My .5 should be here next week. Was sent fra ballistichobbies.com a few days ago but it looks like it's spending Easter in Paris. If you guys can't agree on where to have the .5 race day I can suggest Norway :027:

I hadn't seen this thread before I ordered one. Now I'm really worried. Looks like it's not as easy to convert as I hoped.

It only becomes difficult to convert if you try to use a plastic spur instead of the steel one.

However, I've done about half hour of hard running with a steel spur and hardened pinion on my Hyper 8 and have no evidence of any metal-on-metal issues. It's a little early to tell, but it seems that if you have a rock solid mesh (no motor mount flex), you shouldn't have to worry about using metal on metal gears.

Since the CRT is much smaller/lighter, and will therefore use a less powerful motor, a hardened steel pinion on the stock spur should work fine. Again, it's about having a very solid mesh with no flexing. I am going to go this route for now and see how things go. But, a replacement center diff mount I ordered was supposed to be in today, but the order got messed up so it will be early next week at the earliest before I get mine done to tell for sure.

Any brand or type of pinion that are better than others?

A friend of mine is a CNC operator. He'll help me out with the motor mount. Should be able to make something that's designed to have as little flex as possible.

If you use the stock Mod1 Revo spurs (36T, 38T, and 40T), use the regular pinions in Mike's store. Mike already has a Revo motor mount that goes where the stock Nitro motor goes. You can still design your own, but why re-invent the wheel? :)

BTW: The stock Nitro mount will add a lot of strength to keep the mount from flexing. Even with the optional engine bay brace, there is still some slight flex if you don't use the casted Nitro mount assembly.

Why try to make my own mount? $60 + EMS shipping ($25-30) + 25% VAT + $20 import fee VS. free motor mount. Easy choice.

Ahh, yes. I forgot you were in Norway. My bad. :)

I think I got lost along the way here - are we talking about Mike's new REVO mount being used in the CRT? :032:

No, the thread just evolved I guess. Threads have a habit of doing that here in case you haven't noticed. ;) Just be glad Serum didn't have anything to do with it or the thread would've been ruined. :)

Well, you better not let Serum see the thread now lol...

I'm going to try to use the stock spur with a hardened pinion. I will make a brace on the motor mount on one side (both if possible) thats shaped like a triangle and will go between both "flats" on the angle peice (try imagining a box cut from one edge diagonally across to the other). I will also brace the mount against the steering servo mount. I'm basically going to make it so that the motor mount and center diff are rock solid.

I also want to see if I can incorporate some type of rear motor brace, similar to the one on Mike's Revo mount. I'll probably have him make me that one...something so small can't really cost too much.

The servo mount isn't really all that solid - at least not enough to use as additional bracing IMO. Personally, I think you'd be better off supporting the rear of the motor to reduce the chance of flexing...

Arh, if i would have paid closer attention i would have noticed Brian saying this;

'Makes sense since his anteater nose needs about that much room to move comfortably.'

One of those As If things..

Did i mentioned the weather is getting better over here!? the first ants have been spotted! (and haunted)

lol, you are a strange person Serum!

Should i consider that a compliment or food for the brain? :p

Whatever makes you happy. :)

compliment it will be.

Finished and running.
 

Well, it's all done. And I'm not entirely happy with it. It looks OK and all, but it's gonna be a PITA to get to the center diff. Once Mike makes his "drop-in" solution, I might re-visit the construction.

I'd like to use the Kyosho spur but I don't want to raise the diff nor do I want to shave out a larger spur slot in the chassis. So, I'm using the stock spur and a hardened steel pinion. Let's see how long it holds up.

Now, for the pics:

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/crtp5_3.jpg

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/crtp5_4.jpg

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/crtp5_5.jpg

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/crtp5_6.jpg

Looks good but I would rather see a video or at least a pic of it all dirty :)

yes, it good convert..

video video...

by the way.

like i said, CRT.5 maybe direct product E-CRT Ver, the ofna a supplier taiwan Hongnor company will come to ready it, this hongnor boss tell us.
we all waiting..

Thanks guys!

I'm sorry, looks like there is a language barrier, lol. Do you mean that there will be an electric version made by Ofna?

Nice Brian, have you gotten a run in with it? I might approach a crt .5 with the stock spur IF the hardened pinions work. did mike make that pinion for you?

Brian I believe that is what he means. this is from another post he made in the truggy section.

in the future (as soon), Jammin ofna maybe consider E-CRT or E-CRT.5 Version.

this is i know news.

by the way your crt.5 looks great. Makes me want one.

Looks sweet!! Great job with it. Hopefully the pinion and spur will hold up well.

sorry my poor english,
yes electric version.

but not ofna made, ofna is commercial agent, all car and truck come from taiwan Hongnor made.
so if ofna have interest electric version CRT or CRT.5 that Hongnor will support product.

you can via http://www.hongnor.com.tw taiwan company.

andywpj:
Oh, ok. I didn't mean to offend, just wanted to make sure I understood correctly. :) That's interesting; I didn't know it was made by Hongnor. It would be neat to see them offer an electric version. They should release a Pro electric version so people can put in their own electrics.

