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RC12E box stock rebuild maybe

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 8:52 pm
by nullandvoid
Hi all,
First post here although I've been lurking for a while. A recently sparked interest lead me to pick up what looks like an early RC12E, I'm no expert though, so please feel free to correct me. I'm no stranger to being judged :)

I plan to turn this into a fairly period correct running shelf queen, with a few minor exceptions.

The car: It looks unmodified except for the ball ends on the steering and some epoxy on the rear body mount. The rear fiberglass brace looks awful and I'm looking for a new one. The car came with an uncut Corvette GTP body that looks too new. On the plus side, the car still has the bushings. No go fast parts for this one.

Electronics: As far as I know, the S7 and S7L servos and the r2f receiver were available in 1978. The servos work perfectly and are surprisingly quiet.

The plan that nothing can possibly go wrong with:
1 Clean and rebuild the car, find some paint for the resistor and tidy it up.

2 Remove most of the board in the rx, leaving only the connectors. Plop in a gyro integrated (cause I can't drive) 2.4ghz receiver in the giant futaba case and wire it to the futaba connectors internally. The only giveaway would be the antenna length. Also I'll add a BEC in the rx case so I don;t overvolt the servos but keep the stock looking but cleverly bypassed diode that used to feed the rx.

3 3d print a dummy 6 cell pack with a cavity for a 2s 1300mah lipo then wrap it in some correct looking heatshrink. This part of the plan is still pretty loose.

4 Find and paint a correct body for this. (I've painted 2 bodies before. A Frog in 1984 which physically hurt to look at, and in 1986 an RC10 that made babies cry.) I've maybe learned the needed patience in the last 31 years. We'll see.

4 Assemble, drive it once in the warehouse at work, then put it on a shelf for all my friends to ignore.
rc12e_3.jpg
rc12e_2.jpg
rc12e_1.jpg

Re: RC12E box stock rebuild maybe

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 8:53 pm
by nullandvoid
A couple more pictures.
rc12e_5.jpg
rc12e_4.jpg

Re: RC12E box stock rebuild maybe

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 10:08 pm
by klavy69
nullandvoid wrote: Sat Apr 08, 2017 8:52 pm then put it on a shelf for all my friends to ignore.
Hi nullandvoid and welcome to the non-lurking side of the board. I like the plan you have for this one. Looks really good except what you already pointed out with that rear fiberglass brace...especially like #4. ;-)

Todd

Re: RC12E box stock rebuild maybe

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 12:19 am
by nullandvoid
Got it cleaned up and reassembled today. I did not clean it to minty fresh, just a good scrubbing. It turns out that it has bearings on the rear axle and the motor mount part is newer than the non-drive side nylon part. Oh well..

I'm really impressed with the bushings and pins in the front end. They are smooth and very low friction but without play. It's much tighter than any buggy that I've had.

The motor runs fine, I checked it on a 2s lipo. This won't break any speed records.

pics already.

rc12e_6.jpg
rc12e_7.jpg
rc12e_8.jpg

Re: RC12E box stock rebuild maybe

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 12:24 am
by nullandvoid
Oh, looking at the 1st version box art, the nasty homemade pod brace that was on this car is not on the original. It's gone.

Funky servo saver looks weird, works well. It's pretty soft, which is ok for the weak-ish old servo.

I test fit the body. The mount holes are drilled a bit rearward but looks ok. This will be a practice body. I'll be looking out for something more older.
rc12e_9.jpg
rc12e_10.jpg
rc12e_11.jpg

Re: RC12E box stock rebuild maybe

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:25 am
by slotcarrod
Nice first build and welcome to the forum! 8)

Re: RC12E box stock rebuild maybe

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 9:48 pm
by fastang
Please dont hurt/brake that steering servo saver!! I've been looking for one of those for years! I've bid big money on junk cars just to get a hold of one. Always out bid tho..

Re: RC12E box stock rebuild maybe

Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 3:18 pm
by lmw94002
That is just a cool looking car. I miss the good old days of my fiberglass 10L bombing around the fresh paved parking lot for club racing...