Project 3 - 3 Racing F1-09

My 10R5.1 is in desparate need for some pre-Vegas attention. Thankfully my new F109 went much better at Ardent...but there are some new bits arrived to fit when I get time. Probably post-Vegas now

The alloy front caster adjuster is the one upgrade I was nervous racing without (well that and the 64dp spur gear adapter as I don't trust my old stock of 0.6 module pinions). The kit unit can take a knock but can also break. It's arrived, I'll fit and forget the blue alloy part now ;-)

Also have a second Futaba FASST rx which when fitted will stay in the car. I ran at Ardent with a Spektrum set up, which given my experiences with interference is not what I wanted to do. Again we'll fit and forget, and the HRS setting will also speed up the steering on the F109

A couple of other stronger links are here. The two rear side links are pretty key to keeping the car straight, so thicker and blue-er ones are here

Also a few stickers sets have arrived. I need to decide on a colour scheme I can see in duller conditions over something very very scale. I have another 3 Racing shell and wings which looks and works ok. However a proper scale shell needs Tamiya (F104 fits best I'm told) or the other more scale suppliers.

I may have to start the winter season with the Rossi / Lotus and sort it out later on

Oh and a speedo-ectomy is needed to transplant the Tekin RS Pro from my GT car into the F109. And will gradulally add boost to the 21.5 motor to iron out the drop off in pace at the end of a 6 minute run.

Will have to be on the ball to get this done when I get back. Really looking forward to a winter of racing the F109, mostly at Ardent (and hopefully Tamworth). Got one weekend free between Vegas and the first round of the Ardent winter pan-car series. Bring. It. On!

What colour is that Mark would look nice on one of my shells

Admin wrote:What colour is that Mark would look nice on one of my shells

It is Tamiya PS-9 green with a layer of sparkle silver over the shell first.

Tamiya also make a sparkle flake which has a rainbow of colours in it. Pricey but a coat of that before a base colour looks stunning under indoor lights.

Two and a bit hours used very wisely on Satruday. GT car sorted and packed for Vegas. And F109 sorted for Ardent Winter series round one...the Sunday after we get back from Vegas

Spur gear changed (stripped in a final). Alloy camber adjuster fitted. New shiny blue strong rear links added. Alloy ride height adjusters fitted (forgot I'd orded these ).

So aside from a quikc changover of racing fit from the Vegas case to the UK bag we are good to go.

Shells stayed unpainted. So The Doctor and his Lotus F109 will be racing at Ardent ;-)

Really looking forward to a winters racing this car

Thanks to the Ardent team for a cracking first round of the Winter pan car series yesterday

The F1 Retro class had a healthy and competitive entry, and I knew despite setting a top 3 time in round 1 that my blinky speed wasn't enough.

So a speedo-ectomy to replace my faithful LRP SPX with mmjust y trusty Tekin RS Pro. Then a guessed set up - erm... let's try just boost to start with, kicking in at a higher RPM, take off the 1S LiPo setting ... that'll do. And even more guess work on the gearing taking 7 teeth off the pinion for 50mmpr.

The extra speed helped but did highlight some handling woes with the car, which was pretty hard to drive. Rear end and shocks all ok. Front end was pretty solid one side, which is not good

Springs were ok, so would be the balls and shaft where the problem was. A 3mm drill at low speed in my WC Dremel opened out the holes in all four ally balls, and the shaft moved a lot more smoothly. The same for the hub + axle followed by a quick polish of the shaft and we're all sorted.

Also found some slop in the top suspension links. Traced that to the alloy caster adjusters I'd fitted, and tried spacers of different sizes to remove slop but leave free movement. An Associated 0.5mm washer was too tight, so used a 12th front shim which at 0.4mm was pretty much perfect for the job

Added some Turbo and brought the boost in a touch earlier. And just back a bit from full additive on the front tyres. Handling and speed improved and round 3 saw me in good position...only to throw it away with silly driving mistakes. Must do better

Cut back a touch more on additive for final 1, and with ten open wheeled cars had a plan to avoid any accidents or contact. Expecially from 7th on the grid with a big sweeper for the first corner.

A couple of places made up at the start, and one more with a non starter. Balance was very good and pace the same. Made it onto the back of the leaders and feeling confident...then clipped the inside of the sweeper and dropped back a lot. Never mind...worked back after that and car still feeling good when pushed. Made it onto the back of the 2nd+3rd battle, and made it through for second overall

Car was a bit more edgy with a touch more additive at the start of final 2, so had to drive with more caution while that wore off. Pace was good and getting onto the leaders, but mistakes cost me. Recovered to 4th which left me 4rd overall...very chuffed with that from 7th on the grid

This was only my second race meeting with my F109, so I've learned a lot. The balance is good and I know how much additive to run to get that (full rear for 10 mins, 7/8ths front for 4 mins). Speed is good and I'll work on a wee bit more on the Tekin set up...gearing up didn't help, so will gear back down and add small tweaks.

