Pro Tips

[Pablo68 575]

16 minutes ago, SupraChrgd82 said:

I have a spare set of front carbon shock mounts for the longer shocks.  Yours free if you don't mind covering postage.  I might even have a rear.  I'll have to check the parts bin.

I also have spare OEM re-re shocks, same price.

That's awesome of you, hold that thought though, I'm re-working things a tad so I might be ok.

[Jontea 325]

When doing a quick test run to check your electrics are working in your new build, always do it in a rather small room that has carpeted floors, set your buggy down, check the steering works, yep, all good, now to check the throttle, yep, goes forward, brakes, and reverses (all at a sedate pace), now you're feeling very pleased with yourself, go on, give it full throttle!

Next part of this Pro tip involves the use of the internet. Your Google search should be something like " how to get black rubber marks out of a carpet".

Not that I have just done this.

[Gruntfuggly 517]

^^ Lol. 

Always do your RC work on the decking in your back garden so that screws, small parts, etc. can fall through the gaps. Do this year after year. Nothing beats the thrill of dropping your last 850 bearing and watching it roll a couple of feet before dropping though...

(I've finally got some magnetic dishes, but that only works for some items).

[Otis311 86]

55 minutes ago, Gruntfuggly said:

Always do your RC work on the decking in your back garden so that screws, small parts, etc. can fall through the gaps. Do this year after year. Nothing beats the thrill of dropping your last 850 bearing and watching it roll a couple of feet before dropping though...

It feels like time slows down as you watch a part just slowly roll to the gap between boards. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now.

[Gruntfuggly 517]

The deck is on its last legs - going to replace it soon. I'm quite excited to see what I might be able to recover!
 

[Mad Ax 3051]

3 hours ago, Gruntfuggly said:

The deck is on its last legs - going to replace it soon. I'm quite excited to see what I might be able to recover!
 

We ripped out our decking a few years ago.  We kind of had to, it had got to bad that I went right through it once while doing a barbecue and had to be pulled out by family members.  Luckily the barbecue didn't come down on top of me.

We were hoping to find something really cool and interesting when we pulled up our decking.  The most interesting thing we discovered was why we don't have many rats under the decking: evidently, the spiders have been eating them.

Oddly enough I have a similar (although less severe) problem trying to do sofa builds during lockdown.  I am building on a large camping table that has been relocated to the lounge for the purpose of entertaining parent and toddler alike.  It doesn't move well on the thick carpet, so needs to be tugged firmly into place every time I sit down.  Usually it stays in place for about 3 minutes before I drop another nut / fire out an e-clip / remember I put my craft knife on the top shelf out of reach of grasping hands and I have to hulk it out of the way and start all over again.

[Gruntfuggly 517]

8 minutes ago, Mad Ax said:

The most interesting thing we discovered was why we don't have many rats under the decking: evidently, the spiders have been eating them.

[Mark_C 196]

I use this board, its about 2 feet square and helps stop bits go rolling off never to be seen again. It also means you don't need to pack stuff away, just lift it up and put it somewhere out of the way and return later. Its just made from MDF some baton around the edges, that probably stands 40mm or so off the base.

[Nicadraus 1910]

Here's a reversible way to lock/unlock your gear differential.

I used sticky tack...

Clean the diff from oil...

Apply the tack then insert the planetary gears...

Fill some more and compress it. Then seal the diff.

It's very effective. 

 

[Nicadraus 1910]

For cleaner installation of wiring, shrink tube and braided cable wrap does the job. If soldering isn't a problem, shortening the wires would be nicer too.

The braided cable wrap is also available in different colors to match your kit's theme. I bought them in 5 meters each.

[Gruntfuggly 517]

I love the way that thread is working both ways... 

 

[Mrowka 205]

11 hours ago, Nicadraus said:

Here's a reversible way to lock/unlock your gear differential.

I used sticky tack...

Clean the diff from oil...

Apply the tack then insert the planetary gears...

Fill some more and compress it. Then seal the diff.

It's very effective. 

 

Tempting...

How hard is it to clean the blue goop out if you want to switch back?

[Nicadraus 1910]

1 hour ago, Mrowka said:

Tempting...

How hard is it to clean the blue goop out if you want to switch back?

WD-40 or oil will help you clean it back easily. Use a toothbrush to remove them after lubricating with the oil or WD-40

[Pablo68 575]

Spend years (the vast majority of which was me procrastinating) getting parts together for, planning and thinking about restoring an old Kyosho Assault. Finally get it running as a Scorpion/Assault Frankenstein combo of new and old parts.
Take it out for a run to discover after all that effort that it drives/handles a lot like a Wild One.

