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Only very small differences in the RC250 and 300, ball bearings for the most part and maybe the brakes. When I said 1992 I was referring to the date on the catalog that came in my kit. They did originally come out in the late 70's but they were probably still being made into kit form in to the early 90's. For more info check further in the On-road section of the forum. Here are a couple of links dedicated to RC100, 200, 300 and 500 cars that might help your search. There are other sites just do a Google search on RC500.
http://web.mac.com/mits777/assocista/Home.html

http://www.rc500.com/

the rc 250 and 300 are esssentially the same. the one difference is that the 250 had a solid axle and the 300 has a ball differential in the rear.

I'm not sure that's correct, the RC200 had a solid front axle but the RC250 like the one in my post has the same front uprights as the RC300. Also the ball diff was an upgrade, don't think it came in the standard base RC300 kit. There was also a RC300BD kit and a RC300D kit that had the aluminum constructed diff similar to the AMP diff from UK that AE distributed in the early 70's. The 300D I think is very rare and I have only seen pictures of it in the Gene Husting videos. I have seen the AMP diff nip in person and it is a very cool piece. Anthony the RC300 you restored has the ball diff and maybe it came in the kit or could have been purchased as an upgrade. I recently purchased the ball diff upgrade kit and a dual disc brake kit upgrades nip and am having sooo much fun trying to make it work.

I can imagine that the dual disk brake system is a challenge to install. The standard brake with only one disk is difficult to get everything lined up with adequate clearance and smooth braking action on the cam.

I did not realize there were different versions of the 300, I thought they all had the ball diff as an upgrade over the 250.

I googled to see what I can find and came up with this:
http://www.classic.rc-junkies.net/?p=263#more-263
is that a Gear-diff between the uprights? I've never seen one of those before

Wow, that's a very old ad, "Das Asso differential" cool! The way it happened according to the Gene Husting videos was that a US team went to the World Championships (IFMAR) in Monte Carlo and were literally shut out by all the European cars and drivers because they were all running the AMP Diff. Associated became a distributor for AMP but these were several hundred $$$.$$ so Associated eventually made there own but these were also very expensive to buy and manufacture so Gene Husting had Roger Curtis create a Ball Diff that was modelled after their RC12I ball diff axle and that how they came up with the 300BD kit. Here are some screen captures of the AMP diff, then the Associated gear diff pieces and then installed in the car.

Nice stuff.
found this today also:
http://www.rc500.com/parts_rc300/parts_rc300.htm

I had no idea there were so many hop-up option parts for these cars,

There is this on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200337646005&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT it's expensive but kinda cool as well. It would make a great project. Can anybody tell me how complete it is?
Pete

It's been available for awhile now. A little rough but it does appear to have the ball diff rear axle and the dual disc brake option. Another possibility is the RC250 nib kit like I started with. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180399185867&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Hey that's cool thanks for that...I didn't win your wing by the way..

aconsola wrote:the rc 250 and 300 are esssentially the same. the one difference is that the 250 had a solid axle and the 300 has a ball differential in the rear.

i have been told by Rick Davis that it is the molded nylon front arms that make it an rc300, not the ball diff........
http://www.rcmagvintage.com/reviews/retro/voitures/piste/musee/associated/associated.htm scroll down ....says rc300 (1979).has molded nylon front arms but no diff to be seen???.......

matthew john wrote:whattt????????????? that looks just like my rc300, the only thing different is the top part where the fuel tank is at??/

in the instructions it says rc300/250....must be the same.

you said that was from around 1992???? in this associated history website it said the rc300 debuted in 1974 or 75 or 79,


whats the exact history on these things??
i got a rc500 im restoring , and ive been seeing 4wd rc500's , cant find any online that look exactly like mine

view and learn.........http://www.rcmagvintage.com/reviews/retro/voitures/piste/musee/associated/associated.htm

Taylorm wrote:

aconsola wrote:the rc 250 and 300 are esssentially the same. the one difference is that the 250 had a solid axle and the 300 has a ball differential in the rear.

i have been told by Rick Davis that it is the molded nylon front arms that make it an rc300, not the ball diff........
http://www.rcmagvintage.com/reviews/retro/voitures/piste/musee/associated/associated.htm scroll down ....says rc300 (1979).has molded nylon front arms but no diff to be seen???.......

Makes me wonder then if the 250 came out as a budget type offering after the 300 was upgraded to the 300-bd? The rc250 seems to be exactly like the original non-diff 300.

When I got my RC250 I either asked Bert Bonem or read it somewhere that the difference between the 250 and 300 base kits was the 300 came with all bearings and the 250 had bushings as mine did and also on the 250 the rear brake was that Asbestos looking disc thing with 2 metal pads like in my kit. I think the 300 may have come with the metal disc and the two metal pads were covered with brake pad material. My RC250 has the seperate nylon arms as does the 300. No question Rick Davis is the man he is awesome, the separate front uprights are the diference between the RC200(solid front alloy beam) and the RC250/300. The ball diff came out later than the RC250/300 introduction. That is how it's explained in the Gene Husting's videos.

tizeye wrote:Hey that's cool thanks for that...I didn't win your wing by the way..

Yep, Doug ended up getting it, he told me a long time ago that he wanted it. So it's going to a good home.

a01butal wrote:

tizeye wrote:Hey that's cool thanks for that...I didn't win your wing by the way..

Yep, Doug ended up getting it, he told me a long time ago that he wanted it. So it's going to a good home.

Cool Doug has a great collection of sprint cars it couldn't have gone to a better home..(except my place)..