Choosing your first rc car
How To get Started With a Gas Powered RC Car Or Truck
Some people are hesitant about trying an rc car or truck.
Perhaps they think it has to be for racing ,
Remote-controlled cars and trucks come in lots of styles and types .
You shouldthink about how you want to use it before eventually owning one.
It is of course similar to choosing a ful size car (except you cannot actually get inside)
Here are some ideas for choosing an RC Car or Truck.
1 Do you want a prebuilt car or truck or are you happy to tinker for hours ?
2 Would you prefer a sporty car or a tough truck >
3 Do You want an electric model (easier to assemble and runs right out of the box)
Or would you prefer a Gas Powered model -
These are fuelled with a Nitromethane fuel that includes lubricants to protect the engine.
Usually the Gas fuelled cars use what is known as a Glow engine that runs similarly to a real car engine
but is actually a 2-stroke engine and has a throaty sound like a sports car and produces a exhaust like a real car.
These cars use a Glow Plug (hence the name) which heats the ignition process instead of a spark plug.
(may be a little difficult to start when cold but s quite exciting when you get the settings right)
Gas powered cars also need filters and even fuel bottle pumps to get fuel into the fuel tank.
You can buy kits in various forms from completely assembled and ready for fuelling to kits where you have to decide how to
assemble them and what engines to fit.
Usually a 2-channel radio control unit is included and this runs on readily available batteries.
Its as easy to use as an electric kit (wireless !)
If you want to get straight into competitive racing then you need a gas powered model with a fairly powerful engine (can get expensive !)
But if you just want to drive around without being in a compeition then probably an electrically powered model (continued below)
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US $5.87
will be great to start off with (but you may not be able to resist upgrading to a gas powered car soon.)
If you choose an electric model then I suggest buying a Truck or other ATV as you will have a LOT more fun with this than a saloon car.(You cannot drive a saloon car over a sandhill..)
Hope this will help with chosing your first rc car.
Filed under Cars by on Apr 4th, 2009. Comment. 
RC Car Kit Building Hints
The first thing to do of course is to choose the car kit you want to build.
The main choice is often for a road racer or an offroad car (usually 4x4 !)
There are hundreds for sale on this site (usually at far less than store prices)
It is much more fun to assemble a kit as then you understand how everything works and the cars limitations.
Assembly is not as difficult as you may think Providing you follow the instructions exactly.
You will certainly need :
* Car kit - check the contents against the instruction book to make sure they are all there - this is VERY IMPORTANT !
If they are missing something take the kit back for a replacement - do not try to assemble the kit first as the vendor may refuse to exchange it.
* Instruction Book I always photocopy these as a precaution against spilling coffee/paint over it
( or my dogs putting paw prints all over it !)
Tools - you need :
Electrical screwdriver
Small and medium Phillips Screwdrivers (cross-head)
Small and medium flat headed screwdrivers
Jewellers screwdriver kit may be useful
Needlenose and flat pliers
Slip-joint pliers
Control-lock pliers for grasping flywheels
Pencil and notepad (eventually you will need it !)
Sidecutters
Flush Cutter for oil lines and pieces that need to be close cut (a strong nail cutter might be OK)
Plastic or metal containers to keep small parts safe
An Anglepoise or desk lamp for extra lighting while building
A Table vice might be handy
Some kits may need a soldering Iron and solder.
Decals
Paintbrush
Paint
Sticky tape is great for holding things together when you run out of fingers ! (and you WILL run out of fingers..)
I always build things on a large tray with an old white towel as a base so it can catch any small parts or drips of oil etc.The white towel means I can find bits I drop and they do not bounce around the room.(I Always do that ...)
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READ right through the manual and make notes of anything that sounds tricky.
Then lay out parts in the order in which you will need them (thats what the containers were for)
Make a note of the screw settings and positions.
Focus attention on the right,left,front and rear.
The maker may (or may not) have marked standard settings with a dot or mark.
Do not remove those marks - you may need them later to reset your car.
Take it easy and proceed through the instruction manual one step at a time.
This is not a race and doing things slowly and correctly is the top tip on rc car building
A really good idea is to take a break every hour or so aand have a tea or coffee.
When you come back you will be refreshed and ready to go again.
(You might want to look through the instruction book again too...)
Do not try to skip pages or do what seems to be the fun parts. That way disaster lies.
The manual is laid out in that order for a specific reason - to get your kit working properly.
The maker spends thousands of dollars getting it right. Trust them.
Patience is a virtue - and that is certainly true when building a remote control car kit.
The first car kit you build chould be FUN - not frustrating.
If you find it frustrating then you are probably trying to do shortcuts.
Go back to the manual and work your way through it until you solve the problem.
99 percent of all rc car building problems are caused by not following the manual step by step.
Just as you would not build a real car by starting with an exhaust pipe and working forwards ...
the manual instructions are there in a SPECIFIC order because that is the easy way to fit the parts.
I hope that RC Car Kit Building Hints has been useful for you - Have Fun !
Filed under Cars by on Apr 4th, 2009. Comment.