deangaffney 7 Posted January 16, 2015 When my Scorpion broke in around 1989 I bought a Falcon with an Escort body off a local kid. The kid was uglier than me and that's all I recall about it. The Falcon had some unpainted Wild One type rims with Schumacher Road tyres fitted but was other wise bog standard. Eventually in went into the attic at Mum & Dad's until I was forced to reclaim it around a year or so ago. At the same time I found the Scorpion http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=33700 In the winter it's nice to have an indoor hobby and I try to get the kids to take a bit of interest in the mechnical elements. I try to buy as much second hand for the cars as poss but picked up some CRP bits for the Falcon, a chassic brace and some rear hub converters. Basically I always fancied a Sand Scorcher (yawn) but never going to fork out for one now so I found a second hand baja style beetle body on eBay and with the help of the original Escort body mount kit (which was still in the toolbox from 1989) and set about fitting the body to the Falcon. Inspiration came from this forum in the main especially in terms of fitting SRB rims all round, at least whilst I'm building it. The fairly horrid gold and brown paintwork is staying because a) I'm not buy brake fluid just to strip it and it not that bad a paint job so we'll call it partial rat-look. below you can see the rims that came with the car and Escort shell back in 89, on the front are some second hand SRB rims. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deangaffney 7 Posted January 16, 2015 The next step was to refit the body mount kit which came with the car back in 1989 and was still knocking around inside the cheap green plastic tool box I used when I was 14. The rear mounts are exactly where they were for the Escort, the front mount is on a fairly flimsy bit of perspec but again the perspex came with the car back in the day so reusing it all! There is already a hole in the front of the body shell but I'll have to make two new holes in the roof later. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deangaffney 7 Posted January 16, 2015 Here she is the with the adaptors for the rear SRB type rear wheels. The rear rims are also second hand but in A1 condition so look great I think. Also spent some time polishing the body including windows inside and out. You'll also notice she has no motor fitted at the moment. NOTE: The Motorola Moto G is a great android phone for the money, it real makes a mockery of the £500 handsets but the camera is not good, I really miss my iPhone 4s camera but that belonged to work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deangaffney 7 Posted January 16, 2015 If anyone cares to read this far into the the thread you shall be rewarded with the news that I own a proper camera and love natural light so the next few photos will be a real breath of fresh air. First up, the CRP front brace which comes predrilled to take the old Frog style front bumper. The Frog bumper was a new part. The experience amongst you will notice something worrying in this photo. Donor car probably in order as second hand parts are priced wrongly on eBay. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deangaffney 7 Posted January 16, 2015 Here are the CRP adaptors fitted, the bolts where a little tight through the SRB rims but they do fit. Also took the opportunity to fit ball races to the trailing arms in favour of plain plastic bearings. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deangaffney 7 Posted January 16, 2015 Here's the front body mount (super cheapo plastic bits but it does the job) and you can see where I had to file down the chassis to get the middle bolt for the chassic brace in. Yeah front SRB wheels look a little small on this setup but it's just part of the initial look. Really please the Frog bumper fits so neatly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deangaffney 7 Posted January 16, 2015 You can see the rear body mounts here, holes have been drilled in the shock towers to take the bolts. This was done the Escort shell before I had the car. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deangaffney 7 Posted January 16, 2015 Body had a partial polish the other evening, note that the paint is coming away by the running boards but I'm not concerned, it's part of the look. Note the body mounts poking thru the new holes on the roof. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mongoose1983 3335 Posted January 16, 2015 Looks awesome. Nice looking VW body, and those colors look sweet! The rear tires are mounted backwards. That VW bug must be a super tough sand racer! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deangaffney 7 Posted January 16, 2015 @Mongoose1983, I wasn't sure, thanks for clearing that up. Stickers have arrived today, going to be careful and sparing with them, they're Baja Bug themed so should look good especially on the headlamps. Here she is with last years project, a Kyosho Beetle built from the remains of my childhood Scorpion. http://www.rc10talk....hp?f=30&t=33700 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mongoose1983 3335 Posted January 16, 2015 You can just switch the rear wheels to the other side and it'll be perfect. By the way, what decals you got? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MitchellJames 63 Posted January 16, 2015 Nice work mate, im thinking about making a kind of Scorcher themed bug out of my Rising Fighter. I actually like the brown, very retro and 70's. Btw, was the worrying thing you mentioned a crack in the front arm on the screw mount? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gruntfuggly 562 Posted January 16, 2015 Anybody know if the CRP front brace can be fitted to a Blitzer? It looks a bit long, but maybe you could drill some extra holes? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deangaffney 7 Posted January 18, 2015 Don't know about the brace fitting a Blitzer, seems unlikely though. Maybe talk to CRP guys direct, they have been helpful to me in the past. Anyway. Got a few stickers for the Baja Falcon. They're white backed so not quite as nice as the Canadian repro set I got for the Kyosho Beetle, they are on a transparent backing but you do have the cut them out yourself. Anyway, it's supposed to be a runner so no big deal. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deangaffney 7 Posted July 1, 2016 Just re-added some of the photos to this thread. I've recently fitted an old servo and RX to this Baja Falcon and installed a basic ESC. She runs but need to put some spacers in with the spring cos all a bit saggy and ruins the toe-in on the front. Also need to think about how I can waterproof the RX, epoxy all over the PCB? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deangaffney 7 Posted July 15, 2016 Had to fork out for some brand-new C parts on the tree but other wise she runs nicely with the spring spacers in the front shocks. Then I found a really fine tipped paint pen! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deangaffney 7 Posted October 6, 2018 Hi all! Long time no see. Nice to see that Photobucket are still hosting my photots on this thread. Anyways I broke one of the lower front arms whilst running the cars in the forest with the kids earlier this year. Seems like I have three options: wait for old stock parts on fleabay; donor car (becoming rare, more expensive and on guarantee of condition) or buy 3D printed replacements from Ampro/Shapeways in the US. The 3D parts look amazing and the do the shock towers and front uprights too. I wonder if it's worth me spending £70 sterling on a full front rebuild in nylon? Great video about the parts here: 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfdogstinkus 1893 Posted October 6, 2018 I thought the arm was cracked I the earlier picture?, so what else did I miss? The guy who makes those parts is a member here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juggular 4964 Posted October 7, 2018 Maybe you should ask if @Pintopower (AMPro engineering) could sell just lower arms? $44 is a bit pricey if you need only one A-arm. He might end up selling to more buyers, if he sells lower arms separately. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SNAKEBITE 40 Posted October 8, 2018 Have you got a photo of the old Escort body please? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfdogstinkus 1893 Posted October 8, 2018 On 1/16/2015 at 4:30 PM, deangaffney said: The kid was uglier than me and that's all I recall about it. If you are the real Dean Gaffney, then that kid must have been ugly. lol 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deangaffney 7 Posted October 11, 2018 On 10/8/2018 at 7:28 PM, wolfdogstinkus said: If you are the real Dean Gaffney, then that kid must have been ugly. lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites