hello All,
I’ve wanted an MRP Pro-110 for some time, but they've always seemed out of my price range. I saw this car and it appeared to be in very bad condition, but I’ve seen worse…so I decided to bid.
The tires were bald, dry rotted and split. The body was painted orange and it looked like it was some type of water base paint (because it bubbled and it didn’t completely cover the lexan). The plastic parts were good, but the prolonged exposure to either sunlight or moisture resulted in a white film on the suspension arms. The metal on the car was corroded.
Chassis was in average condition because of the car’s stiff suspension (did not bottom out too much).
First thing I did was strip the wheels using some Super Clean (purple stuff). It removed the chrome paint without hurting the plastic. (Be careful using this on aluminum because it will strip the anodizing.) I then sanded the face of the lip to remove the minor curb rash.
I mounted some Kyosho Outrage fronts and Proline RC-10 tires on the rear. I’ll refinish the wheels in the summer using some alcalad paint. I think it will have just the right amount of sparkle. The shocks were in good condition, but the sunlight faded the anodizing…making some parts brown. I saw Mvice’s car and I like the look of the bare aluminum. It will match the wheels nicely once they’re painted.
One of my biggest concerns was the body. The body on the car was in really good condition, but the orange paint had to go. Since it looked like a water base paint, I tried isopropyl alcohol (91%) and it took the paint off without any problems. The lexan wasn’t damaged and no residue was left…just needed to cut a semi circle piece for the bottom of the right side and sand down a couple scratches on the inside of the body.
I didn’t like the stock MRP decals for the car. It was something about the font that just didn’t look right. I decided to make some using MS Word and I really like the design I came up with. I just printed them on paper just to see how they looked on the car. When I paint the car this summer, I’ll have them printed on white vinyl.
The plastic parts were cleaned and dyed black. This reduced the white film by quite a bit. When using the flash on the camera, I can still see some white, so I may try an armor all like product to blacken the plastic. There are many brands, but I think I may have found the right product (leaves no residue). I still have to order it, but I’ll post pics after the treatment. There are dark parts on the radio plate from the electronics. I dyed the fiberglass, but It didn't really help. I'll just mount electronics to cover up the sections.
This is how the car sits right now. I still need to mount electronics, paint the body and wheels. I have the MSC mount and the front sway bar, but I just haven’t installed them. I'm still deciding if I should anodize the chassis...or have it powder coated. The hardest thing to find would be the driver / chassis cover.
Regards,
Roger
