"Never Give Up!"
 

I lurk on this section without a murmur but here's a start to 'Project Underdog' :D

Having stupidly sold my 1st race buggy a few years ago, a Cougar Club 10 & having recently found (what is left of) my old Boomarang in my parents loft clear out I now had the need to find something to race at the Revival Saturday, but something which a remember well in my younger days.

So I found this useable Madcap on eBay complete with bearings, metal motor plate, CVA shocks & improved steering linkages.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...pssv1dbzmu.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psg15wxukt.jpg

Then (this is where things got silly :lol:) someone was selling a spares or repair car with a broken C hub, a missing rear wheel & no wing. This, annoyingly was in some ways better (& a lot cheaper!) than the first one. My plan was to use this as spares. This is it now, along with a few other parts a gathered during the 'spree'

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psr5dukn9l.jpg

I've also gathered numerous parts/upgrades including new shielded bearings, Tamiya Hop Up ball diff kit, turnbuckles, some new old stock Ballistic 2.2" front wheels dug from the depths of my local model shop & a spare set of team C shocks.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psinfwcymn.jpg

So this should've been it for now, but then... this came up:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psuycwqmze.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...pspvsb0asr.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psdahv0v7u.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...pss2e08hfr.jpg

I don't really know why I needed this :lol:

It's had precious little use, it came with a wall charger & Futaba Attack radio. The front tyres were a bit worn so I fitted new rears (which came with the first car I bought) & I have some brand new front tyres on the way.

I may keep it, sell it, I'm not entirely sure yet. The only thing I know is that I won't run it.

So the plan is to strip the 'racer' chassis, clean & re-build using the best of the spare parts & uprate to a race worthy state.

I don't actually have any brushed motors/esc's but I do have a spare 13.5 & 17.5 brushless motor & esc along with a good servo, 2.4Ghz etc.

I'm more excited by this project than the 22 3.0 I've just built for this season :rolleyes:

welcome to the mad ...... cap house :D

Mad Capsssssss
 

Lovin it matey.

Glad Im not the only one who keeps buying the same buggy.:D

Cant beat the old Tamiyas for vintage youth. I think nearly all of us at some point had a Tamiya or owned a tamiya....

Nice to see the mad cap again.:thumbsup:

Lol and it begins...... I can't stop buying the same buggy or parts for it either:wub 1 day I might even gets some pics on here lol

Keep it up let the addiction take control:thumbsup:

The madcap was my first proper buggy :thumbsup:

I saved several weeks' worth of paper round money to ballrace it.

The following Cristmas my parents got me a Super Astute :)

I still have it in bits in the loft!

I'd be cautious about running anything hotter than a non boosted 13.5 - the gearbox is a weakness, especially the counter-gear that runs off the spur.

I've read about the counter gear, or more to the point the counter gear support, of which i have a few spare (& spare gears) I had my eye on the alloy upgrade support (made by Thorp?) but it was about £40 + shipping !

I could really do with the Super Astute ttc gearbox, if only i could find one :p

I think i'll try the 17.5 & see how slow it is, it may be fine.

I actually have one of those, practically NIB, missing two bearings.

I bought it to restore my super astute but never got round to it. It's been sat in a box in the garage ever since.

So what your trying to tell me is.... ? :woot:

It's yours at the right price :lol:

I second the lame comment made by this numpty :D

Basically 😊

It's a box of plastic so it's got to be worth £10 all day long 😜

Well.. and I quote Mikey off American Pickers "Hey man, I can't buy it and sell it!"

Give me a price, i'll either say yes or no :D

(I think a pm would be wise, I don't want everyone knowing the bargain price and beating me to it) :lol:

:lol::p:p

:D

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r...psqarcr9xz.jpg

The Tamiya Madcap was my first ever RC car and the one which got me into racing. I knew soon enough to be competitive at my club I would have to buy another car which led me to the Schumacher Cougar.

I don't own either any more. All left in a garage when I did moved out. As well as a Cougar 2 Works I kid you not!

I do however have (from memory) a box for the Madcap at my Mums house full of Gulf War 1 newspapers.

I have seen a couple of these come up on ebay recently, I even bought a copy of an old magazine to read up on them again. Nice car and from what little memories I have retained good fun and one that started my on my RC car journey.

