Assembly Begins - day 1

This happened faster than I thought. The chore was to enclose the lower drive chain. Goal; not to separate the chain. First things first... I put the two a-arm pins into the chassis. I had notched the rods so that the set screws, seen here, keep the pins from backing out. There are actually 3 set screw but the one at the top of the screen is only for making sure they are parallel. Originally, I had the back a-arms somewhat canted inward. I'm going for parallel now. The difference is using a different end plate. I have a carbon fiber end plate that has the two holes for the pins set further apart. Since I want good high speed tracking in a straight line, this will work best for the on-road setup.



I had a piece of clear plastic sheeting laying around which I cut to 20mm wide. I then took some sharp small hobby scissors and trimmed in the ends. These two pictures show well the conditions I was after.



The tab into the plastic on the front is only about 1/8" long. Being relatively stiff, there is no reason to worry about the tab getting caught by the chain.



Next, I put double sticky cellophane tape on the chassis where the plastic sheet will be adhered. Since the chain length was already correct, I just placed the front and rear case assemblies in the chassis so the chain would lay in the slot. Next, I simply started to lay down the plastic strip as it adhered to the double sticky tape. Had I thought ahead a bit further, I would have left the front brace on the rear gear housing assembly off. The front brace, the H-bracket, can be removed at any time if more finger space is required. Remember that at this point, the gear cases are just sitting there.





In case off-road dirt tracking is anticipated, one could consider a much more substantial covering of the additional grooves in the chassis. I consider this optional as only the chain needs to be protected form the elements that might find their way into the gearboxes.

After careful inspection of the chain cover, it is time to consider committing the gear cases tot he chassis. I spent some time selecting appropriate screws form the handy hardware box and found everything I needed.



Once the chain is set for tension, which in this case is fully retracted, a few pieces of packing tape seal off the last few crevices at the chain cover. You have to look pretty close to see this piece.



And a piece in the back about 10mm x 20mm:



It is amazing how effective this simple solution is. And even after 15 years, the previous tape came right off without a fuss. If the car will always be run in a clean environment, like carpet tracks, I'd say the chain cover is completely optional.

Now we are ready to put the steering back; add the side plates;...



...and have our first close look at the front bumper which protects that mono-shock.



Notice that the upper control arm keeper has a hole drilled in it right next to the metal brace. The looped .090" diameter piano wire has spring tension holding it to the very front metal bracket. Overall, this is a very stiff system although I did back this up with fabric tape so I wouldn't loose a piece on the track somewhere due to an "incident".

So this is where I finished yesterday. I will post the next steps soon.