One of my many hobbies is remote control cars, or RC cars. I have a
Team Associated B64D in my stable of cars at the moment and I really like it. It is a four wheel drive (4wd) buggy for off-road racing. The "D" in B64D is for dirt. Associated has since discontinued the B64D specifically, but they still make a
Club Racer version and a Carpet version
The carpet version is called the
B64. There are subtle differences between the B64D and B64. Either one can be converted to the other. Associated offers a guide for converting the B64 into the B64D, click
here for the link to the PDF. Team Associate also has a nice comparison chart for all three versions, click
here for the link to the PDF. In my case, I have to convert mine from a B64D to a B64.
I'm going to follow
Brent Thielke's Vegas set-up for my conversion. I could also use the
B64 stock manual to verify all my pieces and parts.
I am going to discuss the drive train differences between the B64D and B64 first.
The first piece I'll change is the three differentials found in the B64D to the two differentials and a clutch found in the B64. The B64 has a center
slipper clutch assembly instead of the center differential. Since I'm making these changes as an upgrade, I am going to purchase the
Schelle Racing Nova Slipper Conversion. This kit from Schelle Racing has the clutch as well as center drive shafts needed to run a slipper clutch in my B64D. The Nova Clutch has a smaller amount of rotating mass than the stock Associated clutch. This helps the engine spool up faster, which is great for small, tight tracks.
With the
front and rear differentials, I am going to purchase completely new ones. This is unnecessary because I could just clean the current
differential fluid out of my existing differentials and refill them with a different viscosity fluid for carpet. But, by having completely separate diffs I can mark on them what fluid is in them and swap out as needed. I run
10,000 cst fluid in my dirt diffs. I plan on running
15,000 cst fluid in my carpet diffs.
The other difference in the differentials is that mine have the
plastic gears. I run the stock 13.5 4wd class and the plastic internal diff gears are lighter than the
metal ones. This helps the differentials rotate faster and lightens the car up a bit. Carpet racing is high traction, so the metal internal gears are a must-have for durability reasons.
That's it for drive train differences. The next area to change is the suspension. There are a lot of subtle differences between the B64D and B64 in this area.
The first piece of the suspension that I'm going to change is the
shock fluid. The shock fluid is used to control the
compression part of the shock absorption. I run
35wt in the front and
30wt in the rear for my dirt off-road setup. A typical carpet setup has even heavier weight up front, typically
37.5wt. Brent's set-up has 37.5wt in both front and rear. He tunes his compression by varying the piston hole sizes. I think I might try the
factory set-up in this case, which can be found on the third to last page in the stock manual. The stock fluid set-up is for 37.5wt in the front and 30wt in the rear with 1.6mm holes up front and 1.7mm holes in the rear (I have these piston sizes in my shocks already).
Another part of the shocks is the springs. The springs control the
rebound of the suspension system. The springs are there to return the shock to it's full extension. Brent's set-up calls for
Associated Factory Team Purple springs (4.20 lbs per inch) in the front and
Associated Factory Team Gray springs (2.20 lbs per inch) in the rear.
The suspension also includes the front and rear sway-bars (or
anti-sway-bars actually). The ones needed for carpet racing are stiffer than the ones used for dirt racing (are you noticing a theme yet?). Since I'm doing this as an upgrade, I am going to have to buy the
Associated Firm Front Sway-Bar Kit to get the orange one for Brent's set-up. I will also have to purchase the
Associated Rear Sway-Bar Kit to get the orange one for Brent's set-up.
I'm kind of a hack when it comes to driving. Brent likes to use the
hard arms in his set-up. However, I am going to stick with the
stock arms for my set-up. They'll give more before breaking when my car goes cartwheeling across the track. Which it does more than I'd like to admit.
That's it for the suspension pieces. The steering is the final piece that needs to change between the two buggies.
For steering purposes the
caster blocks are different between the two buggies. The B64D uses a
10 degree caster block, where the B64 uses a
7 degree caster block. The lower angle makes the car a lot quicker to respond to steering inputs.
Those are all the pieces needed to convert a B64D to a B64, as far as the kit is concerned.
Of course, there are still more parts to get. Carpet racing requires a different set of tires than dirt racing. It is always best to check with your local track and see what they recommend. As well, talk to the fast guys and see what they're using. I typically run
Proline Hole Shots front and rear at my dirt track. For carpet racing, something like Proline's
Pin Points for the rear and
Prisms for the front are what is needed.
JConcepts are always a great choice too. Brent's set-up uses JConcepts
Pin Downs in the rear and
Swaggers in the front. I know that
Schumacher makes a bunch of carpet specific treads and compounds for both the
front and
rear. As well,
Raw Speed is getting into the carpet tire game with the
Rug Burn rear tire and the
Incisor 2wd front tire at the time of this posting.
To sum this article up, here is the list of parts needed:
Associated B64 Slipper Kit
Associated
Center Dog Bones for slipper clutch
or
Schelle Racing
Nova Slipper Conversion takes the place of both pieces above
Associated
B64 Gear Diff Kit for front or rear differentials
Associated
15,000 cst differential fluid
Associated
B64 Anti-roll Bar Set Front, Firm
Associated
B64 Anti-roll Bar Set Rear
Associated
37.5wt shock fluid
Associated
Factory Team Purple Front Springs
Associated
Factory Team Gray Rear Springs
Associated
7 degree Caster Blocks
Don't forget the rims, tires, and your favorite foam inserts. Have fun and keep it rubber side down!
