[BrianG]

As far as the plastic goes; it seems to fit jhautz's description better. Although it is a PITA to deburr and smoothen like Hydrodancer says. Although, once the burrs get small enough, a little flame from a lighter works wonders. :)

Yes, those straps are just double-sided velcro. It's the stuff networking people use to tie up CAT5 cables and such. It comes in a roll about 3/4" wide (at a guess). I just cut the length I need and singe the edges to seal them. It's worked well in my Revo and Jato so why not stick with a good thing? Relatively cheap to replace (a 4" diameter roll is about $6-$7) too when it wears out from repeated opening and closing, or just gets too dirty. I actually would like to use gmaxx straps but I'm too cheap. :)

Yup, that's hammered paint. I went a little too thick on one section so it looks more "hammered" than the rest, but I don't mind. It wears quite well and doesn't chip as easy as other paints I've tried. I use a normal flat black paint as a primer though since the aluminum shows through the "pinholes" in the hammered layer unless you do multiple coats. But it seems to adhere better to a "primered" layer even though I'm not using true primer.

The only reason I made the diff piece is to stiffen it up. I plan to attach part of the motor mount to one of the uprights and wanted minimal flex, if any.

Thanks!