Mardave V12-CE Setup Manual

V12-CE SETUP MANUAL

V12-CE
SETUP
MANUAL

V12-CE SETUP MANUAL

INTRODUCTION

This document is not meant to act
as a complete instruction manual
– it has been written to support the
build instructions that come in the
kit, as well as suggest a variety of
tips that can improve the way the
car drives. It is aimed mainly at

The V12 ‘CE’ kit shares many of

the same parts as the older V12
kits. However, both the main chas­sis plate and new front suspension
plate are now made from either

GRP or Carbon composite material,

and these need careful preparation.
Round the edges with a light rub

down with 400 wet/dry paper (a
V12 runs close to the ground and
smoothing these edges prevents
the chassis from grabbing at the
carpet during a race). Then care­fully seal the edges with a thin
layer of Super Glue to help pre­vent de-lamination during impacts.

Club racers at WSMCC, but does

make reference to the changes
required for racing at other clubs
which have different track sizes
and layouts, and for racing at

National level (to current BRCA

rules) too.

It is also assumed that the driver
has bought the additional differ­ential rear axle to use on the car.
Buying one is not 100% essen­tial, but most drivers agree that
you will get a better driving car if
you install one.

1. PARTS PREPARATION

On the CE chassis, the wishbones

mount directly on the front suspen­sion plate. They must be mounted

at on the front plate and the other

way up from the standard V12 kit.

Mount them with the lugs facing
‘upwards’. Do not add shims or

washers under the front end of the
wishbones to give you castor like
you used to on an old V12 chassis.

You’ll add shims, but you’ll do this

under both ends of the wishbone to
alter the ride height once the rest
of the car is built up; castor is best
changed by angling the plate itself.
It is best to get castor through

angling the whole plate, not by
angling the wishbones on the

plate. We have found that forcing

a twist in the wishbones by adding
spacers under their front end is
good to start with, but the plastic
the wishbones is made from has a

tendency to ‘creep’ and will try to

re-mould itself back it its original
shape over time. The problem
is that your left and right hand

wishbones won’t always creep at

the same rate, and after a week or

two you’ll have different castor on

each side – not good for consist­ent handling!

2. FRONT END

Wishbones lug side up.

Mounted at on the front plate.

No shims under here!

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V12-CE SETUP MANUAL

The holes you use to bolt the wish­bones to the front plate depend
on the type of track you run on
and how you like the car to han-

dle. Wide wishbone spacing helps

prevent grip roll in the fast sections
but reduces steering a bit through
slow, tight sections of tracks; a
long wheelbase promotes stabil­ity at high speed while a shorter
wheelbase allows faster changes of
direction. At this point many driv­ers ditch the self-tapping screws
that come in the kit and use slightly

longer (12mm) button head M3

machine screws to give a stronger

mount when xing the wishbones

to the plate. Since the 4 holes for
each screw are quite close togeth­er you should also use a relatively

large diameter M3 washer under
the each of the screws’ heads to

help spread any loads. For the
time being, screw them all down
tight.

2.A. FRONT END

In this case, wishbones set to

“long and wide”.

M3 washer between screw

head and plate.

NOTE: do not use less than 2mm
spacing on the rear two screws
– doing so will allow the head
of the rear screw holding the
wishbone to the front plate to hit
the chassis and tweak the front
plate.

Now, add the central screw, but do
not add anything between the front
plate and chassis - we have found

that having a bit of ex in the plate

gives better front bite mid-corner
and more even tyre wear. Tighten

the screw’s top nut so that it com­presses the plate to give about 1.5’

camber.

2.B. FRONT END

1mm thick washer under front bolts.

No washer under rear bolts.

Standard Nut

M3 “Low-Prole” nut is about 1mm

thinner than a standard nut.

V12-CE SETUP MANUAL

The steering system is easier - as­semble all the parts and make sure

they all move freely. Add a 2mm

shim under the balls on the steering
arm (and use the bottom holes in
the servo saver) to get the steering
track rods as horizontal as possible
and minimize bump steer.

Lastly, make sure that the wish­bones are seated level. Some­times they can sit unevenly (this

can happen if any mould ashing

is not trimmed off the wishbone
mounts or steering blocks during
the build, or from racing impacts).
To check the wishbones, put the

chassis on a at surface, centre

the steering and measure the
clearance of the stub axels off the
ground. Left and right sides must
be identical. If they are not, check

for mould ashing and trim it, check

that kingpins and stub axels are
straight and replace any defective
parts.

2.C. FRONT END

“Ride Height” of left and right stub

axels must be identical.

Approx 2mm of spacers under the
pivot ball to eliminate bump steer.

This is almost identical to all other
V12 kits, the only difference is the

damper tube. Assemble the pod
and add the damper tube’s ball

stud, axel bearings and diff. Some-

times the rear pod’s pivot ball can
be stiff when tted in its hole in the

pod base plate. This is not good.
It is wise to give the ball a light rub
down by spinning it up in a drill and
polishing it with 400 wet/dry – this
will give a smoother movement, but
be careful not to make it so small
that you get any slop!

3. REAR END

If the rear pivot ball is tight in the cup, remove

it and sand it smooth with wet and dry paper.

This pivot ball has had a rear guide pin added to it via a grub screw.

The ball can rotate freely in the cup with just the weight of the pin.