A dark green and yellow shell looks scale for Lotus, but isn't easy to see indoors in winter. So will be spraying up a lighter and brigher shell for next time. It won't be a red+white Mclaren which was one option...there were four in our final on Sunday

I have two or three ideas...wait and see

Some prep for the 12th National was complete, so racing that next Saturday. Then a weekend away from racing with Mrs B. Looking forward to the next pan car round now...F1 Retro is a competitive class now

After racing three different classes in two countries over four weekends, it did Fran and I good to take a weekend away from a track. Some nasty discussions to draw to a conclusion at work as well, so a weekend away last weekend did us both good

That doesn't mean that I've been completely idle on the F1 front. You might remember I picked up a couple of shells in Vegas...one F104 with a full wing set, and one Protoform shell that needed wings. The postman has been busy delivering F1 wings and another sticker set.

Why another sticker set? Well I realised dark green wasn't the wisest choice for winter racing. And neither were that dark colours my other two 2011 sets would need. So found another suitable Norfolk reference for a brigher scheme. Masking and painting will start this weekend.

Need to put the Tekin speed back in the F1, and tidy up the new flashing brake light I fitted during the 12th National Satuday pm (am was too hectic!). Gives me a chance to sort out the wire positions and lengths. A true of the fronts if I get time would be handy...if not next meeting it is

Aside from getting the shell sorted (see other thread), still the same electrics work to do. Should be < 30 mins work over the weekend, and we're ready.

I really ought to true the front tyres (yes...still from the kit) if I get time. If not we're truing in the pits...again!

A minor set up change to try after looking at the outside front tyre. The old 12th rule works well - aim to get even wear across the tyre.

Will also work on some Tekin speedo set up changes for practice. I've got back to blinky for 12th so will have to re-program anyhow. A bit of push control as well...mentioned this before, and will report back.

It's been a long time since my last F1 race, but really looking forward to blowing off the cobwebs next weekend

It is awesome that the F1 class at the Ardent winter Pan Car series is so competitive. Last Sunday I had to really work on the set up of my F109 as the times were that close, and made a step forward as a result.

The December layout at Ardent is tighter without a main straight. Most of the F1 runners found they needed more steering, and my F109 felt like it had a push. I figured it was a rushed additive on the fronts in practice...but it was still there for round one with more additive time.

Note - great tip I learned the hard way. Keep your additive time consistent for fronts. Steering will come from a combination of how much additive (width) and how long the additive is on for ("Depth" it soaks into the tyre).

So back to pan car 101 for more steering. Fitted a stiffer centre shock spring, so from 14lbs Schumacher White spring to 16lbs Schumacher Blue spring. And a softer front spring from Associated 20lbs to 18lbs.

Steering = sorted

And yes I am still running the F109 kit tyres. The original rears finally wore down too far, but they don't owe me anything

Really happy with the Benetton yellow and green colour scheme. It stands out really well, especially when it gets a wee bit darker on the track.

The Tamiya front wing took some work to get it to fit. The F109 needs a mounting hole in the middle of the two for a Tamiya...so marked it up and took the Dremel to it. Actually I got a bit too keen and the small hole in my hand is healed up nicely thank you

The Benetton wing comes back too far for the F109 front suspension too. So had to cut that back to fit. And the body mount needed to be higher so spaced that out as well.

The rear wings are a straight fit from Tamiya to the F109. Some of the older Tamiya wings were Lexan which I know don't take an accident very well...the B192 wing is plastic

The sticker set is the Tamiya one and only took some slight work to fit on the F109 shell. The front nose cone is a pain...it ends just where the body mount fits. So I used thin carpet tape to fit it so it would fall off rather than destroy itself in a front end crash.

It's a Martin Brundell set of numbers and helmet design. Well he's an F1 racer from Norfolk

So learned a lot at the Ardent Winter Pan Rd 3 and even more in the two days at the EPS round.

Changed springs for .18 fronts and a 16lbs centre spring (Schumacher Blue). Gave a bit more steering on the tighter track and I've stuck with it.

Also found the F109 kit upper front suspension turnbuckles don't take front end crashes well. Mine were bent back 15 degress or more so explained some of the odd steering I had after hitting a barrier. So searched through what I had and found the 12R5 (and 10R5) front suspension turnbuckles were a straight replacement. Result

Also found the front suspension was slightly sticking again. Wasn't the 3mm holes in the suspension balls (alloy by the way...I sooo want nylon or hardened ones) or the axles. But I did find some discolouring on the king pins, so spun them up in the Dremel and that sorted it.

After a serious sort out of the bent stuff on Sunday at the EPS round I went over half a lap faster, and beat that again in the final round. Time well spent

Additional: also been working through Tekin setting. Got the boost sorted now, and working on Turbo settings for the straight. I'm using the same principle I used at the Snowbirds in February...change something slightly every run to see what it does.