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

[MetalMan]

Then came the two-piece battery tray, including the spacer to offset it from the chassis (to clear the dirt guard) and the actual tray:
Open, demonstrating the ability to adjust for different battery lengths:

Showing the height adjustment capability:

With the top strap in place (notice the outer velcro on the height adjustment strap, more on that soon):

My favorite part, showing how the length adjustment strap actually helps secure the top strap!

Another complete view:


Complete "nude" view:


Overall CG view:


Cool:


Just over 8lbs fully RTR!

[MetalMan]

Since racing this buggy, I gotta say that so far it's working very well. I didn't have time to set up the mechanical and motor brakes properly, but they still worked flawlessly. Nothing on the buggy broke which was nice because I had no spares...

Only problems I had were when the switch turned off (my fault, and immediately after the race I cut the switch off), and two wing mount screws came out all the way (again, my fault since I didn't thread-lock them).
Although, I did have to run a lot of preload on the springs to keep the arms level, which is an indication that the springs were too soft. Indeed, I would have been much happier with stiffer springs, but they aren't yet available.

The rear end was very loose in corners, but the track also had a loose top surface since all the water had evaporated from the dirt. Also, better tire choice could have fixed this.

Steering is great on this buggy. On a certain u-turn on the track I was accidentally cutting other buggies off because it was taking the turn so sharply.

I definitely look forward to fine-tuning the handling, braking, and acceleration of this new buggy!

[lutach]

It looks awesome.

Edit: Try the following springs: http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...ducts_id/12695. I have the one for the Hot Bodies LSP and they are awesome.

[tc3_racer_001]

hi there, nice job! could you please show me how you mounted your reciever/antenna mount thingy... this is something i need to work out! thanks,
ryan :)

[MetalMan]

Originally Posted by lutach

It looks awesome.

Edit: Try the following springs: http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...ducts_id/12695. I have the one for the Hot Bodies LSP and they are awesome.

Any chance you can get the inner diameter at the top of the spring and at the bottom of the spring? The shocks on the SH buggy use springs with a larger innder diameter at top, and they taper to a smaller ID at bottom.

Originally Posted by tc3_racer_001

hi there, nice job! could you please show me how you mounted your reciever/antenna mount thingy... this is something i need to work out! thanks,
ryan :)

It is just a simple receiver mount:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LX3355&P=7
This is my only Nomadio receiver, so there's velcro on the bottom of it, enabling me to quickly swap it between cars .

Thanks for the comments!

[TDC57]

WWooowww that looks great Metalman.. I see the mount worked out quite nice and it looks like you CG or good?. Great to hear nothing broke!.. And I do like the micro servo for the rear brake.. Did you end up hooking to your 3 channel??. What is your gearing? And do you know what that bad boy weights?? I thinking what 7.5lbs??

Looks great!..

[tom255]

Wow nice conversion but I dont like battery box, becouse material is too weak, if it not polycarbonade otherwice it too fragile. I dont trust velcro tape too on front of battery box. Maybe when it fresh it will hold battery but in dirt and after copuple battery replacements it goes weaker

[MetalMan]

Originally Posted by TDC57

WWooowww that looks great Metalman.. I see the mount worked out quite nice and it looks like you CG or good?. Great to hear nothing broke!.. And I do like the micro servo for the rear brake.. Did you end up hooking to your 3 channel??. What is your gearing? And do you know what that bad boy weights?? I thinking what 7.5lbs??

Looks great!..

The CG is decent, but because I wasn't able to fit the components on the floor of the chassis the CG could be better.
I did use the 3rd channel mixed in with the throttle to control the rear brake.
Check out the last picture . Just over 8lbs . Not bad for the first electric conversion to the SH buggy in the US .

Originally Posted by tom255

Wow nice conversion but I dont like battery box, becouse material is too weak, if it not polycarbonade otherwice it too fragile. I dont trust velcro tape too on front of battery box. Maybe when it fresh it will hold battery but in dirt and after copuple battery replacements it goes weaker

The material is 1/8" thick polycarbonate - it's very strong. This is my third time making a battery tray using similar methods of velcro mounting (and it's worked for the last YEAR), and it's gotten better each time I have made a battery tray. In racing last Sunday there were no problems with the battery even close to falling out.

Besides, dirt doesn't get in the velcro fibers. I don't get the buggy dirty without the battery in there, and when the battery is in there, the velcro straps are on, closing off the inner fibers from whatever might get on them.

[lutach]

Originally Posted by MetalMan

Any chance you can get the inner diameter at the top of the spring and at the bottom of the spring? The shocks on the SH buggy use springs with a larger innder diameter at top, and they taper to a smaller ID at bottom.

You got me there . Give Amain a call or send them an e-mail with the diameters you have.

[MTBikerTim]

I just bought one of these buggies from the LHS . Mine is an LRP S8-BX RTR but I am going to pull the radio gear and motor and sell them. It came with a LRP Z.21R which is a nice motor and I had better sell it quickly or i'll be tempted to run it. I'll run it as nitro for a while with a different motor until I can fund the conversion to brushless. Expect some questions from me MetalMan.

[MetalMan]

Fine by me . Considering I have the only electric conversion of this buggy at least on the west U.S. coast .

[MTBikerTim]

Originally Posted by MetalMan

Fine by me . Considering I have the only electric conversion of this buggy at least on the west U.S. coast .

Went racing today and I loved the way this car took the jumps. It was so smooth. This is my first 1/8th buggy so the handling just made me go WOW. A little disappointed it wouldn't turn but that may have been due to my rear suspension being too soft. It was a bit of a shame I only ran one race though, stupid nitro.

[MetalMan]

1/8 buggies in general are awesome racing machines. I too really like the SH/LRP buggy. Mine jumps PERFECTLY at the local 1/10 indoor offroad track. It's so perfect I don't even correct the nose with throttle, I just let off as soon as it takes off.

[MTBikerTim]

Originally Posted by MetalMan

1/8 buggies in general are awesome racing machines. I too really like the SH/LRP buggy. Mine jumps PERFECTLY at the local 1/10 indoor offroad track. It's so perfect I don't even correct the nose with throttle, I just let off as soon as it takes off.

That was exactly how mine was. It's good to know that even after being converted it still jumps perfect. I'm a bit scared of upsetting the balance when I convert it.

I'm now looking for a motor mount. I measured the hole spacing on the diff mount this morning. The spacing between the 2 diff mounts is 32mm which probably isn't that important. The spacing on the holes in the centre diff mounts is 21mm. Are there any other buggies with the same 21mm mount hole spacing that mike makes a motor mount for? The bearing is a standard 8x16 too.

I should probably start another thread for this.

[MetalMan]

I have no idea if any other mounts work, but I would guess not since the overall height, mounting hole spacing, height of the bearing, etc. all need to match. But to make it easier on you, I have all those dimensions:

-mounting hole spacing: 21.0mm (like you said) at top and bottom
-overall height: 43.4mm
-distance between middle of bearing and bottom of mount: 22.0mm
-spur gear: 44t

If you could tell Mike those dimensions he could either just make a mount or find one that is similar and modify it.