Front engine car setup,how to

[alexis in greece]

When i started building the Fly Ferrari 250 GTO i saw it as a challenge,i like to solve difficult problems.I certainly did not expect it to do so well,in fact it beat every other car,even the mid engine, overall in International Proxy Series 2014.
During the season one of the entrants asked for a how to and i promised i would do it as soon as i got the car back because i had no photos.
I will start by the front end,describing in detail what i did for a Fly Ferrari 365GTB/4 which is exactly what i did for the GTO.The main issue is to keep the wheels parallel and reduce the play.
We need a piece of brass tube 3/32" internal dia (i buy mine from www.chaskeelingscd.co.uk)
and an 1/8" drilling bit as the tubes external diamater.
We drill the axle posts first using a bit of 3mm then 1/8"(=3,25mm)
The important thing is
-to operate the bit by hand not a dremel,if it gets stuck use a pair of pliers to unblock it
-drill both posts in a single operation to ensure proper alignement,as in photo


We might need to repeat the operation several times until the tube goes through.
Now we need two pieces of tube of length equal to that of the axle holders to which we insert as sleeves with a drop of superglue.
We also cut to pieces of tube 5mm long.
We cut two pieces of 3/32 axle(=2,38 mm-not NSR which is 2.34 or drill blanks, and results to unwanted play) to the desired length.
We solder the 5mm long tube pieces on each axle.


It remains only to assemble the system


The wheels rotate freely and they stay parallel






To be continued..........

[alexis in greece]

And the front end of the GTO





Chassis rigidity is the name of the game.
First i epoxied a ball bearing (from dmwproducts) to the transmision shaft support.
Then i replaced the original sprung transmision shaft with a solid one.I used a piece of brass tube with internal dia 2mm ,17 mm long and a piece of 2mm brass rod to extend the motors shaft.Lenghts have to be carefully calculated to allow removal for repairs/corrections.Soldering the parts is not advised,i glued the parts using loctite stud lock.This method allows removal of parts by applying heat, using the soldering iron ,to the brass tube.



Then i braced the shaft holder and the rear axle holders using .062" piano wire


Then i braced shaft holder and motor holder using .048" piano wire


Then i added weight below the rear axle center line to a weight distribution of 58.9% at the back



Finally,i used a guide with leading blade MB17030

The rest of it you know allready,BWA NC1 motor,Ninco tires,and functioning front lights

[Wet Coast Racer]

Great post, pictures 'n everything!

[alexis in greece]

Photos back in place

[longdog]

Nice write-up and photos Alex, I have a Fly GTO that I need to tune. This is a big help to me.