imxlr8ed
2012.12.17, 12:27 AM
I hate body tape! Why would I want to put a strip of tape around that awesome paint scheme?... yuck! And to run a race without some secondary method to secure my body to the chassis?.. I've found that this is extremely detrimental to my next favorite hobby of standing on podiums!
So here's my answer to that problem:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1524
Notice anything different?
I've always looked at those little posts on the back of the chassis and wondered why the heck they never used them. It just seems like they were there for the using so I did just that.
The goal is to keep the body from popping up, it rarely ever goes down, so I've incorporated a little hook under them to help hold things tight.
I've also had to keep them as generic as possible so they would fit with every body out there, so you notice the area where they glue to the body is in a new pattern. After measuring up more bodies than I can count... this pattern worked for all but one (my Original Teile Benz) but I'm sure with a bit of grinding and cutting, the fit could be easily acvheived:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1521
So, onto the install! The parts did need a snip to part them and a bit of a cleanup before install. This was accomplished with a good old exacto.
Next, I popped them onto the chassis to check for fit. I just have them resting on the body to get an idea of how much I needed to take off. I just made sure the car was fairly centered side to side:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1509
Next up, I marked the approximate amount of material that needed to be removed. I left a bit extra just in case... better more than less left to work with!:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1511
I held the two clips by hand and took out my drum wheel sander and cut them both down to just before my marks. This does take skill and finesse but I do not think it's a huge challenge for someone who has worked on a Mini-Z in the past. Just go slow and take your time!
Remove the old clips. This can also be a delicate process if someone used gobs of superglue on them before. I just dig a tiny flathead screwdriver under them and work it in sections. The glue did take some body material with it but that's not a big deal in my book.
Next, I popped the new clips onto the chassis and made sure that the car would be level side to side. Once I was happy with placement I flipped the car over holding it tightly by the sides and marked the inside of the body and eyeballed the placement so I could have an idea of position when I get to gluing them in.
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1514
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1513
Also made sure that if there was any stretch of the body, it wasn't too extreme. For me, I prefer to have the body fit tightly.
This is my weapon of choice when it comes to securing body clips! It's cheap, cleans off easy and is adjustable with a bit of re-heat. I hotglue almost all of my clips in. Hotglue guns are for wusses! I find it much easier to just roll it around while heating with a lighter. Been doing this since I was around 11 years old (alley model racing days) so I've pretty much made it an artform. Even with all that in mind, I'm sure super-glue would work just the same as it di for stock clips. The material is very porous and bonds well with it:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1515
So, I try to get them both in as quickly as possible. I did one at a time into the body and then quickly popped the chassis in while the material was still pliable so I could use the residual heat to make any adjustments if needed:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1517
And there it is! My 599 with a nice new, lowered stance and a very secure body to boot!
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1519
Now this has been tested by me and the first thing I noticed with this prototype was that the fit to the chassis was excellent. How excellent?... THIS EXCELLENT!:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1507
Now that in itself is a huge improvement in my book! No more body rattle!
The parts I have tested are different from what you will receive from my shop, I have added some minor revisions like a positive lock fit to the chassis posts and took away some of the material from the lower corners in the interest of ease of installation. I have also beefed up the material surrounding the chassis as to create a body position that matches stock fitment better. I have these new models for sale in White Strong and Flexible and Polished as well. I ordered both versions and tested with both versions and they both work fine, The polished ones are just a bit cleaner looking and seem a bit stronger.
So, hopefully body taping will be a thing of the past! I can't guarantee that your never going to have a body pop-off ever again using my clips because of all the possible worst-case scenarios that exist out there. But what I can say is that this is a better bet than anything else that exists out there!!! The new model is already in my shop and ready for sale! Make sure you order either MR02 or MR03, they are totally different dimensions from each other and are specific to their respective chassis!
Once again, the shapeways link to my shop is in my signature below. Any questions or comments or even special design requests, please do not hesitate to ask!
Hope you all enjoy them!
No fine print here, just the facts!
I am in no way, shape or form responsible for production or shipping or manufacturing quality of these products. All I can say is that it took 15 days to show up at my house after I ordered it and the quality is top-notch! Shapeways has an excellent record of part quality which is one of the major reasons I went with them for this stuff.
