SRB Cage Racer - part 3

October 2014: Time to dust this one off and do a little more work.

Despite getting as far as standing on it's own 4 (Pajero) wheels at last - albeit the fronts not actually turning as the freewheeling hubs had not arrived until recently - there was something not quite right with the stance of the buggy.

While I liked the idea of the raised side-sills (to potentially increase rigidity, provide a little more interior space, and so the rear suspension might attach to a suitable place on the cage), I felt ultimately the proportions didn't work, and the rear suspension compromised - so it was back to the drawing board and cereal packets again...

The mk.2 chassis is now completely flat, reducing the hight of the cage and streamlining the vehicle - it is after all meant to be a racing car ;o)

Despite effectively dropping the cage 10mm, the seats are now mounted directly to the floor, so are actually only about 4mm closer to the roof of the cage (they were on 6mm spacers originally to clear the tapered sides of the original chassis)... and either way, Willy's big 'ol head wasn't going to fit in there anyway unfortunately - not unless he was either really reclined or the cage was even higher... I guess someone else is going to have to drive this one after all...

I also was able to incorporate a full size [Acoms] steering servo, as I felt the Micro might have struggled with the weight of the car and the wheels under load, and ultimately burnt out?

I have still yet to finalise the rear suspension upper mounts - I really like the twin shock set up visually, but how to mount the 70mm shocks (the shortest ones RC4WD do) successfully to look both scale and work effectively has so far eluded me.

My best solution so far (see photos below) is to effectively mount a vertical panel in the recess of the rear subframe, that has tabs to hold a pair of rod-ends, that in turn locate the shocks one either side. I like this idea particularly, as although the 'tombstone' effectively blocks out any rearward vision (hey, this is a race car - who's looking in their mirror, right?!), it would also double as a useful place to mount the ESC and Receiver - particularly if the battery is located as a rear 'bulkhead' (see photos), as in turn all the wiring will stay close together and can be shortened to further reduce the visual impact of all the cables...*

*That said, I'm not sure from a truly 'scaler' point of view it is going to be possible to completely hide the fact this is an RC car - particularly as I have consciously chosen to incorporate a regular Ni-Cad stick-pack, rather than a tiny Li-Po - being a traditionalist and all that ;o)

However, the engineer in me has also come up to a far more radical and technically pleasing solution to the rear suspension - that is if I am prepared to compromise and mount the battery elsewhere when actually running - fortunately the pack sits perfectly in a vertical position between the seats like an over-height transmission tunnel/centre console - or alternatively across the front footwell - although that would negate the possibility of including a scale dash and steering wheel etc. - so possibly a compromise too far?

Inspired by the recent re-release of the Buggy Champ/Fighting Buggy - I am considering mounting just a pair of the shocks horizontally, but in front of the subframe and across the chassis plate behind the seats, rather than hanging out the back Buggy Champ style. The shocks would be actuated by a pair of cantilever arms, connected to a rod on each side that replaces the current brass bush in the wishbones.

However, while it will be fun to engineer (and reversible should I wish), ultimately I feel such a solution, while technically more rewarding, might compromise the overall 'scale' effect of this build?

Decisions decisions... I would appreciate your comments and suggestions of course!