(I'm actually pretty stoked about it, every now and the I turn around to look at it.)

[SupraChrgd82 842]

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it against that freshly-stained heirloom piece you were drying.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned guitar calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, "Ouch...."

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their holes 
until you die of old age.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Generally used after pliers to further round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand. 
OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub you want the bearing race out of.

WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older British cars and motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 9/16 or 1/2 socket you've been searching for the last 15 minutes.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

EIGHT-FOOT LONG DOUGLAS FIR 2X4: Used for levering an automobile upward off of a trapped hydraulic jack handle.

TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters and wire wheel wires.

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool ten times harder than any known drill bit that snaps off in bolt holes you couldn't use anyway.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the tensile strength on everything you forgot to disconnect.

CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A large prybar that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end opposite the handle.

AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw.

TROUBLE LIGHT: The home mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which is not otherwise found under cars at night. Health benefits aside, its main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate that 105-mm howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few hours of the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids and for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a coal-burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty bolts which were last over tightened 50 years ago by someone at Ford, and neatly rounds off their heads.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts not far from the object we are trying to hit. Alternately used as a "thumb detector".

MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.

DAMMIT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling "DAMMIT" at the top of your lungs. It is also the next tool that you will need.

EXPLETIVE: A balm, also referred to as mechanic's lube, usually applied verbally in hindsight, which somehow eases those pains and indignities following our every deficiency in foresight.

[Pablo68 575]

^ Those are gold.

Ok, remember guys, a little shock oil goes a long long loooong way. Everywhere in fact. What? There? How? It wasn't even....

[SupraChrgd82 842]

Glue tires like a pro - I'll vouch for this video.  This method works beautifully.

 

[Finnsllc 604]

On 7/5/2020 at 10:27 PM, SupraChrgd82 said:

DAMMIT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling "DAMMIT" at the top of your lungs. It is also the next tool that you will need.

I have so many of these tools

[Carmine A 1331]

There are some BRILLIANT and hilarious morsels in this Thread!!!

Most recently, I've joined the "what NOT to do" Club...

I'm building a M05 Kit.... well piecing one together, and I forgot Rule #3. ALWAYS LOOK AT THE MANUAL! 

I thought I had everything well sorted - then tried test fitting the Body over it... OOOPS!!! 😜😖😖

WELL.... Bone-Headed Me Fitted the Rear A Arms on BACKWARDS!!! 😡😠  I can chuckle now, but I felt really stupid after building these Kits since 1984. 😲

[Pablo68 575]

2 hours ago, Carmine A said:

There are some BRILLIANT and hilarious morsels in this Thread!!!

Most recently, I've joined the "what NOT to do" Club...

I'm building a M05 Kit.... well piecing one together, and I forgot Rule #3. ALWAYS LOOK AT THE MANUAL! 

I thought I had everything well sorted - then tried test fitting the Body over it... OOOPS!!! 😜😖😖

WELL.... Bone-Headed Me Fitted the Rear A Arms on BACKWARDS!!! 😡😠  I can chuckle now, but I felt really stupid after building these Kits since 1984. 😲

Pretty sure I've done the same at some time.
Not uncommon for me to have to go back and undo everything I've just done in order to put something back on the RIGHT way around.

[Carmine A 1331]

7 minutes ago, Pablo68 said:

Pretty sure I've done the same at some time.
Not uncommon for me to have to go back and undo everything I've just done in order to put something back on the RIGHT way around.

Not my first.... Certainly won't be my last. But this just happened LAST WEEK!  So... there's my "Pro Tip". 

Never think you're too experienced to read a Manual. 😜 Since so many of us are laughing at ourselves, I couldn't resist!

[Pablo68 575]

Remember guys that dignity is overrated!
Never hesitate to curl yourself up into strange contorted semi upside down positions just to do what at first looks like a simple job on your RC car. Both hands somewhere on the desk/car, head underneath, probably one foot above as well all in an effort to simulate having three hands.

I didn't choose the RC life.

[Frog Jumper 950]

On 7/30/2020 at 11:41 PM, Carmine A said:

Rule #3. ALWAYS LOOK AT THE MANUAL! 

 

What are Rules #1 and #2???

Terry

[Carmine A 1331]

56 minutes ago, Frog Jumper said:

What are Rules #1 and #2???

Terry

#1 - Make sure that your Tools, Hardware and tiny bits are as well organized as possible.

#2 - Make SURE you have enough BEER!!!! 😂😜🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍻

[Frog Jumper 950]

Isn’t the Beer rule number one???