I have what I am guess probably one of the last RC10Ts that Associated manufactured. I vaguely remember the T2 being out when I purchased it. I know for sure I have a Sport Edition which was purchased in 1996. I had wanted this truck since early 90s but it took years for me to get the cash to buy it. Purchasing it is an incredibly vivid and exciting memory from my youth. Unfortunately, I did not have great attention to detail as a kid and my original build of the truck reflected it. It was all around poorly built and ran so poorly that I used it little. Once I was in college, I carefully packed the truck in storage where it sat for 13 years. All in all, when I removed it from the box last month the truck was in pretty decent shape, but not built all that well and a bit dirty.
Here is how it looked prior to the resto:
I now have daughters and a niece and nephew who discovered my old RC10T (I put a new HPI motor and ESCl to get it going again recently.) Most of the kids' interest lies in chasing it like they are playing tag (they are all under 5) but I'm hoping to get at least one of my very girly daughters into the hobby. I had the RC10t laying around, I remember how much it meant to me as a kid, and I decided to completely restore it with my daugher's input (you'll see a bit of her girly style in the new body) My goal was to get it looking nearly brand new and running far better than it had ever run.
I completely took the truck apart:
I cleaned the truck with dishwasher soap, goo gone and crud cutter. It was filthy and there was a lot of leaked silicon shock oil on it. The shocks had pretty much completely emptied.
Next, I died the plastic parts to give it a newer look: (my wife refused to let me use her kitchenware or our stove, so off to the grill!)
I decided to paint the chassis with Rustoleum Matte Black. I know, not as good as powder coat or other approaches, but I like the matte look it produced, and it was a super fast process.
After a lot more cleaning and a ton of trial and error (again, everything I knew I had completely forgotten) Now, I finally have the RC10T complete! Here is the restored RC10T:
WOW. It runs 100x better than it ever did. I ended up with a new Savox steering servo, so FAST compared to my old plastic JR servo. I also ended up with an HPI 15t motor, which I learned kills the cheap ESC i got so I just ordered a HPI speed control that can handled the 15T motor. Even with the current Duratrax control in there, the truck is super fast...although it sometimes freaks out so I'm not driving it around my daughters. I've also noticed my spur gear is badly warped and the pinion gear is a mess. Just ordered replacements.
And my amateur attempt at a racing stripe paint job. My four year old daughter and I made the design in Photoshop and she picked the colors, its pretty girly but a little more aggressive than I expected!
Overall, I had an absolute blast doing this project. I truly felt like a kid again back in the 90s when I thought the RC10t was the ultimate RC truck! I'm hoping to teach my daughter to drive the truck and maybe eventually go to brushless once she learns the ropes, and maybe gets a couple more years on her. The 15T is so much faster than my old 27T Reedy!
I am definitely still tweaking and learning and would appreciate in thoughts or feedback members of the forum has.
Thanks for looking!
), I also have a t3 with a brushless setup. It is my only rig that I don't mind bashing. It has proven to be a solid platform. I managed to break two parts to date... rear arm mount and top plate. I tweaked the nose and broke the top plate after hitting a telephone pole going about 30mph. I couldn't believe that was the only carnage. I beat the nose back into shape, the top plate is on order. I also ground down both shock mounts approximately 1/4 inch. Note... keep the tire side down