a great optional parts at the era but they had a problem, they were a little bit longer than necessary. I'm speaking about a couple of millimeters. But if in the rear this was a minor problem, solved moving the inner ball bearing more outward, in the front this was a massive problem. Probably I found two rear couples and I believe that the Hobbyco front universal shafts were shorter.

Anyway this was the material I found so I must adapt. As you can see, from the spacer behind the wheel adapter, I solved the issue.

The knuckles have been also trimmed to accept the increased angle of steering.

As for the rear hubs I moved the inner ball bearing one or more millimeter outward. Then I used, for the inner ball bearing, a native unshielded 1150 that is 3 mm thick instead the 4 mm of the shielded one.

To protect the spheres I used a 0,05 mm shim.

The modification worked well and I didn't find any sand, dirt or debris inside the 11x5x3 ball bearings.

A spacer outside doesn't allow the universal shaft to move.

 

That's all for today.

 

Max

 

[kontemax 1780]

Ok, new update to this infinite thread!

The gearbox is closed and the front brace and bumper mount is again in place.

The breakage under the front gearbox is irrelevant because the hole is closed and no dust can enter.

Maybe I already said that I decided to keep this old gearbox due this brace that works great. I will wait until the complete breakage to replace it in the future, if this will happen.

Now the gearbox is assembled with the arms and the shock absorber.

And the model, finally after much time, is a single piece again.

I also polished the stabilizer ends.

The underside view of the front end without the bumper. The steering bar modification is noticeable.

The front bumper is custom handmade. I believe that the original bumper is strong but has a problem on the track. The side ends dig into the ground after the jumps causing the roll over or the crash of the model. This bumper is less protective than the original but I believe to be skilled enough to drive this model without destroy it in a frontal crash against a wall.

A couple of months ago it was 30 years of Boomerang in my life.

If you have read this thread from the first post you perfectly know that I locked the battery door forever. One of the problem of this choice was the batteries exchange on the model. I simply stolen the idea from the Thundershot, the idea and the parts (my Thundershot still miss the left side battery retainer). I made a small carbon fiber plate and I bolted on the chassis. Then I made a couple of aluminum mounts and the battery retainer opens like the Thundershot. A bodyclip (not in the pictures) locks the battery retainer.

Here we go, the refurbishment is (almost) finished.

Now my Boomerang runner is in perfect shape again, ready to run on the track again.

The white thing on the tires is glycerine to protect them.

The thread is almost finished but there's still something to do.

That's all for the moment.

Max

[chickenman242tk 266]

I notice the front wheels are the disc type wheel , are they narrower than the fronts?.

Love the thread btw max

[kontemax 1780]

Yes, I narrowed them.

They are perfect fit with Boomerang tires.

You can see the modification here:

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=121602&sid=24

 

Max

[chickenman242tk 266]

You certainly are a clever fella!

Might have to try this with a black set

[kontemax 1780]

I already made it with a black set and I will use them for my Tamiya Winger.

 

Max

[kontemax 1780]

Hello!

I'm currently working on this project.

 

Max

[kontemax 1780]

Waiting for a letter from Canada.

 

Max

[kontemax 1780]

Here some news about the Boomerang. A couple of days ago some spare parts are arrived.
I would like to thank Marc (GregM) that helped me with these parts.

 

Max

[matman 1500]

On 4 July 2017 at 7:21 AM, kontemax said:

Here some news about the Boomerang. A couple of days ago some spare parts are arrived.
I would like to thank Marc (GregM) that helped me with these parts.

Had pic's , but this is the time photobucket held people ransom !!!! ( matman ) 

 

 

 

 

 

Max

NO Pic's MAX . photobucket are wanting money from all now . So all the pic's on this thread are gone . But are you going to Pay $399 odd dollars to do pic's ??????? ...  I can't see anyone will . Who has that type of money to spend ?. 

You will need new host sadly .. 

[kontemax 1780]

I just saw this.
Well, time to change the hosting. If Photobucket thinks to have business this way they think wrong.
Sorry for inconvenience, mates, I will change the host asap and replace all the pictures.

 

Does somebody have some hosting to suggest?

 

Max

[mastino 1182]

currently I'm on imgur and imgbb

 

[mastino 1182]

imgbb seems better.

 

https://imgbb.com/

[kontemax 1780]

2 hours ago, mastino said:

imgbb seems better.

 

https://imgbb.com/

Will try it soon.

 

Max

[kontemax 1780]

Thanks to Photobucked I'm loosing so much time replacing all the pictures of this thread.
Photobucked asked me 400 $ to give me back the pictures on the thread. Do you know what I did? I simply changed the hosting and replacing al the pictures so please be patient for the next pictures and news.

Ciao ciao Photobucked!

 

Max

 

PS: All mates that quoted the posts will have the old Photobucked likes that I can't delete because the post are not mine. Please delete that horribles images of Photobucked warning.

[kontemax 1780]

Ok, time for some news.
Today, after exactly 30 years I cutted again a Boomerang body.
I really didn't remember this experience because too many years are passed but this new re-release body seems more softer than the original one.
Anyway the cut requested me a good time because I wanted to do the things in the best way I could. This is the result.

Next step is the painting and no other choice, the Boomerang is white.
Except that your Boomerang is a race beast so it can have a different color.
As I'm thinking about a diffrent color for the Boomerang since the far 1986, and still mumbling about it, only one thing is clear: the body must be not metallic and must be not a dark color. Only exception the silver, that is metallic but is a light color.

So the options are not many:
- White

- White
- Yellow

- Silver
- Gray?
- Orange?
 

Well, meanwhile I was thinking about the color, I started to mask the rear wing.

I'm going to make an experiment. I decided to paint Clear Blue the inner band of the rear wing. If the result will not like me I will cover it with the sticker.



These are the Boomerang stickers that I professionally redrawn for a famous company and you can also see my personal custom version.



When you will buy these stickers and will see that they are almost perfect please remember of Kontemax.

Well, finally the first step of painting is finished. Here the result. It's time for the bodycolor.



And this is the color I choosed for my Boomerang runner.

Not a common yellow but Camel Yellow.
I hope that will be good on whole body at the end.
Today I was lazy so the painting will continue in the next days. Tomorrow it is August and I'm a little bit tired.

Max

[kontemax 1780]

Today I found the will to finish to paint the body.
Believe me, there are 41° of heat here in Italy so, really, not many forces to make anything. And the sea is 200 km far from my home!
Anyway here the images of the painted body.
I believe that the result is good, imho.

Next news tomorrow, I believe.

Stay tuned.

Max

[matman 1500]

Looking good Max . So Now you know how Australia is in summer   . 

I have seen this in the News , your heat wave . So keep up the water drinking etc .

 

[kontemax 1780]

1 hour ago, matman said:

Looking good Max . So Now you know how Australia is in summer   . 

I have seen this in the News , your heat wave . So keep up the water drinking etc .

 

I'm drinking like a camel...

Max

[kontemax 1780]

Ok, here some new pictures of the body with all the stickers.
I decided to add some more sponsor stickers on the body to give it a more racing look.
The Boomerang Racing Team went away for the Kontemax Racing Team.
I still thinking about the Valvoline sticker on the roof and some more sponsor here and there.
The body still need the window nets and the driver is on it's way to be painted and added to the model.
The white thingy you see on the tires is glicerine to keep them soft.



















Max