Looking good.
Yeh you should probably add as much bracing as you can, seeing as nothing is welded together.
Aluminium sheet is good.
Once you get this thing moving it'll start twisting and flexing.
It's a vicious cycle with homebuilt RC cars.
Stronger -> heavier -> more moving mass -> more damage on impact....
Cutting bits off the exhaust will alter the performance but in the scheme of things it probably won't make much difference.
I had a link to a webpage where a guy drilled a couple of holes in the clutch shoes to make them lighter = higher RPM on engagement.
Stronger springs can also be added.
The idea for reverse is something I toyed around with as well years ago.
One thing I looked at, but never tried was using bits from an outboard boat motor.
They have a gear setup which should be possible to use in an RC car for reverse.
What are you going to use for a steering servo?
Home made monster servo?
I've steered some rather heavy cars with a Hitec HS 805BB.
A few things to consider with th front end setup is camber and caster.
Also look up "Ackermann angle".
Easy to work out and maks a world of difference.
Most of my projects were very crude and simple, but they always turned on a dime.
Have a dig throuh here:
https://m.youtube.com/user/hairyalien for vids of some of my projects.
I had some lengthy threads on them here on the forum but I think I've since deleted most of the Photobucket pics as I ran out of storage space.
