SH Z-Car ZMXB-8 1/8 Buggy - Perfect for conversion?

[MetalMan]

Hi Trike, welcome to RC-M!

Good choice on the Z-Car, you won't be disappointed (IMO).

First off, you'll want to decide on the battery. 4s is most common for 1/8 buggies because it just works. Also, this is often the largest size you can fit (depending on the capacity). Generally somewhere around 5000mah 20C+ works well for 4s.
If you went with 6s, you could drop down to 3200mah and it should fit depending on the height of the cells.

The rear brace on the Z-Car is a limiting factor on how small of a pinion you can use compared to the size of the motor. For example, the finned Neu 1512 in my buggy cannot use any smaller than an 18t pinion. It has a diameter of 44mm.
The Castle motors are finned only, and have a diameter of 42mm. They will probably allow no less than a 17t, but a 16t might fit.
Smooth can Neus have a diameter of 39mm and should allow a 15t pinion.

Medusa motors (preferrably 36-60) are 36mm in diameter and should allow as low as a 14t pinion. This would be my choice if I were to choose a different motor for this buggy.

So, let's talk setups here. Let's say you want to keep the buggy under 45mph for general driving (which is a good choice).
-MMM 2650 combo: On 4s you wouldn't be able to gear this motor properly as it would require a 13t pinion - so if you went this route you would have to dremel the rear brace and motor fins.
-MMM 2200 combo: This choice would have lots of torque, but also weighs more. A 17t pinion would push the buggy past 45mph on 4s (not necessarily a good thing), but a 16t pinion would be perfect (might require some slight dremeling of the rear brace).
-Neu 1512 2.5D smooth can: No fitment issues with a 17t pinion on 4s.
-Medusa 36-60-2000: No fitment issues with a 17t pinion on 4s or with a 14t pinion on 5s.
-Medusa 36-60-1600: Perfect with 6s and 15t pinion.

5s and 6s are out of the question IMO with anything other than Medusa motors. I think the Medusa 36-60-1600 and 6s Lipo would be an incredible setup.

The buggy kit includes a clear body that will require trimming. As for others that may fit, I haven't the slightest idea.

[Trike]

Awesome, Thanks for the list of setups Metal Man! Your help will definitely save me time in choosing a good setup.

So to eliminate any potential fitment issues, i'll stay away from the combos.

I'll focus on the medusa setups. I guess I'll pair up the medusa with the MMM ESC.
I was curious on your thoughts on why the 6s medusa setup will be an incredible setup.

If I went with a 4s setup, I would be thinking about this battery.
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=6351

If I went with a 6s setup, I would be thinking about this battery.
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=6419

What is your guess on runtimes/power between the 4s and 6s setup?

[Trike]

So I'm getting my list of stuff to get. here's what I have so far.

Electric motor mount - LRP SX8-BX, SH Z-Car
5mm bore, mod1 pinion (15t)
MedUsa Products V2 36-60 Afterburner Motor (36-60-1600)
Castle Creations Mamba Monster controller V3
Battery Tray Kit (45mmx168mm) (Going to use the 145x45x39mm 6s packs from hobbycity)
RC-Monster Brushless Heatsink/clamp (L size)

Is the mod1 pinion ok? or do I need the .8 pinion? Do I really need a heatsink for the motor? The price tag is definitely getting up there, but i'm expecting one bad A buggy. Hopefully reliable and durable. :P


Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks

[MetalMan]

Geared for the same speed the 4s and 6s setups should give about the same runtime. Only comment I have is that you shouldn't need the RC-M clamp but it won't hurt either.

You will need a mod1 pinion, as that is the pitch of the spur gear.

[TDC57]

Hey Travis,
How is your braking system holding up?? I'm still using the MGM / ESC for brakes but I may start to think about going with something else on my 808.. (Just reviewing my options)..

Thanks for your time..

[Trike]

I pulled the trigger. Ordered all that stuff from rc-monster, except the heatsink.

[SeanZ0r]

I Think im going to bite the bullet and pick up the MMM 2200kv and make it fit, and run it with my 4s. The 2200 with a 4s capable of doing 120cont amps will still be pretty quick right?

[MetalMan]

Originally Posted by TDC57

Hey Travis,
How is your braking system holding up?? I'm still using the MGM / ESC for brakes but I may start to think about going with something else on my 808.. (Just reviewing my options)..

Thanks for your time..

The braking system is holding up great. Josh and I raced the Sunday before last and it was very nice to be able to tune my braking on the fly!

[TDC57]

Originally Posted by MetalMan

The braking system is holding up great. Josh and I raced the Sunday before last and it was very nice to be able to tune my braking on the fly!

So who won?? and was Josh driving is 8ight??

