'' PROJECT '' Pro Street Beretta

stoneyberk · Post by **stoneyberk** » August 17th, 2009, 2:27 pm

LOL..

Thanks funky, It's a male lab... We got him when he was 8wks old... And let me tell ya... He is all boy... he is by far the toughest lab i have ever seen... But yet has the best temperament as well... He listens to me quite well for a 11 month old pup!!

Hopefully I'll have the struts done and ready to paint before the holidays... Not quite sure what color to spray them yet... The chassis & body is going to be black. so i may just spray them black as well... they would look pretty cool black with them chrome springs on them..... the Beretta is going to have a fare amount of chrome and aluminum on it....I even though about having the rear end chromed... But I'm not quite sure about that... I don't want it to look like a model...

Any suggestions???

Thanks again
Stoney

Post by **Mike Casey** » August 17th, 2009, 3:06 pm

its kinda wierd that you made this post. I was just thinking about "buddy" over the weekend.

stoneyberk · Post by **stoneyberk** » August 17th, 2009, 3:24 pm

Thanks Mike,,, That really hits home... There isn't a day i don't think about buddy! He will always live in my heart..

Now if i can figure out to set up my signature here with his site in it..
http://buddyone.pets-memories.com/

stoneyberk · Post by **stoneyberk** » August 21st, 2009, 3:26 pm

Well i now have one of the front struts fitted with the spring... I will need to alter the lower control arm bracket and shorten the shock shaft by 3/4'' here are a few shots of it..

I'll post more pics once i get them altered and installed!!

Dirty_Vinylpusher · Post by **Dirty_Vinylpusher** » August 26th, 2009, 1:59 pm

Awwww, ok...
First off, I'll take my hat off and have a minute of silence for Buddy.
I know how it feels....

Now, for the steering setup you're doing there.
I've been thinking along the same lines of a toothed bar and gears and stuff, but didn't know where to look.
That has given me an idea though and I'll keep an eye out for something like that.
I'll be interested to see how it works out.

As for thinking outside of the box.....I'm so far away from the box I can't even see it on the horizon any more.
I guess coming in to this hobby with no previous experience with RC cars whatsoever makes me look at things differently from a lot of the other guys who started out with RTR cars and then started pulling them apart and later on building their own from kits.

All I've got is you guys and your pictures and info, plus my own ideas and whatever I find at the scrapyard. (Which I visit about 3-5 times a week...)

There really is a shortage on the net of people building their own cars and I must say I'm a bit surprised.
Maybe there's a homebuild website somewhere we don't know about?

Anyways, better go get some work done.
Work = Money = Scrap = RC car = Me Happy

Cheers guys.

stoneyberk · Post by **stoneyberk** » August 26th, 2009, 5:11 pm

DVP, Thanks.. He will live on in my heart forever... I miss him dearly.

Yeah i hope this type of rack will work... We'll see!!

FM... you and me both my friend.. I mean i do kinda have an idea on what it's going to look like but I'm sure there will be a few mods i will need to do it once i get close to being done...

Well other than some minor spring retainer adjustments and a tad more welding/grinding the springs are installed and work great.. It has 1 1/4'' of travel as it is now... Which should be fine. I'm not planing on taking it down a bumpy street or anything... We have a nice parking lot at the shop so i will most likely do the majority of my videos of it in action there... I had to alter the control arm bracket a tad as well... The bolts was almost in contact as it was...

NOTE:: It looks kinda funky because the rear tires/rear end are just sitting under it...I may even raise the front spindles a tad... As it is now the headers will have aprox 1 1/2'' ground clearance. Which means full travel of the shock would only allow 1/4'' between the headers and ground...

Dirty_Vinylpusher · August 26th, 2009, 10:46 pm

What are your plans for the body?
Are there ones you can buy or are you going to make it yourself?

stoneyberk · Post by **stoneyberk** » August 27th, 2009, 3:49 am

I will build the body... It will be made from sheet metal... one piece front end, removable, operational doors, removable, removable deck lid, trunk, Rockers,Pillars,Roof, Quarters,Cowl,door jambs,, will be welded together as one piece then welded to the chassis...

