A '91 Stealth RC10 project

[mikea96]

Looks good! Are you going to powder coat that chassis?

[XLR8]

Thanks Mike.
Only if the shop can turn it around in a few days otherwise I'm thinking about painting it satin black. It's a small local shop with limited capacity and when I've had them do some of my bike parts in the past, it's taken up to two weeks -- I don't want to wait that long. Either way, I have a sheet of AE's chassis protector to help reduce the scratches -- but it will get scratched and the only way to prevent it is to put it on the shelf and that's not gonna happen .
I'm also thinking about dyeing the top deck and trans brace black. I really want the black/white theme of the original cars even though my car doesn't include any cf.

[mikea96]

Im lucky my powder coater is about 1 minute from house and i have had some stuff back sameday or by the next day after i have dropped off.

[NomadRacer]

Wow, really nice work. I'd love to make some of those parts, just for fun.

[bluewormx]

Amazing project XLR8!!! A real inspiration!

My unconscious self is doing the same thing motivated by your mad skills.

My conscious self is dragging his feet hoping for Jake to do round two.

[XLR8]

Thank you. I’m honored to pass along some inspiration. The real credit goes to Jake, Niki and others for inspiring me to build this car.
Okay, so just a quick update to show how the chassis plate was clearanced to provide full droop at those rear suspension arms.

Before the chassis was notched, the arms wouldn’t drop below neutral plane. Now they’re able to rotate until shocks reach full extension.

Obviously, the printed parts have been painted (the color is a little off but I’m okay with it) so it’s time to finish the chassis parts and reassemble everything.

[NomadRacer]

60960644.jpg (38.36 KiB) Viewed 3099 times

60960644.jpg (38.36 KiB) Viewed 3099 times

looking forward to seeing it all built up!

[XLR8]

Ah, I love popcorn! Too bad I’m on a strict low-sodium diet so I’m not able to have much of it – after all, what’s popcorn without salt??

So, here are those 5 degree bulkhead wedges I mentioned before. Not too tricky to make; just some 0.020” styrene strips that’s sanded to a knifes edge.

The G10 parts (upper deck and trans brace) have been dyed black and I've painted the main chassis satin black today. Just waiting for the paint to fully cure before assembling the car.

[NomadRacer]

The wedges... nicely done. I'd have not thought to do that. Old School engineering at at it's best!

[XLR8]

Well, it’s been a long road but the chassis and suspension work are complete and I’ve gotten a good start installing the electronics. I’ve chosen to leave the battery strap natural G10 rather than dying it black, so it’ll match the shock towers and provide some contrast to the other painted and dyed parts – and, as an hommage to the early RC10’s with their G10 straps.

The satin black finish on the main chassis seems to match the anodizing on the motor plate surprisingly well.

Next are the body and wing. To further the red/white/blue theme of the chassis and electronics, I’m going to try a to do a Cliff Lett inspired paint theme. I’m not going to attempt an exact replica (I won’t bother trying to match the colors exactly or locate all the decals he used, I’ll just use what I have on-hand).

For me, the fun stuff is over for this project. Installing electronics and painting lexan is my least favorite parts of these builds. However, on the plus side, I'll get to build another Stealth car after this one is finished so that provides some motivation to wrap it up.

[NomadRacer]

Fantastic, a build that I'll bookmark!

[XLR8]

Thanks Nomad.
I've replace the photos in the previous post with ones that I took outside this morning. The earlier ones were taken indoors last night and were pretty dark. Hopefully, these will be a little lighter and easier to view.

[scr8p]

That turned out great!

[Panhead383]

This type of build is why I love rc10talk. Amazing work!

[XLR8]

Okay so just a brief update today.
The body and wing are trimmed and mounted…

A little extra time and attention was required to trim this one due to the truncated cut at the front shock tower. I’m planning to do something maybe a little different at the front of the body – more about that later if it works out. Also, I think I’ll secure the front of the body with a small Velcro patch instead of a body post and clip. The front is very well captured as it is so it won’t take much to hold it in place.

The sides are really close to the upper deck at these locations – it doesn’t rub but it’s close. What I’ll typically do in these instances is to apply a couple layers of heavy clear packing tape to the underside of the body after the paint is fully cured to protect the paint from scratches. The clear tape won’t alter the final paint color and will be virtually invisible from the outside.

I’ll need to clean-up the edges a little more before masking and painting. The cool thing is that the wing is ready for stickers then it’s done. Most of my buggies have painted wings (and I like them that way) but sometimes it’s nice to do an ole school clear wing.