To 2WD or not to 2WD?

With the entry list for QLD Titles growing and the quality of the drivers entering quite high, the chances of myself achieving a significant result is getting pretty slim. I would be hard pressed to call myself A main material at the moment anyway so the main point of attending is more about personal satisfaction. This also forms part of the reasoning as to why I've decided not to go to the extra expense of entering F1.

On a whim before the last local meeting (which was cancelled again because of the weather) I threw together a slightly different car. I still have my Tigermoth LCG laying around as well as a decent assortment of parts. I had broken the chassis which had made me switch to the Mi1.5 project but on the Friday before racing I suddenly had an idea on repairing it and putting it back together - maybe as a bit of a different car for the Holden v Ford series I am hoping to attend at Logan after QLD Titles. Then, for some reason, possibly my well documented non-love affair with 4WD TC, I decided to convert it to 2WD...

... and fit the 13T HW setup from my M03, and the shocks and springs.

Now I know what most will think, but I have to say that, for most of my differing careers and interests, I've not been one to follow the easiest path. I enjoy the challenge of seeing how far I can achieve using less obvious or less accepted means. What's more the current ORRCA rules allow 2WD touring cars with the obvious requirements that will rule out pan car style chassis. 

There are obvious disadvantages to a 2WD car and 13.5T might just be enough power to make them untenable, but with modern electronics and radios there might just be enough adjust-ability to minimise them. There are some advantages as well, it is just a case of deciding if one outweighs the other enough to make a firm decision. Thats where I am now.

Despite racing being cancelled I did manage about 20 minutes of track time with it. Now keep in mind I did NO setup to the car at all. Everything was as it was the last time I raced it in 4WD form except the shocks and springs which were taken directly off my M03 with no changes or modifications. Motor gearing was a best guess based on the knowledge that M chassis cars are massively under-geared and even the ride height was a estimation without a battery actually in the car. The track was also very dusty and cold and it was nearly dark.

Frankly, it was awesome. Massively quick in a straight line and, for the limited track layout set down and no car setup, it was surprisingly well balanced. There was only one other TC doing any runs with a 17.5T and as could be expected mine was easily faster down the short "main" straight but once I got my head into the swing of driving it, was pretty much as quick through the corners. Out of the very slow corners the 2WD disadvantage does show but, given the track conditions, I don't think it will be anywhere near as bad on a higher grip surface. Overall it probably needs more high speed steering and a bit less low speed steering, It was also evident that the shocks need some tuning - considering what they came off that's hardly surprising.

So now do I take the 2WD LCG or the 4WD Mi1.5? 

Neither are front running cars against current chassis' with gun drivers and there ARE going to be some gun drivers in 13.5T class. I am considering taking both with me and making a decision after running both in Friday practice, before scrutineering, but that poses a logistical nightmare for preparing bodies, electronics etc. The 2WD is at least worth a little "shock" value if I do manage anything more than an average result. 

Considering my last major event (SA State Titles) I didn't make it through Saturday, my last large QLD event (Bayside interclub 2013) I managed 20th and my last visit to a big club meeting (Logan) I didn't manage one full lap in practice, I am really not expecting anything but to try and have some fun, but which car will deliver on that more?

The post you make when you have nothing to post

I've been down with flu for the last 3 or 4 weeks so not a lot has been happening. I managed a little bit of racing before I was taken ill but not sure that actually helped.

I've got too many projects on the go - my Mi1.5, RM-01 front suspension mod, and now an FF touring car project. Despite a few backwards steps with the backyard mill, I am still busy in the CAD program designing bits and pieces. I actually find it a lot of fun even if it never comes to anything

A few updates - 

After the dismal failure of the last center shaft mount I decided to design a one piece motor mount/center shaft mount. I borrowed a Mi5 gear diff and spool so I could use them as a reference. Its pretty obvious that the Mi5 has the motor further OUT from the center line than the Mi1. This makes it a little difficult to get everything to line up as easily as I would like and requires s lot of material to be removed from the motor mount to allow for the belt pulley. Given the troubles with milling things, and the closeness of the QLD Titles, I've decided on a different design for the time being - using the original center shaft mounts, some 8x5 bearings, the lightweight carbon gearbox shafts from an M03 and a 40mm suspension shaft. Pics to follow...

This one is just me being unmotivated (hard to be motivated when nowhere to race). The design is done and I have the ball mounts to make it work - I just have to make it.

This has come about because of my long established lack of real interest with 4WD Touring cars. I used to love my original Tamiya FF-01 and I didn't mind the FF-02 which handled like a big M-chassis, which it essentially was. The FF-03 seems to have a lot of fans, as does the Serpent FWD. There is also a new 3Racing FWD. I decided to keep expanding my experience with the CAD and design my own. Its loosely based on the famous Yokomo YR-F2 in so far as that was the primary motivation, but as I've done more reading (I didn't know there were so many big name FWD off-road buggies at one stage) I am starting to go in my own direction. I am hoping to keep the motor as close to the diff as possible to keep weight close to the wheels and I am also attempting to keep everything as central as possible. Diff is based on the Schumacher Mi5 gear diff and so is the rest of the gearbox bits. It will be belt driven. I am pretty much settled on the front suspension but the rear is still to be settled on. Will probably resolve itself as I get closer to drawing it. I am only in the very early stages of drawing.

There is a local club meeting this week so looking forward to that. I was really hoping to get a decent run with 13.5T before the QLD Titles but I guess that will happen on the Friday practice.

When is a belt not a belt?

When its the wrong length!

The Mi1.5 project has been going along quite nicely. I've had a couple of meetings with it with the new center pulley mount and Mi5 pulley and spur. I've made a few small changes like swapping the mount from the left side to the right side (closer to the motor). The main reason is to make changing the spur easier. A little stuff up on my part meant that, previously, I had to remove the whole mount to change a spur but now I just need to removed 3 screws. Fortunately, I haven't had to make anything new at this stage but I will have to clean it up and make something that looks a little more "professional".

Ignore all the spacers and stripped spur - it is a prototype after all

The most frustrating part at the moment has been finding a suitable front belt. Those of you that have read my ramblings before will remember the initial trials with finding a suitable belt, well now that I have some track testing under my belt, it has become obvious that the front belt is far too tight and needs to change. After much re-visiting websites of both RC manufacturers and general timing belt manufacturers I decided to buy a 507mm belt, originally an optional XRay belt but also used on some HPI models. The original choice was 501mm.

Now given how tight the 501mm belt was, I was thinking that 507mm would be close to perfect. After all, its only 6mm longer. How wrong I was. Extremely floppy is the first description that comes to mind. Several hours of consternation, more web searching I determined that I had to make the 507mm belt work. I had the original Mission belt tension-er sitting in a box of stuff and, as I was looking through another box of "junk", I found a piece of carbon fiber that just happened to have a slot cut into it that would be a perfect mount for it. A bit of dremel work, a couple of holes drilled and the tension-er was mounted and seems to work exactly as needed, taking out the extra belt slack.

 The drive line has much less drag now and feels smoother. Track time will confirm if I have everything right and that should be happening this weekend.