We wanted to keep all the detailing, and it was not an easy conversion.
First we cut the steel pan from a TSR chassis to match the sides and front of the body. Then we drilled the chassis and pan and fitted a body-mounting bolt and 2 nuts tied up "loose" so that the two parts may rattle and flex individually. This way, we did not use the "T" spacer as on a standard TSR chassis.
Then we trimmed the entire floor out of the car, drilled the intake stacks from the cockpit and glued them with Pro-Weld directly to the body. We also glued the body sides to the top part. Next we trimmed the motor box and retained the Hewland LG500 tranny and exhaust details. A bit needs to be trimmed to clear the spur gear. We also retained part of the front pan under the nose. We used 2-56 brass inserts in the 4 mounting holes.These can be sourced from the MacMasters catalogue.
Next we drilled the four mounting holes on the chassis pan, and chamfered them underneath to use flat-head TSR 2-56 body-mounting screws.
The details are now sitting a bit higher in the body as they should. The mounting post was shortened by 1/16".
One can see here that the body now sits much lower than on the HSSR replica, like by a full 3/16". The car has a stance much closer to that of the real car under racing conditions.
The cockpit requires minimum trimming to fit, and Dennis's left foot had to be amputated to clear the hardware retaining the chassis.
It is easy to see how much lower the car sits.
Next, we will fit TSR alloy wheels and those nice McLaren inserts fitted on the HSSR replica... On the track, the modified car is incredibly smooth and very fast, placing the HSSR replica in the "under 2-liter" category!
This is not an easy conversion and requires patience and prudence in cutting and chopping the body. So if you wish to attempt this, please take your time!
The result was well worth my time.