Vintage RC-10 - worth restoring to running condition?
Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2020 5:33 pm
Hi all,
Back in the 80s/90s I had a Tamiya Frog and a friend of mine had splurged on the RC-10. Years later when he was cleaning out his garage he asked me if I wanted his RC-10 instead of tossing it out or selling it, and I said sure, why not. That was a long time ago, but now I have kids of my own and we just built some Tamiya Racing Fighter (DT-03) kits together and I've successfully passed down the RC bug to them, which is great. This made me remember the RC-10 that's been sitting in my garage, so I dug it out to take a look at it to see if I could get it up and running just to bash around with the kids. So my questions to all of you (which you've probably answered a million times by now, so for that I apologize), do you think it's worthwhile given the difficulty in getting parts for them? I've attached some photos of it (it's pretty banged up), and here are some questions I have just from looking at it:
1. It has the original manual speed controller, which of course I'd want to replace with a modern ESC. If I were to stick with the original motor (and assuming I would stay with a basic brushed motor either way), what ESC would you recommend? Doesn't have to be fancy.
2. The battery holder is oriented in a east/west layout, which doesn't fit a modern NIMH 6 cell stick like the ones I use for my Tamiyas - would I need to change the orientation of it to north/south?
3. I'm assuming the motor still functions, but I can't say for sure. If it doesn't, I'm guessing I should stick with a brushed equivalent instead of trying to go brushless on a 30 year old car?
3. New tires are a given being that these have flat spots from not being stored properly. Any tips on what tire combo front/rear I should get and where to buy from? I'm in the US, for reference.
4. The shocks, amazingly, still seem like they're in great functional condition!
Any other thoughts or suggestions for me based on what you see in the photos? Any advice is appreciated!
Back in the 80s/90s I had a Tamiya Frog and a friend of mine had splurged on the RC-10. Years later when he was cleaning out his garage he asked me if I wanted his RC-10 instead of tossing it out or selling it, and I said sure, why not. That was a long time ago, but now I have kids of my own and we just built some Tamiya Racing Fighter (DT-03) kits together and I've successfully passed down the RC bug to them, which is great. This made me remember the RC-10 that's been sitting in my garage, so I dug it out to take a look at it to see if I could get it up and running just to bash around with the kids. So my questions to all of you (which you've probably answered a million times by now, so for that I apologize), do you think it's worthwhile given the difficulty in getting parts for them? I've attached some photos of it (it's pretty banged up), and here are some questions I have just from looking at it:
1. It has the original manual speed controller, which of course I'd want to replace with a modern ESC. If I were to stick with the original motor (and assuming I would stay with a basic brushed motor either way), what ESC would you recommend? Doesn't have to be fancy.
2. The battery holder is oriented in a east/west layout, which doesn't fit a modern NIMH 6 cell stick like the ones I use for my Tamiyas - would I need to change the orientation of it to north/south?
3. I'm assuming the motor still functions, but I can't say for sure. If it doesn't, I'm guessing I should stick with a brushed equivalent instead of trying to go brushless on a 30 year old car?
3. New tires are a given being that these have flat spots from not being stored properly. Any tips on what tire combo front/rear I should get and where to buy from? I'm in the US, for reference.
4. The shocks, amazingly, still seem like they're in great functional condition!
Any other thoughts or suggestions for me based on what you see in the photos? Any advice is appreciated!