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Krasi_5000
08-28-2005, 09:50 PM
hey guys, (this is a LONG post)
as most of you know last month i went to my FIRST race which has its own thread. Then the next race was rained out so its 4 weeks later today and I did my second race and Josh222 was with me with his RS4-3 so he will add his own story.
I have a NTC3 with a OS .12 TR, 35 shore front/38 shore rears.
We left in the morning got to the track some details you would care about like drying the track, setting it up etc...Now to the good stuff.

Practice : i ran pretty slow times at 20 seconds a lap...and the track was still cold so there wasnt much traction to make use of anyway, we were just laying down some foam hehe. Well i started running alright and i kept going into the sweeper pretty good but i would always clip the inside from trying to cut it so short and soon enough the lower a-arm simply couldnt take enough and broke. I imedietly left got wrenching took the whole front end apart in about 5 minutes (this is a personal record :p ) then i went and my fellow racer sold me a set of 2 upper and 2 lower arms for $10 cdn. I went back installed it and was ready for my first qualifier.

First Qualifier: my laps got better at 19 seconds as the track had some heat and foam in it. I was running pretty good but still being noob to racing i was still tapping the boards every lap and soon enough...(NTC3 problem) my upper diff case stripped and so my shock tower was no longer connected to anything and i limped it to the pits and got to work. Tore apart the front end again in 5 min and my fellow racer donated a diff case top half. I installed it and was back in running condition.

Second Qualifier: All ran good fastest lap was 18.8 or so. No problems at all this time car ran good, good traction nothing more to say.

Third Qualifier: Track was very good traction now, car is all up to spec. Fastest lap for me was 17.9 sec and the "pros" were running 15s, i turned out 15 laps which was second most, came in 2nd in my qualifier of 8 racers :cool: . But it appears the new diff case half was not on my side :( . Went back to pits and since i felt bad asking for more parts i ghettoed it up and super glued and used these longer fatter screws (curtesy of Josh222 ;) ) and the glue and all looked good for now...cheap but good :p

There where 4 mains for nitro. A, B, C, D. With my 15 laps and 17.9 fast lap i maned to get into B-MAIN!!!!!! For my second race i couldnt believe i was in B main...thats like a trophy on its own lol.

B-Main- It is 15 minutes. My dad showed up to the track to shoot some video and take some pics so i hired him to be my pit man :p . Race started i was running good and turning out good laps. I refuled once at 5 minutes in just incase, then drove another 5 and refuled again. There were 3 minutes left of the main and my superglued diff case/shock tower combo crapped out on me :p . I ended up getting 6th place of 8 in the B-main and i forgot the all important laps. Best lap was 18sec.


Overall i LOVED it and now this race has sparked a wild bush fire for me and racing. Im gonna buy some spare parts tommorow and some things i need. Over the winter since there is no racing i will relax and for Christmas im gonna order a new engine, new radio, threaded shocks, foams, spares and whatever else i think of by then. So for next season i will be ready to race in A-main :p

I really thank whoever read this and i would love to hear any comments or tips you may have. AND since this thread is called "Race Stories" post YOUR RACE stories. Lenght doesnt matter i would love to read them.

I will post pics tommorow and will post link of the race results when they come available.

LandSharkGT
08-28-2005, 09:54 PM
Congrats!

Pat Fierle
08-28-2005, 10:03 PM
Man I guess luck was not on your side that day but its all about having fun and it sounded like you did. Congrates on getting in the B-Main to.

rezenclowd3
08-28-2005, 10:57 PM
Ya man, congrats! I still have yet to get the ballz to stop practicing and actually race it;-(

microrcdude
08-28-2005, 11:19 PM
ok

-Showed up for practice with my new B4, all excited to race. Signed in and all that, and set my B4 on the track. Went over a jump, somke pours out the back of it, i blew apart my ESC

so no race for my B4 yet

Grant Tokumi
08-29-2005, 12:32 AM
Congrats Krasi! You'll be up in the A's next season.

Jetskiboy77
08-29-2005, 03:38 AM
Congrats on the great start. Good luck next season. Hopefully youll be one of those "pros" running 15s.

RCFUN2
08-29-2005, 05:57 AM
Trust me on this, ok. Get yourself some 3mm allen head screws and replace all the screws that tread into plastic on the top of the car. The holes as they come from the factory are a little too big. The 3mm screws are a little bigger than the 4-40s and they will bite a lot better. When I had my NTC3 I ran a whole season with out striping or replacing any plastic in it that didnt break. You can get a box of 100 for like $10.

Krasi_5000
08-29-2005, 08:05 AM
thanks guys.

rezenclowd3 - you SHOULD go racing, its unbeliavably fun, you will want to race every day if you could. Just try to find a buddy and go. Dont expect to win but if you end up in a higher main ALL THE BETTER makes you feel that much happier at the end of the day.

microrcdude - thats just sad to hear, better luck next time but dont just give up.

RCFUN2 - thanks for the tip, i will definetly buy them and try it out.

Krasi_5000
08-29-2005, 01:20 PM
wow i can't believe i forgot to mention it. During the final few minutes of B-main it wasnt the shocktower that ended my run...it was me hitting the board in the sweeper and it rolled in reverse in the middle of the track and instantly stalled. When i took it back to the pits my WHOLE drivetrain was jammed like is if there was a huge rock in the spurr but there was nothing and you couldnt move it at ALL. So i gave it a little force by hand and it came loose is if something had been seriusly binding. I spoke with theother racers with ntc3 and they said its probably the 2-speed one way bearing that either blew or was causing trouble someother way. I took it apart yesterday and i found out the one way bearing to be in good working order but im 98% sure it had jammed on me yesterday.

My speculation on it is that i was going fast in 2nd gear, hit the board and the car rebunded in REVERSE with the wheels locked up...im thinking could it be when i was in 2nd gear with 1 way doing its job i hit the boards and it rebuounded backwards could this have LOCKED the bearing onto the shaft because it had technically tried to keep it from turning that 1 way? Now when i spin it on the shaft it spins good one way and locks theother so i guess its good but should i change it anyway?

Another problem im seeing is with the engine...i've been noticing it for a while but i think its getting worse and can't be good.
I took out the plug to see inside and feel the pinch. Well it got to the pinch zone and well got pinched at TDC, but i could still turn the flywheel left and right about 3mm, without the piston moving. Does this mean the con-rod bushings are worn? Is it a problem to keep running races like this or change the conrod...im getting a new engine around christmas so could it live?