Your getting the onroad right? I havent built one of them - but here is a short list of what you will need that isnt included:
- glow plug wrench (preferably with 5.5mm and 7mm sockets on it)
- exacto knife (barely used, doesnt matter if you dont have)
- Slide cutters/wire cutters
- Needle nose pliers
- Bull nose pliers (great for holding things)
- curved scissors/drill for doing the body. You'll also want some good quality model masking tape for this (tamiya stuff is great). You'll also need some paints for this.
- Instant CA (Cyanoacrylate) aka Pink Zap.
- Thread Lock/locktite
- Molybdenum grease
- zip ties (thin ones)
- transmitter, reciever.
- Double sided tape
Now then, what the manual doesnt tell you!
Diffs -
1. xray do not mention putting grease in your diffs - i think its a good idea too so you have a longer life.
2. The ball bearings on the main drive shaft pinion gear & hub need to be set just so. The ball bearings are not easy to move around, use your slide cutters to help you out if you do it up too tight (ie: slide them right up next to each other). You will notice that the bottom of the gear box case (and the top) have two grooves in them that you can line the ball bearings up with, there is also a 1-1 diagram in the manual.
Spur gear
when attaching the spur gear to the plate it is attached to you will notice that you need to line up the screws to the little holes on the spur gear.. you may miss the picture explaining this like i did, and fiddle about trying to get the screws in a hole that is obviously far too large.
Drive Shafts
when making the drive shafts and screwing in the ultra-long grub screw thing you need to screw it all the way though, as it is in the diagram. Again, i kinda missed the idea here
Pivot balls
if you try pressing them down like in the diagrams your going to end up with REALLY sore fingers or bits flying everywhere. I found it nigh on impossible to get the pivot balls in by pusing them down with the tool. Just grab those bull nose pliers and squash them in the quick and easy way. -- If you put a pivot ball in the wrong way just put your screw driver into the end of the pivot ball which has the "sticky out bit" and pry it out.
Front suspension
dont get ahead of yourself here, pay VERY careful attention to the diagrams as far as the direction goes. Ultra important (at least on the 18T)
Fly wheel
the "fly wheel wrench" is any 7mm wrench.. most glow plug wrenches have one of these on it. You can use a pair of pliers to hold the fly wheel in place rahter than a flywheel tool.
Spur gear alignment
Your spur gear should be able to have a very thin piece of paper between it, and still turn - but not really loose! Once you remove the paper, while holding the spur gear in place your clutch bell should be able to move side to side around 0.5mm.
Radio bay
if you use a spektrum SR3000 recieve its a very close fit! You cannot do up the switch or your rx will push the main drive shaft out into a bow shape. Not good. So get your double sided tape, apply it to the radio bay and place the recieve in so that its about 1.5mm from the shaft.
Now apply double sided tape to the inside side of the switch and to the bottom of it, place it in so the base is touching the radio bay and the side is pressed hard up against your rx. If you have the ability to you may wish to shrink wrap your reciever/battery assembly as i seem to get quite a bit of oil/fuel spilage over that way
Disk Breaks
I found it very hard to get these lined up properly, and still are not correct. Place your disk breaks in place and put in one screw loosely. CA the assembly in place so that it is straight as the diagram shows. Do up the existing scew and the additional screw once the CA has set. This was the only way i could get my breaks reasonably straight.
Steering system.
When doing up your steering linkages make sure you have "toe in" on your front wheels. They should point inwards by about 3 degrees when the servo is centred. This is to improve handling. If they are straight or slightly toe out you will find it difficult to keep any semblence of a straight line.
Shocks, piston set explained
The 4 holes will make your shocks not absorb much impact at all, 2 holes will make it so the shock oil has to move past it slower giving you more impact absorbption. I'd stick with the 2 holes as the shocks are very soft already.
Shocks
Fill oil in your shocks until it is around 2mm from the top, move your piston up and down until it almost reaches the surface. Do this 2-3 times then add another 3-4 drops until the oil level is around 1mm from the top.
NT18T - sway bars
If you want to do off roading or convert to a MT, dont bother. These keep your car stable but i've done 720 degree turns on a skid with no sign of getting close to a roll.
brakes
the amount of fuel line the suggest to place against the brakes i found to be too long, brakes were almost always applied at the throttle closed position. 7-8mm i found was ideal, you may find you need longer or shorter.
Gluing of tyres to wheels
Before you do anything with these, first wash the wheels and rubber of the tyres (take out the foams) in water which has dish soap in it, make sure you rinse well. When glueing, first place the tyre onto the wheel as it shold be when it is complete then roll it back and forth a few times on your work bench - these helps even out the foam inside and align the rubber.
Lay the wheel flat one one side - then pull the rubber away from the rim where you will apply glue. put a single small drop of CA into this hole and squeese it in, move around about 1/8th of a turn and pull the rubber away there - if its glued already move around a bit further and do another drop of glue. Do this all the way round then put the tyre aside to work on the next one. Once you have done all 4 flip them over and glue the other side.
[OMG SAUCE!!! If you catch this.. you've read far farther than i thought you would
]
If you get one part of the tyre which will not touch against the rim when gluing get a small elastic band and wrap it around the tyre (close to the top). This will hold it in place
Before you break-in
Prime your engine really well. Loosten the glow plug one turn and then cover the exhaust with a finger tip, drop the car on the start box until fuel comes out of the top of the engine. Tighten your glow plug and start away.
Random tips
- Before starting the engine, check your needle settings! Mine were REALLLY lean when i got it, had to richen it massively. I put my needle all the way out so it was flush.
- Set your servo end points on your radio! if you dont you may damage something when you open it too wide
- Get a 50-100ml syringe to fill your fuel tank with. A conventional filler bottle is too damn clumsy and you tend to spill fuel everywhere the first few times. If you must use a filler bottle, tip your car on an angle and just touch the end of your bottle to the tank and pour in slowly.
- If its a cool day/evening, wrap your engine head in alfoil during break in - its the only way you'll ever get it up to temperature
I did 4 tanks straight before i started to get to 90C.
- Get a temp gun for break in - borrow one if you cant afford it.
- Make sure you wheels are on tight, the thread should come past the nylon part of your nut, or it wont lock!
- You may notice bubbles in your fuel line, just flick the fuel line a few times and it should *** :-) *** them through.
- Spektrum antennas can be cut really short, check the manual for the exact length.
- If your start box will not turn the engine over, loosten the glow plug one turn and then turn the engine over for 3-4 seconds (no glow heater!) then re-tighten and try again.
PM me if you need anything else.
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