Mardave Cobra
 

I have just aquired an old Cobra and am getting it ready to race. Keeping it brushed and would be interested to hear any advice on set ups, motors etc and does any one else have one lying about for my lad.
Also I have never skimmed my motors and wondered what this really does and what kit I would need.

Here is a before picture, will take some as I go along.....:thumbsup:

Here's a pic of my cobra, i'm rebuilding mine so my daughter can practice with it without me worrying about my race cars.



They're great cars, and pretty bullet proof (well except the gearbox..)

I keep getting warned about the gearbox, especially idler gears
They are so cheap to fix tho that I will just get the spares in (97p)
Got a 13x3 on its way so I guess I will find out soon enough:lol:

You should take a read the cobra thread in the mardave forum lots Of info there

http://www.oople.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27465

Add your restore / tuning info to that if possible :)

I have had a good read through that and there is loads of useful tips
How did it pan out overall? Do you still have it?

Is that an undertray I spy there Eddie?

If so,then that's a fairly old Cobra because Chris at Mardave reckons he's
not done undertrays as long as he's owned Mardave.

I asked for one to fit on mine t'other week and that's what he told me.
The new body he supplied me has the old style airscoop on the front
(the moulding isn't that brilliant,but it's useable).

Like the CF bit at the back end too.

BTW,JC Racing are doing those 5 spokes again like the ones on Dan's
slick looking black Lobra.

Mark

Hi Mark,
Think that was meant for Paul, and I like his cf bit too. I am going to get some of those wheels and a pal with a bodyshop is going to paint them and my shell, think I'm going for black and hot pink..........

Cant wait.... also 13x3 motor to rip the diff apart

Eddie

I'm not sure who made the CF rear bracket, or the anodised alloy top shock mount (any one else know?)

I fitted Schumacher shocks to it at a later date, the originals leaked badly..

The undertray is original, i think it came with the kit and helped hold the bodyshell more securely, not to mention keeping the gunge out of the electrics.

Paul.

Ok, I have taken the cobra to pieces and stripped the gritty sounding diff.
This was a nervous affair as I have never done one before but I took my time and it was well worth it!!

Whilst in pieces I gave it a good bath and now it looks loads better and the diff is lovely and smooth.

As you can see from the pics I have removed the electrics and it is now ready for the Checkpoint 13x3 (arriving monday) and LRP quantum 1 comp.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: :thumbsup:

You're right Eddie,it was Paul's:bored:.

Yours looks pretty good now you've cleaned it up.

Yeah,mine's new body is about 10mm too wide on each side of it,hence the need for the undertray to pull it in.

Mine started out life as a SWB Meteor but it now sits on a Cobra chassis
with a Cobra front end and I have the Cobra shell and wing,hence it's now a Cobeor.
The gearbox and back end is all original Meteor,but the 'box itself is fully ballraced.
I use the Meteor rear suspension arms because I think they're stiffer than the Cobra's.
It still needs the Meteor mod of an aluminium heatsink/motorplate making up
and bolting to the chassis.
That helps get the heat away from the gearbox(it's all plastic)and stiffen up the back end some more.
I have Option House Gold shocks up front and long Traxxas Grey on the rear,this means though
that I've had to cut and modify the Meteor suspension mounting(sacrilidge some will say!!)
to accept a wider,taller upper shock mount otherwise the Traxxas shocks are too long.
A Cobra rear mount will fit but there isn't enough clearance over the motor cover to fit the upper links.

I use Associated silver springs up front and long greens on the back,though I'm thinking of changing to Schumacher yellows and blues to see how that makes it handle(it is pretty good at the moment)

I'm keeping an eye out for a Cobra/B2/Losi gearbox myself,I don't really want to lunch the Meteor box internals(spares are like hen's teeth for 'em),though Terry SC reckons it should handle a 19 turn without much fuss because it's fully ballraced.

Mark

Just removed a 19t from mine as it was slow but not sure what joy I will have with the 13 triple, not sure if I have the talent for it.

Mardave website has the full diff unit complete for £13 so wont cry too hard if it shreds like a crispy duck:lol:

Any advice on what pinion to use? to be honest I dont know what the difference makes:confused:

just had a look at the pinion that was on, its a 21 which would explain its lack of guts?
The motor was a corally 19t so should I get a larger pinion to increase speed?

Help invited, gearing isnt my strong point.....

I suppose it depends what you want,acceleration?,top speed?...

I prefer(for bashing about anyway)lower gearing for a bit of tail out,breaking
traction at a blip of the throttle so to speak(ex-RWD Escort owner you see)
and these LWB buggies are so much easier to control in a slide than the older
SWB jobs,but you need lower gearing and a fair bit of poke to do it.

At the moment,mine runs an old 27turn Parma Cyclone Stock(I like Parma motors,I always raced with them back in the day)turning a 12t pinion onto
whatever the Meteor g'box's red spur gear is.

It's not silly power,but enough for a giggle whilst fooling about with it.

I always used a lower ratio with hotter motors to allow it to rev out and give you the speed.
All my set up info for my Optima Mid Custom(that's what I raced)went with it when I sold it,so I haven't got a starting point to give you.

As for the Cobra's diff unit,I'd imagine it'll fit the Meteor's gearbox,knowing Mardave,they would have used the same unit in both cars back then.

