Frederik

Also I read they are easy to modify and lengthen to fit custom projects. Can be made virtually any lenght with longer rear links and simple chassis mod. I like the somewhat scale setup too as there are quite some trucks with independent front and solid rear axle. I would like to get one someday to play with a bit!

Thanks TamiyaCowboy for the tips on the soldering. I did not think of putting solder on the parts to prep them, will have to test that! I usually brush the two parts, add flux everywhere I want solder to go, and heat for a few seconds, then try to have the solder sip in. I an not very good yet at it though lol I am not sure where I would find copper sheet locally though, do you have an idea of places where this can be commonly found other than specialized hobby shops? I plan to do the trans tunnel, solder it in place and only then proceed to cut under the car just the right amount.

From time to time you can find long suspension arm set on ebay, I have one and like the improved geometry. It only marginally widens the car though, that's not the point of the kit. It is designed so the arms pivots are further apart and attach further on the knuckle. It is usually pretty steep price though. There is currently none available (just did a search) but they cost like 60 to 90$. I am not saying you need these, but thought you might like to know they exist in case you did not know. Tamiya part number is 53430

Here are examples of transmission tunnels I could probably do. I would like to be able to solder it to the floor with minimal apparent seam, and I do all the sheet cutting and folding manually, so I might have to keep it simple.

And for you guys who like these little Escorts, I put the MK1 shell on to see how it looks standing on its wheels: And also the Mk1 shell halves are not bolted together, so it makes for a nice scale work in progress

Thanks TurboFurballs! You can post the pics directly, I'm ok with that! I edited the quote to embed them. Yes I do plan to make a transmission and driveshaft tunnel, probably not as rounded as the factory one because rounded shapes and steel are two things I cannot mix it will look more like the rally modded Escorts where they make a new tunnel either to lower the car more or bring the engine back a few inches. These are usually more boxy, but still have the trans tunnel slope. When I will be done with the steering setup I will move on to motor/tranny/driveshaft mounting, as well as trans tunnel. I did not know Colin McRae had white escorts, I did a quick google image search but it was unclear which one was Colin's, there were not much white ones. There was a lot of red/black ones though, and I like that scheme too: So I believe it will either be all white or a scheme like the red black Colin Mcrae Escort. I am wondering if red helps see the details or if it is the opposite. I'd like the color to help show the shapes. A slightly dirty white painted chassis should highligth the details nicely

Rothmans colors would be nice! But I have a buddy who already made a Rothmans RWD Escort MK2 over at Scale4x4rc so I might go a different route. Quite possibly try to mimic a sponsor-less white car similar to Simon McKinley. Just plain white. Still have some time to think about colors though! (sorry, colours!! ) Update!! Well past due update hahaha It sits on its four wheels for the first time! I was able to complete the second side of the front suspension, minus the steering knuckle which is not done on that second side, the final steering knuckle is not designed yet anyway. The suspension is completely compressed on the front in the first pic as there are no springs on the struts. The rear is sprung though. Here you can kind of see how I plan to do the steering, I will have two pull cables attached to the M3 screw in the center, one cable to the left and one to the right. It looks as if the brakes cables I got from Preston (thanks bud!) might just work, I thought it was smaller but had a look and it is bigger than I recalled (the yellow one). And now that it sits on four wheels, the mandatory flex shots! lol believe it or not all four wheels are on the ground in the pics. Well there are no springs on the front so that's kind of cheating, it obviously help get to max droop on the lifted wheels: Regarding the cable steering, I will use guitar strings as to not scrap the piece of brake cable I got. It fits in the plastic sheat, it is pretty much the same size as the cable and already comes with loops at the end to attach to my M3 bolt lol Once I sort out the lengths and details, if it looks like it will work I will cut the actual brake cable. Thanks for looking!

Thanks a lot!! I appreciate the kind words! I hope I can resume the Thuesdays hobby nights next week I know I know! It's been forever since the last real progress!! thanks for the slight push though! Always need a little push from you guys haha because sometimes I can't kick myself!

Haha thanks a lot for the words mate! In fact this build came to me the same way, after seeing Trini2Dbone's RWD Escort build at scale4x4rc.org I could'n help but do my own. I loved the front engine/solid axle rear and had to try my own. I'll be glad if you keep the inspiration "chain" going lol!! Small update! I ended up doing just a bit the other day, I started the second strut but this time instead of using a drill bit of the approximate bearing size (which was a bit too sloppy fit on the first strut) I put the 4 jaw chuck on the lathe, drilled a center, and bored the hole until perfect diameter. The bearings a just snug enough, night and day difference! Will likely end up doing the same on the other side, but later (for now the sloppy one still works lol). I got a few things that interrupted me so I was not able to do more than that... And I'm away all week next week so there will likely not be much progress in the next days. Thanks again for the comments and make sure to let me know when you start your build I love cars builds!

