[MOC] 1983 Ford Mustang

[2GodBDGlory]

This model was a follow-up of sorts to my '95 F-150. It used the same joystick 5+R manual transmission, but with a much less complex model overall. I am pleased with how well it drove, and with the appearance.

Functions:

-Front independent suspension

-Rear live axle suspension

-RWD with two Buggy motors and a V8 piston engine

-Steering with a PF M-motor and working steering wheel

-5+R RC manual transmission

-Opening doors, hood, and trunk

-Folding rear bench

 

More details:

Aesthetics:

I was quite pleased with the bodywork. The car's boxy profile made it fairly easy to model, and I believe I built 99-100% of the bodywork in a single day!

Spoiler

 

 

 

Opening stuff:

Spoiler

 

 

Interior:

Spoiler

 

 

Suspension:

Nothing special here

Spoiler

 

 

Drive:

The car was driven with two RC Buggy motors, powered by a Lego rechargeable battery and a homemade Lithium battery. There was a V8 piston engine under the hood (under the battery) Planetary hubs on the rear axle helped a lot with gear reduction, and its driving ability was impressive, with strong performance in all gears, and enough torque to push stuff around in the low gears. With the car's weight, it was never going to be fast, but it was nimble enough to be enjoyable to drive, something that cannot be said for many of my models.

Spoiler

 

 

Steering:

The steering was done by a PF M-motor through a complicated drivetrain to a small linear actuator, which moved a lever, which moved the linkages that moved the wheels. The steering wheel was driven off of the motor's shaft through a worm gear, some universal joints, and a pair of bevel gears. The steering system was reliable, but there ended up being quite a bit of backlash, largely due to the tiny hubs' location of the steering attachment so close to the steering pivot.

Spoiler

The steering motor

The 8T gear for the steering wheel

The bevel gears for the steering wheel

The linear actuator for steering

Linkage in one position

Linkage in other position

 

 

Gearbox:

The gearbox was taken complete from my Ford F-150 model. It is a manual 5+R design, with reverse slower than first, but instead of working the lever by hand, it is controlled by two PF Servo motors, one for sliding the lever left/right, and the other for rotating its axle. Sariel originally came up with a similar idea years ago, but I know of no instance of its incorporation into a model. When controlled from a joystick on the controller, it becomes a very cool, very slick way of shifting through the gears. All gears on the gearbox performed well, though reversing the drive motors in fifth gear sometimes caused some skipping.

Images of the loose gearbox show the gearbox used in the F-150; there may be slight differences between it and the Mustang version.

Spoiler

 

Controller:

Spoiler

 

Overall, I was quite pleased with this model. Complexity was low, which allowed for a better-looking, better-performing model than many of my others, and the gearbox was a lot of fun!

Images at: https://bricksafe.com/pages/2GodBDGlory/1983-ford-mustang

And with that, I am finally caught up on posting stuff, for the first time since I joined EuroBricks, nearly a year ago! Yippee!

Edited January 29, 2021 by 2GodBDGlory