My TOP CAT Runner....

[Mad Racer]

Im sorry to here that the Trash bin saw it. Many rc cars end up there too.

I never sell or get rid of my vintage buggies. I learnt the hard way too. I had a Kyosho Lazer ZXR that i got really cheap. I ended up trading it back to the owner after 2 yrs for somthing stupid.

Im lucky that Jason helped me with this one but still has a little more work to go.

I really love the inboard front shocks. As i said i have put Yeah racing shocks on and new JC racing wheels.

My Pro Cat is of bormac too.

[Mad Racer]

Ok. You all win.

Here she is Naked LOL.

[Bormac]

Hi Mark,
I thought I'd post a pic of my Topcat's set up for you. This seems to work for me but Im still yet to make a better battery hold down.

[DerbyDan]

Man i'd love to get my hands on a TopCat ..... all I have left of mine is the box

The layout of the electrics in your car Jason is super neat, I especially like the upright mounting of the low-pro KO servo! Plenty of room to add weight where it is needed. I see that you have also mounted the crashback bands outside of the bulkhead... IIRC the weakpoint seemed to be the lug inside the bulkhead that you'd wrap the bands around.

Also - if you wanted to convert a Cougar into a TopCat (Isn't it strange how things go around ) Would you need the TopCat chassis with the shock mount holes, or did the Cougar continue to have these fixing holes in their chassis plates?

[Bormac]

I have the rubber bands inside also. I've found they tend to snap pretty easy as they are more of an 'O' ring seal rather than elastic band. Little stretch before they snap so I have that emergency extral mounting incase things go bad trackside.
I've run a couple of Topcats at vintage get togethers over the years and found the 'push' into corners a real problem. My current set up makes all the difference and can now corner much better.
The Cougar was an almost identical car and yes it still has those holes for the lay down shocks. I have a new flat plate graphite pan here somewhere that also had the holed there too.
Find yourself a good Cougar and then a Topcat front end and you are good to go. I still have many new front end Topcat parts if you need any.

[RCveteran]

Thanks, let the cougar hunt begin!

[DerbyDan]

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/trades_model.asp?cid=96054

Stange actually, Cougars (especially the Club10 version) seem to come up quite regularly on ebay.uk & don't tend to command too much ££s... unlike their 4wd CAT counterparts... TopCat specific parts are a rare commodity though.

Thanks for the insight Jason.... I think I put a screw through the bulkhead halves either side where the lugs once were to pick up the ends of the crashback bands....

[Bormac]

Its funny because the Topcat's popularity was very short lived. While there was all this excitement building with Schumacher releasing a purpose built 2WD car (not a 2WD version of the 4WD CAT) and its 'hush hush' type secrecy of design with the promo adds displaying a car draped with a cloth ( ) , it didn't take long for an upright front suspension system to be designed and released thus the Cougar was born.
Im not absolutely certain but I'd say the Topcat may have had a year tops with the inboard shocks before racers opted for the Cougar front end that was soon on offer even before the car was released.

Despite my best efforts with this car its the 'ratio' of those pivot rockers thats the real problem. Even with the heaviest of coils and dampening the front end still feels too light at times. Not like the upright set up at all.

Love it or hate it, its still a seriously cool car and in the past Ive sold good examples for a very healthy amount of $$$.

[DerbyDan]

They are sub-zero in coolness

When I brought my TopCat it would have been about 1989/1990... I know that at the time the Cougar had already been released (I got it cheap because it was the superceeded car). So, as you say it, couldn't have been on general sale for very long... I guess the TopCat makes Edinger RC10s look common as muck!

I didn't get on very well with my TopCat - I remember having a few issues building it (which as a 13/14 yr old isn't too suprising) - think I set the belt too tight to start with & left off the sleeves which spaced off the spring cups on the front, so the steering levers rubbed on them I learn't alot from it though as I mackled up the Mardave Meteor front end onto the Schumacher.... there's a picture of it in this guise somewhere on my Tamiyaclub showroom.

I eventually got brought (for xmas) the Cougar conversion kit.... which must have been when the Cougar 2 had just been released as I also was given a Cougar 2 shell & Aerodish wheels to finish it off..... so I was still behind spec-wise However with this car I had some reasonable success - & with it my ability went from 'beginner to average', I got my 1st trophy with it too, coming 2nd in the 2wd A final at my first ever outdoor off road meeting!

Anyway... I digress......

[dangermouse]

Despite my best efforts with this car its the 'ratio' of those pivot rockers thats the real problem. Even with the heaviest of coils and dampening the front end still feels too light at times. Not like the upright set up at all.

I think the biggest problem was that the pushrods weren't physically connected to the pivot rockers. No suspension control in droop.

[QuackingPlums]

If you put too heavy an oil in the front shocks or stiffened the springs too much then it was possible for the pushrods to slip off the pivots altogether, jamming the front down in its lowest position - always obvious when that had happened and usually meant game over at the next jump!

[Mad Racer]

Despite my best efforts with this car its the 'ratio' of those pivot rockers thats the real problem. Even with the heaviest of coils and dampening the front end still feels too light at times. Not like the upright set up at all.

I think the biggest problem was that the pushrods weren't physically connected to the pivot rockers. No suspension control in droop.

Never thought of that. Im stunned now that Shumacher even realesed it it like that.

No damping on the down travell. Unless the spring will always be faster on the rebound to the suspenion rocker movement. I did read in the instructions that you should use the lightest oil as possable just to stop any bounce. Ceciel Schumacher was a designer for a Top F1 team and im sure he would have thought of this.

Oh well can't wait to test it and see my self.