It's Top Cat time!

[1911Colt]

Does the U7600 pro transmission upgrade also fit the old TC? I snagged one assuming yes but maybe should have asked first.

Yes, the pro transmission fits perfectly. The only mod you have to make is to drill a hole in the gear cover for the slipper adjustment. The side plate, motor plate, bearing housings, bearings, and eccentrics are all re-used with the pro internals. The pro diff drum, belt, and layshaft are different pitch than standard, so don't mix and match those bits with standard.

You can mix and match the standard re-re transmission bits with the standard original transmission bits, just not pro and standard.

[1911Colt]

As luck would have it, I ended up with a 12x2 in my Top Cat as well! We will both have to use our trigger fingers judiciously

I couldn't pass it up for just $5. I didn't know the wind when I bought. Like your pink can, the white one will work well with my paint scheme, so it stays.

[Frankentruck]

Unexpectedly, Pinky's litter mate came available. I really wasn't looking to get a 2nd Top Cat, but thought I should take it in on the off chance that I need one because there's a sudden Schumacher apocalypse. Apparently not everyone is drawn to the extreme level of weirdness that the Top Cat has, and that's ok.

After a little sticker work the yeller one came out looking presentable enough for my standards. It also got a Speed Gems Sapphire added to plug the hole. Not quite the flamethrower that Pinky has (*narf!*) but I didn't order a pro transmission upgrade for the yeller one that I didn't own at the time of ordering.
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[1911Colt]

I never met a Top Cat I didn't like! Those 2 look to be in really good condition. Feel free to post loads of pictures

If I had it to do over again, I'd probably have a fleet of Top Cats instead of just 2. Managing spare parts would be so much easier.

[Frankentruck]

I like the OEM body, but I'd like to know if there are any other body options in case there's something I would like even better. I would expect the Cougar classic body to also fit since it shares a lot with the Top Cat. Anyone know if the Cougar 2 and Works, Cougar 2000, etc bodies might also work?

[Retro rc]

Cougar 2000 is a no go. Cougar and cougar 2 would fit but the front of the body wouldn’t work so would have to be cut off the cougar and left off the cougar 2.

Frewer did a body called the underdog back in the day and now a company in the Uk has the original moulds

https://landlmodels.co.uk/products/underdog-by-frewer-racing-schumacher-top-cat?variant=39316025311275

Shame there isn’t a painted mounted pic there though

[Frankentruck]

Very cool option! Underdog for Top Cat? They had a little fun naming that one.

[Retro rc]

Very cool option! Underdog for Top Cat? They had a little fun naming that one.

Yup Kevin Frewer has an interesting sense of humour, mind you he is a kiwi after all. His hand built tooling and machines are pretty impressive too! I was lucky enough to get a tour of his setup many years ago.

[Frankentruck]

I was looking over the pink one for some future plans and noticed an odd random looking screw in the front. Assuming this was done with some sort of purpose, does anyone have any thoughts why? Only the right side has this screw and the yellow TC doesn't have this mod.
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[1911Colt]

I think it is a droop limiter. There is a flat on the underside of the upper A-arm. It looks as though the end of that screw would would contact the flat. I don't know why it would be on only one side unless the previous owner was just adjusting the right side to mimic the left, or maybe using it to set ride height. My TC has dimples in that spot to indicate where to drill., so this must have been intended as an optional tuning aid.

Curiously, your A-arm mount is different than mine. Mine has support ridges on either side of the mystery screw head.

[Frankentruck]

Neither of my TCs have that extra support. This is my yellow TC.
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The pink TC also has a curious rear suspension alignment. Both buggies came from the same original owner.
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[1911Colt]

That looks like a hasty assembly mistake. I wonder if the car was apart and the PO put it back together quickly to sell. The front arm mounts are on backwards. Easy fix. I can't think of a reason to do that on purpose. It could be done to widen the track, but extra spacers would be needed in the back to straighten the arm.

Regarding the front arm mounts, I suspect yours are from an earlier production run. Maybe some broke or flexed too much, so they added the supports later? On the other hand, the rear support sits very close to the rocker pivot, so maybe they removed the support to gain clearance.

Schumacher released a lot of different spec parts for that front end before scrapping it and going conventional with the Cougar. I have a British magazine write up from BITD that outlines 14(!) improvements Schumacher made. That is a lot of changes for a car with such a brief production run. I will try to dig it up and see if the supports are mentioned or if the magazine car even has them.

[1911Colt]

I apparently no longer have the article outlining all of the changes to the front end. I did find 2 articles introducing the "new" Top Cat. The TCs in both articles had the front upper A-arm mounts like yours, so safe to say that is the original design and mine are a later revision.

[LurkingCAT]

Just to back the statement on the suspension arms (T213 and T214, left and right). They were upgraded with extra support.

Like 1911Colt describes, the dimples were there to indicate where to drill holes for down stop screws.
As seen, this is even written in the original manual under "Track settings".

Posting a picture of the two versions of the original suspension arms, and the later version with a hole for the down stop screw.

[Frankentruck]

Was the Top Cat the first Schumacher 2wd off-road buggy? It seems odd that a 4wd as complex as the CAT XL would have been made before any 2wd.