Cougar conversion - Project Franken Kitty (highwayracer)

[highwayracer]

I picked up a schumacher truck shortly after the Top Cat purchase as a parts car. The chassis was in really good condition and it came with the aluminum gearbox. Looking at the auction pictures, I knew it had some problems, but I've seen much worse.

I restored the Top Cat the other week and was able to save that chassis. This opened up a lot of possibilities for the Shotgun. The first challenge was trying to remember what this thing was. I have a lot of Schumacher literature from this era and I was able to identify the model and determine what was missing / broken.

I was originally going to restore it as a truck...but after seeing all of the Cougar pics here, I decided to convert it to a buggy instead. Here are some pictures from the auction:

schumacher shotgun 1.jpg (36.57 KiB) Viewed 2480 times

schumacher shotgun 1.jpg (36.57 KiB) Viewed 2480 times

schumacher shotgun 2.jpg (34.79 KiB) Viewed 2480 times

schumacher shotgun 2.jpg (34.79 KiB) Viewed 2480 times

schumacher shotgun 3.jpg (37.35 KiB) Viewed 2480 times

schumacher shotgun 3.jpg (37.35 KiB) Viewed 2480 times

Regards,
Roger

[highwayracer]

On a positive note, the truck did come with some rare upgrades (left to right top to bottom):

1. Lightweight "oval" wheels
2. Associated arms
3. Tamiya shock collars on corsion coated shocks
4. Pre-glued front hubs
5. Home Depot hinge pins (box of 500 for $3.49)
6. Very rare Futaba s-148 bluetooth servo. No wires required...just pair it with the receiver.

[Incredible_Serious]

Holy Awesome Upgrades, Batman.....

[GJW]

have to be the best find for december hey roger lets see that topcat

[highwayracer]

I've been gathering parts for months and since I had everything,the build came together really quick. I'm very pleased with the results.

I wound up using Assoicated shocka all around...the light green version with aluminum caps. The Schumacher shocks feel pretty decent, but they're not as smooth as these. I also wanted a medium length shock for the front, so they fit the bill perfectly. I used a B2 front shock tower to get the right amount of suspension travel.

I used the stock rear shock tower, but I mounted some wing mounts to it.

The chassis was polished and then I took it down a notch...so there is still a reflection, but not quite a mirror finish.

The wheels were from a Schumacher Rascal but I had to modify them to fit. The Rascal uses a larger bearing...so I had to shave off some material from the "castle" reducing the diameter. I don't think I've seen another Schumacher car with these wheels...it reminds me of the jrx2 5 spoke wheels.

I guess the biggest problem is what to call it. I'm not sure if I want to call it a Cougar..but it's definately not a Shotgun. Maybe "Franken Kitty"

Regards,
Roger

[highwayracer]

I painted up a Top Cat body for this project and used....20 year old spray paint. Well, it didn't spray, so I had to break open the can and I BRUSHED it on. I was really careful laying down the paint because I knew it would leave brush strokes. I used Pactra Pearl Coral (RC 259) and it has a metalic color to it. With the brush marks, the body looks like it's anodized aluminum. I accidentally did this 20+ years ago on a different body, so I knew what the final finish would look like.

I threw on some decals, but I didn't have any Schumachers...I think it still came out pretty decent. This one's done

[Mr. ED]

Done? You still have to put electronics in, test run- tune, and race it before its retirement.
The car is just asking for some action

[klavy69]

I painted up a Top Cat body for this project and used....20 year old spray paint. Well, it didn't spray, so I had to break open the can and I BRUSHED it on.

looks pretty good. Got some of that same paint and alway wondered what it looked like. I'm likin FrankenKitty

Todd

[losiXXXman]

That turned out beautiful Roger. I too like the unique-ness of the wheels. Paint color and scheme reall work well together on the old topcat body.

[Bormac]

Great work again Roger.

I am a fan of the Topcat/Cougar and built mine according to what the cars would have looked like when the first upright kits would have been released by Schumacher. I prefer the look of the Topcat shell over that of the Cougar1 body too.

Sorry to hijack with a pic of mine but I believe we share many of the same build options

[isobarik]

loving the wheels so ill be stealing that for my cats btw have an part number ???

those 4 ribbed proline tires i have a bunch of them ...

mvh Isobarik

[Coelacanth]

I painted up a Top Cat body for this project and used....20 year old spray paint. Well, it didn't spray, so I had to break open the can and I BRUSHED it on.

That color looks great, haven't seen it before! I have some cans of Pactra that don't seem to have any more propellant in them, one of which was a completely full can that choked up and refused to spray after a few seconds. I'm interested to know how you broke open the can to make use of the contents, I'm paranoid about the "Explosive contents" warning label.

The same thing happened with a practically full can of WD-40 that was sitting in my garage. The shit won't spray and you can hear plenty of it sloshing around in the can. Very annoying!

[Incredible_Serious]

The same thing happened with a practically full can of WD-40 that was sitting in my garage. The shit won't spray and you can hear plenty of it sloshing around in the can. Very annoying!

Have you thought about rubbing the can with bad vindaloo curry?

[highwayracer]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I got that can from a friend of mine...and I normally don't use colors like that. I mixed up my own green paint for my cars and when I use to paint bodies for people...they usually picked the standard colors. These oddball coral and metalic paints are begining to look very appealing to me...especially when using retro style design.

loving the wheels so ill be stealing that for my cats btw have an part number ???
mvh Isobarik

I really like the unique look. It's not a classic 5 spoke/star design nor is it a dish. To me, it looks like a modern version of the losi 5 spoke wheel. The part number is U3086 - White Wheel 5 Spoke Rascal

I have some cans of Pactra that don't seem to have any more propellant in them, one of which was a completely full can that choked up and refused to spray after a few seconds. I'm interested to know how you broke open the can to make use of the contents, I'm paranoid about the "Explosive contents" warning label.

Since I knew there was very little pressure left in the can, I turned it upside down and punchered a small hole at the bottom corner using a small nail. After releasing all the remining pressure, I made the hole bigger and poured the contents out. If you'll be spraying the paint using an air brush, you should thin it out just a little since the paint would have thickened up a bit.

[notme]

Very nice build, I also have a shotgun and am planning on making it a cougar. I have most of the parts and new body, just need the skinny front rims. Hard to find.