Tear downs are a fundamental part of maintaining any RC car. You get to know every screw, every bolt, every binding on your car. If you tear down your car enough times, you can become an expert. Maybe even an obsessive. Anything to get that edge on the track
If I remember correctly, its been about 6 or 7 months since the last tear down. I don't even remember if I took it apart when I went to Las Vegas with it. Since that last tear down, the only issue I have been having is that one side fall apart almost daily.
The night before I was to meet with Kevin and Paul I took out everything electronic from the car and set them to the side. I am at a cross roads with the Novac 411 system that I have been using off and on since the last Vegas race. I think I will be rebuilding the car without it. I then proceeded to tear down the car all the way to the flat graphite bottom deck. By the time I met the both Paul and Kevin, I had my car in pieces in my tool box. I set it all out on the table and stopped to admire my handwork (and take a few pics).
I met with Kevin Grant and Paul Lemuieux for the rebuild and everything worked out well. I got to chat and eat with Kevin and I got to watch in awe at Paul's awesomeness. This was Kevin's first X-Ray rebuild so he was a little nervous. I decided that Paul should concentrate on getting Kevin's car back together and I will follow along the best that I can. I thought it was only fair. We will see how far we get on the car reassembly.
Kevin's car had a few issues. We checked the bearings on his X-ray and they all were in very bad shape. We ended up tossing most of them. Bearings are the second most expensive part on the car next to electronics. To replace all the bearings on a car is almost unheard of. Usually its just a few at a time.
On to reassembly.
Here is the fun part. I take a can of motor spray and give my chassis a bath. I make sure that all glue residue, tape, and whatever else is off the graphite. Afterward I take a look at what has happened over the years that I have been working with the car. I see a few scratches and blemishes but nothing to worry about.
The chassis must be flat to serve as a foundation for everything you build on. I am not sure what can be done if the chassis isn't flat (except buy another at $75 store price) but its just a 2 second check to make sure that it is. Trackside has a very flat surface (the stone) for me to check for flatness. I do the same test to the bulkheads as well. You wouldn't believe that you can bend the bulkheads but in my case one or two were not completely flat. At this point we took a hammer and very sternly whacked at the bulkheads until they became flat again.
It is a very good idea that when you start screwing things back together that you use an all new screw set. Some people with close attention to detail may do this at every tear down. I think its a good idea to do it at every third tear down to save money on "X-ray" screws. If you don't replace all the screws, make sure to inspect the screws you are using for possible problems. I had to replace a few screws on the bottom deck because there were about to be stripped. Others were worn from overuse.
To be continued.
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