Bolink/ Dragmaster funny car and pro-stock

Radio Control Car Action, Dec 2001 by Ogle, Mike

Pulling the trigger on RC's most extreme machines by Mike Ogle

Drag racing is perhaps the most unusual facet of American motor sports. All of the legendary names-Garlits, Prudhomme, Force, Glidden-and many other racers are products of the 1960s' American hot-rod culture. Even today, the vast majority of cars in the National Hot Rod Association are derivatives of American "muscle" cars. The thunder produced by these big 500ci-plus V-8s gives a sensation that you find thrilling or terrifying-but it's one that you'll never forget.

The guys at Bolink are big fans of all types of racing, so it was a natural for them to start producing RC drag kits. Their Econo Series dragsters, funny cars and pro stocks are very popular with budget-minded racers, and now Bolink offers the DragMaster line. The kits' graphite chassis and full-bearing wheels and axles can take you to the highest levels of competition, and they certainly deserve a close look.

COBALT, NEODYMIUM AND BEYOND

For years, RC drag racers have pushed the limits of motors and have experimented with rare-earth magnets and exotic winds. Back in the early '90s, AstroFlight motors, with their distinctive gold-colored machined cans and large brush "ears," were the undisputed highhorsepower motors of choice on the West Coast, and Chris Fine of Fine Design's German-made Hektoplett Big One was the East Coast favorite. Chris later developed his own cobalt-- magnet .05 motor-the Cordite Series-and it dominated during the mid-'90s.

Today, a number of other manufacturers produce motors specifically for drag-racing. Most notable are former Californian Steve Saiko and his G-Force motors. Steve, a one-time oval racer, just wanted to go faster and faster, and he found his true calling with drag racing. Working closely with "Big" Jim Greenemeyer, he put in months and months cooking up exotic-wind cobalt and neodymium motors on his specially modified dyno. Their results smashed just about every record in the IEDA books, including the all-time fastest elapsed time for a Top Fuel dragster-Chris Collins' 1.647 second-and the land speed record of 112.7mph set in a special 300-foot competition at Northstar Speedway in Minnesota.

Roy Anderson of Grand Motorsports also produces some of the fastest purpose-built drag motors, and he has some of the fastest alcohol (10-cell) cars in the nation. Check out Grand Motorsports at www.grandmotorsports.com.

building & setup tips

There isn't much to assemble in an RC drag-racing kit, but even so, you may find these points helpful.

Step 3. The aluminum pinch blocks that hold the front beam axle do a good job when new, but if you want a more foolproof lock on your caster settings, drill and tap a 4-40 setscrew into the top of one of the blocks to secure the front axle beam in place.

Step 5. After pushing the kingpins into place, polish them with a buffing wheel on your Dremel tool. It seems like a little thing, but a smooth front suspension can help your car track more positively by eliminating any momentary stiction in the front end.

Step 9. The tweak screws are very helpful in getting straight launches. After fully loading it with the motor, servos and batteries, tweak the car as indicated in the instructions.

Servo adhesive. The itsy-bitsy servos used in drag cars can be mounted conventionally using the mounting ears, but a lot of racers just use Shoe-Goo, the racer's friend, to attach them. It's light and strong and it works.

YOU'LL NEED

* 2-channel radio

*Throttle and steering serve

* Microswitch

* Motor

* Polycarbonate-compatible paint

KIT FEATURES

* Chassis. The DragMaster Funny Car kit and the Pro-Stock kit are based on a graphite-plate chassis for the highest possible strength-to-weight ratio. The motor pod's top and bottom plates and the front steering servo and the body-mount plates are graphite, too. The chassis' most striking features are the 20 battery slots-not that you would ever need to use all of them for batteries, but you will be able to position your 8 or 10 cells fore or aft on the chassis to get the best launch. Position the cells too far back, and you'll get excellent traction, but you'll also run the risk of violent, uncontrollable wheel stands. Position the cells too far forward, and you could get excessive wheel spin.

* Suspension and steering. The suspension borrows heavily from existing oval and on-road pan-car technology. The front end features a solid aluminum crossbeam with spring-over-kingpin damping. Greatlooking Delrin 5-spoke front wheels are grooved to fit neoprene O-ring front tires. This simple, effective front end is perfect for RC drag racing, as it allows you to tilt the kingpins back to increase caster (typically 15 to 30 degrees). That caster increase slows initial steering response (a good thing at 70mph plus), and the little, thin "pizza-cutter" front wheels offer absolutely minimal rolling resistance.

A notable feature of both DragMaster kits is the upper "pull bar" that is attached to the motor pod at the rear and runs through an aluminum standoff at the front of the motor. It's the equivalent of a pan car's center shock, but it's a lot longer. This unique device does two things: it allows you to set your car's ride height (when it's fully loaded with batteries) by scooting the adjustment collars to put "preload" into the chassis, and it allows you to adjust how much "arch" you want in the chassis on takeoff. If you run on a dusty, rough surface where traction is hard to find, you'll probably want to soften the car up to let it "bite" the track better. Conversely, on a high-bite, glass-smooth superstrip, you'll want to stiffen the car so that all the energy is transferred into forward motion. Experimentation is the rule here!