42048 - Race Kart Mods and Improvements

[erix]

I really like this set but the steering bothers me. The large turning radius is unfortunate but the notchy feel of the floppy orange steering lever is less than race-ready. I appreciate the unusual design detail of the mechanism but in racing, function always precedes form!

Here is a quick and easy steering mod that makes turning smoother and tightens the radius a little bit.

Take out these parts:

Next, get a gear rack and some other parts and put them on like this:

Get a big tan gear and put it where the steering flapper was:

Note you need to replace the 9-stud on top with (2) 3-studs to allow room for the gear:

This is a great set, let's see some other mods!!

Edited January 14, 2016 by erix

[Vectormatic]

Looks like a good mod!

Ill reserve judgement on the stock steering mechanism until ive found one of these sets and built it (hopefully tomorrow)

[vliet]

I'm getting my 42048 today or tomorrow and first will built the original and then this modification.

[Josephiah]

Good work - does this improve the turning circle at all? Mine arrived yesterday, just waiting for a suitable building opportunity (+/- excitable 3-year-old).

[vliet]

Erix, the steering works a lot better with your mod. I also replaced the Black 13 beam under the steering wheel for an Orange one and the orange fuel-cap changed to a metallic one.

[Vectormatic]

Just finished putting the set together, and i already have bricklink order out for the steering mod, and some extra green panels (not tearing down my 42039 for this) to mod it to a proper Octan style kart rather then purple/orange

Other then the steering and somewhat odd color scheme (i really cant imagine using those purple panels for anything, ever), this is a really good set, cant think of what i'd want to mod/improve further.

[N-4K0]

I MOC'ed up my own version of this set based on Sariel's review video. I had the 42039 standing, bought for parts, and used those green curved panels in the process.

[erix]

I found some gold wheels and thought I'd try a JPS version of the cart.

I replaced everything I could with black parts.

Mocking up the curved panels with arms makes the cart look pretty chunky but it kinda reminds me of old F1 cars from the 70s.

Hopefully we get some black, white, and red curved panels soon...

[Vectormatic]

Looks cool, the straight nose adds to the 80s F1 look

And yeah, we need more color versions of the curved panels, there are very few other parts in bright green, never mind purple

[Vectormatic]

Well, just got my BL order, and set to modding the kart

I did the steering mod (which does steer a lot better, although there is some gear-skip near the full-lock positions), and replaced the orange/purple mess with Octan-style Red/white/green, it freshens up the entire kart quite a bit from the dark purple, it also matches the already present white/red connectors and bushes in the build much better

I might need to finetune the coloring a bit, and i desperately need a whole bunch of custom Octan stickers, but so far my Octan racing team is shaping up quite nicely (42000 and 42039 also have been modded to Octan colors)

[agrof]

Dear vectormatic, could You please entertain us with some pictures? Sounds nice from description.

I just finished mine, and aside the steering, it is a beautiful and very-very well designed set. I can just recommend.

[Vectormatic]

Dear vectormatic, could You please entertain us with some pictures? Sounds nice from description.

I just finished mine, and aside the steering, it is a beautiful and very-very well designed set. I can just recommend.

Ill see about that tomorrow, its getting a bit late right now, and im not quite sure if im 100% happy with the colors

[Technic Jim]

Hopefully we get some black, white, and red curved panels soon...

I think that there are some black ones in 42056 Porsche. I don't know how expensive they'll be though; it will depend on the availability of the set.

Edited January 29, 2016 by Technic Jim

[Vectormatic]

I think that there are some black ones in 42056 Porsche. I don't know how expensive they'll be though; it will depend on the availability of the set.

And the final model might not turn out to be black, black + dazzle camo is the default look for pre-release cars in the auto industry, and considering the GT3 RS isnt even available in black..

[Damndog]

Hello everyone

i decided to try and mod this set with pf and keep the shape and look of the model as much as possible and thought i would share

20160131_220757 by meta11icauk, on Flickr

20160131_220546 by meta11icauk, on Flickr

20160131_220512 by meta11icauk, on Flickr

20160131_220429 by meta11icauk, on Flickr

20160131_220356 by meta11icauk, on Flickr

20160131_220256 by meta11icauk, on Flickr

[rollermonkey]

Wow. I'm guessing that you have a shoehorn in your LEGO bin to make that work!

[rcbricks]

Nice kart Damndog, do you have a movie on Youtube already?

[Vectormatic]

That looks awesome!

I tried the same with the 42022 hotrod a while back, but given that i only have the AA battery box, i kind of gave up on the idea of doing the kart, no way i could fit that monster in there neatly. If you want to, you could lose the dif and use a higher gear ratio for higher top-speed and more kart-like handling by the way

[Damndog]

If you want to, you could lose the dif and use a higher gear ratio for higher top-speed and more kart-like handling by the way

Could you please give me an example of what you mean as when it comes to gears i can get a bit confused

[syclone]

Yesterday got mine :)

MODs:

• better steering
  
• smaller engine
  
• changed gear positions (up=low, down=high -> looks more logical to me)
  
• right sided gear shift (also more logical to me)
  
• filled the front gap
  

42048 MOD by Alaxaf, on Flickr

42048 MOD by Alaxaf, on Flickr

42048 MOD by Alaxaf, on Flickr

42048 MOD by Alaxaf, on Flickr

42048 MOD by Alaxaf, on Flickr

42048 MOD by Alaxaf, on Flickr

Edited June 24, 2016 by LXF