e-firestorm based buggy

[bjcaldwe]

I put a sbv2 wing on the buggy and it lowered it quite a bit without having to change the mount. The buggy is ready to rip for this weekend. I may try to sneak out to the track tonight and run a pack through it. I know the Ve8 is ready for its first taste of dirt.



Some one asked about it being short. Below is an early pic of it side by side with a xxxcr.

[bjcaldwe]

I ordered some 64mm tamiya cvds to try from HK. Hopefully it doesn't take a month for me to get them. My homemade cvds are not as durable as I would like. Next to look at it a blitz ball diff or the mip balldiff.

[bjcaldwe]

My mip blitz ball diff arrived today. I have no idea when the cvds will show up. If these parts work out well, then the next step is a better fitting body.

[bjcaldwe]

I got to run a few packs with the buggy last night. With the mip ball diff and 64mm tamiya cvds it was a ton better. I by no means set the world on fire with my driving but I am at least as fast as I have been with other cars with no setup changes. The tamiya pins on the end of the cvds seem to be a bit smaller like a kyosho. I may build them up some with some jb weld so there is less slop.

Next project is a body. The b4 is too narrow, the rb5 jconcepts sorta fits, and I have not been able to try a losi yet. I think I will take some old bodies and cut and shoe goo them together to get the shape and clearance I need. Then I may back fill it to make a mold after I am happy with it.

[bjcaldwe]

I mounted an old xxx body I have had since 1999. I removed all the old decals and it fit pretty well. Now some pics. Most of are the body mounted and one showing the cvd I had made to test length and the tamiya cvd I purchased.

[Fila1223]

Nice work i waiting for action photos. Keep it up

[bjcaldwe]

Thanks Fila.

The new blitz comes with some firestroms parts on the tree in the new white material. So, my motor guard and servo brace were white. I have have dyed those black. I hope to start getting some of the other stiffer white parts and doing the same as my budget allows.

[bjcaldwe]

I added some more bracing to the chassis. It was not breaking but flexing quit a bit. I only got to run it one pack yesterday in practice. I am running e8th and mod truck in a series and had to devote some time to that yesterday. I race again next weekend. Maybe I can get a bit more time on the car. I hope to race it after the summer series is over.

[bjcaldwe]

A friend asked for a parts list, so here it is.

e-firestorm chassis with an inch taken out of the center
e-firestorm pivot plate
e-firestorm front kickup
e-firestorm servo brace( comes in white on the ece blitz tree, then I dyed it black)
e-firestorm motor guard(comes in white on the ece blitz tree, then I dyed it black)
e-firestorm inner and outer rear pivots. Inner rear pivots, the nubs are ground off to move the wheelbase
e-firestorm inner rear hinge pins
raul garcia custom blitz topshaft to run an rb5/ae slipper slipper
mip blitz ball diff
tamiya 501x 64mm cvds ( Now using tq/ansmann 4wd buggy rear cvds and axles.)
D4 wce front and rear shocks
D4 wce lowered wing mounts
D4 wce rear arms
D4 wce rear hubs
D4 wce turnbuckles
D4 wce shock mounts
D4 wce rear outer hinge pins
D4 rear rims
D4 ballstuds
Team Losi kit xxx body (modded to fit)
Academy SBV2 rear wing ( it makes the wing set lower.
HPI purple aluminum standoffs for the battery brace
b4 front tower
blitz front top bulkhead
blitz spindels and hubs
blitz rear tower flipped and modified
blitz front hexes (custom shimming with rb5 axle spacers)
blitz transmission case, idler, bearings, and motor plate
blitz steering parts
rb5 front arms with about 1mm taken out off at the hub to fit the blitz hub
rb5 front axles
rb5 front inner and outer hinge pins
rb5 front wheels
rb5 carbon fiber battery strap, modded to fit

[bjcaldwe]

I ended up breaking an outdrive on the mip blitz diff. MIP graciously replaced them for free, so I am back in business. This weekend is the last race of the points series that I am racing mod truck and E 8th in. We have a one day event coming up mid October that I may try and get an actual race on this car. It has felt great in practice but I need to get it on the clock during race conditions.

I hope to get a new losi body painted up in my scheme by then.

[bjcaldwe]

It was a bit of a stupid move at the last points race of the summer series, but I ran 3 classes. I ran E 8th, Mod truck and Mod buggy.

