Alright, a few updates...
Just spent that past weekend in a friends greenhouse making a basic track to rip around on and whatnot.... Well, I must have been antsy to open her up because I drove the ol' GB-02 probably the hardest she's been driven in the past year and half. Broke the front bumper and front section of the lower susp. mount (which are actually VERY stout pieces). I also snapped off the rear body mount, which is the second one I've broken. And, the top headlights popped out on the first crash, but I typically take them out when driving and just put them in my pocket because they always pop out. Not a big deal.
I honestly think the cold temperature was the main factor in the ease of parts snapping, due to being more brittle compared to warmer temps when I usually drive it (crash it!).
Very surprised more didn't break actually!
So, after getting home a bit earlier I decided she needed some TLC and I sat down and made her a nice custom front bumper and skid plate. I used some old parts from a Mini-T, a dremel, and a drill.
I also made a rear wing mount for a 3Racing wing. Even though I don't necessarily like wings, nor did I think the Buggy Champ would look good with one, I thought that maybe the wing could take the brunt of crash forces off of that rear body mount that keeps snapping. Now after seeing it, I do actually think it looks decent with a wing on the Buggy Champ though.
Also, one nice touch, I managed to make this wing mount so the Buggy Champ body is still removeable, which is not possible with a stock TamTech wing mount, nor the 3Racing alu. wing mount. Those pieces are meant for a body that does not wrap around the rear of the chassis, like Desert Gator and Fox for example.
And, one important note, NONE of these mods altered the original GB-02 in any way that would prevent me from putting it all back to 100% original in just a matter of minutes. A very good thing the way I see it because I absolutely love an original GB-02!
Oh, also I managed to drill out some of the DP "Sedan" 1/10 scale wheel adapters for the front of the GB-02. Sorry, no pics of them alone. It was much harder than I imagined. I snapped two in half. They get so soft when thinning down, and almost near impossible to clamp or hold!
I just picked up these Jaco wheels about a week ago at a LHS, so I thought I'd see what they look like on the Tamtech with my new converters. Looks pretty cool. Unfortunately, the front rims rub juuuust a hair on the steering knuckle when turning hard. I'll either have to look for a rim with a different offset, or try to manufacture some sort of spacer to fit the axle.
Anyway, check out the photos. I think the Buggy Champ is lookin' pretty lean and mean racer style now with this basic make-over. Amazing how much different something can look with just a few alterations. I took the headlights off for the racer look in these photos, but they will go back on with the dirt tires!
This is actually 2 Mini-T front skid plates stacked up. The plastic black one fits PERFECT in between the clearances there, but I decided to add the silver alu. one just for bling for the moment, and maybe it would slide a bit better and front heavy landings.
looks factory...
perfect steering clearance:
Let's hear what you think! more to come still... but this is it for Stage R3.2, haha.