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.
