Frankenscorcher Project (Old, New, Borrowed, Blue)

[30YrsL8r]

Back in March 2012 I purchased a job lot of SRB bits on fleabay for £80. My reasoning was that I needed a few vintage parts for my Mk1 Sand Scorcher restoration and what I didn't need from this lot could be sold on to defray the cost. Anyway, this is what I bought:

I was very pleased with what I got, especially once I had worked out what some of the bits I didn't recognise were. It dawned on me that I also had a lot of the parts to make a Sand Scorcher that I could use as a runner, so the Frankenscorcher project was born.

With the restoration moved forward and retaining stuff I would need for a runner, I started to sell bits and bobs either individually or (with a couple of purchases to supplement the job lot) as a complete front-end and even a rolling chassis.

I wasn't keen on using an original chassis plate for Frankenscorcher and so, when Scorcher Kid put one up for auction, I was pleased to win an aluminium one at a reasonable price. I hadn't seen one like this before.

The search for cost-effective alloy shocks/dampers yielded the Yeah Racing #DP-1004TI dampers, which come with a range of springs for £22 delivered from rcmart. Putting some borrowed electrics into the resultant combination of old, new and blue gave me an idea of how it would look.

Things went quiet for a while as I got distracted by other hobbies but, when my birthday came around I "suggested" (AKA found, bought and provided) a 6mm brake pipe bending tool as a present from my son. Coupled with a £4 length of aluminium rod from DIY.com and pipe joints, I made:

Taking the learning from the back end (and my original, failed attempt at a front end) I added a forward section that allowed the rear shocks to be mounted properly for the first time.

The rear shock mounts still need moving inward slightly as they foul the rear tyres at full travel, but they look cool

I have installed a new 15/70 pinion/spur combination as I intend to fit a 13T brushless motor, but that is waiting for the right ESC and motor to both be available at the right price from the same seller to keep postage down. Sorry I missed the 60A X-car at HobbyKing.

The body is brand new. I purchased the complete re-re body set so that I would have the missing bits (mostly brightwork and decals) for my renovation but the main bodyshell was always for Frankenscorcher. It's my intention not to paint it but to add colour with vinyl.

More soon...

[Gruntfuggly]

Looks good - how strong is the front 'bumper'?

[OldSchoolRunner]

That looks really neat. I am curious about the front bumper too.

OSR

[30YrsL8r]

I've twisted it by hand to try to get rid of a slight asymmetricality and it's stiff. I'm not going to try too hard though! When I get more pipe joints I will either have one central brace that connects to the body post screw underneath or two braces that connect to the vertical bolts for the uprights (this will look a bit like the back end).

Once that's done I expect the bumper to be pretty strong as it will be well braced from below, the top of the uprights and the roll bar. Until then I think a good hard knock will stress where I've drilled holes to mount to the top of the front suspension, but I'm not going to run it properly for a while anyway

[30YrsL8r]

Good News: I finally took the plunge and bought the cheapest Sand Scorcher rear tyres on fleabay, in spite of concern over the seller's negative feedback. All good, though.

Bad News: I realised that SS rear wheels/tyres are wider than the Rough Rider ones I have had on the Frankenscorcher up to now. This meant the rear shocks fouled the tyres.

Solution: Move the shock's upper mounting point. I'm a little concerned about this, as it means drilling the aluminium rod of the cage, but I might sleeve it to strengthen it.

Question: Is it odd that I keep wanting to sniff the new tyres? Mmmmm, new tyres.

[bromvw]

You just have a rubber fettish ON to the issue with the sand scorcher tires . if you mount them on the rough rider rims it will make them narrower and slighty taller . its a pig of a job to get them to stretch over the wheels but i've done it before . that would fix your clearance problem .

[OldSchoolRunner]

What kind of shocks are those? They look really great!

OSR

[BadWagon]

What kind of shocks are those? They look really great!

OSR

"Yeah Racing #DP-1004TI dampers, which come with a range of springs for £22 delivered from rcmart."

I love a runner. Looks great bud.

[30YrsL8r]

My WANTED thread about Pipe Joints didn't prompt any responses, so I decided to try a different route on the front roll bar. By bending the bottoms of the bar to be parallel with the existing cage, I'm able to drill and bolt them together on each side (probably two bolts per side). First, though, I decided to tape them together to get an idea of how it will look before I start drilling. I'm in two minds about it; what do you think?

I know it looks odd with the shell off, by the way

[bromvw]

To me thats just not working visually - Have you thought about having it come out towards the rear of the sunroof hole ? Imo that would look far better .

[30YrsL8r]

To me thats just not working visually

I know what you mean; I've been looking for a 1:1 reference to see how this should look.

[mr crispy]

As Andy Pipkin would say "I don't like it" Through the sunroof might be worth a try but I prefer my fog lights fixed to the roof with this set up.

[30YrsL8r]

As Andy Pipkin would say "I don't like it" Through the sunroof might be worth a try but I prefer my fog lights fixed to the roof with this set up.

I'm with you guys; I don't like it. I was trying to make a protective roll bar that looked like a driving light frame, but it's way too thick a rod for that.

I think I'll leave it off for now, sort out the struts for the bar at the front and leave it at that until I get another idea (perhaps a purely internal bar).

[OldSchoolRunner]

I think you are on to something. But I am not sure too. What would happen if you lowered the light bar a little? Hmmm... I do like the creativity!

OSR

[30YrsL8r]

What would happen if you lowered the light bar a little?

OSR

Oddly enough this is Mk2; Mk1 was lower and I felt it was too low. I'll go back to that and see how it looks.

[OldSchoolRunner]

Oddly enough this is Mk2; Mk1 was lower and I felt it was too low. I'll go back to that and see how it looks.

Do post a pic of your change. I do think you are on to something!

OSR

[30YrsL8r]

Do post a pic of your change. I do think you are on to something!

OSR

Will do, OSR, but I spent my free time today working on the TL-01 Willy; I'll get this done asap, though

[OldSchoolRunner]

TL-01 willy. YOu might have to post some pics of this too.

OSR

[30YrsL8r]

Been busy over the weekend getting my TL-01 touring car road worthy, but I did find time to do this: I took the old/vintage/tatty pinion and spur gear cover, sanded it to key the surface, undercoated it with Games Workshop Chaos Black (happened to have it to hand) and finished it in Metallic Silver (ditto). I like the result, though I've no idea how long the finish will last. The motor end-bell cover shows what it looked like before (I won't be needing this as the end of my new brushless motor will be on show). I was tempted to stop after the Chaos Black, but it would have looked out of place.

I think the surface effect on the silver is through spraying it in a cold garage, but I think it looks more metallic as a result.

[30YrsL8r]

Installed brushless motor. Went for 17T rather than the 13T that others have used because this is a pretty heavy car. Had to file and sandpaper out the gearbox to have the motor fit all the way to the end. Also drilled a new hole for a retaining bolt that's covered by the spur gear.

Added a lower servo mount for my direct steering mod. Can you tell what I used? Its a 3x2 lego.

The upper mount will be a piece of 6mm aluminium rod (like the rest of the cage) that will go between the tops of the shock towers. The front body mount will also bolt to this (somehow).

[Zac_F83]

Nice work! I agree with the other guys - that "light bar" doesn't fit the look of the car..

[Tamiya1/10]

The light bar is a good idea. Locate it on the roof instead of through the windshield. The answer is there when i think outside the windshield...;-)