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“In this issue you will assemble the water pipes and connect them to the chassis and engine by following these step-by-step instructions.”

This time, we will be installing all of the engine cooling system pipes so there will be a lot of steps. And, we are going to be flipping the chassis over a lot so be very careful. The idle control valve on the engine sticks up higher than the intake manifold and can easily be snapped off, so try to use something to prop the engine up when the chassis is upside down. On my build, I simply used a big stack of paper napkins.

In the real car, many of these parts are rubber coolant hoses, so I will be adding a bit of ‘hose clamp’ detailing here and there.

Contents

Parts

Materials: Everything in this issue is plastic.

Magazine

• Drive Time: Model Instructions
• Where Next for Marty: Work Begins on the Sequel
• A Time Traveler’s Guide: Albert Einstein

Build

As I have done before, I painted the heads of any exposed screws in this issue with Tamiya XF-56 Metallic Grey in advance. But, I painted the two AP screws used for the ‘S’ Pipes in Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum to better blend in with the pipes. Finally, I cut tiny strips of some Aluminum Foil Tape and wrapped them around the black hose sections to replicate the real car’s hose clamps:

Fitting the Pipes

Step 1

Insert the Front Left Water Pipe into the hole in the back of the radiator as shown, and secure with one (1) JM screw:

Be very careful any time you are putting force on the chassis! It may be preferable to support the frame in other ways, such as small blocks or even your leg. The suspension/wheels are fragile, and the steps in this issue can cause parts to bend or break off without proper handling. This is also your friendly reminder to try using 3-in-One Oil on all screws going into metal:

The pin on the end of the Front Left Water Pipe did not want to stay in the radiator, so I needed to use a little drop of super glue on it:

Step 2

Turn the chassis over and secure the Left Water Rail to the underside of the chassis with two (2) FP screws.

The long curvy end of this part goes through the engine crossmember to line up with hole needed in the next step:

Step 3

Secure the rear end of the Left Water Rail to the chassis rail with one (1) AM screw:

Step 4

Turn the chassis over again, then connect the Left Engine Water Pipe between the end of the Left Water Rail and the thermostat housing on the engine.

This part has holes on each end that fit onto pins in the two receiving parts. It may require a little gentle bending to install:

Step 5

Turn the chassis over once again, and secure the Left S Pipe into place with one (1) AP screw.

The ‘S’ end should route along the frame, curve to the top side, and connect with the Front Left Water Pipe we installed in step 1:

Step 6

Turn the chassis over yet again, and insert the end of the Left S Pipe into the end of the Front Left Water Pipe.

If you followed my tip in the previous step, you will have already completed this. Still, this connection needed a tiny bit of super glue:

Step 7

Insert the split ends of the Front Right Water Pipe into the holes of the other side of the radiator as shown, and secure with one (1) JM screw:

Step 8

Turn the chassis over again, and secure the Right Water Rail to the underside of the chassis with two (2) FP screws.

The long curvy end of this part goes through the engine mount, as shown below, to line up with hole needed in the next step:

Step 9

Fasten the Right Water Rail to the rear frame with one (1) AM screw:

Step 10

And again, turn the chassis over. Then, connect the Right Engine Water Pipe between the Right Water Rail and the water pump on the engine.

This part also has holes on each end that fit onto pins in the two receiving parts. It may require a little gentle bending to install. I had to pull the water pump away from the intake runners a little to get this to fit. Also, the Right Water Rail connection needed a drop of super glue:

Step 11

Turn it over yet again, and secure the Right S Pipe into place with one (1) AP screw.

The ‘S’ end should route along the frame, curve to the top side, and connect with the Front Right Water Pipe we installed in step 7:

Step 12

Turn the chassis over one final time, and insert the end of the Right S Pipe into the end of the Front Right Water Pipe.

If you followed my tip in the previous step, you will have already completed this:

Thoughts

Well, we had to turn the chassis over 8 times during this issue. Now, I understand how builders break off pieces and have to repair them or order replacement parts. This chassis is going to be handled a lot more as the build continues, so I plan on taking my time to keep the thing in one piece.

Next Up

 Issue 31 – Frame: Chassis Plates