It's finished.

[davemk]

Evening. 

 

Finally finished the car yesterday. I saw finished, there's a couple of jobs to complete - a bit of trimming to the undertray & shell, stickers (not sure.on this yet but will cover some dodgy painting bits) and the windows need tinting. 

 

Took it in the garden for a run and it was obvious there was a problem with something; it didn't sound right at all. Tinkered with it today and I hadn't tightened the belts anywhere near enough. I knew something wasn't right when I built in and should have sorted it then but 'shoulda, woulda, coulda' as the saying goes. Anyway, I took it all apart today, realised my epic fail and rectified it. Working perfectly now. 

 

I suspect it'll end up sitting on a shelf when the novelty runs out but I've really enjoyed the build. I've not built an RC car for 25+years and it took me back to my youth. Back then, I only ever applied paint by brush so this was my first ever attempt at airbrushing. Given the many problems I had with the airbrush (don't ask!), I'm happy with how the paint turned out. It's far from perfect but it'll do and, as I said, I'm hoping a sticker or two will cover the dodgy bits.

 

I know people say the build is a tricky one but I didn't think it was too bad. If anyone is going to build a Cat XLS though, I would really recommend doing step 43 - the steering bits - and attach it to the deck before fitting the deck. It would be a nightmare to do so after and I've no idea why Schumacher advise to do it later. I'm so glad I found that gem of advice on the internet before building.

 

On to the next one. 😜

 

 

[davemk]

 

 

[bertberr]

Looks like a nice build.  Did you stay with the standard transmission or plump for the upgraded one? What motor/esc combo you using?

[davemk]

Thanks @bertberr. 

 

I just went with the standard transmission as I wasn't looking for big power; it was more about enjoying the build process and letting the kids play with it. Same with the motor and ESC - I just went with the ones Wheelspin offered in the bundle deal, which was the Hobbywing Quicrun 1060 and Core 15T motor.  To be honest, they're fine for now and it has plenty of power. I'm sure it'll get upgraded eventually. 😂

 

 

[bertberr]

Sounds good!  Are you running on 2S or nimh?

[davemk]

NiMH for now. I did consider 2S but I've been away from RC for so long and did a bit of reading up about the different batteries. The 2S batteries seem to need a bit more care which I why I went back to NiMH. Plus, I'd already spent more than I'd originally intended - it was supposed to be a cheap kit to get my kids interested but there was hardly anything available. I'd previously had a ProCat as a kid so the man-maths kicked in and I went for the XLS 😂. 

[davemk]

@bertberr I read on another thread that you're restoring an Optima. How's that going? I had one of those back in the day. Any pics?

[bertberr]

Yeah its a Turbo Optima Mid SE, in hindsight probably should have started with a std Mid or Turbo Mid as they have the gear diffs - this is ball diffs front and rear, of which I have no experience of at all...  Never mind, in at the deep end.  The car was very original, well it was pretty much as it was when the guy or gal hung up their transmitter 25 odd years ago.  It had the all important front & rear sway bars (expensive & not easy to source if missing - many I looked at they were missing), the correct (infamous) platinum shocks, correct SE turnbuckles etc.  What it also had, which I didn't notice before buying it, was a non standard (but period) aluminium steering assembly and also modded / upgraded 48dp spur, and about a kilo of old oily grime and general detritus...  I may replace the steering assembly with standard plastic parts, and possibly revert back to a standard 0.6M spur and pinion, haven't decided yet, depends whether I'm going to restore back to 100% standard/boxart, or go with a more flexible approach.  Been ordering up a few bits & pieces where parts are missing completely or too badly worn to reuse, but generally I'm trying to retain as much of the original kit as possible.  Not really a fan of 'overly restored' old items, whether that be RC, 1:1 classic cars / bikes, vintage watches etc.  Prefer a more honest, genuine look, complete with honorary battle scars & scuffs.  Stripped about half of it down so far, but just been mega busy recently with house/garden/kids etc, but will get back to it soon.  You should pick one up to restore, much more of a challenge than simply building a new kit, but also a lot more frustrating at times...!!!

 

I can post pics here if you want, just don't want to side track your Cat XLS thread too much.

[davemk]

@bertberr Feel free to post the pics; I'm not precious when it comes to threads I've started. 😁 

 

I've just had a quick Google. I definitely wish I'd kept mine - some of them go for mega-money!! In all honesty, I don't remember which version mine was and I barely remember there being different versions. I'd imagine it was the standard version though. 

 

 

[bertberr]

Standard / original Mid boxart was white with red/yellow/black decals, Turbo Optima Mid was yellow/blue stripes, and the SE was more an orange yellow in boxart.  These three were all the SWB chassis.  Of course, back then, remembering this was a race car, very few people went boxart, so if you get an original unrestored one, chances are it will be painted in every colour of the rainbow!

 

There were then three more models on the LWB chassis, capable of running saddle packs (SWB was across the frame battery).  Which chassis did you have?

 

Here's my SE as i got it...

 

 

 

[davemk]

Ah, sounds like mine was the standard version in that case. 

 

Sounds like you have a good plan for what you want to achieve. I agree about not getting it back to 'perfection'. Is the plan to build it and use it, and will it be a shelter? Parts must be hard to come by?

[bertberr]

Yep, parts certainly aren't easy, at least over here they're not, in the US both NOS and used parts are 10 a penny. Problem comes when you want a 4 quid part and the seller over there wants to charge 15 quid shipping, plus as its over 15 quid total, you get clobbered for another 4 quid vat and 8-13 quid customs 'fee'... so your 4 quid part is now a 33 quid bit 😲  Multiply that a few times for miscellaneous bits and pieces and it starts to get pricey. To be fair, you can lucky and pick up some parts over here, more usually in a job lot of parts, and I've done just that to secure a few much needed bits, and I've also got a similar stash coming over to me now from the States, and some wheels from a Scandinavian guy.

 

I will drive it, but carefully and not regularly, I have other trucks for 'enthusiastic' running.  I'll also get some ReRe Turbo Optima wheels and Shumacher blocks for general off road running, and some CAT Full Spikes for the original Mid wheels I have coming to me.  Probably run a 14-17T brushed can and either 7.2v nimh or 2S lipo.  Just need to decide whether to go boxart or not...?  Not usually a boxart kinda guy, but do like the yellowy/orange of the Mid SE.