TOPIC:

I "dismantled" the XR311 body yesterday, unsurprisingly that did cause some more damage, but these shells have to come apart (& get worse) before they get better ... I also did the paint "stripping", which was mostly badly yellowed clearcoat so I was able to peel a lot of off before I hit it with the grafitti remover, also stripped down the bits of the chassis that were in chunks & cleaned everything, all the bits are now in a load of takeaway tubs.

I'm hoping I get the dusty green Cheetah tomorrow or Saturday so I can do the same to that, then I can start picking out the best bits & start on a chassis - I have come up with a cunning plan to improve the suspension, or at least have it work without torsion bars ... not sure how well it'll work, a bit of experimentation is going to be needed.

Have you got a complete set of rims and tires for the XR311? Is this going to be a restoration job, or a custom job?

No reason this couldn't be boxart; mirrors, headlamp protector loops & the rail on the back would be fairly easy to create from scratch, bodywork repairs rather than replacing whole "panels" is an option... the only problem is the headlamps - AFAIK they are unique to the XR311 and are smaller & have pointier shells than anything else.

The re-release of the XR311 seems to have had no effect on spares availability, but I suppose it was 11 years ago, and reputedly only 2000 kits were made

3rd (or is it 4th?) Cheetah wreck arrived today, the bodywork is in slightly better condition than the one I restored, though much less complete, the only thing of real note is that both seat base frames are present & intact.

Chassis is so-so, 1/2 the bumper is missing, the rear torsion bars are both broken, but the front bars are intact. Wheels are fairly good, but the tyres, although they have some tread left and are not too perished, are badly distorted & flat spotted. The motor wires must have been replaced by a comedian - one is 1mm, the other 5mm and far too long

The only bit I really needed - the gearbox cover - is there & looks ok, but I'll strip the whole thing down & clean everything - I'm going to end up with quite an extensive XR311/Cheetah parts collection

I haven't really felt like doing much on this for a while, but yesterday I cleaned & stripped a few more bits.

Some photos to catch up:

Clearcoat was'nt very well bonded ...


... "glass" really didn't take kindly to the grafitti remover ...


... body partially stripped ...





Next task is to sort out this lot ...





... into four piles - "best" for the XR311, "2nd best" for a possible/probable 2nd Cheetah, "worth keeping" and "recycling"

A little more progress - I polished a set of brass bits with Autosol ...





... and the aluminium chassis parts (400 grit paper followed by machine polishing & finishing with Autosol):

Cleaned:




Sanded:



Polished:

Still going, albeit slowly ...

Wheels - colour is Humbrol light olive mat...


Body is mostly back together ...


Covered over the hump hole in the chassis & added a few details to make it look vaguely like an ammo box...


Rear end with lots of new bits - bumper repair & all the greeblies, new rear deck rails...


Front end, chassis & gearbox are back together - the motor is the ex-NIP white endbell silvercan I got with my 1st Cheetah...


... need to work on making some lights & building alternative suspension before I can move on ...

New underguard cut from 1mm lexan...



New bumper cut from 3mmm styrene sheet ...



Mirrors formed from styrene tube, sheet, paperclips & Milliput ...




First fill on screen reinforcement & mirror test fit (other side also done) ...



Lights hand formed with Milliput, various shapes/sizes ...




Lights & roll hoops fitted:

Wow, your modelling skills keep on amazing me! The small details you attend to will make this XR311 really good looking.

That front shot of the "angry looking" front headlights is brilliant

-Lars

Your detailing is fantastic it really sets your cars apart from the norm and is why i like following your threads you never know what its going to look like at the end. keep us posted.