Losi JRX Pro and Fibrelyte Chassis restore (31/04/12 update)

[Alex B]

I managed to get a decent example from for very little money just before Christmas. It came with a fibrelyte chassis and front shock mount, slipper, RPM bulkhead and lovely Yokomo Pink wing




Both taken from the ebay advert







I finally took delivery a few days ago and have been busy over the holidays on the tear down and restoration. I came in really good condition with only a few parts need replacement, principally both front and rear suspension arms were scratched beyond repair (but will be used if I ever run it) Thanks to Jun on here for the front arms, I have a new set of H arms coming from ebay.

The chassis was good but had some surface scratches so I decided to sand them out and apply a few layers of clear coat.

Finished chassis bottom


Almost finished rubbed down top which I wont clear coat for a few days to allow the bottom to harden (lesson learned )



I rebuild the gearbox and slipper assembly, which is now like a buttery goo. The motor mount was badly scratched in places, so I whipped out the dremel for the worst of them and then used progressively finer wet and dry to get most of them out.






Rear shocks rebuild with new seals


Just waiting on the arms and all the other bits will get cleaned up and re-assembled

[slow_jun]

item will be shipped out tomorrow, Man that is one sweet ride.....

[geeforce59]

Never thought that Fibelyte UK have a CF chassis for Jrx Pro.....gosh i have to check with sis back is surrey maybe she can order some for my Losi.

[Alex B]

item will be shipped out tomorrow, Man that is one sweet ride.....

Cheers

[Alex B]

Never thought that Fibelyte UK have a CF chassis for Jrx Pro.....gosh i have to check with sis back is surrey maybe she can order some for my Losi.

I'm 99% sure that it is a fibre-Lyte chassis, email them and ask if they still have the mold. One thing interesting about the chassis is the ability to run an increased wheelbase. My initial thoughts was that it was also sold as a truck chassis, can anyone confirm this?

[JK Racing]

the original JRX Pro SE/LXT chassis (molded composite) from Losi has an adjustable wheelbase also (as well as the composite craft chassis).

[brian s]

jrx restoration is looking good alex, looking at it i wish i had`nt sold it now though.

[Alex B]

jrx restoration is looking good alex, looking at it i wish i had`nt sold it now though.

I didn't know it was from Newport, thanks Brian, not much for me to do just being a bit fussy. Maybe I'll run it at Caldicot vintage nights one day or perhaps my Yokomo Works 93, shame I'm on Child duty every Friday as I would love to get back to racing. I even got all the modern stuff ready to go but Mrs Alex B changed her shift pattern, so I'm stuck in on Friday

[peetbee]

You'd be more than welcome to come and play at Caldi, especially with a works 93!!
I saw the car before Bri put it on ebay and was tempted as it's a great car, but I'm too much of an AE fan to run a Losi

[Alex B]

You'd be more than welcome to come and play at Caldi, especially with a works 93!!
I saw the car before Bri put it on ebay and was tempted as it's a great car, but I'm too much of an AE fan to run a Losi

Thanks

Not sure I could run the Works 93, it is by far my most precious

[DerbyDan]

Spotted this 'Pro' on ebay & thought how good it looked... glad its gone to a good home & looks like you are progressing well with it - love that chassis... looks 'yummy' all lacqured up & shiney

Wish I lived a bit closer to Caldicote to experience your clubnight.... I hear there is quite a vintage following? There's a few guys over this way at Hinckley that like to run the older cars during the summer, but thats about it for vintage racing in the mid-east

[peetbee]

@Alex - They're made to be run, go on go on go on!! Trying to convince my brother to run his '93
@Dan - Cheers, it's getting better, this is the 3rd year of it and we have a fair mix of cars although RC10's are the most popular! - Round 3 is this Friday and my Lazer has been retired and I'll be running a Team car

Now to try and get this back on topic!
Alex, how exactly did you clean up that chassis, what laquer did you use and how was it applied?
I have a graphite RC10 chassis that is no where near as good condition as your Pro, but would like to get it looking better than it does now
Thanks

