Let's make a start shall we? This mod guide will cover disassembly, removal of air restrictors, adding a spring and putting it all back together again. I'm going to break this down as much as I can and throw in some handy advice along the way. First, you'll need a clean space. I use my pool table because it's nice and flat, and has edges to stop screws from falling off. Next, you will need a phillips head screwdriver (otherwise know as a cross or + head) and you want it to be a good fit. too large or too small and you run a large risk of rounding out the heads of the screws, if you do, you probably won't be able to get them out at all.
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| 15 screws on the outside in total |
Remove all of the screws marked in the photo above and place them in order somewhere. there are 14 marked with red arrows which are visible from the top, and one more marked with white which holds the battery cover on. If it's your first time modding, print this out for reference, and even poke the screws through the corresponding arrows on the picture to remember where they go back in.
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| Internals: print this for reference. |
Once that is done, carefully lift the case straight off, be warned that the springs marked with white have a habit of self ejecting when you take the case off, so I suggest putting something near the top of the blaster to stop them from going too far should they decide to fling off. also, print this picture off for reference too. Now, to take apart the piston and spring assembly to do these mods is to remove the 2 screws in red. the little spring on the left marked with white is what makes the locking piece hold the cocking ring in place when you pull the ring back on the blaster, then the trigger pushes the lock piece up when depressed, letting it fire. it sits in a groove in the body of the blaster. likewise, the main piston spring is held in place by the body of the blaster. once the screws are out slide everything up and watch out for that little spring.
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| Top: barrel assembly Bottom: spring, piston, lock piece and rod. |
You will now be able to separate the piston and spring from the barrel piece. To remove the air restrictor, which is a group of parts inside the barrel designed to slow down air flow, I simply drill through the front of the barrel. clamp the barrel using a bench vice, with the part that you load the dart in facing up towards you. To drill out without ruining the dart fitment I use a drill bit slightly smaller in diameter than a Nerf streamline dart. To be able to make a central drill hole, spin the drill up with some short bursts with the bit already inside the barrel, to snap the middle post inside. Unclamp and let the piece come out then clamp it back up again and drill the hole. Keep downward pressure on the restrictor and drill all the way through it. At one point, part of the restrictor will spin around, and not really get a hole drilled through it. Just keep the pressure on until it wears through. But not so hard that the barrel piece snaps suddenly and you end up spearing yourself through the leg of kneecap or something with a running drill. Wear safety gear and take care. When you're done, blow out the shreds of plastic.
Next step, is adding an extra spring. To do this, first remove the screw on the face of the piston and slip the piston off the rod it's seated on. the spring can now come off, but leave the locking piece on the rod. To give this blaster a serious power boost, you can add a spring on the inside of the existing spring along the same rod. You will need to have a spring with an outer diameter smaller than that of the Nitefinder spring, and with an inside diameter large enough to fit over the rod. The spring I used for this mod is actually one of the springs from a Buzz Bee Double Shot blaster. It's the same length, fits inside the original spring, and clears the rod. So slide the new spring inside the old one and then slide both of them back on the rod and screw the piston back on. You can also apply this technique to a Nerf Longshot, by using a stretched Nitefinder spring on the inside of the Longshot spring.
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| Top: Nitefinder spring Bottom: Double Shot spring |
Now, to reassemble you basically reverse the disassembly steps, however putting the piston and barrel assembly back in place is tricky. Try this, push the barrel all the way on to the piston but let it sit out of place while you align everything else. While slotting the lock piece back into it's place, you will also have to pull the ring to make it sit outside of the case, and you will have to compress the springs to rest on their edge on the case. Once you have the little spring on top of the lock piece in the right spot, hold you thumb or finger over the top so it can't go flying. Now you can push the barrel assembly into alignment and get the two screws tightened into place. Take a deep breath, and relax. That's the hard part done. The picture below is a close up of where all these parts go, without the barrel pushed into place yet. Note the edge where the main springs compress against, and how far the barrel must come back to line up with the screw post.
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| I have had to look for those little springs so many times it's not funny... |
Now, the little yellow bit and spring marked with a white arrow in the second picture actually goes into a section on the other side of the case, so slide those in, then line up the screw posts for the two halves of the case and push them together, popping the yellow piece into it's spot as you close it up completely. Thread in all 15 screw again and you're done! It's also worth noting that your new and improved Nerf Nitefinder Ex-3 can now shoot streamline darts, since the air restrictor is completely gone. Have fun!
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