Mark

I have now at long last got the LRP Quantum Comp esc set up and await the motor arrival tomorrow.

Need to get some mini pins and a few more spares and then racing Friday:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Has anyone got any thoughts about me putting an 8x2 in the Cobra?

I think it is a risk but would love to see how quick I can get it:lol:

I've a 14x2 in mine, it's an old trinity motor and it's pretty quick.

I also had a 10.5 brushless in it for a short while and personally those are as hot as i would go, but if it's just for bashing i don't see why not (besides melting the idler of course :p)

Paul.

There has been some major changes to my cobra, see the pictures below:)

It now sits on a new purple chassis with 5 spoke wheels and some fantastic Associated shocks:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Let me know what you think:wub:wub

:thumbsup:
Looking really good there,are you planning on running it/any further mods to be made?? I like the 5 spoke wheels,are they from JC Racing?

Thanks mate, yes the wheels are from jc racing and were about a tenner posted.

I'm planning on running it wherever possible, outdoor during the week would be best as I only get 1 weekend off in 4:(

Ant Potter set it up properly and he ran it with me last night and it looked awesome in a proper drivers hands. Not sure what to do next but any hints would be good:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Looks great! The transmission in mine is a bit odd... It slips on acceleration I have tightened up the slipper but it seems to be the diff.

you can buy the complete box for 13.23, might be a good idea then you have the stuff from your current as spares.

http://mardaveonline.co.uk/Prices/ma...ail%202011.pdf

What motor do you run?:thumbsup:

That's just the complete diff though Eddie.

Mine is now sitting on it's JC Racing RC10B4 5 spoke rims with it's new shell painted and fitted.

A bloke from another forum has contacted me asking if I'm still looking for Cobra parts.
Turns out he's really a Meteor fanatic(he's got 3 and lots of spares)though he's been rebuilding a Cobra.
He's decided to give up with the Cobra to concentrate on his Meteors and
has asked me if I'd be interested in trading my spare Meteor bits for Cobra
parts,i.e a full Cobra gearbox and any other spares I need from his.

Kaylon is having a look-see at making up some manufacturer graphics such as Mtronics,Futaba and Parma in suitable colours to compliment the shell's colours.

Mark

Im just trying to buy old cobras on ebay that look a bit sorry for themselves with the view of stripping them for parts. If I get a nice one I might do it up same as mine. Get yourself one of the purple chassis they look amazing!!!:woot:

It also enables you (and gives you the motivation) to strip and clean all your parts.

A bloke at my local club says he was told to soak all his plastic parts in water for 24 hrs as part of the cleaning process and since he has noticed a massive drop in broken brittle bits:thumbsup: Gives it a bit more flex apparantly.

Are you punting on that yellow roller chassis on E-Bay then?

watching it yes

dont know if any of you guys are interested but i found the car ran better with short shocks on front. The tower is available from fibre lyte.

oh i got a custom painted cobra body i am putting on ebay

pm me a pic if you can mate:thumbsup:

oh i got a custom painted cobra body i am putting on ebay

here

here

Nice shell is that Adey.

Hey Eddie,the guy that I'm getting the g'box off(plus a rear suspension/wing mount,black spring pans and shock spacers)reckons he'll put all his other Cobra spares on E-Bay.

Do you want me to punt him in your direction before he does that?

Mark

I painted this shell for a good friend of mine in Melbourne recently.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...rdaveCobra.jpg

Thats very nice Jason! A simple design, but very striking! Its kind of odd to think theres guys on the other side of the globe that own a Mardave... I always think they are a bit of a british oddity that only us Brits would get (we love to campaign an underdog!)

P.S; is that bonnet bulge a feature of the current Cobra shell?.... & can you still buy them from Mardave (I tried emailing Mardave direct but had no reply as yet)

Miggers - yes please mate:thumbsup:

You can still get Mardave shells, I had one turn up the other day:woot:

It has the bonnet bulge

Ah yes - I've just got a reply back from Mardave :)

I wanted the Cobra shell for my own LWB Meteor project - the chance of finding a LWB Meteor shell will be like the proverbial needle in a haystack, but the original Cobra shell was pretty damn close, the bulge on the new Cobra shell moves it further away from the look I was going for :eh?:

Dan you'd be better phoning Mardave directly on the number on the website.
You'll pretty certainly speak to Chris himself and yes,that bulge/airscoop is on the shell I bought a few weeks ago,but I always thought that was on the original late 80's shell.
The newer kit shells don't have it(like your black'un).

Here's a couple of WIP shots of where I'm at with my Cobeor(soon to be a lot more of a Cobra)

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...eCobeor008.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...eCobeor009.jpg

I think I goofed by painting the faces of the scoops black,thinking of
cleaning the black off and either opening them up or blowing them
in with Tamiya Smoke.
I've yet to do the black window surrounds and the "fixing pin" silver dots
on the windows.

BTW,anyone adapted a slipper clutch to fit the Cobra's layshaft/spur gear?

That is one cute shell Jase.

Eddie PM me your home e-mail addy and I'll pass it onto the bloke.

Mark

mine has a slipper clutch but not sure how different it is, will post a picture next time i strip it (shouldnt be long, ive just fitted a 10 triple)