matthew john rambling on about stuff,updates and questions

[matthew john]

just wondering if anyone else here builds them guillows balsa wood kit planes. u can use them for free flight, or rubber band power, glow powered u control or radio controlled. i just started building my guillows PT-17 stearman biplane. wing span of 28 inches. gonna be a SLOW build. just gonna build it little by little , here and there. reason being, i have too many projects rc wise and full scale vehicle wise , my project ford explorer got stolen after having it only 2 weeks, insurance covered the value of my tools i had it in and the new parts i put on, took that money and bought me a 83 ramcharger 4x4. will be my current driver. my v8 s10 is grounded, not only did is throw a rod, i bent the frame! so now i got 2 trucks down, my ranger 4x4 project is at a hault, v8 s10 is at a stand still.kinda glad to get outta it for a while, cuz one day im gonna get killed in it . (that thing is a beer car with a gas motor in it ) also im quite happy with my new ram charger. it has the 318 4 barrel v8. plenty of power , but nothing thatll get me killed. (has a roll cage too!) just gotta do the front brakes and replace a tie rod ends and some bushings. gonna swap out the 4bbl for a 2 bbl. ( got me a brand new edelbrock intake and holley carb)
then i aslo work on my ranger 4x4 when i can. more like work on for 45min then come back another day.

and then to top that off , i got a shipment coming in from Redscampi. all project cars that i cant wait to start restoring.
( hope he can make use of the junk i had!!)

all these projects i got going on, i have NO IDEA why i opened the box with that Bi plane maybe just the fact of it sitting for a year un touched had some thing to do with it

also for them guillows planes , or i guess any rc plane, does any one know how to wire these things up servo witse and reciever wise? i wanna run a 4 or 6 ch system ( which i dont have yet) if any one has any advice for adding servos or radio gear, plz pm about it. this is my FIRST attempt to build a rc plane from ground up. ive build MANY of these guillows before ( static and u control flight) also confused about how youre supposed to mount the .09 gas motor. instructions dont make sense . says to glue the block of wood to the frame and the use these small screws to mount it. i think the torque would tear it up.

also if any one has one of these ram chargers , plz pm me. i cant get my dash lights to come on, radio dont work, theres a "cruise control " that sometimes like to turn on by its self, unlock hubs light is on , then its off some times?? when its in 2wd.
also this is my first dodge.

also if any one has a 1974 tamiya tank. m4 sherman 1/16 scale , is it normal for it to be loud like that? it sounds like a electric motor that has a bad bushing or bearing ( that squealling noise). couldnt find no bushing to replace with bearings. also the MRC electronics are goofy. it keeps on twitching , i zero out the servos and everytime you play with it you have to trim it out.

well, this was long ! ill be posting pics of updates on current projects i have posted in other sections. just thought id share whats been going on in my world.

plz pm me if you have any advice on the following project ??'s i had. thanks !!

[RedScampi]

Hey Matt, that's a lot of irons in the fire! Too bad about the vehicle theft but welcome to the Mopar word! There are a bunch of forums specially for your truck just do a search for Ramcharger forums. You will be amazed. Sorry i can't help with the balsa plane, I just have a trainer myself. One of those heavy slow indestructable things.

[matthew john]

thanks for the welcome! new to mopars. all i ever had was chevy and ford compact trucks ( s10 and ranger) had a 1967 chevy vega,1 real full size truck that was a 1979 f150 4x4 ( shoulda never got rid of that!) ive always like them Dusters and dodge chargers, a few others but them where the main 2. oh and the road runner. but some one told me plymouth and mopar where different . i thought Dodge, plymouth and Mopar where the same? also my keys have the chryslar symbol on it

any way i love that ramcharger.i havent been to bed yet cuz of it! i glued some parts on that biplane and then went outside to tinker with my new 1:1 toy! too dark to do anything though. the new toy came with brand spanking new tires, wrapped around a set of white wagon wheel steelies. sits on 31's id like to run 33's but id have to bob the front fenders. also the wheels sit in too far. looks weird . i was thinking of getting me some wheel spacers on it, but if it sits in that far, im thinking i could run 31 in swampers on it . rear will be fine, just gotta cut up front. but thats a whole diffent project. ( i dont need more of those!!) its fine for now though.

as for the guillows biplane, im gonna run a 4 channle. the upper wing doesnt have ailerons so i figured 1 channle for the following motor , rudder/tail wheel, elevators , and then ailerons on the the lower wing. 1 servo 4 each function.

as for the tamiya tank... its 30 years old!! im just gonna let it sit on the shelf and not worry about the loud sounds!!

ill be uploading pics tommorow after work. so if any one is interested , check my posts for updates.

[RedScampi]

Those Tamiya tanks bring big bucks from the right crowd, especially when their nice. Check Tamiyaclub, i'm sure there are some examples on there. Mopar is the over all "brand" if you will for Dodge, Plymouth and all Chrysler products. It's an acronym, exact meaning escapes me at the moment. Ramchargers are cool! I have a buddy at work who is a Mopar freak - owns 7 of them, all restored by him. He has a Plymouth Trailduster - a clone of the Ramcharger. Here's a picture of one of my two.

