RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

I looked through this section and I haven't seen anything mentioned about restoring gold tubs.
What are you guy's doing to restore scratched up and worn anodizing on the gold tubs?

I'm looking to make a vintage shelf queen buggy to go with my bashed but displayed brushed AE B4.1 so I want something that looks presentable, but it doesn't have to be 100% original.

Can the gold tubs be reanodized or painted to look close to original?

What have you guy's done and post pics if you can.

I had a '88 gold tub buggy back in the day when I used to race. I just got back into R/C a couple years ago so now me and my 5 year old boy bash with a Tamyia Blackfoot Extreme and Tamiya Twin Detonator. I also have a AE B4.1 that I bash once in a while for something different.
Thanks,
Lynn

As you probably know, you can't restore worn/scratched anodizing. You can refinish the surfaces and re-anodize it.

I haven't tried this yet but another forum member told me that Easy-Off oven cleaner (the yellow cap high strength stuff) will quickly remove anodizing. Just don't leave it on very long, I'd rinse it off as soon as the anodizing was removed.

The next part I *have* done. Sand the bare aluminum smooth. I started with 600 grit, then moved on to 800, 1000 and 1500 grit, and finally rubbed it down good with some 3M Rubbing Compound. That should give the aluminum a nice polished sheen.

Now, it's ready for the anodizer, who can re-anodize in any color you want.

The attached picture shows a number of parts that I refinished as described, and had them anodized. They were bare aluminum to begin with, but you can see they're more polished than the rest of the parts before being anodized. The 7 shinier parts on the lower left side of this pic are the parts I prepped.

Cool, How close of a color can a reanodizer get to the AE Gold color?

Any idea on how much it would cost to get the parts redone?

Thanks for the help,
Lynn

i don't think the pic in your sig is big enough........

Twin Detonator wrote:Cool, How close of a color can a reanodizer get to the AE Gold color?

I would assume any good anodizer could get a pretty close match if they have pictures of the original color beforehand.

Any idea on how much it would cost to get the parts redone?

I bought all the blue anodized parts in my picture excluding the 7 parts of my own, from pargu2000 in Korea. I shipped my parts to him and he charged me $30 for the anodizing. Seemed like a fair deal, but I'll leave it up to someone else to estimate more local pricing.

Oh, and stop using my space for your signature!

Coelacanth wrote:

Twin Detonator wrote:Cool, How close of a color can a reanodizer get to the AE Gold color?

I would assume any good anodizer could get a pretty close match if they have pictures of the original color beforehand.

Any idea on how much it would cost to get the parts redone?

I bought all the blue anodized parts in my picture excluding the 7 parts of my own, from pargu2000 in Korea. I shipped my parts to him and he charged me $30 for the anodizing. Seemed like a fair deal, but I'll leave it up to someone else to estimate more local pricing.

Oh, and stop using my space for your signature!

Thanks!

My pic isn't that big is it???

Lynn

scr8p wrote:i don't think the pic in your sig is big enough........

Made it smaller.. Better?

Lynn

I went and had mine powdercoated after I stripped it. I wasnt planning on original gold, so I went semigloss black:



OOPPPSSSS

I know that prices vary for a number of reasons but what is the cost of either anodizing or powdercoating? Small, one-time jobs are usually pricey regardless of what is done.

I paid 25 and waited about a week. I've spoken with a different shop, he was willing to do 20 (for a single chassis), if it was a color he was shooting that day.

My buddy and I are trying to gather a few chassis together to do a color run, they seem to be really hesitant to shoot something other than black unless it is "worth their while".

JK Racing wrote:I paid 25 and waited about a week. I've spoken with a different shop, he was willing to do 20 (for a single chassis), if it was a color he was shooting that day.

I think that's the ticket right there. For an anodizer or powder-coater to just do a few small items, it's not very cost-effective. If you're polite & lucky, you can ask if they'll just throw your items in when they do their next run of whatever color and you won't end up paying too much.

Has anyone just painted the tub gold for a good looking shelf queen?
I have seen one painted bright orange in the gallery and it looked pretty good.

Lynn

been there...done that too...hammertone paint:

That looks good. I like the hammer tone finish.

Lynn

twin.. if you are speaking of my bright orange tub then i wanted to let you know that it is powdercoated not painted. i get my chassis powdercoated for $20 for the 3 piece set with any color he has in stock.