My RWD solid axle front engine Escort MK2 build

[Frederik]

For brazing, I would drop BigGaz a pm. He makes steel bumpers and sliders for rock crawlers. I am sure he would give you a few pointers on how to get something rigid enough. I think a rollcage would be a good way to go. Will give it a good look as well as stiffening up the chassis

Just to be sure, are you talking about this member?

http://www.msuk-forum.co.uk/user/29374-biggaz/

Thanks!

[oodboo]

Nope, this one:

http://www.msuk-forum.co.uk/user/19605-big-gaz/

[Nitroholic]

The one Oodboo linked to . He should be able to give you some pointers on what you need to do and how best to go about it.

[Frederik]

Thanks Nitro, I am doing a bit of research so I have some background before asking my questions.

Update!! So I was scratching my head at how to do a better steering slider thingy instead of just the brake line piece which was a puzzle to mount to the chassis, being round. I wanted to drill a piece of aluminum but did not have the right drill bit for the steering steel pin size. But I do have 1/4" drill bit, the outer size of the brake line so I am using the brake line piece as the sleeve into a solid block of aluminum cut to shape:

I made a rough but straight cut with the handsaw and sanded until the size was just right for the pin to slide in:

I turned that large screw into a small guide pin that screws into the steering shaft:

And the more I think of it the more I like this size of these tires and wheels, it is very very close to what these cars actually had:

So that's not a whole lot of update but I hope you like it!! steering is more solid now and it will be much easier to bolt on being square!

Now I need to do the cables attachments. They will likely attach to the base of both 5mm balls on the steering rack, so they will be coming from the center and pulling on their respective ball lol

[Wirralnitronoob]

I love watching this build take shape,everytime i check in it makes me smile and think WOW,

Amazing fabrication frederik you have some skills,love to be able to do something like this...cant wait to see the finished product fella

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Frederik]

Thanks a lot mate! Makes me smile too to see others enjoying the build! Thanks for the comment!

 

Fred

[BenK]

Keep it up Frederik, can`t wait for the end result!

[Tamiyacowboy]

idea for you fred 

 

 

the steering slider rod and the space in front of the slider block. 

 

mount a servo here and add a two ball joint to one side of the steering rod end

one ball to link the rod to the wheel hub, and the second to accept a ball cup thats connected to the steering servo.

 

no need for wire running for steering and its going to be more direct.

 

 

picture 8, where your clamps are and the bottom of the motor a servo sits in here

 in pic 8 the bottom area of image where the steering rod connect to the wheel hub via a single ball.

this is replaced with two balls. the ball closest to the steering rod clips to the wheel hub tie rod

the ball beside the tierod ball this is used by the servo to push-pull the slider in and out turning left or right

 

 

could be a lot more simple for you to work with buddy

[Bicko]

In the words of "Tufflips" BoooYeahhh!

Fred what else can I say!? I'm amazed every time I look at this thread. Just superb work

[Frederik]

idea for you fred 

 

 

the steering slider rod and the space in front of the slider block. 

 

mount a servo here and add a two ball joint to one side of the steering rod end

one ball to link the rod to the wheel hub, and the second to accept a ball cup thats connected to the steering servo.

 

no need for wire running for steering and its going to be more direct.

 

 

picture 8, where your clamps are and the bottom of the motor a servo sits in here

 in pic 8 the bottom area of image where the steering rod connect to the wheel hub via a single ball.

this is replaced with two balls. the ball closest to the steering rod clips to the wheel hub tie rod

the ball beside the tierod ball this is used by the servo to push-pull the slider in and out turning left or right

 

 

could be a lot more simple for you to work with buddy

 

It could be simpler that's for sure, also in the first place if I used a more traditional RC steering system it would be simpler but not as much mechanically scale. So at times I do not mind doing it the complicated way, heck I even enjoy it hahaha Also the pics are deceiving, there is not that much space in front of the steering and of the motor. A standard size servo does not fit there, unless I remove the front metal clip holding the lights etc. But I would like to keep that detail too! Thanks for the ideas though, if I end up not using a cable system, it would likely be a rod attached to the middle sliding piece, and a cantilever to move the servo to a remote location. But I want to try doing it with the cables first!

 

In the words of "Tufflips" BoooYeahhh!

Fred what else can I say!? I'm amazed every time I look at this thread. Just superb work

 

Thanks a lot buddy, glad you are liking it!

 

Short and quick update! Made a skid plate, amd attached the steering thing to it. You might notice the steering block is now at an angle, this is after I discovered it slides much better with the pin upwards than towards rear or front, so having it angled makes it slightly better without having to re-do the whole thing, amd also brings the block up a bit, which improves the steering geometry (I had bump steer because of the steering links angle).

 

In the process I also flipped it front/back so there is now room behind the block to install the cable mechanism. Edit: sorry the iPhone is temporarily out of service (my 1yo boy out it in the toilet) so these are iPad pictures, quality is not good:

 

 

 

And two little vids of the suspension and steering, now much smoother and hold itself better:

 

 

http://youtu.be/fmykr2cuCsU

 

http://youtu.be/lVT5MK1kglI

 

 

Thanks for looking!

[thatRCguy]

Wow love it!

