Got it cheap and with the intention of turning it into a M-chassis. The disappointing state made the project soon got stown away in a drawer. Till middle of last year , I finally bit the bullet and prepared it for some indoor racing.
Not been the easiest job: I had to change the wheelbase and trackwidth: both front and back to make it work with the M-chassis proportions.
Non original parts include
- heavily modified Tamiya F1 wheels with trimmed 1/12 spongees on them
- center steering setup with built-in servosaver; from an obscure vintage carpet racer (I think it was from mugen?)
- general issue body posts
- nylon standoffs (basically just tubes)
- copper tubing (= last resort repair for the graphite drive axle)
- HPI M-sized new beetle body (with a little too much trimming from an earlier project)
- trimmed and bent nylon bumper
- 3mm kyosho turnbuckles and bigger ball-cups
It's quite a bit different driving experience from what I'm used too : very nimble and way too fast; even with the spec moter of 23 turns. The drivetain is super-efficient and silent. Really need to use the brakes to slow it down or it just keeps going when I let of the throttle. The geardiff is a bit worn and doesn't run all that free, but ok.
On its first time out I hit some trackmarkers with the rear weel and the old graphite axle just twisted ight off where the left wheel was clamped onto it with a setscrew.
I' ve repaired it using some brass/copper tubing: sawn the axle in 2 parts and used the tubing to make an extention at the middle: back to "original" length
I've tried finding a repacement , but without luck. So it now i just sits on the shelf with this fix: good enough for display and a carefull drive in open space , but no longer race-worthy.
Pitty
(In case you're wondering: the fluo and reflective white decals where intended for the race. It was gonna be run in the dark with some black-lights)
