Help me decide...

[Mad Ax]

Going to get me a new model later this month, but need to make my mind

up what to get.  I have a plan of what I want to do over the

following months, but can't decide what to buy to do it.

I've currently got a Dark Impact, which I intend to use for a bit of

off-road racing when I get around to it.  I want a few others, but

can't make up my mind...

Option 1:

This month - buy a Chrome Pumpkin, and buy a lexan shell - probably a

Twin Detonator / Stadium Raider type shell.  Build it and run it

as a fun / stunt truck for wheelies, jumps and general messing around

outside.

Next month - buy a rear-drive tarmac chassis that will fit the Chrome

Pumpkin shell.  Buy some deep chrome rims and build a shelf-queen

Pumpkin lowrider.

Can anyone advise me what sort of chassis to look out for to fit the Pumpkin shell?

Benefits:

Pumpkin chassis should be excellent for jumps & wheelies

Pumpkin lowrider will look fantastic and make me feel very proud

Drawbacks:

Pumpkin chassis is a bit slow and primitive compared to modern trucks, and isn't 4x4

Lowrider will be too tidy to use for any kind of racing

Might be difficult to find a rear-drive chassis that will fit the Pumpkin shell, as it's quite short

Option 2:

This month - buy a Double Blaze.  Build it and run it as a fun / stunt truck for jumps and general messing around outside.

Next month - buy a touring car, so I can go tarmac racing.

Benefits:

Double Blaze should be very quick if used with hot motors and hop-ups

Blaze is 4x4 - better for racing around on loose surfaces

Can go tarmac racing

Drawbacks:

Blaze may not be quite as good for stupid stunts as a Pumpkin chassis,

being that it's a bit heavier and weighted more as a stadium truck than

a stunt monster truck

I've always wanted a Pumpkin since I was a kid, and will probably regret it if I don't get one

Summary

I'm an indecisive wally with too much time in which to dream about

owning dozens of Tamiya cars and not enough money to own them

all... 

So, have yourselves a good discussion and let's turn this into a "virtual shopping list" for me

[mr_pushrod]

I would personally go for option 1, my Pumpkin is one of my most used cars and is great fun! For me, part of the appeal is the wayward handling so there is no worry for me about blowing loads of money on hop ups like I have done for other cars in my collection. The only upgrades it has (and probably ever will) recieved are bearings, ESC and a 27 turn stock motor, all of which can be done pretty cheaply. While I would agree with you that it is pretty primitive, they are by no means slow. Even with a standard 540, the simple drivetrain means it will be a lot quicker than a Double Blaze while mine with a 27t flies.

Check the videos section in my showroom for a movie called Midafternoon Pumpkin, you'll be able to see how quick mine is. It also features in a couple of others, it should be listed in the descriptions. It would also be cool to see the Pumpkin shell on a road chassis, there are a couple on TC using either 1/12th pan car chassis or M Chassis, would be well worth a search.

[Mad Ax]

Midafternoon Pumpkin

COOL vid - forgot just how mad those monster trucks are...  Bouncey bouncey bouncey bouncey fun fun-fun fun-fun !! []

[mr_pushrod]

Cheers! Bounce is all part of the fun for me, who needs oil shocks anyway? []

[Mad Ax]

M Chassis

Just thinking aloud here, I'm guessing this is because the Pumpkin

shell has a shorter wheelbase than a regular 1/10 shell - therefore the

M chassis is the only one short enough.

Now...  Most M chassis are front-drive - correct?

For purposes of authenticity, and because this is supposed to be a US-style lowrider replica, I want a read-drive chassis.

The BMW "M" roadster and Honda S2000 use a M03L chassis - modified for rear-drive and longer track.

I'm guessing, therefore, that the length of the M chassis can be

modified by using hybrid parts - i.e. length of a Mini Cooper or Suzuki

Swift, but rear drive setup like the BMW...

Looks like this will be a fun project []

[mr_pushrod]

The Pumpkin is 1/12th scale which means it's near perfect length for the standard M Chassis (M01, M02, M03 and potentially M04 chassis minus spacer) or the 959/Celica group B (expensive, rare and 4WD). While most M chassis are indeed front wheel drive, the M01 and M02 are basically the same, it's just they have the steering at either the motor end or freewheeling end. The M03 and M04 are however very different so one cannot easily become the other. As for track, it will be bang on as standard using the smaller Mini size wheels, all you will need to do is sort bodymounts. The other option of a 1/12th pan car would allow much wider rear tyres but would be a much more 'racy' car that would almost certainly be running on foams.

The easiest option would probably be to get an M01 and swap the parts around to make it RWD or an M02 which is configured to be RWD already. All you need to do then is attach the body, apply stickers, choose wheels and you'll have a lowride Pumpkin easily!

[Mad Ax]

The easiest option would probably be to get an

M01 and swap the parts around to make it RWD or an M02 which is

configured to be RWD already. All you need to do then is attach the

body, apply stickers, choose wheels and you'll have a lowride Pumpkin

easily!

Sounds excellent []

Pressumably modding some big chrome 1/10 touring car wheels to fit the

chassis would give the effect of my lowrider having huge douce-dubs,

too (provided I can get them under the arches and drop the chassis to

it sits low to the ground...)

What kits were popular with the M01 or M02 chassis..?  Anything

still in production, or will I be sourcing parts from the Bay?

[mr_pushrod]

The touring car wheels will fit the chassis, just not sure if they'd go under the shell easily, would be worth trying though. M01 and M02 are out of production so you'd need to search ebay. Look out for Minis, Fiat Abarths, Honda S800s, the link below shows what the chassis looks like, not too hard to pick out, they only have 2 shocks and look totally different to M03s or M04s. The M01s and 2s did come in medium and long versions as well but these can be converted easily.

[Mad Ax]

Do you know if an M04L can be converted to a shorter model

easily..?  AFAIK the BMW M roadster is still in production and is

darned cheap (NIB bare kit - £49 from a UK website)

[mr_pushrod]

I'm not 100% sure. I had a look through the manual on this site and there is a spacer in there to make it longer. How much extra length this spacer gives I'm not sure. Can any M04 owners shed some light on the subject?

[Mad Ax]

At a guess I'd estimate that spacer gives approximately .5 - 1 inch roughly thereabouts perhaps maybe

If the kit was going to cost £100 new, then I'd source a 2nd hand M01/2

and rebuild it, but at £49 for the kit it's probably cheaper to buy the

M04L and shorten it in whichever way I need...  At a guess I'd say

it'll be fine without that spacer, just a case of "try it and see" []

[mr_pushrod]

Anything is possible with a bit of fibreglass plate, lol.