42172 McLaren P1 MODs and Improvements

[SNIPE]

I'm gonna try to add adjustable ride height, it will require a lot of bracing but ive seen 3 other MOCs which use these shock absorbers and still have adjustable ride height.

Edited August 19, 2024 by SNIPE

[astyanax]

2 hours ago, SNIPE said:

I'm gonna try to add adjustable ride height, it will require a lot of bracing but ive seen 3 other MOCs which use these shock absorbers and still have adjustable ride height.

Ah yes, for the Pagani Huayra BC, I went through several iterations to incorporate the new thick shock absorbers into the ride height adjustment mechanism. The challenge was not just the bracing needed, but also the size of those shocks, highly constraining the possible positions. The mechanism employed 2 worm gears and 2 8t gears -- 1 each side. I was concerned the 8t gears would get bent teeth, but after disassembly, I couldn't find anything wrong with them. However, some of the axles used in the mechanism got wonky. 

Then there's also the buildability aspect: quite some time was spent figuring out how to organize the instructions to guide the builder to properly align the ride height adjustment, as any mistake would lead to a model permanently leaning to one side. 

[StudWorks]

6 hours ago, SNIPE said:

I'm gonna try to add adjustable ride height, it will require a lot of bracing but ive seen 3 other MOCs which use these shock absorbers and still have adjustable ride height.

Woohoo!

[DataNinja]

So excited the experts are rolling in upgrades for this set -- many thanks in advance!  @jb70 you thinking about any structural changes to the nose to make it more P1-ish, or leaving that?  I'm completely guessing, but suspect the current nose in this model closer to an upcoming McLaren that was delayed so they reverted the branding to P1... we'll see.

[M_longer]

Much better

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-193635/Lukas2020/42172-mclaren-p1-front-section-mod/#details

[Valkyx]

If the "led stripe" would be a bit lower to have a small gap between the orange pice on top it would look even better.

[Jonfensu]

Lukas did a great job, it's better but still not so close to the car. I feel it needs a complete redesign. Personally I would put the front from Bruno's P1, trying to use the wheel arches 

[jb70]

On 8/23/2024 at 3:42 PM, DataNinja said:

@jb70 you thinking about any structural changes to the nose to make it more P1-ish, or leaving that? 

I will focus mainly on technical improvements, but others may have a look for MODs on the bodywork.

[mooneyes]

On 8/18/2024 at 9:07 PM, astyanax said:

Don't ask:

- a woman her age

- a man his salary

- an AFOL how much time & money he spends on lego...

Plenty of earned value though, looking forward to seeing its evolution.

[jb70]

And here we have:

A pimped up gearbox!

• Optimized 1st gear by omitting 2 gear meshes replaced by a direct connection
• Optimized housing with improved stiffness reducing friction
• Geared up by factor 4.3 (pistons move much faster, but still fluently)
• Replaced the red rubber band by a stiffer white rubber band to improve proper positioning of the gear stepper
• Simple, but efficient Gear Block between 7th and 1st gear (2 Half Bushes block the gear shifter fork to move in neutral gear), Neutral can still be selected by DNR switch.

 

Here you see the original gearbox layout (1st gear engaged in red, V8 engine in dark red, electric motor in green):

 

And here you see the pimped up gearbox layout (optimized 1st gear engaged in red) and 2 gear meshes swapped (in dark grey and tan sections) to gear up:

 

And last but not least a preview of building instructions including all pimped up MODs so far (HOG steering, HOG shifting, this Gearbox):

• https://bricksafe.com/files/jb70/42172-pimp-up-my-mclaren/history/v0.3/42172 - Pimp up my McLaren_v0.3.pdf
• https://bricksafe.com/files/jb70/42172-pimp-up-my-mclaren/history/v0.3/42172 - Pimp up my McLaren.mpd

Edited August 27, 2024 by jb70

[jbuccino]

Amazing. Simply amazing. I'm going to get started right away. Thanks jb70!

[SNIPE]

agh I wanna build this pimped up chassis so bad and try to add adjustable ride height but im busy working on my 42177 MODs so ill have to wait... feel free to try and add it yourself though!

[monaghanman]

Great work! Is there, or will there be, an inventory of additional parts needed? 

