I thought I'd try something different this time around and host a project log on the forum. I hope this will give the rest of you more of an opportunity to follow the project interactively and ask questions along the way. We'll see how it goes!

Preface:

As I mentioned when I first announced this project a few months back, "The Cat" was Traxxas' model #1, its very first RC. Introduced in 1987, it was, from what I've heard, inspired by a Nikko, which won't come as a surprise if you've ever taken a good look at the car. By this time Tamiya had out the Grashopper, Hornet, Hot Shot & Blackfoot, and the Clod Buster was either on the way or just hitting shelves, so this "Traxxas" newcomer was entering very hostile territory. However, the newcomer had an ace in their hand, a concept they called "RTR." Granted, anybody could go down to Radio Shack and get a toy-class RC car, throw in some batteries & drive, but Traxxas would for the first time bring "buy, charge, & drive" ease to the hobby-class world.

The Cat was the car that did it, and now here I am, almost two decades later, fooling around with one of these historic little vehicles. My general idea for this project is to maintain the car's authentic, original layout, while improving both its looks and performance in a way that would have been fitting for the front page of UltimateTraxxas.com if it had existed back in '87/'88.

Project Log 8/27/06:

I've had the car for awhile now, but not until this evening did I take the time to get a really good look at it from all angles. Here are pictures of the box (sorry about the USPS tape, that's how it was sent to me ) :

http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/i/cat...as_cat-001.jpg
http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/i/cat...as_cat-002.jpg
http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/i/cat...as_cat-003.jpg
http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/i/cat...as_cat-004.jpg
http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/i/cat...as_cat-005.jpg

Now for the moment of truth, opening the box!

http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/i/cat...as_cat-006.jpg

The car has normal marks of wear, but nothing too serious on the surface. The biggest problem is the wing, which has been re-mounted to the roof after the back of the body (where it belongs) tore off from roll-overs. No biggie, I'm going to give it a different body eventually anyhow.

http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/i/cat...as_cat-007.jpg
http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/i/cat...as_cat-008.jpg

This "Street Cat" version has Pro-Line's 1.5" Waffle rear tires, but otherwise the rolling chassis is identical to the original. The shocks, though they don't look it, are oil-filled and you can adjust a spring's preload by twisting a the stepped upper spring clip around & aligning it with tab on the shock body at different levels. The springs are too stiff no matter how you adjust them, though.

There are trailing arms up front, while the entire rear section of the car can twist and/or move up & down thanks to a big ball & socket joint at the front of the transmission housing. The car I got has some different rear shocks than stock installed, but the originals are in the box, too.

http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/i/cat...as_cat-009.jpg
http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/i/cat...as_cat-010.jpg
http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/i/cat...as_cat-011.jpg
http://www.ultimatetraxxas.com/i/cat...as_cat-012.jpg

Under the body, there's not much to see -- the whole chassis is sealed with a big plastic cover. Under that, there's space for electronics, while the battery tray is bottom-loading (with no cover -- you strap it in with large reusable zip ties!). The servo is directly connected to the steering linkages, but at least there is a servo saver.

My first task will be to just generally clean things up and see what the car needs to get it running smoothly in stock form.

The rear end looks the same as the one on my Lunch Box!

Pretty close.

All theyd id is make the motor stick out the other way.

Pretty much all of the straight axle plastic chassis RCs with suspension have a similar look at the back, from the Grasshopper to most Nikkos, even today. What The Cat did differently you can't see in these pictures yet -- there's only one joint at the front of the gearbox, a big ball that goes into a big round socket in the chassis, allowing the rear end to twist a bit for sort of a semi-independent effect.

Sweet jangs getting back into some more Traxxas. But vintage this time around...

The Traxxas Spirit is based off of the Cat correct?

Yes, sir!

Wow, those pics are nice! By the way howd you get it so that all the background is white, and so clean looking?