So here's my answer to that problem:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1524
Notice anything different?
I've always looked at those little posts on the back of the chassis and wondered why the heck they never used them. It just seems like they were there for the using so I did just that.
The goal is to keep the body from popping up, it rarely ever goes down, so I've incorporated a little hook under them to help hold things tight.
I've also had to keep them as generic as possible so they would fit with every body out there, so you notice the area where they glue to the body is in a new pattern. After measuring up more bodies than I can count... this pattern worked for all but one (my Original Teile Benz) but I'm sure with a bit of grinding and cutting, the fit could be easily acvheived:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1521
So, onto the install! The parts did need a snip to part them and a bit of a cleanup before install. This was accomplished with a good old exacto.
Next, I popped them onto the chassis to check for fit. I just have them resting on the body to get an idea of how much I needed to take off. I just made sure the car was fairly centered side to side:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1509
Next up, I marked the approximate amount of material that needed to be removed. I left a bit extra just in case... better more than less left to work with!:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1511
I held the two clips by hand and took out my drum wheel sander and cut them both down to just before my marks. This does take skill and finesse but I do not think it's a huge challenge for someone who has worked on a Mini-Z in the past. Just go slow and take your time!
Remove the old clips. This can also be a delicate process if someone used gobs of superglue on them before. I just dig a tiny flathead screwdriver under them and work it in sections. The glue did take some body material with it but that's not a big deal in my book.
Next, I popped the new clips onto the chassis and made sure that the car would be level side to side. Once I was happy with placement I flipped the car over holding it tightly by the sides and marked the inside of the body and eyeballed the placement so I could have an idea of position when I get to gluing them in.
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1514
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1513
Also made sure that if there was any stretch of the body, it wasn't too extreme. For me, I prefer to have the body fit tightly.
This is my weapon of choice when it comes to securing body clips! It's cheap, cleans off easy and is adjustable with a bit of re-heat. I hotglue almost all of my clips in. Hotglue guns are for wusses! I find it much easier to just roll it around while heating with a lighter. Been doing this since I was around 11 years old (alley model racing days) so I've pretty much made it an artform. Even with all that in mind, I'm sure super-glue would work just the same as it di for stock clips. The material is very porous and bonds well with it:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1515
So, I try to get them both in as quickly as possible. I did one at a time into the body and then quickly popped the chassis in while the material was still pliable so I could use the residual heat to make any adjustments if needed:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1517
And there it is! My 599 with a nice new, lowered stance and a very secure body to boot!
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1519
Now this has been tested by me and the first thing I noticed with this prototype was that the fit to the chassis was excellent. How excellent?... THIS EXCELLENT!:
http://mini-zracer.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=158&pictureid=1507
Now that in itself is a huge improvement in my book! No more body rattle!
The parts I have tested are different from what you will receive from my shop, I have added some minor revisions like a positive lock fit to the chassis posts and took away some of the material from the lower corners in the interest of ease of installation. I have also beefed up the material surrounding the chassis as to create a body position that matches stock fitment better. I have these new models for sale in White Strong and Flexible and Polished as well. I ordered both versions and tested with both versions and they both work fine, The polished ones are just a bit cleaner looking and seem a bit stronger.
So, hopefully body taping will be a thing of the past! I can't guarantee that your never going to have a body pop-off ever again using my clips because of all the possible worst-case scenarios that exist out there. But what I can say is that this is a better bet than anything else that exists out there!!! The new model is already in my shop and ready for sale! Make sure you order either MR02 or MR03, they are totally different dimensions from each other and are specific to their respective chassis!
Once again, the shapeways link to my shop is in my signature below. Any questions or comments or even special design requests, please do not hesitate to ask!
Hope you all enjoy them!
No fine print here, just the facts!
I am in no way, shape or form responsible for production or shipping or manufacturing quality of these products. All I can say is that it took 15 days to show up at my house after I ordered it and the quality is top-notch! Shapeways has an excellent record of part quality which is one of the major reasons I went with them for this stuff.