We get asked all the time how to fit a Monster/Blitzer Beetle shell onto a Sand Scorcher. It seems a simple and easy thing to do but those who have tried will know it's not as easy as it looks! This article shows you how and explains the differences between the shells.

At first glance these shells appear the same but there are actually a number of differences between them. The Monster Beetle shell is the same as the Blitzer Beetle shell apart from the internal moulding reference and the colour of plastic used. For this article we have used a black Blitzer Beetle shell and a red Monster Beetle shell. All Sand Scorcher shells were moulded in white and the earlier Monster Beetle shells were also in white, later Monster Beetle shells were in red and consequently white Monster Beetle shells can command higher prices.

Update: 2010 Sand Scorcher shell added

After the amazing release of the new 2010 Sand Scorcher we obviously had to update this article to suit. Basically, the new shell is exactly the same as the Monster Beetle/Blitzer Beetle shell with a few small changes..

• Moulded in white again
• Front and side mounting holes have been filled, but you can see them from the inside
• Front mounting hole is now back to the same place as the original Sand Scorcher
• Bigger holes have been drilled for the all new mirrors
• Lastly, the moulding stamp inside has been altered

That's it! Have a good look at the pictures on the right, at the bottom..

Spot the Difference

There are perhaps more differences between these shells than people think. As the Blitzer shell is essentially the same we will just detail differences here between the Scorcher shell and Monster Beetle. Differences are as follows:

Wheels arches - Perhaps the most obvious difference. The Sand Scorcher arches are more rounded and have a curved over lip to enclose the wheels more. The Sand Scorcher rear arch also extends down further at the back and lacks the middle hole the others have for attaching the light clusters.

Door handles - The Sand Scorcher has separate chrome door handles, the Monster/Blitzer Beetle shells have the handles moulded into the doors.

Front body mount hole - The Sand Scorcher mounting hole is 8mm further forward making fitment of the later shells to the SRB a little tricky. More on that later.

Side body mount holes - The Sand Scorcher shell has no side mounting holes.

Roof body mount holes - The Sand Scorcher has holes in the roof to fix the rear body mount clip. The Monster Beetle shell does have remains of these moulded holes on the inside though making it easy to drill in the right place to install a rear body clip for retro-fitting a Monster/Blitzer Beetle shell to an SRB.

Rear view mirrors - There are holes in the Sand Scorcher shell for fitting wing mirrors.

Window A pillars - These are thicker on the Monster Beetle and Blitzer Beetle shells.

Internal moulding reference - The internal writing all three of our shells appears to be different. See photo.

Fitting the Monster/Blitzer Beetle shell to a Sand Scorcher

The first thing to do is drill two 3mm holes in the roof at the back to accept the metal clip from the Scorcher. Drill from the inside, you will see the mouldings here from the Scorcher anyway so where to drill is obvious.

Now the problem is the difference in positioning of the front body mount hole. Being further forward on the Scorcher means that when you sit the Monster Beetle shell on there it will site too far forward. This can be accommodated by bending the rear roll bar forward if you wish but it's not ideal as it means the wheels don't sit centrally under the arches.

How do we fix this?

There are basically 3 approaches:

Method 1: The first solution is to drill another hole in the Monster Beetle shell for the front body mount that is a little further forward. You could fill the old hole to complete the cosmetics but this will require some crafting skills and is best done before the shell is painted.

Method 2: The second approach is to drill another hole in the chassis to move the servo saver/body mount post back by the necessary amount. The problem with this approach is that if you are running a standard radio box and steering setup the servo saver may foul on the receiver box. I personally prefer this approach though as it means you can easily move the body mount post depending on what type of shell you are fitting and it means you don't have to mess around drilling shells and filling holes. A Monster Beetle shell will fit straight on with no mods.

Method 3 (update 2010): To save you all the bother. Just buy a (CHEAP!) 2010 re-release Sand Scorcher body set! Part number: 51406 It will fit straight on your old Scorcher chassis with no hole drilling or filling. But does this spoil the fun?