New year, new bodyshell

[Matty36 267]

As it's the start of a new year, I decided to carry on the rally car theme to go along side the ta01 escort cosworth build. 

For many years, I wanted the subaru imprezza body, I had an original model hpi one at the end of 99, it was on a rally car chassis and it got battered about and thrown away. I decided that now would be a good time to build a road version, using my drift chassis.

The main reason for using the xray chassis is that it was easier to find a 200mm wide subaru imprezza and my xray chassis is 200mm wide with zero offset wheels, and I can fine tune the width and wheelbase to suit anything from 250mm to 265mm wheelbase.

I opted for the 2004 monte carlo body by hpi as it came with a nice sticker sheet. The wheel choice is either love it or hate it, they were cheap and they came with tyres glued on, the colour was chosen to match as best I could to the main stickers on the car. It will be tamiya ps16 blue with silver backing, magnetic rear body posts and if funds allow, I would like the spring loaded front body posts, but they are £18 in the uk, but go with the rally car theme. I am going to do a step by step guide on this one, the magnets will go on the rear wing, which will be screwed to the body then they are out of the way.

[ploots 185]

I will be watching this with interest 

[Matty36 267]

I forgot about the interior, I have got a pair of seats coming for it, but I'm undecided on how to make a dashboard. 

[Matty36 267]

I will always check the wheelbase is correct before thinking about trimming the bodyshell, as any adjustments can be done when the body is clear as it's easier to see. The chassis is 204mm wide, so it needs some adjusting once the body is cut out, but it allows me to mount it central. I probably wont cut the arches until it is painted, but I will mark the hub centres, I will use a compass cutter as it is a lot cleaner and I have been using one for 20 years. 

 

[Matty36 267]

The front body mounts havent arrived yet, so I thought I would start with the interior. I decided against buying the standard interior as i like a challenge, so i decided to use easy to get items. I bought a pair of seats off ebay, and a household container from the super market. On first mockup, I will need to move the battery tray into the rear area behind the seats. I would like to use some car speaker box carpet to look like a real interior. The dashboard should sit on top of the container. I will make a roll cage out of some tubing and some threaded rod. The pictures are not great due to the protective coating on the bodyshell.

 

[Matty36 267]

I will cut out the rear wheel wells, then think about cutting the middle to fit around the drive train.

[Matty36 267]

The postman delivered the body posts for the front, I went for a scale look as I like the body mounts on a full scale rally car. Luckily Overdose have the answer, they work pretty well. More progress to come soon, I am working on the interior but it has to fit around the drive train, rear shock mount and motor.

[Problemchild 2149]

Looking good 

 

JJ

[Matty36 267]

Ok, that's as far as I got as it was getting late, some adjustment needed to clear the front shocks, then i can cut out the motor gap and bolt it all together.

[Matty36 267]

Ok, I messed the first attempt up, I had cut it too short, so I made the new one fit better. I still need to cut the motor hole and work out how to fit a battery, esc and receiver.

[martinjpayne 273]

@Matty36 Where in the UK did you get the Overdose spring body posts? I can't find them anywhere.

[Matty36 267]

52 minutes ago, martinjpayne said:

@Matty36 Where in the UK did you get the Overdose spring body posts? I can't find them anywhere.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Overdose-bonnet-catch-Rc-Drift-Asbo-Rc/333707001408

[Matty36 267]

The final job was to start trimming the body, I started with the wheel arches for now. More progress over the next few days, the black carpet has arrived ready to trim the interior once i decide on how to give it the right shape.

[Qed296 249]

The arch's look really neatly cut, can I see the compass cutter/brand you use.

Looking good.

[Matty36 267]

9 hours ago, Qed296 said:

The arch's look really neatly cut, can I see the compass cutter/brand you use.

Looking good.

This is the one I use, that and some curved lexan scissors.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233370728182

[Qed296 249]

Thank you 

[Matty36 267]

Just some fine adjustments needed before starting to prep for paint.

[Grumpy pants 4485]

17 hours ago, Matty36 said:

This is the one I use, that and some curved lexan scissors.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233370728182

Thanks for sharing this tool Matty.

I have just bought one, it will encourage me to tackle my 1st lexan shell 👍

[Matty36 267]

7 hours ago, Grumpy pants said:

Thanks for sharing this tool Matty.

I have just bought one, it will encourage me to tackle my 1st lexan shell 👍

That's good, I have used the same tool on all my touring car body shells, the only one i didn't use it on was the escort cosworth as it doesnt have round arches. Just do a few light presses, they are pretty sharp.

[Grumpy pants 4485]

A couple of questions Matty as my cutter arrived yesterday 👍 ( £3.15 delivered from eBay). 

Do you fit the body shell to the chassis to set the ride height and then mark the wheel arch cut out using the diameter of the wheel plus a couple of MM’s for clearance? 

[Matty36 267]

3 hours ago, Grumpy pants said:

A couple of questions Matty as my cutter arrived yesterday 👍 ( £3.15 delivered from eBay). 

Do you fit the body shell to the chassis to set the ride height and then mark the wheel arch cut out using the diameter of the wheel plus a couple of MM’s for clearance? 

On the subaru one, I lined the rear up first, marked the front post holes and mounted the shell. I used the markings on the shell and cut it out using the cutter, then adjusted the front wheels to sit correctly.

Do you have a bodyshell that has the wheel arches pre marked and are round, if so then it's a lot easier.

Basically I sit the car central to the wheel arches, mark the body post locations, drill the holes and sit the body on the chassis. Trim the lower edge of the shell along the side skirt markings and trim the front and rear so it's all level. Set the ride height so the centre of the wheel arch is in the centre of the wheel, then mark the centre of the wheel nut with a black marker. Take the cutter, adjust so it is just bigger than the wheel, check it will cut along the pre marked wheel arches, then make a small hole with the cutters point and gently cut the arch out.

If the body doesnt have round arches pre marked, like the escort cosworth one I did, then you will just need curved scissors.

If the body has only the front arches pre marked, then I just line the fronts up and dont worry about the back, just level the shell and cut by using the wheel centre as a guide.

[TwistedxSlayer 1290]

Looking good

[Matty36 267]

A little bit more progress, the rear magnets are under the rear wing, not yet glued on because I need to paint the wing first. The front lip spoiler needed trimming as I want this shell to sit quite low and the centre touches the ground too easily, so I gave it a small adjustment. The motor is mounted now, I just need to decide where to place the esc, receiver and battery.

[Matty36 267]

The top part of the rear wing is not stuck on yet until its painted, which might be the next job, prep for paint. The esc may well end up underneath the dashboard with the battery opposite the motor. The interior I think will be painted blue to match the exterior with black carpet and black dashboard.

[Matty36 267]

Masked up ready to start the paint process. The rear wing needs to be black with blue ends, so I used some spare masking from the window masks. This will be a basic paint job, I will not be masking the lights or air intakes like i did on the skyline bodyshell.