Modified BasX

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Decided to spruce up my BasX car for the next race. I removed the foam that was in the gap and press fit a nice chunk of cedar in the newly exposed space in the center of the car. I then drilled 5 spaced out 1" holes on each side and pounded round tight fitting toothpicks in the holes. Seems to have really "tightened" the car up and I'm hoping to reduce Micro Vibrations. We'll see in a few weeks if I messed up a good car or gave it a boost. I might reduce the height of the rear, insert 3/16" cubes and go for the Puma Wheel Weight option. I'm tempted to paint it with some sharp looking green enamel paint since the recent sunshine would really speed up the drying time.
 
Hey dog,

I love the photo!

Very Mark Rothko!

That body looks just about perfect!

Congrats!
 
Thanks bud!

I had to look that artist up but I think you pretty much nailed it. This upgrade definitely flowed and was spontaneous, even to the point I didn't even weigh the cedar insert before affixing it inside the car, what's the point really- it's going to be what it's going to be.

Your recent SS, Claudia, inspired the arched belly and it works wonders for strength.
 
Thanks for Sharing, Sounds like it flex should be cut down quit a bit. That emeraled green should be pretty cool!

You know we need a test/tool to check for body flex!
 
Corvid Racing said:
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Decided to spruce up my BasX car for the next race. I removed the foam that was in the gap and press fit a nice chunk of cedar in the newly exposed space in the center of the car. I then drilled 5 spaced out 1" holes on each side and pounded round tight fitting toothpicks in the holes. Seems to have really "tightened" the car up and I'm hoping to reduce Micro Vibrations. We'll see in a few weeks if I messed up a good car or gave it a boost. I might reduce the height of the rear, insert 3/16" cubes and go for the Puma Wheel Weight option. I'm tempted to paint it with some sharp looking green enamel paint since the recent sunshine would really speed up the drying time.

Hey Dog,

I am not sure what type of foam you have been using, but that white, stiff, polystyrene foam (kind of like packing peanuts material) seems to amplify noise. If you scratch at a piece of it with your fingernail one could hear it across the room. Good call on the cedar.
 
Thanks Joe, the foam I picked up from an RC hobby store is a soft cushioned, white foam used to isolate the fuel tank from vibrations. Although, I don't think it soaked up them dreaded micro vibrations as well as other options available. I wonder what that stuff is that is used to line a car trunk to reduce vibrations from having such an amplified sound system and just how well it would work?

Ice, a tool like that would be pretty impressive. One could start with an old bearing press and start modifying it to fit our needs.
No dice finding that can of green paint but I did find a can of Kandy Purple Pearl, I'll post a pic when she's painted.
 
I just used expanding foam to fill in my cutouts but it is not like I have proven to be fast...yet /images/boards/smilies/wink.gif

The micro vibrations issue seems to be a tricky one and there isn't really a good way to know if is the issue with a given car or not. I do wonder if it is better to have something more solid and light like your ceder or balsa, possibly making the car most sturdy and more resistant to vibration or are they un-avoidable and may be better to have something soft like foam to absorb vibrations.

Will making it more sturdy cause it to just resonate more?
Is foam not enough, leaving the frame too light and even more susceptible to vibrations?

With my latest one I started with a ladder body but as I was making the cutouts with the mill bit and the way I set my fence on my drill press it left thin spine running down the middle that I chose leave. My reasoning was that I hoped that middle spine would help with stability.

Looks like you're using monokote for your slide guides too.
 
The expanding foam seems like it would become one with the wood, more so than the foam I used. My next builds will most likely incorporate solid planks with no hollow or filled in spots. After all, when I remove the wood and replace it with a lighter material I'm only making it a gram or two lighter yet compromising the structural integrity of the car.

Balsa will be something I look into this year. My BasX car, Pepper, which was solid balsa except for the cedar axle strut I glued in had a time differential of .0004 at Nationals and from my quick view that was the most consistent car there, albeit not a top 10 finisher so nothing to write home about but still worth noting for the sake of MVD. Was it the balsa that helped or just too much steer? Probably the latter but I am going to keep digging and learn as much as I can.

Last night, laying in bed I had a thought. Would if these vibrations are of a certain frequency? And if that's the case what happens when 2 cars race that are both "in tune" vs out of tune(frequency wise). Some of the anomalies we encounter that leave us scratching our head in confusion may be somewhat explained by these differing frequencies. Could one cars more solidly established frequency pattern(due to a solid plank, balanced wheels and other unseen variables) diminish or accelerate/upset another cars less stable frequency? To isolate this, we need a track that each lane is enclosed so no air disturbances can fuzz up the data. Micro vibrations could then be better understood.
Now to take it a step further, unbalanced wheels will most likely never be staged in the same orientation due to time restraints. So you have 3 wheels that are out of sync creating a slightly different vibrational pattern each race. If every wheel was balanced on every car(regardless whether it is faster or not), I bet less head scratching would occur and the race outcomes may appear to make more sense.

Yep, the Mono-kote works like a champ, though some of my cars use embedded teflon or delrin washers in the rear instead. I'm starting to shy away from having something with adhesive so close to my wheels. If an end lifts, it could pick up a hair and it might rub against a wheel acting as a "micro brake"/images/boards/smilies/crazy.gif
 
Never thought of dampening the track with the stuff- what a great idea!! Time to rip off the double layer of duct tape I used and step up my game. Thanks for the pointer/images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif

Just had a though spawned from Kinsers tip.
That rubberized bed liner coating might be painted on the aluminum track first and then glue/attach the Dyno mat type material to that. Stop them vibrations dead in their "tracks"(pun intended)
 
That'd be a good way to ruin a track in one fell swoop. Since it dries kinda hard I can see it possibly making things worse. If Best Track RD dept. was on it they'd scour this forum for ways to improve their product- who knows, maybe they already are
dollarsigns
I'll pass on using my track as the guinea pig, any takers?/images/boards/smilies/tongue.gif
 
Thank BR,
I like the looks of that stuff and it's not as permanent.
Think I'll give it a shot/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif
 
Well folks, here she is in all her shining glory.

Formerly called Stray Cat Strut, I am changing the name to "Where's the Beef?!" to better suit the funky decal I applied. I have no clue what this laughing bull stands for but it is pretty old and took a good 5 minutes of soaking to loosen up from the paper, a lot of my decals are flat out too old to be of any use.

Should be there by Friday- USPS and God willing..
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Ahh, I thought that cow looked familiar, googled it and looks like you're right on the money, thanks for the enlightenment.

Elsie the Cow was her name and her great smile somehow ended up on bottles of Elmers glue- which is made of horses. Mr. Ed would've been a better fit in my opinion/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif
 
Glad you dig it Joe, thanks dog!

I'm thinking, that to honor Elsie, a name change to "Mooove Over" would be more appropriate than "Where's the Beef"
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*final namesselected- "Magnum Opus"