RC10B44.3 intro, story, and tricky issues

[TokyoProf]

I have this partially built RC10B44.3 purchased secondhand. It is missing a body and manual, and the build is a bit questionable as explained below. However, this completes my personal B44 series collection starting with the BJ4 - B44.3. Steven Hartson won the 4WD IFMAR World Championship with a B44.2 but with a prototype aluminum chassis. Team Associated said he won with the B44.2 on their website but I guess this helps them clear inventory. The B44.3 box has the image of his buggy on the front cover, and his picture on the side so in my mind the B44.3 celebrates Steven's win. Plus, the B44 series felt like the last successful 4WD innovative/original design coming out of Team Associated. The B44.3 was as far as one could go following the BJ4 design.

Story: I remember talking with Steven's dad about whether to send his kid to college or pursue the racing thing (as I was a grad student and adjunct lecturer at OCC nearby). I think his dad had made up his mind but wanted some further validation about the racing career. I was all for taking a break from school and pursuing the dream (especially if you are the top 1% of what you do). He made up his mind to support his son's racing career, and I'm glad he got to the top of the podium! At the time, the dad was offering advice about how to adjust the font suspension of my RC10T3RTR to be more competative at the track in Huntington Beach...cool dude.

Mystery Issues:
Before trying to break this prebuilt buggy down...two questions:
1) The diff shows leaking. I thought the viscosity of a center diff would be very thick...was leaking a common issue on the buggy? Never worked on such a diff, and thought leaking was not common.
2) The front weels and the rear wheels (diff outdrives as shown) turn the opposite direction when turning the center shaft! How does this happen lol? Again, front wheels turn forward, while rear wheels go reverse when I turn the center spur gear/shaft in the middle. What did the previous builder do wrong?

https://events.redrc.net/2013/12/chassis-focus-steven-hartson/

Thanks!

[GoMachV]

They flipped one of the diffs, not sure if front or rear but if you turn the spur the correct direction figure out which end is spinning backwards and slip the diff over. Better yet, grab the manual and start from step 1 and see what else they messed up.

[TokyoProf]

Thank you very helpful! Some room for error between the saddle pack and the short pack configuration I see. I will have to do a full tear down. The diffs seem to have some leaking visible. I think the previous owner cranked down on the screws. I have never built fluid gear diffs so hoping I build them to be leak free in the future.