The first timed run of my buggy was great. I won my qualifier by nearly a lap. The car was hooked up and with a few mistakes, there was still a ton of performance to be had.

Then came round 2 lol. My 10.5 blew up, and I had to buy a used 7.5 to make it through the rest of the day. Going from a boosted 10.5 to a dual mode 7.5 was a bit of a jump and I never got a handle on it.

I was disappointed at first, but looking back I accomplished what I wanted for the first run. The car is competitive, and it was durable. Soon I will be moving my rs pro out of it back to my d4 and will have an rs on order with my points series winnings. Then, the real work can begin.

[bjcaldwe]

I swapped the cvds from d4 axles and 501x bondes to team c 4wd rear bones and axles. They fit perfect. I have a new tekin rs and a used tekin 10.5 in it now. I hope to race it again soon.

[Drz73]

Hi.
I'm new here. Just did some simple conversion lately and chanced upon this forum, didn't realize there are already people hacking up their E-Firestorms!

This is my simple conversion to share. It's only a fun car for me so the wheelbase and rear track width are not of standard 1/10 buggy specs... yet.

[bjcaldwe]

Looks good. I am glad to see someone else tinkering with one.

Mine is pretty good, and pretty close to the wheelbase and width of a xxxcr. I just do not get nearly enough track time with it to work on setup.

[Drz73]

It's amateurish compared to what you've done to yours. But thanks to this forum, I've picked up many tips from your mod and they could be what I might do next, mainly to get it closer to actual 1/10 buggy dimensions.

So far, what do you think is the best way to join the chassis back together after removing the extra length?

[bjcaldwe]

I appreciate the kind words.

I took about an inch out of the chassis. I tried to use some epoxy but it did not work really well. I talked to the guy that does the sct chassis' for x-factory and this is what he said.

"I join the halves with Losi red label (thin) tire glue and carbon fiber. I don't use any screws or bolts. The key is surface area. Don't just glue it with a thin strip of CF at the joint. Also make sure you use CF strips on the vertical sides."

Mine is bolted and then I went back with a piece of g10 over the seam. If I was to do it again, I would get some thin cf and do like what I have quoted above. I would do it in the side pods and also in the battery bay.

I will have to post a new pic of the front of my car. I turned around the b4 tower, and this took the forward angle out of my front turnbuckles. I would like to make a new chassis for it, and maybe reposition some of the rear suspension mounts to change the driveshaft angle.

[Drz73]

Thank you again. Will take note of that when I decided to split the chassis in future. Meanwhile, do put up more pictures or video clips as they come along, great for reference.

[bjcaldwe]

To try and correct the driveshaft angle, which is angled back, I removed material from the front of the d4 rear arms, and added shims behind it. I also did some dremel work to the pivot plate to allow the arms to droop.

I added .5 deg d4 aluminum rear hubs, strc aluminum motor plate, ae v2 slipper, and strc aluminum steering tack and bell cranks. The car feels pretty good, but esc problems kept me from getting any amount of runs on the car yesterday. Once I get the esc back, I will give it another try.

[bjcaldwe]

I got to club race my the buggy this weekend. I ran stock (13.5). There were about 30 buggies and I qualified 15th. I was in the B main and running 3rd when I lost steering on the straight and about hit some pinewood derby kids who were watching. So, I just stopped. The car jumps well, and changes direction nicely, good forward bite. But I am having a problem with droop. I just do not seem to have enough when landing off bigger jumps. There were some I just could not down side because of how they were made. I added more droop in the rear but then I had if I had a really bad tumble it would try to spit out the dogbone. I am going to put the car on hold for a bit and run a kyosho sp, until I get past a few big races. This will give me time to think and maybe collaborate with some people to come up with a solution.

[Drz73]

I'm back to messing with my E-Firestorm buggy, and needed some opinions.
Right now it is having similar wheelbase and track width sitting beside a B4. But although I managed to get it to run ok and steer nicely, the rear suspensions are still the area that can do better.

I'm guessing it is due to the motor being so far back, causing very bad weight bias.
The rear arms are cut short and in stock front-sweep direction. With lighter shock damping the rear bounces about over uneven turns and can scrap the chassis at some point, with heavier damping it handle the ground better but felt like a steel plate on wheels.. I quote my bud's words.
Have tried all available oils, pistons and springs but still couldn't find the desired suspension action.

So now might go ahead and cut an inch off the chassis and swap the rear arms around. With the arms pointing rear wards, motor between the wheels, do you suppose it will be better?