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just picked this up.

team associated rc500, 2wd, chain drive, engine is a HB .21 Grand Prix.
the rest of the pics at at http://lowclasscc.net/2009/09/team-associated-rc500-2wd/

Nice pick up there, unique plumbed exhaust I might add.

ya its different from the pretty tuned pipes i see today. the jb weld has cracked but still cool lol

Very cool pick up.
And of course I would have that engine New In Box

sweet find steve..

ok i have been looking through the rc500 pics on here and everywhere else i can find them. and the one consistent thing i have noticed is all the differences i have seen.

now just out of the 2wd ones here are some of the notable things i have noticed.

• early chain drive
  later belt drive
  rear shock tower on some belt drives
  non shock tower (chain drive setup) on belt drives
  manual shows front sway bar down low.
  mine has the low mounts but they are unused and the sway bat is on top of the front suspension
  the brake mount plate on mine is plastic (seen on chain drive models)
  the brake mount plate on the belt drive is a L or T brace made of fiberglass.
  the rear hubs on mine have an additional top section which i have seen on others but the manual don't show this.

so is there a list anywhere that documents the running changes to the rc500?

and what differences have you seen or noticed between the different rc500's out there?

There are so many standard and then updated standard parts plus special parts(SP-) that were either ultra light weight or modified to use bearings that I believe this would be an impossible task to list all the iterations. I have seen quite a few different cars on many different sites and like you say none appear the same and very few look close to the original box art picture car. Uniqueness is one of the things that sets the RC500 up and above most of the other 1/8 scale race cars from the era.
You are one lucky collector to find such a piece and I can only hope I too someday may have that piece of luck.

LowClassCC wrote:sweet find steve..

ok i have been looking through the rc500 pics on here and everywhere else i can find them. and the one consistent thing i have noticed is all the differences i have seen.

now just out of the 2wd ones here are some of the notable things i have noticed.

• early chain drive
  later belt drive
  rear shock tower on some belt drives
  non shock tower (chain drive setup) on belt drives
  manual shows front sway bar down low.
  mine has the low mounts but they are unused and the sway bat is on top of the front suspension
  the brake mount plate on mine is plastic (seen on chain drive models)
  the brake mount plate on the belt drive is a L or T brace made of fiberglass.
  the rear hubs on mine have an additional top section which i have seen on others but the manual don't show this.

so is there a list anywhere that documents the running changes to the rc500?

and what differences have you seen or noticed between the different rc500's out there?

I think there are vast differences because if you had an early car you could just buy the parts and add them to your car. like belt drive,2 speed, rc10 rear shock upgrade. I know I had 4wd car parts on my 2wd.

thanks for all the comments. i have the car currently torn down for cleaning. i'm surprised at how well everything is cleaning up on her. so far i have not found any noticeable scratches on the bottom. one thing i couldn't believe was how heavy this car actually is. maybe its cause i'm a 1/10 scale electric guy but damn this thing is a tank. they certainly focused on durability and not at all on weight back then. i will post pics when i have a little more done on the car.

**update**
just a quick update on the car. i am currently working on cleaning her up and doing it little by little so i can get everything perfect. the current work is on the front end. after cleaning one side and getting it back together i noticed the steering is binding very bad. i head down and check out the manual and everything looks right but i finally notice the front axle carriers have offset screw holes, thus making the right and left different. now since i have only tore down and cleaned one side so far ad the other side is still put together i know i didn't make this mistake myself. who knows how long this car has been like this but this will be something i will be correcting on the car. how bad the steering binds on this i dont see how anybody drove this thing. pics will be up at some point tonight of the progress.

• chassis plates cleaned
  fuel tank cleaned
  all front hinge pins polished
  all front end parts cleaned
  one of the shocks have been rebuilt (ran outta time)
  replaced needed washers and nuts

nice 500 . wish mine was nice as that!!