Edited August 28, 2024 by monaghanman

[StudWorks]

On 8/23/2024 at 3:38 PM, M_longer said:

Much better

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-193635/Lukas2020/42172-mclaren-p1-front-section-mod/#details

 

No disrespect, but believe it or not, I feel as if the original headlights are more accurate. Does anybody else feel the same?

[jb70]

7 hours ago, monaghanman said:

Great work! Is there, or will there be, an inventory of additional parts needed? 

Yes, here it is:

https://rebrickable.com/sets/compare/slow/?1-set=42172-1&1-inv=231259&1-user_list=&2-set=&2-user_list=402539

[monaghanman]

Thankyou. Is there an extra-parts-needed list anywhere for gearbox mod only? Decided that's the only mod I'll be implementing. 

Edited August 29, 2024 by monaghanman

[astyanax]

2 hours ago, monaghanman said:

Thankyou. Is there an extra-parts-needed list anywhere for gearbox mod only? Decided that's the only mod I'll be implementing. 

Just download jb70's two .mpd files, both original and pimped. Open both in LDCad or Stud.io. Go into gearbox submodule for both files and export their parts. Load parts in two Rebrickable custom lists. Use Rebrickable's inventory comparison feature. Voilà! 

[monaghanman]

I don't use / have either of those software. Suppose I can just 'spot the difference' for the gearbox steps. Thanks anyway. 

[jb70]

I made some more improvements on the gearbox and DNR section with v0.4:

• optimized bearing of axles in gearbox and DNR section to reduce friction
• changed gear ratio in main drive shaft between rear axle and DNR section from 20/12 * 12/20 to 16/16 * 16/16
  • This results in the same total gear ratio as v0.3, but less velocity and more torque on the clutch to get the clutch engaged when the gearbox blocks. That happens sometimes, if you change gears via HOG switch under load when the car is moving fast. Changing gears via paddles seem to be more precise (or just slower) so that I do not see the gearbox blocking.
• some color optimizations
• some improvements on the building instructions

Now I am satisfied with the gearbox. It works as fine and smooth as it used to be for a pimped up supercar. The new gearbox elements 3584 and 4159 offer a complete new gearbox design with a true 7-gear or 8-gear sequential gearbox compared to the previous supercars (2 gearboxes with 4-gear plus 2-gear combined). This comes much more close to real car's design of a gearbox.

Here are the files:

• https://bricksafe.com/files/jb70/42172-pimp-up-my-mclaren/history/v0.4/42172 - Pimp up my McLaren_Book1.pdf
• https://bricksafe.com/files/jb70/42172-pimp-up-my-mclaren/history/v0.4/42172 - Pimp up my McLaren_Book2.pdf
• https://bricksafe.com/files/jb70/42172-pimp-up-my-mclaren/history/v0.4/42172 - Pimp up my McLaren.mpd

 

[jbuccino]

I am working through the 0.4 instructions and, as usual, the quality of the design and documentation is top notch and typical jb70 high quality. Two small issues I noticed are: on page 37, step 74 the call out boxes are reversed and on page 65, step 127 both the 5L Yellow Axles should protrude 1L after the Bush (just like in the original kit). Thanks again jb70 - I enjoy your mods more than the stock kit. I am working through this carefully and will report any other issues or questions that come up.

[jb70]

@jbuccino Thank you for reviewing! I will fix these issues with the next release.

[jbuccino]

It is a pleasure to help. I am always available to prototype or test with quick turnaround. Thanks again.

Update: I am now through step 417 of book 2 with no further comments or suggestions. Everything works great!

Edited September 6, 2024 by jbuccino
Update.

[JunkstyleGio]

I'm still building the original. But i'm looking forward to all the MODs that will be presnted here. Keep up the good work you all!

[StudWorks]

Is anyone in the middle of building a totally brand-new front-end yet?

[astyanax]

2 hours ago, StudWorks said:

Is anyone in the middle of building a totally brand-new front-end yet?

So far I've only been thinking about it. But I don't have the set yet and I'm not looking forward to buying anything in this BLO color...

Perhaps I'll first look into recoloring it to Red (seems least worst in terms of parts availability, and I already have a huge inventory in Red). But that would mean finding acceptable alternatives for the inner wheel arches...