by Florida_Slotter » Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:25 am
As reported earlier, my good friend ModlerBob had told me about a buy he had found on eBay. It was a pair of older Fly DP cars for a really good price. I was asked if I wanted half of the purchase and I agreed. Last week during our "Tuesday Fun Day" I got to try running my Fly DP Doran. After about 20 laps, the all plastic gear decided it did not like life anymore and all the teeth left. The running of this car came to an abrupt and screeching end.
Here is the original car:
When I got home, I looked in my spare parts box and there was a Slot.It CH49 motor pod just sitting there. Since the Fly Doran came with the Fly equivalent of the Slot.It Flat-6 motor, I decided to try putting the Slot.It motor pod into the Fly chassis.
My goal was to do some drilling and making the motor pod a screw in, just like one of the Slot.It cars. But the rear of the chassis would ahve to be trimmed to the point where I lost the rear body mount, so I just chose to bond it in place.
To align the chassis and the motor pod, I installed both the Fly axle bushings and the Slot.It axle bushings into their respective locations. I then inserted an axle through both bushings, holding the motor pod in alignment with the original axle location. The rest became very simple to do.
After marking the opening for the motor pod, a Dremel and a nibbler were used to make the opening to accept the motor pod, I grabbed the first 2 part epoxy type of adhesive I had available to me. It was JB Weld. That did make a weight impact and added about 6 grams to the weight of the car. So I would say to consider that if you choose to do the same mod.
Next up, I grabed my "Miracle Tape", aka Duct Tape. I applied it to the bottom of the chassis to keep the JB Weld from flowing onto the chassis. Then I mixed up the epoxy and made the motor pod part of the original Fly chassis. I was careful to NOT apply JB Weld to the area that has the 'suspension' area on the motor pod.
After letting it harder for 24 hours (yes, i did read the instructions - very rare indeed) After the 24 hours passed, I removed the tape and took a look. Almost no clean up was necessary.
I put the original motor back in place, then using the hardware supplied with the Slot.It motor pod, screwed the motor in place. The motor now sits even with the bottom of the chassis, rather then almost 1/16 above the bottom edge of the chassis. I used a Slot.It 23 tooth offset crown gear with the original Fly 9 tooth pinion gear on the motor. The rear axle and wheels came from an HRS2 chassis project that I later changed out the wheels on. The front wheels also came from that same HRS2 chassis.
Here's what it looks like:
I'm quite sure all of you want to know the answer to the obvious question, "How did it run?"
Well it ran with any of the DP cars that ModlerBob has in his vast stock. His Doran was no match for my car now. So he grabbed his Sun Trsut car and I could run with it and if I worked hard, could get away from his car. Next came one of his Sideways DP cars - his Gainsco, which is his latest acquisition. We ran really hard for many laps, but I could work my car into the lead of the race. I think this car is very even with just about any of the DP type cars out there.
All I can say is that I am totally satisfied with the outcome of this project.
Of course during this project, my mind started thinking about coming up with a wire and brass chassis that will host a Slot.It motor pod, either inline or sidewinder, that will simply screw in place. It will be easy to adapt to mounting in any body by changing the length of the main rails and mount area. I'll have to work out the details and see if this has any merit.
Later.