INVADER - Nitro Slash drag car

[Doom!]

Fan freakin' tastic!

 

[johnnydmd]

Teammate's partially finished car using my chassis design. Just wow. Total RC porn.

 

[Greywolf74]

That is definitely bonafide RC pr0n right there!

 

[johnnydmd]

A local guy decided to improve the AJC working parachute and is selling them on eBay. However, they are rather pricey. Seeing how it was made, I decided to whip up my own design, I mean the concept is really simple, and the same as the full-sized drag cars.

This would mount to the wheelie bar I designed. I printed it out and cut a chute bag and had my daughter who was visiting sew it (and teach me how to sew). Couple of minor design tweaks and reprints and I had it mounted up.

Just gotta pick up some canvas grommets today, and mount the micro servo on the wheelie bar that will pull the pin and it's done. It's much, much lighter than the AJC chute mechanism, and is fully scale looking. The chute fits perfect, and I did a few tests to see how it would work.

 

[Greywolf74]

You always got the coolest toys

 

[johnnydmd]

I finished up the chute with the micro servo, and it works extremely well - in fact vastly better than the AJC system. It's also only 50 grams as opposed to 100 grams that the AJC system was.

I liked it so much that I started putting one on my Mustang, though it was quite the tight fit under the body!

Meanwhile, I cleaned up some stuff on Invader II's chassis to reflect more how the new ones are built:

Then I got busy building some for sale:

 

[WickedFog]

That's awesome man! Can't wait to see it on the track.

 

[Doom!]

Looks like someone was productive over the Holiday!

 

[Kaptain]

@johnnydmd,
Just finished reading all 21 pages of this. Wow what a build. I've been involved with no prep for and 2 years now. I recently acquired a nitro rustler and was thinking about converting it for drag racing. A few Google searches brought me here. As I was reading, I thought maybe I should get a nitro slash instead... Or maybe a JATO? What's a good starting chassis? Is there a link to were I can find your chassis on eBay?

Thanks you sharing all you have done with us.

 

[Doom!]

Welcome aboard @Kaptain , @johnnydmd knows his stuff. I'm sure he can point you in the right direction.

 

[johnnydmd]

@johnnydmd,
Just finished reading all 21 pages of this. Wow what a build. I've been involved with no prep for and 2 years now. I recently acquired a nitro rustler and was thinking about converting it for drag racing. A few Google searches brought me here. As I was reading, I thought maybe I should get a nitro slash instead... Or maybe a JATO? What's a good starting chassis? Is there a link to were I can find your chassis on eBay?

Thanks you sharing all you have done with us.

Welcome aboard and thanks! I will send you a PM - I may have something available.

Problem with Rustlers and Jatos is the short wheelbase, so you're very limited in bodies (literally just a Pinto and Capri). Some people stick 4Tec suspensions on them and create true 1/10th cars, but those I'm not sure are even legal in street eliminator (it varies really). A common thing is to extend the Jato chassis, essentially making it more like a Slash. The Slash/Ruster issue is that you are limited to a single speed transmission, and while you can have a reasonably fast car with that setup, it'll never approach what a Jato can do with its 2 speed. It's not all that much talked about in no prep circles, but Jato's were sub 2 seconds long before anyone with a brushless SE did it. In a nutshell, that's why I designed my custom chassis, it marries the Jato and Slash, and it's extremely lightweight.

 

[johnnydmd]

Got some Dotek's and Mambo Starfish wheels from JConcepts finally. I'd been contemplating it since seeing my teammate having such success with his, and when he confirmed last week that they did indeed still fit on his big block build, I ordered a set. I wasn't sure they'd fit inside the Viper body because it is so much smaller than other SE bodies - but it did.

The offseason is here. It's gotten far too cold to run, and it's looking Winter Is Here to stay. Not gonna be north of 40 any time soon, much less 50 unless we get some La Nina jetstream nonsense in a few weeks.

So for this car, I'll break down the engine, clean it, and store it. I plan on polishing the ports and crank, and putting in some ceramic bearings - not going to mod the ports or ramp the crank on this one, simply no need. I'm dying to see how these tires hook up. Got some pretty cool detail additions going on the faux blower intake, so that'll probably be the only post on this thread till Spring.

 

[johnnydmd]

Got the faux blower finished. I found this handy 3mm braided wire covering (ironically pretty identical to the braided hose coverings you can buy for hot rods, some anodized nuts, little bit of wire, and printed out some more detail pieces for all of that.

 

[Doom!]

Looks killer! Details are great!

 

[johnnydmd]

Looks killer! Details are great!

Gonna be a sad day when I flip it, lol! Actually it should hold up pretty well I think, other than needing new paint if it chips, etc. The hoses are all 1mm wire inside that are embedded into the plastic a ways. But that said, there's a reason I bolted this thing onto the body instead of gluing it.

 

[Doom!]

Have you ever considered trying to build a rail dragster? Just curios since you did such a great job on the invader chassis.

 

[johnnydmd]

Have you ever considered trying to build a rail dragster? Just curios since you did such a great job on the invader chassis.

I haven't...not yet anyway

 

[johnnydmd]

Miserable weather weekend, so between watching football games I started putting together another body, which I think I will use as my practice/race body and keep the one I have as the show/spare since it came out pretty much perfect. This one is coming out pretty well too though so far.

Going with a paint scheme for this one that is a little easier since I'm gonna probably beat the hell out of it, lol. More like the original (mockup below) :

 

[Greywolf74]

Love the body!

 

[johnnydmd]

All parts assembled. I went ahead and bought Bitty's rear spoiler because it's nearly identical to mine, and it's only 20 dollars which is less than what it would cost me not to mention having to set up my vacuum former. I did notice that they have the protective film on the wrong side of it though. Not a big deal.

Now I gotta take it all apart, mask and paint. Maybe tomorrow