Here is a pic of the battery and charger, all that is from my girlfriend for Christmas gift pretty cool, I did not have any vintage HPI wheels and tires:

Zardoz, thanks!! I would certainly love to see these in real life, they are so cool cars. Glad you like my project! BenK, thanks to you too! with the holidays there is a bunch of stuff going on and even though I am on vacation since dec. 20th I have not find any time to work on this.. The 2S lipo saddle pack is in along with the lipo charger though! Still quite some work to do before I can put these in use, and I dont really have any esc suitable for it so I'll have to look around.

Mini-z, Bicko, Optimus, thank you for the nice words!! I have not been able to put much time lately on it, hopefully will this week. I put some oil in the rear shocks (they were new and never filled), and also started to play with servo placement and think of how I will attach the steering servo. It will be under the dash, and a rod will push on a pivot arm to convert the longitudinal rod movement to a lateral movement, and put a small link on the output pivot arm to move the steering rack. It will be clearer when I post pics Thanks again all for following along even if I am not really a quick builder!!

For a steering rack, I thought I would be using seals similar to shocks, at either end of a rack, so it would slide nicely, and possibly using bearings, but I found in my parts some shiny shaft probably used in some touring car's drive train. It just happens to fit exactly inside of the larger size of brake line I have! And it slides effortlessly! Just need to make a slot in the brake line, put a screw in the center of the pin, and this screw will be what the servo will attach to. Then the servo would be where the radiator would be, servo horn facing down. I imagine a steering system similar to kid's pedal car, if that makes sense to you. On to the pics, and the now usual video I guess videos are useful now that things get moving (literally) ! http://youtu.be/O5vyLE-7-XY Thanks for looking!!

Thanks a lot for the comment! Glad you found the thread and decided to chime in!! Thanks buddy! It is nice to have feedback from full scale enthusiasts and see you like the project! Thanks for following! Yes I like the funky angles these escorts get on the front suspension on full droop, and the steep angle of the A arms when unloaded. This contributes to the high roll center like the real thing, I think I got most of the suspension geometry right! I would not be surprised to see it turn on 3 wheels! It is quite some work but when you enjoying it is never seems like too much work, especially with comments from people like you! Thanks for the kind words guys!

Update! I thought I would have to use the tamiya avante ball links instead of the RW4WD ones, but they ended up giving just the right amount of movement, provided the arms are short enough to give some negative camber when compressing, and positive camber when in droop (which is what the real escorts do anyway with their short arms). I made the lower cross member as well as another cross member up front where I will attach the sway bar (which will at the same time triangulate the control arm). I think I got the geometry pretty right! The wheel tucks in the fender nicely when compressed. Here is the first cross member, kind of dummy for now but it helped put the main cross member and keep the right width between frame pieces: The main cross member partially made: And the pretty much finished piece: And here is a short vid of the strut movement, of course I will need a link to prevent the link from moving fore-aft: That's it for now! The cross member was pretty long to do, I did not want to mess up the dimensions and geometry, I am very happy with the result! Fred

Hahaha yes I need some update (i.e. hobby time) too I plan to work on this tonight, so there should be an update late tonight!

Thanks a lot for the kind words Ben! I guess the rust appearing everywhere adds to the realism too Hopefully it does not rust through and need restoration before it is completed hahaha

Thanks a lot guys!! I might not be able to progress much this week on this project, but I'll keep you updated as I go. Next I am going to sort out the lower arm length and then fab a lower cross frame to hold the arms.

Quick view with body on and the high offset wheels in the back (and less offset in the front). Also I loaded the car with some parts to compress the suspension a bit though the front is still high for now.

Thanks a lot guys!! I have just weighed it yesterday, with on board all parts I could think of that will be used, it currently weigh at 4 lbs which is not all that bad I think I left the masking tape body shim in there just to account for some of the added crap I will add lol Not sure how much weight is a regular 1/10 car with battery and everything loaded though, I'll have to weigh my 1/10 Tamiya TB-01 Rally Subaru to compare I guess.

Tonight I made some progress on the front struts (well only one side!) I made the upper mount, and also redid the strut itself better, with an extra untrimmed piece where I will attatch the steering arm. I need to go to sleep now so I will let the pics do the talking Here are the F104 parts used to do the upper mount: That's it for tonigh, baby steps I guess! Lol I did not even start doing the lower crossmember, I wanted to have the upper end of the strut located first. Fred

hahaha yes the "cool little car" comment was definitely not because of the looks! Just somehow technically cooler than it seems to be at first glance. Loved the "make onions cry" thing lol

lol! at first I thought that was funny, but I just had a good read about the 2CV and despite its apparent basic and crappy design (to the untrained eye) there is quite some nice engineering put into it. Cool little car with unusual suspension indeed Here is what I just read, interesting to know the initial concept was with 8 torsion bars. http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/curbside-classic-1969-citroen-2cv-the-most-original-car-ever/ http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/citroen-2-cv-leaning.jpg http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Citroen-2CV-chassis.jpg http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Citroen-2CV-suspension.png

Thanks Bicko!! I don't know what the next one will be but if you find me another car with unsual suspensions setup I might give it a try lol Here is another "pretend that there is more done than there actually is" mock up pic the strut assembly mocked up under the fender: