Procat 'parts bin special'

[Danf1275]

A thought crossed my mind earlier in the week - 'I bet I have enough Schumacher spare stuff to build a 2nd Procat!'

Sure enough, a quick rummage through the addis box of mystery revealed Procat chassis, suspension, and rear tranny housing, XLS front diff housing and half shafts along with upgraded diffs and layshaft. Shocks will be off a sad and abused Topcat. Only major items I was missing are front bumper, sourced from Ebay and rear servo post, which I will get 3D printed, from my existing design ( https://www.shapeways.com/shops/3DJF ).

My plan is to build it as a runner, to take my very first Procat body, painted circa 1992, so it can take the heat off my original 7up runner, the chassis for which may have suffered slightly at recent Iconic Revival event.

Progress so far has just been accumulating bits and cleaning in my new ultrasonic parts washer.



I'll try and update as I go.

[LurkingCAT]

Looking good! I'll follow this build with interest. The driveline has gotsome nice features

[RedScampi]

Awesome, I'm struggling with my Procat build, will appreciate seeing this come together!

[Danf1275]

Bit more progress this afternoon, back diff built and in position, along with layshaft and belts. Still need to fit missing screws from eccentrics.





Aiming for Procat with appropriate period mods, such as Bosscat uprights I've found and perhaps varishocks.

[Peakey]

I want that rear drum and layshaft

[Groomi]

I want that rear drum and layshaft

Ditto!

[Danf1275]

I want that rear drum and layshaft

Lucky find in the back of an XLS/Procat mongrel wreck!

Little bit more progress, back suspension arms an uprights in place



Also got shocks cleaned and rebuilt. All came off same Topcat chassis, but fronts are slightly different finish to rears. These came up great in the parts cleaner followed by a little T-Cut.



Pleased with look so far - clean, but with a little 'used' patina.

[DerbyDan]

Wow - this is looking a lot better than I was expecting from a 'parts bin special'!

Do you have any idea the manufacturer of those alloy diff & layshaft parts - they look super!

[Danf1275]

No idea, although LurkingCAT suggested they may be Nodis.

[Danf1275]

Cracking on now, back suspension complete



Front wishbones and hubs in position. Decided to go for correct Procat parts all round, for originality. Gearbox spacers had been drilled out, so have some long csk screw on the way. Should clamp the XLS gearbox in place nicely. MMS diff peeking out.



Overall chassis shot. Only let down by random holes through bottom pan, hopefully radio gear will cover these.



I may end up going for SE kind of look, got some Bosscat rims and Varishocks knocking about. I'll wait and see where the build takes me. Happy days.

[integra22t]

i rember seeing these cars but never payed attion to them .. wow its got one crazy belt tranty .. i cant beleve the front to rear belt wraps around the car

[Danf1275]

This is coming together faster than expected. Front suspension finished and bumper in place.



Procat wheels on for now, for some gratuitous full chassis shots,





Undertray turned up this afternoon, so may soon be a runner. Only major issue I have encountered is with spur gear fitment. I had assumed PCD of holes in flange would suit XLS spur / diff holes, but they are different. Will probably install standard Procat layshaft for now, to keep build moving.

Only three non-Schumacher screws used so far- I am keeping locations secret, but you are free to guess.

[DerbyDan]

Looks pretty 'minty' in those pics Dan! Nice work!

P.S; would the old SRM/RW Tufnol spurs fit onto that layshaft 'boss'?

[DerbyDan]

This is coming together faster than expected. Front suspension finished and bumper in place.

Just noticed - outboard one-ways? - I've never been quite sure which is the correct way round for these, I originally built my car with them like this (as it was like that when I received it) but I them swapped them around so the bearings were diff-side.

[Danf1275]

Looks pretty 'minty' in those pics Dan! Nice work!

P.S; would the old SRM/RW Tufnol spurs fit onto that layshaft 'boss'?

Spare SRM spur off my XLS doesnt fit - pcd is larger.

I've always run one ways outboard - worse for unsprung weight, but much easier to get off if you want to swap for solid shafts or a bearing jams (which one has started doing on my other Procat)