RC/gixxer:
I haven't run it too much, just in the basement, but already found an issue with the steering servo. It goes one way fine, but sometimes binds going the other way. Does the same thing with the servo horn disconnected totally, so it has to be the servo itself. With the servo disconnected, the steering assembly is very smooth, so no binding there at all. I'm going to take the servo back to the LHS tomorrow to see if they'll exchange it, but don't know if they will since it's been a while since I bought it and I don't have the receipt anymore. At any rate it is pretty snappy...and it should be since it has a 10th scale motor on it. :)

Sylvester:
Yeah, Mike got the pinion for me. It's not something he usually sells since they didn't last long for some people (hence the "out of stock" status in the RCM store). There was a thread about these pinions where Mike responded if you're interested. But, I asked him if I could get one anyway to try out. They're kinda expensive though - better and cheaper to go with the Kyosho spur and regular pinion if possible. Most 8th scale applications can use the Kyosho spur setup with no problems at all (except a little shimming), but the CRT.5 is quite a bit smaller so needs more modifications to get it to work.

nice buggy Brian! How fast is it going to go? What kind of runtimes are you expecting?

Thanks. I estimate around 35ish, which is more than enough for me.

Looking great Brian. I wish I could put more time into my battery and electronic mounts. Maybe on the next project I can paint up a body for you and you can make my battery trays - lol. Now I have to get some pictures of mine up - I also have some very short video I need to upload. Unfortunately the only cameraman I had available was my 7 year old son. Hopefully I'll get that posted later today. Looking forward to seeing yours run soon.

Thanks!

LOL, sounds like a deal. I hate painting bodies! I've actually thought about running an unpainted one. I usually wreck them far too fast to spend lots of time painting them. :)

Those mounts took a good 6 hours of work, not counting the painting. Cutting with a hacksaw, fine cutting with a nibbling tool, dremeling the corners, and filing the edges is very time consuming. And I absolutely HATE it when I make a mistake and am off by a couple of mm's and have to start over!

How funny - I'm just the opposite. I threw together my battery tray and for the time being velcro'd and ziptied my ESC to the diff top plate. My Rx is servo taped to the battery tray - As for the body I spent about 4 hours on it if you include the 3 coats of liquid mask and the 5 different applications. White, light blue, Translucent blue topped with pearl blue then Faskolor fascoat to seal and protect everything. I busted out my old Paasche VL airbrush that I used to do t-shirts and murals with and am finally trying my hand at rc paint. The whole backward layering thing is taking some getting used to. It's fun though - I do enjoy the painting more so than the metal fabrication. Here is one I did lately on a *cough* *cough* nitro GT2

http://members.cox.net/gluena/GT2a.JPG

Before cutting out the engine opening
http://members.cox.net/gluena/GT2b.JPG

http://members.cox.net/gluena/GT2c.JPG

That's nice (even though it's nitro)! A simple color fade from back to front (usually a solid color up front and black in the rear) is about as complex I ever do. And since I just use the spray can, it's not the prettiest. I then use stickers to cover the more unsightly areas. :)

Metal working for me is the fun part (when it isn't aggravating, lol). I just wish I had some proper tools to make it a little faster. It sucks to sped several hours on one piece just to throw it away because a bend didn't turn out perfect or it's a little off.

BTW: my battery tray is designed to hold 2s or 3s 5Ah cells, and even 6 NIMH cells. :)

What size pinion did you go with?

16T; it's the only hardened pinion Mike had available...

Maiden voyage
 

Well, I took the CRT.5 to the track tonight. Wow, it's in bad shape - like driving on bumpy concrete! lol. It almost needs more weight. However, the little truggy is quite fast and handles very well, better than I expected actually.

I put 3,000 wt oil in the CD and it seems just right. Doesn't diff out and yet doesn't wheelie (kinda wants to, but doesn't).

However, about 15 minutes into playing, the pinion grub screw fell out so I guess I have to use a little more locktite. :)

The motor and ESC were kinda warm for my liking though. But maybe it was because the pinion was too loose and the motor was spinning too fast relatively unloaded. It's GOTTA be something like that because the Jato runs cool as a cucumber and it's geared higher.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the results and it'll be fun to play with this summer. :)

Good to hear the results. How did the pinion hold up?

Very well, except for loosening. :)

Looks great Brian! Wish I had the time to finish my current project let alone start new ones! LOL!

Any videos of the E-CRT.5 beast yet?

could be the 4wd that makes higher temps?

Yeah.. the track is bad right now. We are gettting ready to tear it up for a complete rebuild this weekend. It will be good then :)

Sounds great. Any pictures of it all dirty or at the track? Man, can't wait fro Mike to release the motor mount for it. I think I may actually go after this project. Not a lot of money and the perfect size as well. 1/18 scale is gettign a little annoying, lol.

No, no pictures of it at the track as I didn't have my camera with me.

However, I did get a short clip of it running in the driveway. I couldn't get to full speed because it's kinda short, and I didn't want to ruin the tires in the road, so this will have to do. I don't know who the kid is on the bike. My son makes an appearance at the end. You can tell he knows how I drive! ...You'll see what I mean. :)

Video (~15MB)