Never Give Up! :)

So, I had a few hours today to start stripping & inspecting the chassis I'll use for racing. Overall it wasn't too bad for 27 years old. There are a few things though, firstly this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psmmfaxdnw.jpg

This had already been repaired in the past via long grub screws being screwed into the posted (both of them) but this one had obviously snapped in half. I'll look into this later.

The other thing is the gearbox, the rear screw mount was broken:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...ps8gbqd8lh.jpg

And, the two plastic mounting posts had previously been glued into the gearbox but didn't looked cracked. This was a problem as I only had one other so I needed one of these so I managed to dremel one out:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psl7wvygab.jpg

There are some Super Astute alloy ones on eBay, does anyone know if they'll fit ?

Anyway, luckily I have two other gearboxes intact so I cleaned one up, cleaned the gears etc fitted rubber sealed bearings & now I'm here:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psonsoolvp.jpg

I still need to re-build the diff using the Tamiya Hop Up diff kit I bought but at least I'm then able to mount the gearbox to the chassis. Luckily the rear shock tower, hingepin blocks, arms are all good.

Onwards & upwards... :thumbsup:

I love my Madcap!... It should be finished soon.. I'd love to be able to pop over to NBC like I used to a few years ago and do some vintage racing with you guys :)

J

The alloy mounts from astute/super astute will fit, the also use the same ones in the Egress and Avante (metal parts bag).

When building the diff use all of the 0.05 washers including the spares! Also threadlock on the allen bolts that seal the diff, and a good quality driver.

Who did you have to kill to find that? Would be cheaper to find a 2nd hand super astute if you want the TTC gearbox.

What brushless are you looking to run?

Thanks for the advice re. the diff.

Few bits done tonight.

I decided to buy the alloy Astute gearbox mounting posts as I keep reading the plastic ones snap all too easily,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...pskkx5x8nd.jpg

I made a carbon support brace for the rear tower too,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psz11ohlfq.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psirmg8zbu.jpg

Then.... DISASTER !!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...pspycgwpnc.jpg

I'm baffled, I've been very careful in handling the chassis, no screws over-tightened, no force put on it. I was literally in the process of mounting the rear tower when I noticed the gearbox was loose & found the chassis cracked. Whilst removing the gearbox & hingepin screws bits of plastic were just falling off, like it just decided to disintegrate :eh?: I'm a bit gutted as I'd also ground off the cracked front bulkhead posts & replaced them with steel threaded posts.


I have one spare chassis (apart from the vgc one on the complete car I bought, which I don't particularly want to use) but this has seen a good amount of action.

I'd like to source another good chassis (if anyone has one let me know...)

I'll re-build it again with my only spare chassis whilst being SUPER careful, I'll also take the motor off until I've fully secured the gearbox to the chassis with the shock tower in place to prevent excess weight breaking the chassis. I will then move on to the front end, I guess it's all part of vintage tinkering :thumbsup:

I think you need to talk to Jerry (jerzi) on here about him making you a carbon tub for that ��

http://www.oople.com/forums/member.php?u=9484

OUCH!:cry: is it worth making a plate to shore that up with instead of using a new chassis, like I did for the front of my Xfactory car? I have a n old modelsport brushed speedo you can libererate from me next club meet if needed. Can't wait to see it going

Cheers Ben, but I'll go with 17.5 brushless for now as I also have a few brushless esc's spare. The car won't be getting lots of use so I'm hoping the tranny will cope :lol:

Got a bit more done today.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...pspp4mcavs.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psfgv5r9sb.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psgl0t0x81.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...pshl6xusiq.jpg

I've shimmed the hinge pins to reduce some of the 80's slack ! Can't say I like the way the wishbones twist when the suspension is compressed but I guess that's old Tamiya's for you :lol:

Schumacher turnbuckles fit nicely & nothing fouls throughout suspension travel. I've lost confidence with the rear of the chassis as the other one disintegrated.

I've managed to track down a brand new 'old' chassis from a model shop in.... Athens ! Yes, you read it right ! I might fit it to the other Madcap which is hardly used & use the removed chassis as a spare. I do wonder if it's possible/viable to almost make up an aluminium 'backbone' to run underneath the length of the chassis as I can see this one breaking too...

Anyway, tomorrow's job to assemble the diff using the Hop Up kit...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psi4mricsi.jpg

That's it, you've inspired me to get my super astute going :thumbsup:

The rear of the madcap chassis near the 'diff hatch' was always a weak spot. The front kick up plate (where the wishbones attach) is worth keeping an eye on too.

Well, no pics but a brief update...

