How to Build a Mini Nitro RC

Some of you guys have probably seen my Nitro mini RC car instructable and a few of you might have wondered how I built it.
Just in case you were, I decided to make another one and take pictures along the way.

It's made from a mini rc car chassis and a rc toy helicopter.
If you were to buy everything used in this project, it would cost about $25-$40 depending on where you buy the parts.

My inspiration for this project started as an experiment to see how much faster a helicopter control circuit was than a mini rc control circuit. The results were astonishing.

This instructable features version 2, there isn't a lot of differences between version 1 and 2, but I considered several faults with version 1 when making version 2.

For this Instructable project, you will need:

Materials:
-Toy mini RC car
-Toy mini helicopter
-Sticky tac
-Hot glue and hot glue gun
-Solder and soldering iron

Tools:
-Some sort of cutting tool (for cutting plastic)
-A small-ish Philips head screwdriver
-Your hands

Moving on...

This step talks all about the chassis of the car.

First off, remove all of the electronics in the middle of the chassis, including the contacts for the battery.
It is your choice on whether or not to use the motor that came with the car or one from your helicopter. If one from the helicopter fits, use that one instead of the one in the car.
If a motor from the helicopter is the right diameter but is too long, cut away some of the plastic from the chassis so it fits.

Next comes the middle again.
Cut out any protruding plastic that may be in the way of fitting the helicopter's battery in the chassis. Don't cut the edges unless it's only by a little bit.

Now we move on to the front, right? Sort of.
Take out the screw in the middle part of the chassis and pull up on that edge of the front cover.
With a bit of force it will pop off, but don't lose the parts that may fall out.
Inside you will see two copper coils, and a bar with a neodynium magnet attached. Take out the magnet for future projects.
Now get some sticky tac and fill the cavity (with the bar the magnet was attached to removed) with it. Place the bar back in on the wheels appropriate pegs, try to have the wheels as straight as possible. Then put the front cover back on.

Start with the motor.
Yes it is probably strange to start with the smallest part but this is the best way to do it.

**IF YOU ARE USING THE HELICOPTER MOTOR**
Put your motor in the spot where the old one used to go, and if it fits perfectly, close the motor's pressure cover.
If it is too long, cut out part of the side of the chassis at the end of the motor with the wires.
If the cover won't close you will need to glue it shut.

**IF YOU ARE USING THE ORIGINAL MOTOR**
Cut the wires from the helicopter's main motor and solder them to the contacts for the original chassis' motor. If the chassis' original motor had wires, connect the wires.

Next up deal with the battery.
Figure out the best way to fit it in the chassis and glue it there.

And then there was the circuit board.
Well before you deal with it, you need to test the car.

Now you need to test your car out. Charge the battery and take it for a spin, then observe:
-the speed, quite fast, isnt it?
-the steering, does it veer off to one side? This is why you used sticky tac, realign the wheels until it drives as straight as you can get it.
Note that if the front wheels aren't level (the same height) you may have steering to one side.

Now that you have tested the car and gotten the steering straight, get your soldering iron hot and melt the plastic of the wheel braces and the chassis so it's solid. Do this on the top and bottom. Then after that test it once more to make sure it is still straight and glue the circuit board on.

These little cars are lots of fun and a great conversation piece.
I know that my friends enjoyed watching the car speed up and down the hall and they can't wait for the 3rd revision.

Have fun and keep an eye out for V3.