TOPIC:

Rekindling an old thread, but hey, it was mine in the first place!

I've been having some good fun with the upgraded Madcap; luckily there's a football field or two at the back of the house, so plenty of 'nothing' to hit! It got more than a bit covered in mud the last time out (sneaky puddle that ws a touch too deep), so I stripped it again to clean and rebuild. I remembered to take photos this time too!

First up, a gratuitous exploded diff shot... Note two spacers in each half, in order to try to stop the 9T brushless ripping it apart. Also, brass thrust bearings instead of the plastic stock, again to stop meltdown (literally) of the diff.



The completed gearbox (minus cover)... I took the risk of actually ABS solvent welding in the two Hexagonal spacers in to the gearbox assembly, because of them snapping, as I previously mentioned. That way, although they are never coming out, there are never snapping ever again! I toyed with getting some aluminium ones made up, but this is a cheaper solution (and, unless someone tells me otherwise, a superior solution).



The work on the rear starts... Note the two C1 parts aren't glued in (I was thinking it...), but I did use CA on the screw threads to hold them fast. I found in the recent bashing that they were working loose.




Now with the Gearbox added... You can also see that I've added adjustable turnbuckles, instead of the plastic bars that come with the kit.




When I came to work on the front of the buggy, I noticed that my lower wishbones were bent! Luckily, I had a couple spare from an old rolling chassis from ebay (£20, a steal).




With the front made up, you can see that I've added adjustable turnbuckles to every linkage, in the hope of removing the majority of the play in the steering. Well, it is adjustable, but unfortunately, there is still play. Probably less than before, but still too much. Anybody have any ideas/solutions?




To be continued...

So the first 'complete' chassis shot... She's had her electronics added; the ESC is in a funny position (slightly hanging of the speed controller shelf), since that is the highest part of the body once the shell is added.



The shocks all built up (using Edit Silicone 900 cSt oil)... Now a much better damping response, in my opinion (previously Tamiya #400, as sold with the CVA II shocks).



The front suspension with the shocks added. Here you can see the adjustable section of the steering servo. I've readjusted the servo horn; that is now the neutral position, otherwise the ball socket fouls on the body of the servo horn.



The rear suspension with shocks added... You can just see the UJ in the rear driveshaft.



An 'artistic' shot (sorry about that) of the complete chassis with stock wheels and tyres...



A similarly 'artistic' (again, apologies) shot of the chassis with the shell on... [Edit] You can see some damage to the paintwork on the bodyshell, I plan to remove the paint and respray at some point. Anybody got any ideas? I've got some polycarbonate safe graffiti removal spray that I was going to try... Also, I've got a couple of rear wings coming from TBG that will improve the look of the knackered thing I've got at the minute. I'll spray that red, as intended. Now, what decals to put on it? [/Edit]



I wanted to have some tyres more suited to on road bashing (my brother-in-law has a 1/8 nitro buggy that we 'race' on tarmac; I lost out last time because of bald ex-spike tyres). I wanted to get some 2.2 rims front and rear. You might notice that the fronts are TRF-201 wheels. How hard is it to find 2.2 wheels that will fit on the front?! Probably because it's not designed for it (being a 2WD buggy), but I don't really like the look of the ribbed tyres and the stock dished wheels are pretty pricey compared to these (cheap from the US!).



Only two modification needed to fit these; 1) 1050 bearings instead of 1150 and 2) trim a small amount (probably 3mm) off the back corners of the front bumper to avoid trapping at full lock. Using the 1050 bearings means you can't use the normal nylock flanged nuts, so I had to raid B&Q to find some non flanged. Hopefully it'll be OK, but in this configuration, it's all on road, so little dirt...



And that's it! Hope you enjoyed it. I'm sure it'll be stripped again in the near future, so I alway welcome hints, tips and suggested improvements (though I'm sure my wife and bank balance won't)!

I'm thinking of buying an on road (modern) model too; any suggestions? Probably looking for something that can take a fair few hop-ups.

Very nice car. It remembers mine.
If you want I have a box art body in nice condition.

Nice brushless, Small question yours adjustale rod come from where?

Never owned a madcap before but it looks like a pretty cool chassis it reminds me of the Astute a little. Brushless I might have to pick one of these up when i get some spare cash.