Dan's ProCat runner/racer project

[DerbyDan]

What setup were you running as for shock oils ect

I basically followed (as close as I could) what Phil Davies outlines in the scanned mag article on page 4 of thid thread, so;

Std Schumacher silver shocks front & rear - rebuilt with new seals & diaphrams (the diaphrams are still available from Schumacher, listed for their current small bore shock design - but fit the old shocks ) & using AE green slime. I've got 30wt oil with #2 pistons (kit) in the rear with kit springs & 25wt oil with #1 pistons (kit) in the front, again with kit springs. The front roll bar is connected & the shocks are mounted on the outer hole of the wishbones both front & rear (outer of the inner two on the front - the outer two holes are for the roll bar)

During the night I lifted the inner camber links on the rear to the upper hole to reduce the roll along with moving the rear shocks out on the lower wishbones to reduce the ride height (since I already had no spring spacers fitted). If I was to run this car outdoors on a more undulating track I would return the rear shocks to a more upright position on the next hole in along the arm & generally run it with more ride height which I guess would mean that the lower inner camber link would be better?

I did feel that the car was over-damped at the front... I used 25wt as I didn't have any 20wt, I think 20wt would be about right - likewise the rear didn't react quick enough for my liking so am contemplating going down on the oil to 25wt - also a softer spring - & if I use a shorter spring I will be able to reduce my ride height without having to compromise on shock position

[DerbyDan]

In the end I managed to finish 5th in the A final after holding 3rd for a few laps at the beginning of the race

Now.... wheres my 6.5bl motor

So I found that 6.5bl motor & put it in! Boy that made the ProCat fly! I raced the car again last night & with the car's extra speed (& punch to clear the double jump) I felt like I was much nearer the pace of the front-runners on what was a much busier race-night. I had a rather torrid time in my three qualifying runs which generally involved me moving over to let the fast guys through... who would subsquently crash... so I'd let them through again, & so-on, but I had done enough to qualify for the last spot in the 'A'. Onto the start of the A final... its sometimes better to start at the back & so it proved by picking my way past crashed cars on the first couple of corners off the start & so I found myself in 5th... the laps went by & I was really getting into the groove with the ProCat managing to stay with the field of leading cars for a short while! The two leading cars sprinted away, but having past the 4th place car (can't quite remember how) I ended up following the 3rd place car closely (A Cougar KF from memory) A couple of near grip roll moments caused me to drop back a bit but was really pleased to hold onto my 4th spot against a more competitive field!

[Peakey]

Well done dan it proves that these cars are still very capable even after a long life

[Peakey]

Dan did you have any problems fitting your servo? I was looking at mine last night and I'm not sure if it's my chassis or my servo but the holes seem to be about 2-3mm to far forward, so I'm struggling to put the mounting prices on the chassis for the servo.

On another chassis note I don't think I'm going to get my new chassis in time so I'm going to have to mod mine to take the lipos. And I'm going to try out your suggestion on mounting the steering assembly.

[tamiyadan]

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[DerbyDan]

the holes are 2-3 MM out,, what you do is use thick Servo double sided foam tape and it fills the gap so the servo sits right.

I remember having to do stuff like that in the 80s as well.

I had to spacer the front servo mount up about 2mm on some plastic spacers so that the hole would align up with the hole in the servo's mounting 'ear' ... I used the rear mount/deck spacer that came with the car as the already drilled hole aligned perfectly with my servo. But I think Peakey, it sounds like your problem is with your servo being too short? My servo is a fairly old KO 2000 series & seems to be OK. Perhaps your servo is more modern & is smaller? I would be inclined to fix the servo down with decent servo tape & just use one of the servo mounts to give you one mechanical fixing

[Peakey]

It is a new servo I've got rid of all my old ones so can't really compare but I have a small price of Perspex I'm going to try and make a mount for it if not then it's out with the servo tape.

[Peakey]

Quick question Dan do you know the bearing sizes on the pro diff ? I'm assuming the outer two are just the standard 8x16x5 but what are the others

[DerbyDan]

Quick question Dan do you know the bearing sizes on the pro diff ? I'm assuming the outer two are just the standard 8x16x5 but what are the others

Yes - the outer two are the standard 8x16x5 - the inner two (that run in the diff covers) I believe are U762J 8x12 flanged the small middle bearing (that the pulley runs on) is U1O281 1/4" x 3/8"... but i'm not sure

[Peakey]

Thanks dan

[DerbyDan]

Not sure if this works - I posted a video of the ProCat running on a grass track that my local club set-out at Wicksteed Park as part of a demonstration event during a Japanese car show over the weekend... over on IconicRC's facebook page, click on the link below;

https://www.facebook.com/groups/iconicrc/918324721514298/?notif_t=like

[DerbyDan]

I uploaded some better photos of my ProCat onto Photobucket yesterday so thought I'd post them up here

[Coelacanth]

Nice, great paint job. I love that you painted the wing consistent with the scheme on the body.

[npdp72]

Looks great Dan.
As always, a very well turned out vibtage racer.
Thanks for posting the pics.

[DerbyDan]

So I took part in IconicRC's 'Vintage Revival' meeting over the weekend of the 1st & 2nd Aug with both my MK1 Cougar and the ProCat covered by this thread. Since I won the O/A 'Champion of Champions' accolade in the 2wd class last year with my Losi JRX2.

I approached this meeting hoping to repeat my performance - but aware that this being the events 2nd year of running that more people would be attending & the event attracting more full-time racers as word has spread about last year's highly successful event! - So last years result was going to be a tough act to follow. & so it proved - especially with the Cougar in its inaugural outing (I qualified 5th in class but failed to finish the [wet] final after breaking the front pivot plate). I had more hope with the ProCat which is a car I've been racing regularly for about a year, so am confident in its reliability & I am used to the way it drives - having made some small gradual suspension adjustments to improve its handling.

Anyway, to cut a long story short - the car performed faultlessly & I managed to qualify 2nd in my class (4wd 88~93) just behind by 0.3 of a second from a well driven Egress which had been heavily modified to emulate the car Jamie Booth won the Euros with Bitd - this meant I qualified 4th in the 4wd Race of Champions - which is a handicapped race involving the top two from each class - the older cars being given a staggered head start over the newer ones. This years 'stagger' wasn't so generous & we quickly got 'gobbled' up by the two Cat 2000ECs from the newest class 94~98 but I did get past the two cars in the pre-88 class (An Optima Mid SWB & Modified HotShot) to hold onto my 4th spot O/A - so quite pleased with that. Now for some photos of my ProCat in action sporting its new shell & colours :

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Qualifying after round 3 - sitting top