ORV with SRB front suspension

I'm sure this would be eligible for the 'Fusion' competition - as indeed pretty much all of my other vehicles are, but instead I thought I'd simply share this with you...

It's not a new idea, although relatively rare still, so hopefully this will inspire a few people to take the plunge themselves once I've got it all figured out!

For now, this is the first stage...

I was never happy with the look nor action of the ORV front suspension on my Fro-Sco (Frog-Scorcher hybrid) - the suspension was sloppy, and looked clunky compared to the svelte and scale SRB front end.

In addition, the ORV front track width is significantly wider than the SRB, and this was exacerbated by the fact I'd chopped the front wheel arches very narrow...

I considered narrowing the ORV suspension (which I did by flipping the original upper links as lowers, and using shorter upper links), and disguising the Meccano style metalwork with a pair of scale shocks on custom towers...

But then I thought I'd still not be really happy with that visually, so took the plunge and purchased the various SRB parts I'd need (together with some existing hardware and the original steering knuckles from the ORV chassis which happen to be the same).

Fortunately everything fits together [almost] as if they were made for each other - the body (with a Blitzer Beetle nose) clearing the SRB suspension, even though the wheelbase will need to be a touch longer than before, so I can retain my vertically mounted spare wheel.

Hope you like where this is going... More soon, once I have fabricated a suitable alloy skid-plate to mount the shock towers to!

Update 8th Nov 2015: I have fabricated a suitable alloy skid plate to tie the two halves together, but have found that for the SRB steering to work correctly, the arms really need to run perpendicular to the chassis...

Therefore to do a proper job, I've decided to invest in a low-profile servo (which I shall mount directly to the new skid plate) to keep everything as simple as possible... hopefully that will arrive soon and the final reconnection can take place.

In the meantime, at least it is standing on it's wheels again at last!

More soon!

Jenny xx