Original Release Topcat, reborn

[MotoRapido]

New to the Forum and haven't done R/C stuff for years, but with Lockdown i thought i'd get the old gear out.

Well eventually rescued this from my Dads loft were its resided for about 20years, original tyres were shot and wheels buckled from a carpet being on top of it, but after a clean up and some new bits its got this stage. I cut the nose of the body years ago when i mounted the shocks upright but have gone back to the lay flats.

Spent a bit of money on it so far, budget brushless motor and ESC, Lipo pack i already had from an MTB light custom setup, it just fits lengthways.
cheap servo and R/C setup.
i didn't want to drill the chassis to mount any of the newer kit, hence the blue poly foam plate that acts as an adaptor and uses existing chassis holes.
New wheels and tyres to run 2.2 tyres, now fully ball raced, rear strut C/F link and an attempt at linking the shocks.
What else should i do to get the front end to behave and have some level of turn in grip,
Can anyone share the dimensions of the pivots on the proper Aluminium rocker links, and i'll have another go in C/F.

[MotoRapido]

I modified the front shock actuators to link the shocks to the suspension arms but am going to try them again because they don't really improve the huge understeer issues or sag.
Can anyone share the dimensions for the alloy bell cranks in the upgrade kit please, I just need the pivot centre distances.
The parts in this upgrade kit, Schumacher Alloy Front Shock Rocker Conversion - Top Cat (U7599)

Am also looking at modding the front suspension arms and top mounts to replicate the ' Works upgrades', i found on an old magazine scan.
This showed the changes as, 5mm shorter bottom arms, top arms are 5mm shorter and the knuckle moved back 5mm to give more castor angle. Additional steering arm links to give more Ackerman steering angle. New top arm mounting blocks with the additional hole for a limit screw to set the height of maximum droop.
Has anyone tried this or can confirm the length of these modified arms so i can compare it to the standard kit arms.

Cheers for any help or advice.

[Retro rc]

Here's the narrow front end conversion avaliable direct from Schumacher


https://www.racing-cars.com/1-10th-2wd-buggy/top-cat/top-cat-parts=bodys-decals,chassis-parts,option-parts,suspension,wheels/narrow-front-end-conversion-top-cat-u7681?returnurl=%2f1-10th-2wd-buggy%2ftop-cat%2ftop-cat-parts%3dbodys-decals%2cchassis-parts%2coption-parts%2csuspension%2cwheels%2f%3fcount%3d48

[MotoRapido]

Thanks, i know about that kit but that only goes halfway to the upgrades i've seen described as the 'Works Upgrades'
Found an article on another forum from Radio Control Car Action. May 1990, that describes the following upgrades that the factory drivers got.
1, New rear arms that better aligned the driveshafts and pulled the back wheels 8mm forward Part No T268,
2, New top A arms with the ball socket pulled back 5mm Part No T214, ( this should give more Castor angle i think)
3, New Bottom arm 5mm shorter, (narrows the track by 10mm)
4, Additional part added to the Hub Carriers (pivot blocks) that moves the steering link in by 10mm at a 35 degree angle, this increases the Ackermann angle, and requires a swap of the steering turnbuckle links to the same length as the rear suspension upper link
5, New shock rockers part T247, i have these but am going to link the rocker and top arm.
6,Steering levers Part No T241 to stop rubbing apparently.

So trying to work out which of these bits i have, and if the narrow front end with the aluminium arms is narrower again than these upgrades.
What the centres distance is of the Alloy suspension rockers and do they give a different shock leverage ratio to the standard kit setup.

any help with the dimensions of these bits would be appreciated.

[MotoRapido]

Well, steering mods are underway, trial fit of the new linkage in C/F plate, should increase the Ackermann angle.

[MotoRapido]

Making progress on the front end, narrowed the bottom arms by 5mm,
Designed up and ran off new top mount arms that move the attachment point in 5mm to match the bottom arms, raise it 5mm to make the front arms parallel, and back 4mm to increase the castor angle.
Designed and ran off some new rocker links that need beefing up but have plenty of clearance.
New steering links to increase Ackerman,
and finally added links to attach the arms to the rockers.

[MotoRapido]

Trial install