How's everybody?

[Azimov]

I just did some testing on the cars I have and here's what I found. Stock # 60-7037-works perfect in one car, but has issues in another. Stock number 60-7041- works perfect. I don't have another of the 41s to check. The 41 has the larger endbell contact and so does the perfect 37. Could be that the bigger endbell contact and the higher stock numbers may indicate a good car. Still not sure until I get some more. I'm not sure how well the stock number can be seen through an unopened package, but I think the endbell contact is very easy to spot.

[Namuna]

Originally posted by Azimov
I'm not sure how well the stock number can be seen through an unopened package, but I think the endbell contact is very easy to spot.

The Stock/Part number is directly above the barcode on the side of the package...with an extra '0' after the 60 (if stock number is 60-7040, the number over the barcode will be 600-7040)

After doing some more research into the whole steering and stuttering issue...it's seems there's a manual 'fix' mod already out there, involving snipping or rearranging several wires under the PCB. So, this now adds to the mix a possibility that the new models DON'T have next gen PCBs, just the 'fix' applied at time of manufacture.

<Shrug>

[Azimov]

Went to the RS today and all they had was cars with numbers under 27 and a few of the S&H cars that are 37s. Nothing higher than that. And, thanks for the info on the stock number on the box Namuna. I figured it out today when I was looking at the packages. I hadn't heard about this new PCB you're talking about. More power or torque maybe? Like the upgrade to the originals? I did noyice that all of the S&H cars had the bigger contact on the endbell, and I've bought a bad one of those, so that probably won't work.
I have read about the wire rearranging fix, but hesitate to try it since there seems to be other issues that crop up. Like centering problems and touchy controllers. I decided to wait and get the factory fixed cars.
Anyone know the stock number of the chevelle. I'm wondering if it's lower than 40 or 41. Which might mean the GTOs and later are all good. If it's higher, we're screwed again.

[Namuna]

The GTO is the highest, part # wise, in the SE ranks. Here's the breakdown;

Pontiac GTO Judge
- 60-7041 Blue
- 60-7040 Orange

Chevrolet Chevelle SS
- 60-7039 Black (Retired)
- 60-7038 Red

Ford Grand Turino (Starsky & Hutch)
- 60-7037

To summarize 1 of the more popular steering fix mods; You rearrange the configuration of the Yellow, Blue and Green wires going to the Pot. Or remove a resistor that is between the Blue and Green wires on the Pot.

Well, I took a peek inside the Chassis of all 3 of my SEs last night. The original Savannah, Initial-D, SE didn't even have the Green wire (so much for even attempting a fix there), but the 2 GTOs both had the wires in the right place and no resistors.

The very first GTO I got was basically perfect out of the box, no stutter and equal steps to left/right, but I'm now noticing my 2nd GTO has unequal stepping (more steps to the right vs. left). But considering it's got no stutter, I'm willing to do some tweaking to it to try and fix the unequal stepping.

On a sidenote: I picked up the extra-wide tire kit (60-7540) and the Trans-Am (Past & Present,60-7537) kit and highly recommend them both! The FAT rear wheels look great and the kit come with 3 pairs (just enough for my 3 SEs! ). And I was 1 of the first complainers of the less than wonderful cosmetics of the SE, but that black Trans-Am body looks NICE on the SE (especially with the fatty wheels/tires on it)

[Azimov]

The GTO is the highest, part # wise, in the SE ranks. Here's the breakdown;

That's what I thought. This means purchases of these stock numbers and higher are safer bets at getting good cars. Seems the S&H and Chevelle are good mixed with bad.

