Shaun Duffy: Pro-Line PRO-2 Mid Motor Conversion

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This is something I’ve been looking forward to doing all summer in preparation for the winter indoor season. All year I’ve been hearing about how the mid motor Buggies were doing so well on the high traction indoor tracks and thought, why can’t we do this with a PRO-2 SC Truck. After a bit of research, I found this conversion has been done on other platforms so I figured I might as well give it a shot. I have to say the results are remarkable. The truck feels so much more stable and consistent and the turn in and speed through the entire turn felt great.

I’ll post a setup sheet after a bit more practice and a few more tweaks.

Tools used:

Dremel – sanding drum, carbide cutter, cutting disk
Drill & countersink bits
Scroll Saw
Hex drivers (1.5mm, 2.0mm, 2.5mm)
Nut drivers (5.5mm, 7mm)

Parts used:

Disclaimer: Pro-Line Racing and myself are not responsible for any damage to your equipment or tools if you attempt to reproduce this conversion. Modify at your own risk. You must have an ESC and Motor combo that is capable of Reversing the motor rotation.

Step 1: Make a template of the holes under the transmission. Using a piece of card stock I cut to the width of the chassis I punched holes through it for the lower transmission screw holes as well as the toe block.

Step 2: Drill new transmission mounting holes. I then placed the template on the chassis with the holes lining up for the toe block. I put in the two screws into the toe block to hold it in place. Then using a smaller drill bit than needed for the finished hole I drilled guide holes into the holes through the template.Using countersink drill bits on the bottom side of the chassis I finished the holes so the tapered screws would sit flush.

Step 3: Notch out the toe block. Since the toe block can only be installed on the transmission one way I needed to remove the two notches that hold it onto the transmission. I had to do this so I didn’t have negative anti-squat and toe. I first cut these off using the scroll saw then used a dremel to cut out the notches to match the other side. I made sure they were perfectly level and the same depth as the other side. Once these were done I simply used two wheel nuts on the other side to hold the toe block to the chassis.

Step 4: Trim the motor plate. The lower tab on the motor plate that is used to mount the rear bumper needed to be removed so I can mount the transmission flat to the chassis. I just used a dremel cutting disk and then the sanding drum to make it smooth.

Step 5: Trim the shock tower mount. Since there was no need for the two arms coming off the shock tower mount I trimmed them off using a dremel cutting disk and then sanding drum to make it smooth.

Step 6: Install the transmission. Now I was able to flip the transmission around and install the 4 screws under the chassis. Then install the shock tower mount.

Step 7: Trim the chassis. The right side (passenger side) of the chassis will need to be ground down a bit to allow for the motor to be installed. I used a dremel sanding drum and keep taking off a little at a time until I can install the motor without it hitting the chassis.

Step 8: Install the shock tower. I have to install the shock tower in reverse so that the holes lined up.

Step 9: Make shock mounting holes in the rear suspension arm. Since this conversion required me to install the shocks on the rear of the shock tower I had to drill a new shock mounting hole in the rear suspension arms.