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Greetings fellow enthusiasts,

I'm going to build Conklin Performance Design's Mid Motor Conversion for the RC10. I'm using mostly World's re-release parts, some of my custom parts, and stuff from lots of other manufacturers.

Brian has posted a lot about the kit (development and instructions to build). I'll be follow his lead on this, adding things I find to do along the way.

If you are also building the B1M, get a thread started so we can share tips and hints

The Kit...


My pile of parts...


That's not everything, more goodies arrive most every day

First I’d go and make yourself a cup of black coffee.

Don’t drink it. Use it to dye those shapeways parts
It will “take” the color pretty quick- and they will be “coffee drinker teeth color” within 30 seconds to a couple minutes.

Just my opinion. They are just so stark white that they stand out

The white is bright!

"Get Ready Cause Here I Come"... Smokey Robinson

Drill bits and taps to get the holes ready


I'm using a #43 bit to go with the 4-40 tap. It may not be necessary, but I wanted to clean all the holes out that need to be threaded. For the holes that need to be clearance for the 4-40 holes, I will use a #34 bit

I have a couple shapeways parts that broke out because I didn’t tap them. I think it’s a great idea

Very cool Nomad, I hope you enjoy the build! I know you're going to put some cool touches on it, can't wait to see it evolve!

I'm glad to see you're following my instructions on tapping the parts, as Jeff said it's a risky proposition to try and self-thread the screws right into ShapeWays parts.

BTW, those beautiful towers, CNC'd by Factory Works/GoMachV himself! And the gorgeous motor plates, CNC'd by none other than our own durb69 AKA Derrick Durbin

don't tap those holes all the way. Run the tap in about 50-70% of the installed depth, and let the last few threads cut their own. that seems to be working pretty well for me so far. Since the shapeways parts are porous, you really want to keep as much thread material as possible. Running partial tapped relieves the stress while giving the screws a good snug fit.

I always tap all the way and never have screws backing out of my Shapeways parts and have yet to strip any.

ok, good to know. I don't have much luck with tapped plastic so I tend to err on the 'leave a little thread forming' side.

I'd like to add a little something about tapping into plastic...

I'm using brand new, high quality taps, nothing made in China. If the tap has touched metal, it's best to use a new one. You'll then get finely formed threads. I always adhere to the method of one turn in, 1/4 turn back. Keep repeated that for the best results until your done with the hole.

As stated in Brian's "Preparing the transmission" instructions, you do need to gently scrape the bearing bores. The diff bearing bore (3/8x5/8) went quickly, the idler and top shaft bores took me a little longer. I was really careful in the 3/16x3/8 bores as the bottom is thinner that the diff bore.

Tools- I use the o-ring pick to pull the bearing back out while checking the fit.



Put on some tunes and go at it.

I have all the bearing bores in the transmission cases done now. I wanted to see how things were going to fit together, a mock up of sorts. The time spent in the design of this kit is quite apparent. For what you see in the pictures, there were no problems at all. Also, some of my custom titanium parts

Motor plate spacers


Top shaft cap


Rear trans case spacer


Alternate view (check out those Factory Works washers!)


Assembled with Kyosho ZX-5 wing stays


I'll be doing some color to the white parts next, then go back and install all the workings to the transmission.

Me thinks you're showing off again.
... but it's looking fantastic! Please post more.

As my kit is on the way, I'm sub'd... Awesome pics and custom parts too! thanks for sharing all this

Thanks guys. I had to order some motor mounts screws last night, no more in my stash. I'm pondering about a motor, all I have left is a Reedy M3 17.5 brushless. Guess I'll use that for now.