RS4 Rally Conversion: Build Session 3

So after realising that all I had to do was push the suspension pins through once the clips were off it was time to push forward with the conversion.

After swapping over the aluminium brace I started to put the suspension back on partly for a test fit. I decided to put the bumper back on too but found that the bumper mounts are different for the Super Nitro Rally, something I hadn't read about in the HPI forum thread for the conversion. As you can see the holes don't line up.

So I decided to take some measurements...

...and a plan was formed!

I'm going to re model this part...

...with the uprights 25mm apart. Once I have a CAD model I can use the rapid prototyping equipment at work to make a new part up. Simple!

Back to the suspension... I can't for the life of me work out which part of the plastics kit is the front shock tower! As far as I can see none of the parts are suitable. So I decided to do a test fit with the original shock tower.

It was still lacking a bit of ride height so I tried modifying the hubs. This involves removing the raised section on the bottom of the hub so that it can pass by the wishbone and therefore give an extended travel. Here it is after being filed flush (it is upside down in the photo!)

This small change gave somewhere between 5 and 10mm of extra ride height (I'll be able to tell properly once the hinge pins are in place). This may not sound like much but it is many times more than I had before!

Thats all for tonight. Next job is to remove the suspension again and put the hinge pins in then put it back together for real with the drive shafts in place.