Would cutting down a Worlds car chassis be sacrilege??

[DerbyDan]

Right, i'm just about to start on a project to build myself up a runner car (hoping to race it against the modern stuff - B4s etc) From a Worlds car I brought off ebay some time ago.

Since then I've found this site & have been looking through the many excellent builds & am really liking the look of the cut-down chassis & have been thinking of doing the same to mine? Thing is how much of a rare thing is the worlds chassis & would it be sacrilege to to such a thing? Bearing in mind that the car is not in the best of conditions & my intended re-build isn't exactly going to be a faithfull reproduction of a Worlds car to the original spec.

As a side thought - apart from the weight saving & aesphetics, is there any other benefit from the cut-down chassis (more flex = easier car to drive?) Also how much have people cut thier chassis' down by, whats a good amount to take off???

Your opinions are welcome

[LowClassCC]

Right, i'm just about to start on a project to build myself up a runner car (hoping to race it against the modern stuff - B4s etc) From a Worlds car I brought off ebay some time ago.

Since then I've found this site & have been looking through the many excellent builds & am really liking the look of the cut-down chassis & have been thinking of doing the same to mine? Thing is how much of a rare thing is the worlds chassis & would it be sacrilege to to such a thing? Bearing in mind that the car is not in the best of conditions & my intended re-build isn't exactly going to be a faithfull reproduction of a Worlds car to the original spec.

As a side thought - apart from the weight saving & aesphetics, is there any other benefit from the cut-down chassis (more flex = easier car to drive?) Also how much have people cut thier chassis' down by, whats a good amount to take off???

Your opinions are welcome

if the chassis is used with scratches on the bottom i say go for it. but if the chassis is in good shape with very few scratches i would offer it for trade for a non worlds chassis and a couple bucks. this way you can have a couple extra bucks to buy another part that you need. on teh other hand it is your chassis. you want to cut it than go for it.

i am building a runner to race against the b4's and it has a lightened chassis. i am also running a&l chassis stiffeners on it. but i may remove them later if i decide more flex is needed. i mainly added them because it's another cool hop-up part. here is the thread for my build. http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=12686

now my lightened chassis was already damaged. that is why i lightened it but i went a little farther than needed to get the job done. i did it for weigh.. i did it to lower the body.. i did it for the flex (even though i added the stiffeners) here is the weight specs thread. have a look at teh numbers and decide if the few grams are worth it or not. http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=12507

the b4 chassis is still lighter than my lightened chassis. and added weight will allow the car to feel more planted and less twitchy on the track. so it's a trade off. now the rc10 i'm building for my wife is uncut and undrilled. i wanted the weight on her car to help make the car drive a bit smoother.

[Brandon G]

I agree. If it is well used, go for it. If it is in really good shape, use a Team car or RC10T chassis and save the worlds. RC10t's are going extremely cheap right now on the bay.

I cut the sides down to about 1/4" height. I added the chassis braces and this resulted in almost no front to back flex but allowed for some torsional flex, which in my opinion is better.

http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5473&hilit=rc10+vonats

[RedScampi]

I've got one someone drilled full of gigantic holes that I've been wondering what to do with! Not sure this would stand up to being cut down, if you see what I mean.

[aeiou]

That one reminds me of one of my cut-down chassis builds:



That chassis without those brass tubes is way too soft (flex/twist/etc) to run. I never weighed the parts before the surgery (the chassis was chopped before I got it), but I wonder if the net effect actually saved anything over not cutting down the sides. It was a fun project, though.

And I agree with saving that World’s chassis is great if it’s in top shape. Post a pic when you get a chance.

[DerbyDan]

Thanks guys, for your input...

Here's the car in question;
http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=93564&sid=28990

As you can see the chassis is pretty worn underneath - but it actually not that scoured - I guess because over here we seem to race mostly on grassy tracks? So its worn rather than scratched.

I'm sort of in two minds at the moment as to what to do. TBH I mainly want to do the cut-down chassis for looks... so I can get the body a bit lower (I think aeiou's car maybe a bit more extreme than I want to go) But either way - to cut-down or not, i'd like to eventually get the chassis re-anodised, so i'd need to decide I guess before I get that done. Also if i'm lowering the body I would also need to make/get made a custom rear shock mount. Its funny i started off thinking that the car could be just a quick clean/re-build & now i'm looking at all sorts of mods to make it faster & look cooler

Brandon G - loving your car, looks real cool - fantastic engineering

Edited to add, for re-anodising whats required preperation-wise for an already anodised chassis - should it be stripped back to the bare Ali & if so whats the best method for doing this? (I guess this Q would be best in the Tech section?)

[aeiou]

Wow, pretty good deal on that lot, for sure. That's a tough one because the chassis is really not that bad - just a couple of extra/enlarged holes. I bet it would look good all cleaned up and put back together.

Yes, you need to strip down to bare aluminum for anodizing.

[uzzi]

You got a good deal there

If you are going to run it why not just clean her up first and replace any worn or broken parts first. Run it and see how you like it then consider what sort of surgery or modifications you want done. One you start cutting it there is no turning back and it may be detrimental to what you had in mind.

I would consider re-annodizing only if I intend to make it into a shelf queen.

[Jay Dub]

Re-anodising isn't very expensive (at least not near me), so do it if you want to. I get my stuff done for $60 usd per tree, and I can usually get 3 cars out of it (just depends on the # of parts). The parts can be stripped by the anodizing shop for an extra fee (which i would recommend - because they are professionals). If not, I have used the "easy off oven cleaner" method with good results. I does depend on the alloy you are using though. That is why it is best to leave it to the pros.-Jeff

[fastang]

I was torn between yes and no with your question until you said you are going to re-anao the chassis. If that is the case I would NOT cut it up! Get it hard coat coated black just like the factory and restore it back to new and put it on the shelf. Gold chassis' are a dime a dozen now days so why cut up a rare chassis that you are planning to make look like new anyway?

[m_vice]

if it is not new, cut it ! and run it till it breaks. Then fix it and run it some more.

[DerbyDan]

You got a good deal there

If you are going to run it why not just clean her up first and replace any worn or broken parts first. Run it and see how you like it then consider what sort of surgery or modifications you want done. One you start cutting it there is no turning back and it may be detrimental to what you had in mind.

I would consider re-annodizing only if I intend to make it into a shelf queen.

For my £23 - I only got the car, wrecked bodyshell & set of wheels - all those spares i've collected since, including a hefty order to Tower Hobbies!.... but I guess it was still a good deal - especially for evil-bay

I think I'm going to go with uzzi's suggestion & clean it up & run it as it is to start with.... at the end of the day in all of my years of racing, I don't think i've ever driven an RC10 So as a reference point I guess it would be a good idea to start off with a standard-ish car. Also, I guess as i'll be running a LiPo in it, the car will be considerably lighter than the NiCad powered car from 1993?

[matthew john]

I've got one someone drilled full of gigantic holes that I've been wondering what to do with! Not sure this would stand up to being cut down, if you see what I mean.

i swear ive seen that before somewhere.....