Vintage AE Ad -- 1979 RC12E "Go Racing With The Team"

[clinehobbies]

I have allways thought the those rims were lightend on a lathe like everything else back then you drilled it or cut it to make things you could not get. But I might be wrong.

[WC1982]

I have allways thought the those rims were lightend on a lathe like everything else back then you drilled it or cut it to make things you could not get. But I might be wrong.

Correct, we milled the spokes on the front and rear wheels to save weight.

[polarbear]

Hi Kent, there are many photos showing the light weighed front rim but rarely the rear. Can you take a photo of the rear rim to show us.
So after all those weight saving jobs, naked receiver, was the 12i far below 880g or just made.
By the way, Carbonell's delta had three spoke fron rims.

[WC1982]

Here's a photo of a milled lightweight rear wheel.

[WC1982]

Another color shot of my car, this one was taken at the event.

[GJW]

wonder who will be the first to copy one of your cars kent?
this is the best thread ever! thanks so much very enjoyable.

[Charlie don't surf]

Thanks Kent . So what do you think is the best mechancial speed control at big races??
I know and used the "Reedy's trick" by adding a wiper at the full speed position to ensure best contact. Some used a BIG micro switch there, some used the short side of the resistor to get more punch power..... and thicken the wiring...
While we have the various FET technologies in the past 20 years, was it a "one-best design" at that time in big races???

I liked using solid silver wiper buttons and adding the upper button to add pressure to the contact. I sanded the resistor windings flat for good contact. At times I used the short side of the resistor for power. It depended on the track and how much power your motor had.

For the variant of chassis cutting of 12E, do you feel there are significant differences? I mean the standard "I" shape, "A" hole in front of motor; milk bottle shape and even DA graphite blank etc. I found the tightening of the front grommet was effective in the flexi difference rather.

On the other hand, the original AE chassis was made of epoxy plate while the Yokomo's was green FRP which was stiffer and heavier.

You can definitely feel the difference in the different cuts on the 12i chassis. The more you cut out the more rear grip it gives you. I used the extended milk bottle cut, hogging out as much as I could without risking the chassis breaking in a crash. Nobody had much success with the DA graphite chassis because it didn't have as much rear grip, and I seem to remember some problems with radio glitching and tweaking. I never tried the Yokomo chassis so I can't give a comparison on that one.

Had to show this off, DA Graphite 12L Just for show and ungodly stiff

a1 DA prod 001.jpg

[Soncho Ponza]

the toj is by far the best lookin 12 scale body to ever come out...I didnt see anyone at the vintage nats go old old school and use mech speed control...Kent did the earlier Es have any suspension. I have a couple old cars with total flat front end without inside cuts on fiberglass, and no flex cuts in back

[WC1982]

The 12e cars didn't have any suspension.

My memory is fuzzy but I think the early 12i cars like my 1982 Worlds car had cuts in the front and rear of the chassis. For that race we had prototypes of the spring front end, but when I tried them in practice it gave my car too much steering and not enough stability. I think that's why my front blocks are white on that car. Then the production spring front end came out and they removed the cuts in the front of the chassis to help reduce bump-steer. The 12i rear chassis cuts were not very big at first, but later versions had longer cuts which gave more rear traction.

I believe the "e" in RC12e stood for electric. The "i" stood for independent suspension. And the "L" stood for Losi, because Gil Losi Jr made the design (although it was very similar to the Parma Euro Panther and Delta car).

[a01butal]

Kent, when did the 12i IFSS (mono shock) front end come out and was it in response to somebody else's car design or an AE innovation? It doesn't seem to have been raced much or maybe it was and there just aren't many pictures of cars with that front end on them. Any info would be great, thanks.

[WC1982]

The first race I remember the mono shock was the Cleveland Indoor Nats. The year was probably 1984-5-6? Gene or Roger personally handed them out to the team drivers at the event. Unfortunately they didn't work very well on carpet and they were fragile when you crashed. And they were heavy because of the aluminum shock and sway bar. So the team guys kind of wrote them off after that race and I don't remember ever trying one outdoors.

I don't think the mono shock was based on any other car. I think it was one of Roger's ideas to try to give the car more traction. Sorry, I don't have any photos of cars with that suspension.

[Charlie don't surf]

I wonder which was first, the Delta IFS front end, or the AE? I am supposing it was the AE-and they share more than a few traits

[bladeszx2]

Kent,

It is a real treat to read about your racing experiances from the golden age of 1/12 scale onroad racing. As a kid in the late 80's, yourself, and the rest of the RC pro's from the magazines were my heros. Now at 33 it's great to hear about all of the old school cars and tricks you guys used to use. I never raced 1/12 scale but was always intrigued, so now I've been collecting a lot of the early 80's cars. A couple of RC12e's, i's and early L's, Bolink Eliminator 12's etc.

I do have a quick question you might be able to answer. One of my RC12e's has a unique front end. It has a aqua colored, thick fiberglass plate thats attached to the main chassis with two aluminium caster blocks. The steering blocks/alxes mount on top of it at each end. The holes in the chassis, the caster blocks and the plate all look like they were manufactured by the factory, but I've never seen this or heard of this front end coming with a RC12e kit. Does this sound familair at all?

Again, thanks for sharing, it's really fun to hear about the good old days of RC racing.

Ben

[WC1982]

Hi Ben,

Glad to hear you're enjoying some of the vintage stories. If you could post some photos of your car it would help us identify the parts. Based on the color you described I'd guess that it is a Jomac front end, but it's hard to say withoug being able to see it.

--Kent

[bladeszx2]

I'll take some pictures and post them tonight.

Thanks,

Ben