[rc10johnny]

thanks for the welcome! new to mopars. all i ever had was chevy and ford compact trucks ( s10 and ranger) had a 1967 chevy vega,1 real full size truck that was a 1979 f150 4x4 ( shoulda never got rid of that!) ive always like them Dusters and dodge chargers, a few others but them where the main 2. oh and the road runner. but some one told me plymouth and mopar where different . i thought Dodge, plymouth and Mopar where the same? also my keys have the chryslar symbol on it

any way i love that ramcharger.i havent been to bed yet cuz of it! i glued some parts on that biplane and then went outside to tinker with my new 1:1 toy! too dark to do anything though. the new toy came with brand spanking new tires, wrapped around a set of white wagon wheel steelies. sits on 31's id like to run 33's but id have to bob the front fenders. also the wheels sit in too far. looks weird . i was thinking of getting me some wheel spacers on it, but if it sits in that far, im thinking i could run 31 in swampers on it . rear will be fine, just gotta cut up front. but thats a whole diffent project. ( i dont need more of those!!) its fine for now though.

as for the guillows biplane, im gonna run a 4 channle. the upper wing doesnt have ailerons so i figured 1 channle for the following motor , rudder/tail wheel, elevators , and then ailerons on the the lower wing. 1 servo 4 each function.

as for the tamiya tank... its 30 years old!! im just gonna let it sit on the shelf and not worry about the loud sounds!!

ill be uploading pics tommorow after work. so if any one is interested , check my posts for updates.

1967 VEGA

[RedScampi]

Probably means 1976, right Matt?

[matthew john]

yeah 1976 cosworth big typo! that one too is down. cuz they have them dang unibodies. put in a too big of a motor and twist the frame , youre done cuz youd twisted the body!

it was like 2 am in hawaii when i typed it, i meant 1976 rc10johnny.

nice car gary! that thing is clean, my ram charger is pretty clean too. ready for paint, just missing the head liner. ill post some pics of it today.

[RedScampi]

Thanks! The car is an ex slant 6 car, changed the K member to a V8. It has a mildly built 318, I put in buckets, a B@M Star Shifter and I have an 8 3/4 3:23 Sure Grip rear that i got from Rick (bearrickster) that is going in.

[matthew john]

yeah i was reading in a forum , said some of them ram chargers came with sure grip rear ends. some cam with danas. need to check the numbers to see what i got under there. has a straight front , feels weird! all my 4x4s had independt front suspension ( except for the ranger) . i got a few things im gonna swap out on that motor to beef up the 318.. i think.
i put in 20 bucks, that gas gauge didnt move very far

should have some pics up here in about a few hrs. will be send you a pm about your packages on the way

[badhoopty]

a buddy of mine back in kansas had a vega with a super hot 327 in it.

by far the scariest and meanest car i've ever been in, besides timmy...

[Halgar]

One of my automotive instructors (1986 ) had a Cosworth Vega. He brought it into the shop to show the students that Vegas were not the POS that most people thought. I couldn't tell you any of the specs on the car, but since this was the head auto tech guy at the college, with his own personal automotive shop business outside of teaching, I'm sure he'd massaged it a fair bit.

To show you the kind of talent this guy had, he was on Gayle Banks' pit crew when he set whatever records he set pre-1986. He had a picture of a rubber duck in Banks' intercooler, but would never tell us the story behind it.

[scr8p]

my cousin has a 72 vega with a 406 sbc, tunnel ram, 2x4's. yes, it runs like a raped ape.

[matthew john]

heres some pics of my new ramcharger. i think its pretty nice. needs some work, but oh well. gotta repalce the u joints, and i gotta replace that part that goes in to the axel and it also holds the u joint. that was cracked and chipped, so i think its why the u joint went out. it made it home, but lucky i didnt break all the way! so now i got it in 4 wd if i need to move it, hopefully ill have the u joints replaced , any one know the name of that other part i was talking about? tommorow ill be repalcing the drag link and tie rod ends, replace some bushings. hopefully after that ill be done. btw , this thing is virgin to the mud. never been off roaded ..... yet.

heres some pics.










last pic, you can see my downed v8 s10 . red truck off to the right . white stripes on the roof.

[matthew john]

got a ?? for another mechanic here. i replaced the belts, brand spanking new. when you hit the gas they squeal. or if you gun while going down the road, they squeal . they aint loose , brand new belts from napa. just came to mind, could that noise be coming from a seized up pulley or some thing like a altenator or ac pump or emmisions pump or something?
another thing is, when its in 4 wheel drive, why is the "idiot light" telling me to UN LOCK HUBS ?

i hope mopars are better than what ive had before !! pretty sure ill be good though , i got dana's under me. hope the 318 and the drive line is just as good

[jwscab]

i'm guessing it's the pinion yoke that you need. it connects the u-joint to the rear axle pinion.

squealing belts could be a bad accessory, but it could also be dirty pulleys, particularly with coolant, ugh. I hate that stuff. nothing worse than having an armful of coolant, well, except maybe automatic trans fluid.

the belts might also not be tight enough.

oh, on the pinion yoke, it's not a simple remove and replace, you need to make sure you maintain the proper pinion preload, either read up on it, or make sure you have some that has done it before give you a hand. you can smoke the rear quite quickly if it's not properly set up.