[Shark413]

Hey guys decided to join the club. I have been very happy with my K-cars but the Z-car has so many interesting inovations and what sealed the deal was the awsome sale price. I have been working on it on and off for the last few days, as you guys noted great build quality and no issues so far. I have a RC-Monster motor mount on order but one thing I didn't like was the limited pinion options due too the motor can hitting the chassis brace, as MetalMan mentioned. A 16T pinion will barely fit, and that gearing was too high for track I run at. I thought about using a different diff with a 46T spur but I found out the Z-Car diff is actually much smaller than normal, sort of like the new Kyosho MP9, so for now you can only use the Z-Car diff and 44T spur. I always felt that if a car was designed to be electric from the begining (and not converted from nitro) the chassis brace would be on the other side, so I took a few measurements and decided to move the brace to the other side. I had a few braces laying around and I found one that fit perfectly. It came off a Kyosho 777 (rear brace) and all I had to do was cut a small notch in the Z-cars rear brace mount, swap the brace to the other side, make a small aluminum spacer that is threaded, then just screw in a few bolts and anchor the brace to the chassis using one of the nitro motor mount holes. The chassis feels the same (flex wise) as it did before. Won't be able to test for a while, but I figure the part I modded only cost a few bucks. Kyosho also makes a really cool blue heavy duty brace (WC 777) which I may go to if this one works out ok. With the braced moved over You can go down to a 11T pinion if you want. you now have a lot more gearing options.




Here is the spacer I made to take the place of the stock Z-Car brace. Bolts screw into to both sides for strength.




I have the motor sitting in the car with a 12T pinion, you can see there is more room for probably a 11T if you need it.

[jnev]

Originally Posted by TDC57

So who won?? and was Josh driving is 8ight??

Yep, I was driving my 8ight (which is now sold). And I can also comment on Travis' brakes... they worked very well from what I could see. Out of 9 drivers, Travis got 4th, and I got 6th. It was my first race, so I can't complain... my 8ight just couldn't seem to be able to get the rear end around, which is what Travis' car did so well. I am hoping to incorporate a rear braking system on my D8 as well similar to his z-car.

[MetalMan]

Take note that there were at least 2 factory drivers at this race, not to mention that there were several others who are regulars at the track. That race day was my first time at OCRC in about 3-4 weeks...

Lookin' good so far Shark413. Sometime we will have to meet up at a track and compare setups. Are you planning on running full mechanical brakes or are you gonna try a hybrid setup like I am using?

[Shark413]

I placed an order for a RC-Monster motor mount but I just couldn't wait so I made a quickie mount and installed the motor with a 14T pinion. I made a top plate and put the brake servo on top of it and hooked up the brake linkage.

MetalMan, I have run mech brakes on most of my conversions, I am an old nitro guy and I just like the feel and the ability to adjust the bias. I had my other truggies/buggies setup with front/back mech brakes but I had to use a big spacer to make room for the rear disc. This put a lot more stress on my front bearing and eventually killed it. So I removed the rear brakes and set them up to use motor brake (ditched the spacer). When I saw the Z-Car I knew this was the perfect buggy, with the brake in the back I could run both brakes with no spacer on the motor. So yeah I am using both brakes for now. I just need to finish up my battery tray and shocks and I will be ready for a test run. I also have a 1512 Neu I want to try, as it is lighter than the 1515 I have in there now. When I was making the top plate I decide to whip up a couple of skid plates as well, somebody on another forum said he was wearing out the chassis big time (probably because of the soft springs the buggy comes stock with).


Quickie motor mount and top plate. Did you notice that the mud guard on the left side has shaved mounting points, saves me the trouble of cutting them down to make room for a lipo battery tray.


MetalMan, I liked your setup, so I kinda copied it.


Front and rear skids.

[MetalMan]

Ah, I was hoping to see somebody else try the hybrid brake setup like I am using just for the sake of comparison. Just FYI, the packaging of the springs for this buggy is quite strange - the Hobby People computer system lists the soft springs as the stiff ones, but the package of these springs says soft. I ended up with the springs that the computer calls "medium" which their package says are stiff. You will want the stiffest springs, especially since your Z-Car is running heavier than mine.

The skidplates look like a good idea, but is that 1/4"? If so, I think it's too thick for this buggy.

[Shark413]

MetalMan, yeah the springs are confusing, on the HobbyPeople site they list several rates, but the picture shows them as all being white. I heard the stiff springs are silver, can you verify. The skids are actually 1/8 of an inch thick and milled out on the back side, so there pretty light. They look thicker because I beveled the leading edge. Yeah no hybrid brake for me, the motor brake action is to inconsistant for me (the braking action depends on what the center diff is doing, which adds to the variables). Where do you run at, OCRC, Revelation, ?