[Wankel Ickx]

So, yeah, we'll kick off with this one but, rest assured, I'm going to be laying down some pretty basic - some might say dumb-ass - questions since, as I have discovered, there's bugger all information out there about Plafit.

Which is odd.🤔

It's almost like the first rule of Fight Club.

Anyhoo, the image in this post shows a right old sandwich of layers. Can anyone talk me through, and describe them, etc? Maybe point me at a tutorial I've singulaly failed to find on the super information highway??

Ta in advance.👍

 

[rastas]

Well I'm guessing that you have either of these mounting brackets. And next is what type of body are you using hard body or lexen? Basically your using a bit of foam between the bracket and the body, which gives you a little movement. I use a slow drying apoxy and leave it over night to dry,it gives you plenty of time to get your body sitting right. With the lexen body's don't glue strait to paint use double sided tape or normal tape and glue to the tape. Set up body as usual ,set the mounting brackets out a touch wider than the body and once dry adjust back to normal.

 

[Wankel Ickx]

What type of body? Yes, I can see that might help. 🙄

Hard body (snigger) plastic from the likes of Tamiya and Nunu.

I have two 1900s chassis and thought they were ready to roll but will be getting those metal brackets, since they weren't.

This foam, though, any particular flavour? Any particular source?

Bonus question; so you 1:24 boys mount the body firmly and let the suspension in the chassis do what it's designed to do? As in, no body rock?

 

[chrisw]

1/ Install the aluminum brackets to the chassis
2/ Glue strips of foam to the face of each bracket.......use some shoe goo/E 600 etc. adhesive,....not epoxy,....epoxy will soak into the foam and "harden" it when it cures/sets,...not ideal. As well, epoxy can crack under impact,..unlike Shoegoo/E6000.
3/ Adjust the width of the brackets so that it is a semi snug fit on the body sills
4/ Cut some bits of plastic/wood etc.to act as ride height spacers so that when they are placed under the body sills/nose of the car (and on a flat block) you have the body ride height you are after
5/ Remove the body, and apply the same glue to the outside of the foam, and the body sills,...install the body, (don't forget the ride height spacers) and let cure.
6/ Once cured you can set the width of the brackets so the the sills are not stretched.

To remove the body, the bracket screws are loosened and with a bit of stretch, the body is removed one side at a time.

I do not have access to pics. at the moment, but this pic. will get you most of the way.

PS The foam does a very good job at dampening vibrations, if you feel the need to introduce more body movement (almost none do), you can use machine screws with Nylok nuts to let the brackets rattle around a bit......if you choose this route, do use Nylok nuts

Cheers
Chris Walker

 

[beardy56]

Wankel,

As I understand it the foam should be with the chassis but I take it from your questions about the foam that you didn't get any like me.

There are a lot of old threads on the forum but I couldn't find any covering setup. The only thing I found out is that you appear to need the different length spacers if you want to adjust the suspension movement. If you are running on wood bin the rear tyres.

Hopefully someone will cone forward with some setup tips and every thing I do seems to make the chassis worse 😠

 

[Brumos RSR]

I Love SirChrisGuyW’s post and how to use the standard mounting system. AND definitely use NYLOCKS!! This picture was taken prior to nylocks being added along with the stabilizer kit. I made a POOR attempt to get a Plafit chassis to run using some body mount sponge on the flat surface of a body mount along with a packer, ( it’s a 1mm rectangular spacer) used with lower brass body mounts. When mounting the body, the shell should be a nice gentle sliding fit on the body sponge. You don't want too much compression on the foam rubber mount. This can take a bit of time but is important. This will keep the center of gravity as low as possible. Also, make sure everything is locked solid with screws when mounting the body (ie no movement of the H and T plates).

Finished product looks like this

 

[GRUNZ]

Thanks Pedro for asking this question because I am in your same boat.
Fortunately, I have a couple of cars that I bought second hand from pendle that have received this treatment so I can also see visually the end results.
I have the 1900 rolling chassis and the foam is included: it is in back of the packaging inside the paper insert on top of which the chassis is sitting.

 

[pslot]

 

[tamar.nelwan]

Hello Pedro
LOL Was I surprised to see Chris dig up an illustration I did for my old website... say what...almost 20 years ago.
Haven't assembled a Plafit Exel chassis for more than a decade...but things haven't changed that much.
Here's a link to the original topic I did so many years ago.

