Is there anyway to 'fix' a graphite chassis?

[RC104ever]

I just bought one and while its all in one piece, it is really scratched and banged up. Can you 'repair' graphite? Has anyone made a 'new' graphite chassis?

[Charlie don't surf]

Yes there are a few tricks to bring one back, but it depends on the condition and what you intend to do with it, such as run or shelf it. Pics would help to give all of us an idea of what you have to work with-

[RC104ever]

I will try to snap some pics of it. The basic car was solid but I've stripped everything off and put the parts in a bleach bath. Unfortunately, some of the parts were painted and the others were dyed. Some, like the rear arms, it looks like they parts were BOTH painted and dyed.

One thing I was amazed at was the Stealth tranny is sooo smooth, not like either of the ones I have. It spins so freely that it will keep going for about 5-6 seconds. Even the one I rebuilt isn't that good. I'm guessing the bearings in it must still be really fresh.

[GJW]

i have had good results using a mouse sander with a very fine pad/paper, get some pics up

[RC104ever]

Okay, sorry for the delay in getting pics up! Here they are.

Full shot



Close up of the nose - this is my main concern


Close up of the rear - nothing too deep


Belly close up - mostly just the clear coat peeling off


Overall, I guess its in good shape. The arms, tower and stuff were all horrible though. The previous owner had dyed parts of them and painted parts of them. I cleaned them up, stripped off the paint and tried to dye them back to white with mixed success. Not really sure what to do with this though, I already have my runner, my son's runner and shelf queen to work on. LOL. Maybe I can turn it into a truggy or something.

[rctenracer]

For a runner I would run some CA around the edges and worn areas to keep it from delaminating . Jb weld works great for filling unwanted holes. For a shelfer the chassis has seen better days and really not worth fixing.

[RC104ever]

Cool, thanks. I am not planning to shelf it. I was going through my spare parts and have lots of pieces I can use to make a runner.