Team Hellraiser

This, the second volume of our “Quick Tips” feature is dedicated to the uber-versatile Dremel tool. You’ve seen the television commercials about how the Dremel will cut a dozen nails in mere seconds. Trouble is, R/Cers rarely use nails, but THR members use our Dremels on an almost daily basis. Here are a few things you can do with your Dremel. As always, use safety-glasses whenever you’re using your Dremel.

• 1. Scuff your tires for a better CA bond. Use the drum sander to roughen the beads and remove the form-release oils used in manufacturing tires. A small wire wheel can scuff the rim’s beads too.
• 2. Trim bodies and cut holes for cooling, the antenna, and glog plug ignitor. Use the drill or a body reamer to start the hole and scissors for the general shape, then use the Dremel drum for final shapinging the wheelwells, cooling holes, etc.
• 3. Polish your hingepins for smoother suspension action. You can clamp them in the collet and use polishing compound or even toothpaste on a rag for a smoother finish. You can do the same thing with ball studs
• 4. Create a homemade tap. With the cutoff wheel, carefully cut a slice (lengthwise) into the side of a screw, then thread the screw into that stubborn plastic part. The sharp edge makes threads like a store-bought tap, and the gap accumulates cut material
• 5. Lighten your R/C. Use the cutoff wheel to cut too-long screws. It’s better to mark the screw, remove it, and thread a nut all the way to the head and then cut. Removing the nut will clean the threads.
• 6. Break in your Differentials On 1/10 scale buggies and trucks, the top shaft can be clamped into the collet to spin the whole gearbox and diff. Or, you can cut a dogbone in half, insert one end in the collet, then use the Dremel as a dogbone-drive. Do each side for 15 seconds.
• 7. Work that nitro engine. really hesitant to use a small cutter for porting a brand-new engine, but we have used the cutoff wheel on pilot shafts and even crankpins (for converting pull-start to bump with the correct backplate). Poke the shaft through a plastic bag to keep metal filings out of the carb and bearings, thread on the nut that comes with the engine, then cut. Remove the crank for trimming the crankpin.

If you’re one of the countless racers who think gigantic 1/8 scale buggy wings look out of place on a monster truck or truggy, join the club. I’ve seen a lot MT and Truggy owners running them and it’s time to stop! This quick how-to details how you can chop a buggy wing into a more sharply, form fitting truck wing using only a few basic tools and about twenty minutes of your time.

Step 1. Measure the wing.
For most monster trucks and truggies, narrowing the wing by approximately 1.5 - 2 inches works perfectly. I used a strip of 3/4 inch masking tape laid on the right and left sides of the wing as cutting guides.

Step 2. Cut the wing.
Use some sturdy lexan scissors or heavy duty shears to cut through the wing, and us a hobby knife to trim any sharp edges. You’ll now have 3 wing pieces, the largest one being your new truggy wing.

Step 3. Drill holes and button it up.
To make sure the wing wont fall apart, drill four 3mm holes into the wing (2 on each end). I used 3x12 steel screws with colored washers and nylon locknuts to strap it down.

There you have it; a quick but true to scale looking truggy wing that you can make from any brand 1/8 buggy wing.

Now that the Hellfire is officially available for purchase I’ve opened up the Hellfire forums for everyone to start posting in.

• Looking for new ways to improve your Hellfire or want to share the latest addition you’ve made to your Hellfire? You can do it in the Hellfire Hop-Ups Forum.
• Are your trying to figure out what the best setup is for your particular track? Or maybe you want to share the “perfect” setup you’ve found. You do it all in the Hellfire Setups Forum.
• Need help on other Hellfire related problems or issues? Search for an answer or post your question in our Hellfire Help Forum.

I wanted to let everyone know that things here on the THR Main Site are going to be quiet for the next month or so. Due to my horrendous workload, I’m only going to get the chance to post on the weekends. I’ll be posting as much as I can during the week but I don’t think it will be very much.

Because of this, I’m hoping that at least one of you may want to step up and become a member of the THR Staff. I’m looking for someone that is interested in writing entries for the main site as well as keeping an eye on the forums for unwanted spammers and keep things in order around here since I’ll be unavailable most of the time for the next month or so.

If you are interested either send me a Private Message on the forums or send me an email and I’ll get back to you asap.

I’m proud to introduce the first entry in our newest feature, Quick Tips. Quick tips is THR’s weekly column that shares useful, easy-to-follow tips that every r/c owner can use.

1. Antenna Tuning
The antenna wire coming out of your reciever has a pre-determined length and the radio system has been tuned to that length. Altering the length of the wire will alter the radio’s tune and ultimately cause radio interference and glitching.

Cutting the wire shorter should never be done, and contrary to popular belief, lengthening the wire will not increase your vehicle’s range. Many times the wire is long and awkward but you can neatly wrap up any excess wire and use a zip tie to keep it in order within the chassis before you route the remainder of the wire through an antenna tube.

2. Shock Screws
Screws can bend, and depending on where they are located on the chassis, this may or may not affect your vehicle. One place where this can affect performance is at the shock mounting screws, and especially the shock tower mounting screws on an off-road machine, since crashing is not uncommon and the length of the screws make them susceptible to bending more easily.

An upside down landing could cause a slight tweak in a shock screw that may not easily be recognizable. Any sort of bent shock screw will alter your suspension settings and will generaly twist your car up. Do a once over after every race or bash session to make sure that this vital mounting hardware is still in check, and your car will go faster, you’ll win more races, you’ll have more friends, and people will ask for your autograph. Well, your cars handling will be more consistent at least.

3. Longer Lines
Run a longer fuel line (8 to 10 inches) from your truck’s fuel tank to its carburetor to slightly increase the amount of run time you get from a tank of fuel and to also allow your engine to stay running longer when your truck is sitting on its roof. When your truck flips over, the fuel pickup remains at the bottom of the tank (which is actually the top now since the truck is upside down) and your engine will be starved of fuel and will stall once the fuel in the fuel line runs out. You will get the same effect from a large volume fuel filter as you would from a longer fuel line. Remember that the longer fuel line will take a little longer to prime each time you start your engine.

4. E-Clip Tightening
Your E-clips get streched open and worn out after your pop them off and snap then onto a shaft multiple times. The easiest thing to do is to replace worn out E-clips with fresh ones, but if you don’t have any new ones handy you can bring your old ones back to life by using a pair of needle-nose pliers to gently squish the ends of the clip closer together while it’s removed from the shaft. This will snug them up a bit and allow them to clamp onto your hinge pin or shaft with much more authority.

5. Cheap carb-priming aid
Sometimes you need an extra hand to prime your nitro engine. If you put a 5/16-inch vacuum-line cap (available at auto parts stores) over the exhaust outlet before you fill your tank with fuel, the fuel system will prime itself.