[A Return]

What an incredible build, the stance in that last pic looks perfect, and with the weight its got it should move quite realisticly too. I love the fact that youve gone to the trouble of making the rear end as close to the real thing as possable. As a kit builder whatever skills i thought I had now feel very minor. Carry on being awesome.

[Oh How Original]

Anymore progress been made yet Frederik?

[Frederik]

Wow love it!

 

Thanks a lot thatRCGuy!

 

What an incredible build, the stance in that last pic looks perfect, and with the weight its got it should move quite realisticly too. I love the fact that youve gone to the trouble of making the rear end as close to the real thing as possable. As a kit builder whatever skills i thought I had now feel very minor. Carry on being awesome.

 

Hahaha Thanks buddy! I do like to choose the complicated way! Well let's say the level of complexity is not really a factor in how I choose to do a given piece of this build. I always liked to experiment with different suspension layouts and this one is certainly using suspensions not found often in RC that's for sure! The question I ask myself is more like, it possible to do it? which pretty often ends up with a yes/probably and then I have a go at finding how hahaha! 

 

I am not sure how far I will be able to go with the scale detailing though (interior etc) as I have never done any scale builds before. I guess I'll shoot for a minimalist racing interior

 

Anymore progress been made yet Frederik?

 

No I have not had a chance to work on it since then, more things going on in the summer and less time for the hobbies! Hopefully I'll be back at it soon!!

[Oh How Original]

I do hope so, it's definitely one of the nicest on road builds I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

[Frederik]

On 3/9/2015 at 0:37 PM, Oh How Original said:

I do hope so, it's definitely one of the nicest on road builds I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

Thanks a lot for the comment buddy!! Really appreciate the kind words.

Not really an update, but after like one or two years I finally mocked up the styrene bits my friend Preston (Trini2DBone at scale4x4rc) made for me, with tiny dots of hot glue, to see how it would look standing by itself and not having to hold the pieces myself I think it makes the rear end alive! The no wing and no bumper rear is kind of boring but it is much better like that!

While at it I also put a few spotlights I had laying Not quite big enough compared to the real thing but still cool me thinks!

And yet with another set of tires :

 

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, I really want to get back to it now, just need to work my schedule a bit and make up some time for hobby!

[RCbutcher]

Excellent. It looks perfect to me scale wizard.  

What paint scheme do you have in mind? My step dad had an rs in bright yellow and blue. Blue cage blue stripe, black spoiler tho.  What a loud car in every sense of the word lol. Probably my favourite school mobile back then.  

Edited January 9, 2016 by RCbutcher

[Frederik]

Thanks RCButcher! For paint scheme I was thinking the look of a Group 4 rally car that would be just out of the body shop with no decals or actual livery, just one color, likely white, with black details (bumper, mud flaps, grille rock guards on rear fender etc). I plan on painting the chassis same color as shell too, once everything is soldered.

 

 

And for once a couple pics with a decent camera instead of iphone!

[Oh How Original]

Woo, project is back on lol.

[Frederik]

On 10/1/2016 at 11:35 AM, Oh How Original said:

Woo, project is back on lol.

Hahaha yes at last!  I worked on the cable steering tonight. I don't have enough cable to make the actual setup but I really wanted to make sure it was doable so I just cut in half what I had and started messing around.

I made a bracket to attach to the sliding bar via two holes that were already in the bar and of correct diameter:

Then I was trying to figure it out in my head but decided to draw it and see if it made sense. The idea is to solder metal tabs to the newly attached bar, and solder each cable to these tabs:

Just crimped in place, soaked in flux and ready for solder:

All soldered, now just need to find how to hold the sheat for the cables:

Out of plastic, I made a block with a slot for the bar, and holes for the sheat and cable. The idea was to drill half of the hole at sheat diameter, and the other half at wire diameter, but the plastic is too soft, so that one will only be a prototype (the block) and I will need to make something harder (probably out of aluminum):

And a small vid, I am just pulling and pushing on one of the cable while trying to hold the iphone at the same time lol

http://youtu.be/PhxZg5Ua3l0

Edited January 12, 2016 by Frederik

[Carpmart]

Wow.. Only just seen this, quite how I missed it I don't know.  Excellent work.  

[PurpleDrumstick]

Subscribed. Loving this build

[Frederik]

19 hours ago, Carpmart said:

Wow.. Only just seen this, quite how I missed it I don't know.  Excellent work.  

Haha thanks! I guess you missed it since I have been months without much progress! I hope to do a little each week from now on.

10 hours ago, PurpleDrumstick said:

Subscribed. Loving this build

Thanks! Glad you like it!!

[K]

Just read all seven pages. Amazing build fella... Especially love it as I own a mk2 which I've built, and ur build in incredibly realistic, . 

 

[Frederik]

3 hours ago, K said:

Just read all seven pages. Amazing build fella... Especially love it as I own a mk2 which I've built, and ur build in incredibly realistic, . 

 

Thanks a lot K for the nice comment! Hearing this from someone who built one himself is very nice. 

Regarding the 7 pages I must admit that's quite a long winded build! I changed my mind (and parts) pretty often, and I build slowly! lol 

If you feel like posting a pic of your MK2 you are welcome