[Alex B]

@Alex - They're made to be run, go on go on go on!! Trying to convince my brother to run his '93
@Dan - Cheers, it's getting better, this is the 3rd year of it and we have a fair mix of cars although RC10's are the most popular! - Round 3 is this Friday and my Lazer has been retired and I'll be running a Team car

Now to try and get this back on topic!
Alex, how exactly did you clean up that chassis, what laquer did you use and how was it applied?
I have a graphite RC10 chassis that is no where near as good condition as your Pro, but would like to get it looking better than it does now
Thanks

I used 320 grit wet and dry to get the worst of the scratches out (you need to be brave and careful at the same time) then 600, 1000 and finally 1500 grit wet and dry (the chassis will look rubbish in terms of finish but the clear coat will take care of that). After a thorough wash in hot soapy water I shot 5 or 6 coats of regular halfords clear coat leaving around 15 minutes between applications. I found the key to getting a good gloss finish is to apply the clear coat in light layers holding the can around 3 to 4 inches from the chassis, any further away I find that you get more of an 'orange peel' which needs to be flatted back then polished to give a glossy result. You need to make sure you get an even covering I found it helps to have a light above where your working to check the covering.

On the rear of the chassis there was a scratch that was slightly to deep that I felt comfortable too sand right back so I sanded as much as I dared then filled in the scratch with clear coat using a toothpick until the clear coat was slightly proud of the surface. I then flatted that back with 600 etc. I also put a slight chamfer in the rear of the chassis to blend it all in.

I not sure this method would be of use if the scratch had got down to the carbon fibre you may have to use epoxy to fill in the worst.

Make sure that you let the clear coat harden properly, I will probably not touch the top of chassis for at least 2 weeks and again the same for reassembly.

I also not sure how durable the clear coat would be for a runner.

[RedScampi]

That looks awesome Alex! Who knew you could restore a carbon fibre chassis that way? I'm not familiar with the Halford's finish, is it a polyurathane? How hard a finish will it be when its cured? I suppose you could always put a chassis protector on it if you did decide to run it.

By the way, you can use some good metal polish and get a chrome like finish on that motor plate, or as I have done in the past, you can respray it silver. For one of my JRX2's I found a semi-flat silver that looks very close to the original finish.

[Coelacanth]

I used 320 grit wet and dry to get the worst of the scratches out (you need to be brave and careful at the same time) then 600, 1000 and finally 1500 grit wet and dry (the chassis will look rubbish in terms of finish but the clear coat will take care of that). After a thorough wash in hot soapy water I shot 5 or 6 coats of regular halfords clear coat leaving around 15 minutes between applications. I found the key to getting a good gloss finish is to apply the clear coat in light layers holding the can around 3 to 4 inches from the chassis, any further away I find that you get more of an 'orange peel' which needs to be flatted back then polished to give a glossy result. You need to make sure you get an even covering I found it helps to have a light above where your working to check the covering.

Actually, if it's for a shelfer, there's no need to go through all that clear-coating and subsequent wet-sanding to get a glossy look. Once you've finished wet-sanding up to 1500 or higher grit, the key to getting a polished finish is simply applying rubbing compound and giving it a good buffing, then do the same with polishing compound. I usually follow that up with an application of Nu-Finish Scratch Doctor. There's no need for a clear-coat protection for a shelfer, IMHO.

In fact, it's not the clear-coat that makes the finish glossy, but the wet-sanding you did (all over again) after the 1500-grit. If you're spraying clear-coat out of a rattle-can, I almost guarantee you'll get orange-peel, regardless of methods. That will just have to be wet-sanded out again. For a shelfer, just skip the clear-coating and apply rubbing compound, polishing compound, and Nu-Finish Scratch Doctor after your final 1500-grit wet-sanded surface.

Just saying this to warn others in advance before they start clear-coating everything and getting frustrated with having to waste more hours wet-sanding out the orange-peel you just put all over your nicely sanded surfaces.