Schumacher Cougar/shotgun hybrid

[AndyMan]

Hi guys

I'm new to the forum so please bear with me, while in lockdown I decided to have a rummage through some of my old stuff in the garage and rediscovered my old rc truck I was given about 10 years ago.

I popped into my local model shop with it when I first got it hoping they could help me identify it, it turned out that one of the guys in there used to race Schumacher stuff back in the day but he wasnt sure on an exact model as it seems to be a bit of a mix match of parts.

I stopped using it as it started to develop a loss of drive, it also started to make some horrible noises. I decided to stop before I ended up breaking something, at the time I hadn't really put much effort into finding out which model it was so I gave up on trying to find parts for it.

Fast forward 9 years and a global meltdown I've decided to try and get this model running again, I'm still not exactly sure which model it is, the chassis seems to be a Cougar 2 Works from what my research over the last few days tells me but it obviously is running as a truck not a buggy so I assume it has some storm or shotgun parts on it.

I've been stripping down all the transmission over the last couple of days after work to try and find a source of the issue, the nearside seemed to bind up when spinning forward, a quick spin in the other direction and it would loosen up again, after removing the gearbox I span the wheels and the nearside still seemed to bind up slightly so I've sourced some new bearings and fitted them.

The diff itself seems to be in pretty good condition, again from research it seems to be the old pro diff with the aluminium output shafts, it did feel a bit notchy before I took at apart though and I have found some slightly rough bearing and dirty thrust washer which looks a bit gritty. The only other issue I've found with it really is the teeth on the pulley are a little distorted in places, my hunt for a replacement gear has come up with nothing other than a used one on ebay which looks to be in worse condition than the one I've got. I'm going to get all new bearings throughout as my hobby shop only had a couple in the sizes I needed, only enough to do the wheel bearings on one side.

Hopefully with a good clean, new bearings and regrease it will run ok, all the washers look to be in good condition.

Also the driveshaft CV joints have quite a lot of slop on them, the only things I've found as a possible replacement are the CAT XLS, does anyone know if they fit?

I see theres an updated design transmission for the re released Topcat, has anyone tried fitting that into these older models?

I dont want to spend a huge amount of money on this project but it's already adding up haha, it's quite fun restoring this older model rather than just buying g a new one off the shelf.

I'm not looking to get into racing or anything, just a bit of fun driving it around some local woods with some friends trucks.

Apologies for waffling on, thanks for reading and any information you are able to share would be much appreciated

[Incredible_Serious]

Well, it is the basics for a Cougar 2 Works, and there was a truck version offered back in the day.... but there's a few things that don't seem to be correct. For one, the front tower is the standard Cougar, Shotgun or Club 10 mk1 part, rather than a Cougar2, C2 Works or Storm truck part. The rear tower looks like a Club10 part as well (maybe a mk.2), although it's hard to see very well from the photos.

The rest looks to be Works level, with the Works rear hubs, alloy roller driveshafts, ball-raced steering and purple alloy parts. The front arms are also correct for a Cougar 2 / C2 Works.

The roller driveshafts are one of the 'nice but unnecessary' parts of a Works in my opinion - if it was me, and I was running it, I'd take them off and store them, and mount some replacement driveshafts from a TopCat or XLS re-re (U7144 driveshaft plastics and U7152 uni joints if needed).

Once you replace the driveshafts and redo the diff (new bearings and regrease as you say), you should be right to go, even with your mismatched towers and tyres (front to back). Not sure if the larger rear tyres are putting too much load on your trans, though.

You won't be able to mount a TopCat re-re trans to your chassis without work, as the Works chassis tub has the rear trans holes in a different location (further back) than the stock Cougar/Cougar2/Club10/TopCat/Nitro10/Shotgun/Storm .

Alex

[AndyMan]

Hi Alex, thanks for taking the time to read through my post and give me some info, it’s much appreciated.

Good to know that I can get new driveshafts then, I’ll have a fairly big order of parts on the way now I know the driveshafts will fit.

Shame about the Topcat tranny not fitting but hopefully the one in it will survive for a bit longer, from what I remember being told about it the guy that used to own it’s son raced it. I wish I could get a new diff assembly as a backup.

I could do with some new wheels for it as well to be fair, they are a bit wonky and the castle fitment on the front two is damaged, finding buggy wheels is no problem with the re-re older models but truck ones seem rare/expensive. I’ve found a nitro model on Facebook fairly cheap that I’m thinking of buying for spares as it’s only a little more than I’ve seen people selling the wheels for alone on eBay.

I didn’t really realise the tyres would cause an issue thanks for letting me know, it’s how it came and I glued them on as they kept slipping/popping off. I’ll have to look out for a new set of tyres as well now then.

Thanks again

Andy

[Retro rc]

Hey Andy the re re transmission casing won’t fit you chassis but the topcat transmission upgrade will work In you existing case as long as you get the new accentric bearing holders to match. The larger tooth belt setup will work a lot better if your looking to run it as a truck.

Schumacher still sell the original patterns of their truck tires too

Adrian

[Retro rc]

You definitely have all the works parts on that truck, gear box chassis, rear arms and hub carriers, ball raced steering and roller drive shafts but like Alex said the front towers not right although the back looks like it’s either a Carbon c2 works tower or a painted c2 fibre glass tower. Front arms definitely are mk1 cougar not the swept back c2 version though.

Adrian

[Incredible_Serious]

Front arms definitely are mk1 cougar not the swept back c2 version though.

Yeah, you're right there Adrian, my bad there.... identified them quickly on a small screen, without looking at them in enough detail.

Alex

[Retro rc]

Lmao I hear what your saying Alex nothing worse than a small screen and a low resolution pic to mess with your eyesight ....especially when you start to get as old as I am