Reviving a redline for the track
Hey Guys,
With the Redline Revival race coming up in a few months, I thought I'd do a build thread on, at least, one of the cars I'll build for that race.
I did a little experimenting with the 40g GTO Judge that I built for the Bare Muscle race...and I really like the results. Most of the people on here are already familiar with the 'How to make fast cars even faster' thread on here (if not, do a search...there's lots of good info there). So, I think this thread will address taking it to the next level.
I've been planning on doing a tire sanding video for a long time, so I'll do that here...along with show how I polish axles. But there is one other thing that will really help you get the speed you need...negative camber.
If you don't know what negative camber is, it's what all the import guys do to get their tires tucked under their fenders...leaning the tires in. The idea here is twofold...I sand the surface of the tire AND the inside edge to create a sharp, straight edge on the inside of the tire...and by leaning the tire in, you are now running on that knife edge, reducing friction. Also, with the wheels leaned in, you are forcing the wheel to run against the head of the axle, which you have nicely polshed...rather than scrubbing speed by rubbing against the chassis.
You'll see what I'm talking about once I get started. Mr Voxxer used to run his wheels like this (he also ran metal wheel inserts, but that's another story)and I've build a few to test the idea...and it makes a difference!
I'll probably take the yellow (well, it was originally yellow, anyway) Heavy Chevy apart tonight and get things started. I like to try to share as many speed tips as I can, to keep the racing really competitive on here...and don't worry, I won't be using any fancy tools...a drill, a dremel and a file are my main weapons of choice.
Stay tuned for more info, coming up soon!
Discussion
I've got to score some junkers and get my builds for Triple R lined up.
I guess this would qualify as the 'before' picture. If you've known for any length of time, you'd know how much I love these 'much played with'...aka beater...cars. This thing was played with A LOT!
I drilled the rivots and I did get a little fancy and I tapped the holes for 2-56 button head screws (it makes test fitting really nice). But, this it what it looks like all taken apart. I won't have to do too much to the chassis, but I will drill and tap the center to hold the middle of the axle in place.
I'll try to figure out a good way to video the wheel sanding and polishing tomorrow. And get it posted up here.
So, here is the, long promised, video about sanding wheels...
In the video, when I'm sanding the inner edge, I say the I put the sanding drum against the axle...I don't do that. I meant that the drum should be parellel to the axle and facing outwards.
Let me know what you think of this video. I'll be doing another one on the polishing of the axles...and I'll also show how I will be installing the axles.
I hope these will help you with your builds!
- Aren't you worried about spinning the wheel to fast with the dremmel and heating up the plastic. Any time I've ever hit the wheel running my dremmel it seems to cook the hub and the wheel won't spin any more — NDeavers80
- I don't have the dremel spinning very fast...and, if you figure out how fast the wheels are spinning during a race, they are spinning REALLY fast during a race — 72_Chevy_C10
- Even on the lowest setting on mine it always has messed them up but I did like your video. — NDeavers80
- Thanks! The variable speed dremel don't turn that fast at the lowest settings. And I just dust figured it out...with a half inch wheel and a car covering the scale quaeternal milet in 2 seconds (which is about what these cars do), the wheels are spinning at 11,000 rpm...pretty impressive when you think about it :) — 72_Chevy_C10
- I must be doing something wrong then, and holy crap that's a lot of RPM's — NDeavers80
Great video and how too..
To address what Nick was talking about above, when I first tried sanding wheels, I mounted them on the rubber cylinder to the dremel drum sander and tried to sand them by spinning up the dremel and touching them to sandpaper. If you do this, you will melt your wheels in about 2 seconds...touching the full surface of the wheel to sand paper, without any lubrication, will create a lot of friction and melt your wheels. I did find that you could sand your wheels this way, but you had to use wet sandpaper and be very careful. Sanding the wheels by hand takes longer, but it doesn't create as much friction.
As for, trimming the edge with the dremel, I am only touching a small surface at a fairly low rpm, so it doesn't create that much friction...the wheels don't even get warm.
I have trued up these wheels on a lathe, but that is super delicate work, and not everyone has access to a lathe. I'm trying to show a way to get your wheels up to speed that most everyone can do, with a little patience :)
I guess I need to practice. Just hit mine with the dremmel and it sucked the end right into the wheel... And I'm using a variable speed tool on the lowest setting.
I do virtually the same thing...but I do it by hand with 400...then 800, but I'm going to be adding a final sand with1200 moving forward...it will add minutes on to the process...but the Quest for Speed is Eternal.
Great video C10...thanks for sharing
With doing this mods it make me think why both with FTE wheels? If your going to sand them true and polish the axle... Hmm on 2nd thought maybe its the FTE axels that were better than stock?
- FTE axles are the best place to start...they are nickel-plated and are pretty fast right out of the package — 72_Chevy_C10
The next step...leaning the wheels in, creating negative camber...
Leaning the wheels in gets them rolling on that nice, clean edge that I made when I sanded them. And, another thing about this build, with the wheels outside the width of the body, if the car should move side to side on the track, the wheels will be contacting the sides of the track, rather than the body...if the body were contacting the walls, you'd be scrubbing a lot more speed than just the wheels hitting. So, I almost always have the wheels wider than the body, if I can.
I hope these videos help you with your builds. The next step will be clearancing the wheel wells and adding weight to the car
Nice! I appreciate the tips.
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