Since my ’91 Stealth RC10 runner build is finished, I’m taking a short break before starting the replica build so I’ve gone back to finish the CAT XLS builds that I’d started about a year ago. Since you’re here viewing this post, you’ve probably already seen plenty of these replica Masami XLS CAT’s on the web. Drawing upon my experiences building these two cars, maybe I can contribute a bit more to the pool of information that’s currently available – at least regarding body, paint and decal application anyway.
For this first post, I just want to present the two cars with a brief narrative then I’ll post more details on body, paint and decals later this week. At first glance, they might appear virtually identical but there are subtle differences that I’ll attempt to explain later. Ultimately, I’ve tried to make the vintage car the more faithful replica of Masami’s car. If you’re interested in building a Masami replica, maybe some of this will be useful.
First up, the vintage XLS that I purchase new sometime around ’87 or ’88. When first acquired, I swapped the G10 chassis, shock tower and camber plate parts for C/F replacements. Unfortunately, I’ve lost track of those G10 originals so the plate parts currently installed on the car have been pulled from a 2017 re-release version.
I raced this car nearly every week for two or three seasons bitd but now it will be retired to the shelf. When I disassembled the car for cleaning, I was surprised to find that the universal shaft cross pins were the only parts showing any signs of wear; the bearings, suspension pivot pins and balls, camber links and the steering rack system are as tight as when the car was new. Also, while I was racing the car, I don’t recall ever having a part failure. Certainly, in addition to being very light, this car was very well designed and constructed. If you’re aware of problems with these cars, then please post a comment below.
This is the 2017 re-release Masami replica. The plate parts are new C/F parts (from Factory Works). The car is using a Trinity solid lay shaft, pro-diff assembly and belts pulled from the vintage car and the front diff has been replaced with one-way bearings. All the kit’s Philips drive fasteners have been replaced with stainless hex machine screws. Once I’ve sourced the electronics needed for this car, it will become my new runner.