Funky... That song is from the legendary Ted Nugent... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um2KDDml4nk

Have you looked on ebay for some square stock,, http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Yale-Steel__W0QQ_armrsZ1

You may need to split it down the seam to get it to look scale for your build... If so just cut it down the side to the desired width.. Then weld a flat piece of metal to it.. and clean up the welds. or purchase channel stock Small rectangler tubing is difficult to find...

stoneyberk · Post by **stoneyberk** » August 27th, 2009, 2:53 pm

Yep it's going to be an all metal body... I'm building the Beretta just like the real thing funky... When it's done you won't be able to tell the difference from it to a real one... That is as long as no ones in the shot.lol.. My progress has been pretty limited here lately.. As usual i have to many things going on anymore! I hope to have started building the body shortly after the holidays... I want to get all the welds and chassis components done on the chassis first though... And acid etched / primed...

I like AC/DC as well... I seen them in the 90s in Ft, Wayne IN, with Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Fast Way and it ROCKED... I hear yaa on the ringing of the ears... A few buddies and i went to the US Festival in California in 1983 for a week long concert and i don't think i hear well yet... That was a blast... I love all types of music besides rap... But old time classic rock is just plain awesome... I used to play lead guitar in a band years ago..'' Misfit Toys '' But got out of it... Still have two guitars, electric / acoustic but i don't play them anymore!

I found a few vids on YouTube on the 1983 US Festival..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L5z1XcleAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvgZMZ9Fpb0

stoneyberk · Post by **stoneyberk** » August 28th, 2009, 9:06 am

Well i now have the steering rack mounted and mounting plate welded in... I've been looking around for some nice universals for it and located some that may work.. I really wanted to use steel ones but can locate any the size i need that will go beyond a 30 degree angle... My setup angle is 35 degree... I think for a steering system these will work just fine... https://sdp-si.com/eStore/PartDetail.as ... roupID=545

It's in the mock up stage in these shots but i gives you an idea on how it will look.. I'm going to make the Tie-Rods next... Once i get them build and installed i will look around for some rubber boots to cover the assembly.. BTW:: The steering wheel you see in these shots is not the one I'm going to use... This is the one i started to make for my first Beretta build... It's far to big for this application.. And it looks like junk... I'm going to machine one from some 6061 aluminum GT style for this ride..

stoneyberk · Post by **stoneyberk** » August 28th, 2009, 10:10 am

Thanks.. I can't the engine will be in the way... I'll be lucky to have an 1/12'' on either sides of it.. and aprox 1'' in the front of it... It measure aprox..8''X 7''X 10''... I may even need to alter the firewall & clutch/trans mounting brace..

stoneyberk · Post by **stoneyberk** » August 28th, 2009, 10:50 am

That's the type of engine it's going to have.. I ordered two complete casting sets a while back and I'm still waiting on them... They ran into an issue with one of head castings... Hopefully i will have them both by the holidays.. I spoke with ken on it and he said that one of the molds got damaged and it's being rebuilt...
http://www.nvbackflow.com/engines/

The servo is going to be mounted behind the dash... It will gear drive the steering column / rack... When the wheels turn the steering wheel will also turn it the same direction... I will also have a scale driver in it with his hands attached to the steering wheel... It's being built just like the real thing funky... I'm not going to cut any corners on this build... It may take me awhile to figure it all out but i will eventually!

stoneyberk · Post by **stoneyberk** » August 28th, 2009, 12:20 pm

Complete casting set is $980.00 for the five main engine block kit. The castings are the cheap part of it all... It's the machining of the cam / crank that cost a fortune. I would say i will have about $4500+ invested in mine once it's done... I can do all the minor machine work myself but when it comes to the crank & cam I'll let the pro's do that...

I know your a big fan on this project funky... And I'm honored to have you as a fan as well.. I'm really surprised there isn't more here into my project.. Perhaps it's to complicated for some..

PM Sent!!!

stoneyberk · Post by **stoneyberk** » August 28th, 2009, 4:37 pm

I now have the tie rods done and installed.. There fully adjustable via, L / H - R / H rod ends... The rack works very freely and has little to no friction... Once i get the universals I'll finish the steering & column...

stoneyberk · Post by **stoneyberk** » September 16th, 2009, 4:45 pm

Well i now have the rear springs installed on the shocks.. They work very smoothly... No binding to speak of.. I still need to install the torsion bar & wishbone to do a final test on binding.. But i don't think they will be an issue... I will be taking a video on it within a week or so... I'll have it on my site in the video section.. But I'll post a link to it here as well...