Things not going well with my little project. The second chassis has started to crack just like the first, not as bad but close. Also, the hinge pin blocks are cracking.

I carefully made up a 1.5mm alloy rear plate to secure to the underside of the chassis in an attempt to save it, it fits well but I've also noticed a section beneath the shock tower mount has also cracked !

I feel like giving up at this point, it's getting expensive & I've little to show for it except a pile of parts, some of no use or cracked. I'm still awaiting the arrival of my brand new (old stock) chassis, but I haven't decided whether i dare use it for this car or to bin the project entirely.

I suppose I'll have a look at things again soon with a different frame of mind, but not tonight...

NEVER GIVE UP DAN:woot: I'm sure you could get an aluminium chassis made if you look around a bit, is the plastic cracking on bits from just one car or are they all brittle? I heard somewhere that you can soften some plastics by boiling them, but can't remember which plastics they were.

I have a Madcap that my kids thrash around the beach with a 21 turn brushed motor in - even then I can hear the gearbox hurting so unsure how the torque of a brushless will end :)

I also have a parts car you can have mate, unsure how good it is but drop me an email and I'll send you pics.

Dan

Well I haven't really done anything since but here's the plate I made up, ignore the screws as it isn't quite finished & I've run out of countersink m3 screws. You'll noticed I haven't cut a hole for the access plate, i'm not sure whether to maintain max rigidity & accept the hassle in removing the gearbox if I need to adjust the diff or cut the hole & risk making the plate weak...

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...psyxwzonme.jpg

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...psacheqlvn.jpg

One of the two remaining good hinge pin blocks is cracked too :mad: I wonder if these could be 3D printed... Otherwise, not too bad. I'll build the diff, finish off the rear end & make a start on the front.

Dan,

I think there is a Mad Cap on ebay with a carbon chassis. May help you out.:thumbsup:

Well I've been I bit busy during the week to achieve much except for building the diff,

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...psjiu4zwey.jpg


Anyway, today I've pushed on. Rear is almost done, I need to order a few things including a pinion. The front end now has the carbon shock tower brace fitted,

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...pswdufmj7g.jpg

This assembly then bolted to the chassis with the adjustable camber & steering links fitted. I've also replaced the awful 'coat hanger' steering linkage. There is still some slop but given it's design now it's acceptable,

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6epkfxdh.jpg

And with the upper bulkhead fitted, I had to raise this 2mm to clear the revised steering linkages,

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...psvccsu5kt.jpg

So this is it for now with the servo fitted, rolling chassis almost finished,

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...psjojzird9.jpg

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...psrz2t45pg.jpg

Next is the ESC & receiver, wheels & tyres.
I haven't decided whether to use one of the 2 original shells for it or to buy a new shell & do my own colours...

Does anyone know what other 2.2 wheels will fit the front of a Madcap ? I have the 5 spoke Ballistic 'vintage' rims along with being able to use my normal Team C/Kyosho rears but i'd prefer to have matching front solid white front rims.

I've seen this, it's in my watch list ;) thanks fella.

:thumbsup::thumbsup: !! Go Dan Go !! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

I'm going I'm going :lol:

I've ordered a brand new shell/wing too so I'll do it my normal 'race' theme :thumbsup:

Thats the way Dan.........:D

So tonight I've completed the electrics so we're nearly done. I cant do much else until I order a pinion(s), front tyres, battery & wait for the new shell to arrive.

A few pics:

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...psgcryaekm.jpg

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...psa2pgteng.jpg

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...psml8qqtdc.jpg

That's mintier than a minty thing :thumbsup:

Thought I'd do a little update. Tyres arrived as has my shiny new shell & wing :thumbsup:

Thing's to do list:

Prep & spray new shell.
The front wheels are slightly narrower where the bearings seat so need to add a small spacer to the axle before mounting wheels otherwise the nut does up before the wheel is tight.
Fit pinion & check diff.
Replace oil in the shocks, rears need a heavier spring.
Still not happy with flex front to rear so will look into manufacturing an alloy top plate.
Set toe & camber all round.

Here are some pics with an existing used shell:

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...pshlpc1bwh.jpg

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...psywumzjo1.jpg

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...pst1loolcn.jpg

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2kalsjvz.jpg

Getting there, should be ready for the end of July :D

That's a used shell? Already looks "killer" this way!

OH YES!

Love the HPI five spoke 2.2 fronts :)

What shocks are those? Schumacher KF?