Long forgotten...Link

There are some more articles on Plafit if you dig through the site...hope it helps.

With kind regards
Tamar

 

[Wankel Ickx]

Okay. Firstly, thanks for all the input. Much appreciated. 👍

I have the 1900 rolling chassis and the foam is included: it is in back of the packaging inside the paper insert on top of which the chassis is sitting

Now this got me properly excited and, in all honesty, feeling like a bit of a numpty - I'd not opened a packet and handled a chassis yet. D'oh!

But then I realised my packaging is clear plastic and the chassis sits on nothing. 😒 However, I thought I'd best open one up, just in case the elusive foam was hidden in the folded cardboard hanger.

No such luck. 🤷‍♂️

I am without foam. Official, Plafit foam. Are there recommended substitutes? Which was part of my initial quandary.

There are some more articles on Plafit if you dig through the site...hope it helps.

Oh, I've dug. Here and abroad. Trust me, I've excavated. A lot of what I've so far unearthed seems to assume the reader is in the know and therefore lacks utter (utter!!) newbie guidance. That, or is so old that supplied links lead to delightful 404s and external images have long since ceased to be hosted. This one
is a case in point but I love Stoo for his first post because I feel his pain. 😟

I will now go and fight the German-language retail sites and see if 'Plafit foam' is a thing, but any tip-offs on how foamy foam sourced elsewhere should be would be appreciated. 👍

EDIT
I just realised, whilst staring at the now opened package, I'm probably lacking official Plafit foam because my chassis also lacks the body-mounting, side-fit doohickeys.

 

[chrisw]

I will now go and fight the German-language retail sites and see if 'Plafit foam' is a thing, but any tip-offs on how foamy foam sourced elsewhere should be would be appreciated. 👍

As previously mentioned, Pendle sells Plafit chassis, and they likely have a sheet of Plafit foam

Cheers
Chris Walker

 

[beardy56]

I think the body mounts may be available from H+T Motor Racing in Germany but I don't think I saw any foam but not all descriptions would translate. Maybe dropping them an email and asking might prove useful.

 

[MANIMMAL]

Craft stores sell foam rubber in various density and thickness, I've gone that way with a couple of builds where clearance between the mount, body and interior are an issue.
I built up a 917k and a gt40 about ten years ago for a customer where i built up the body with balsa to mount to, as too much foam makes for a sloppy body, and nobody wants to look at that. Looking at pslot's 917k image and how long ago it was i'm guessing i was fitting a 1700 chassis with vertical mounts. Back then i had no idea what the chassis was, just that a body needed to be made pretty and attached to the supplied shiny chassis.

Fyi stock 1900 mounts are vertical, whereas the 1900s mounts are horizontal. If your car is new the mounts should be attached but may not look it. I've seen quite some variation in 'factory' assembly quality, but never missing metal parts. I did buy one aftermarket that was sealed and marked as new but was missing the foam, I assumed it just wasn't quite as new as was advertised.

 

[GRUNZ]

Here is a link to a retailer in AU that sell the foam: Ace Hobbies - Body Mounting Sponge 150 x 90 x 5mm (2 pcs)
I know that is too far away but at least it can give you an idea that exists.

 

[rastas]

You should of got the foam with your chassis ,I use apoxy because shoe goo is near on impossible to get in Australia now or at least in QLD! If anyone knows of a source of shoe goo please let me know,

 

[rastas]

Here's the parts sheat for both 1900s and the 1900 chassis.this is what you should get when you buy a chassis, I've never had a problem.
John.

 

[MANIMMAL]

Kwik grip does the job. There's a clear one recently released too.

 

[rastas]

Kwik grip does the job. There's a clear one recently released too.

Yep I've used that , but once the two pre glued peace's go together you can't make any adjustments! That's why I have gone to apoxy.

 

[rastas]

This is a little bit of information relating to these chassis, this is old but some is still relevant.go to this site and have a look.

 

[MANIMMAL]

Use as contact adhesive to attach the foam to the body mounts, then use the glue the same way as pva or epoxy, not as a contact adhesive. The most difficult part is removing from the mounts when you retire a body.