On a sidenote: I picked up the extra-wide tire kit (60-7540) and the Trans-Am (Past & Present,60-7537) kit and highly recommend them both! The FAT rear wheels look great and the kit come with 3 pairs (just enough for my 3 SEs! ). And I was 1 of the first complainers of the less than wonderful cosmetics of the SE, but that black Trans-Am body looks NICE on the SE (especially with the fatty wheels/tires on it)

Yup, I love the wide tires. My only complaint (and this is very minor) is that the hubcaps are flush to the outside. A hubcap could have been made that incorporates the same width to allow for mounting the wider tires without the spacer giving them a deep well look like real wide rims. But, then you can't use the spacers in conjunction with any hubcap style. So, it's an even trade off. Still, they do look really nice on my muscle cars.
And, I really like the "Bandit" black TransAm body. Very nicely detailed. Now if they just had a tiny HO scale figure of Sally Field at the age she was in the movie to go with the body kit. Yum! There's just somethin about spinners, Ya'know.

[Namuna]

Hey, how's about some insult to injury? I hear RadioShack has discontinued ALL SE starter Kits (not the body sets though), except for the S&H Torino and Initial-D (the WHITE one to boot) will continue to be sold.

I can't think of ANY reasonable reason to do this, other than perhaps they only got limited-time licensing for the Muscle cars and had no choice.

[Azimov]

Jeez, these guys amaze me in their ability to do really stupid things. This means there will only be crappy cars on the shelves. Just as I found yesterday. Man, I swear to Zeus that I would love for another RESPONSIBLE company to come out with fully propo cars in this scale. Seems RS has done their best to kill the ZZ line since they came out with Xmods.

[charliebrown]

Hey Azimov! It's great to see you again, where've ya been man?

Anyways, back a few months ago when I got a Torino, It had better steppage to the left than the 1st generation SE's, and there was no stuttering in the straightening. But the GTO's (recent) now have stuttering?

Ditto to some of the statements in this thread....Amazing how RS can do such stupid things, and how they're trying to kill the ZipZap line for Xmods....

Anyways, The steering issue wasn't the only problem for the SE...it weighed a lot more, and the bodies sat high on the chassis...flip, flip, flip. cyborgzero already came up with a FET mod to solve the speed issue, however......

Oh, and if you're going to fork up 50 dollars plus tax to get an Xmod, you might as well put up 45 dollars to buy an Iwaver Mini-Z from Toyeast, and the rest of the money to get 4 AAA batts for the chassis/8 AA's for the controller....

I'm not much into the micro market nowadays because I busted my 2 SE's (I need some FETs to do the FET mod on the ZipZap SE right now), and I'm more into Mini-Z's these days (I won't start ranting on the soapbox again, but let's just say that I consider the Iwaver Z a real type of Mini-Z, not just a clone), so while I still have a bunch of ZipZap junk, I haven't used it in a long time...

Anyways, great to see you back Azimov.

Chuckster...

*EDIT*

Here's a thread that shows some of the things you can do to fix the steering problems and the speed issues in the SE:

http://www.tinyrc.com/forums/showthr...threadid=18050

[Azimov]

Hi Chuck. I've been around lurking in the shadows. I've been busy with some new sculpting techniques and haven't been posting. I have been browsing and reading when I got time. I saw the steering tutorial. Did you try it? I may give it a shot on one of my older chassis. I'm gonna cannabalize em for parts anyways.

[charliebrown]

Originally posted by Azimov
Hi Chuck. I've been around lurking in the shadows. I've been busy with some new sculpting techniques and haven't been posting. I have been browsing and reading when I got time. I saw the steering tutorial. Did you try it? I may give it a shot on one of my older chassis. I'm gonna cannabalize em for parts anyways.

lol, when I had the oppurtunity to fix an SE that I bought a while back (6-8 months ago), due to crappy soldering skills, and lack of knowledge that I have today, I fudged it up even worse...lol....

And, eventually, I'm planning on ordering FETs one day to do the FET mod on my SE.

Sculpting techniques? You're an artist like ol' schulz himself eh?

Chuckster...

[Azimov]

Sculpting techniques? You're an artist like ol' schulz himself eh?

Well, I'm no where near his caliber, but I do dabble .