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

Hello everyone! First time poster here, thanks for having me!
My name is Jared and I'm an RC Junkie. I thought I was cured of the sickness, actually I was for quite some time, but after getting back in to racing about a year ago, I wanted to see if it was possible to "update" an original AMERICAN MADE gold pan into something that could hang with my current b4.1 setup. I decided to rummage around the folks house last week to see if I could find any of the old rc stuff from yesteryear. OK , I wont bore you with the same ol story I'm sure you guys have read before, "I found my old car in Moms attic", yada yada yada.
But... thats exactly what happened and now I have a few decisions to make.After using the info on this great site, I have determined that I have a early to mid CE with an A chassis, and it is in brand new, never ran condition. Strangely enough I have memories of building this with my grandfather after buying it from a small LHS in Yorba Linda CA around 1990 when I was in 7th grade, but for some reason it never got the electronics installed and has been sitting in the folks attic ever since. Obviously this brought me great nostalgia and instantly made me want to complete it with period correct electronics and make it a shelf queen, never to be ran.
I have since purchased 2 more gold pans , one early Edinger on CL and one late CE w/stealth on ebay. My goal is to use the electronics from the Ed and a few extra parts to help in the restoration of my original CE, and the other is going to be a "old is new" build that can hopefully compete in the stock buggy class here at my home track WCRC.
After studying the old is new thread (hey its new to me, and I'm sorry but I have to copy you guys I have decided that I'm going to get my parts list together to start this build immediately. I will be posting here as I go, and I will certainly be requesting the knowledge of the experts, so thanks in advance to everyone here, this really does seem like a great community and I'm really excited to be a part of it.
Here are a few pics of what I'm working with so far;




My cheap CL find! Great condition, runs well! even came with cool old airtronics and sanyo batt.



The one I picked up on ebay already has the stealth on it and it will be the base for my runner. I know its been done to death, but I will be following the recipes that you members so kindly laid out in order to help me get this thing up to 2012 status. Please let me know what your opinions are and thanks in advance for all the help with my builds, I know I will certainly need it.

okay, I think I'm pretty clear on what I need to order for the klein conversion thanks to this post from pbr allstar;
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PBR Allstar wrote:Okay, this I think is a pretty comprehensive list of how to do the Klein arm conversion. if anyone else has anything to ad post it up!

http://dynotech-racing.com/partDetail.php?RefNum=2700 Rear X2
http://dynotech-racing.com/partDetail.php?RefNum=2701 Front X2
http://www.avidrc.com/product/?c=0&p=102 Rear hub bearings x4
http://www.avidrc.com/product/?c=9&p=48 Front wheel bearings x4
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXEU81 RPM GT Carriers 70272
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXSYV7 Associated Rear CVA Kit B44
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXEAH8&P=Z Associated wheel spacers
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXKYT2&P=7 Associated wide front axles
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXEAK8&P=SM Associated rear wheels
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXEAK7&P=SM Associated front wheels
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX2914&P=7 Associated truck bulkhead
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX2964&P=SM Associated shock tower
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX2585&P=SM Associated 1.02 shocks
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXBVF8&P=7 Associated front springs
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX2929&P=M Associated truck nose tubes
(these need to be shortened and redrilled for the correct wheelbase)
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXTHT3&P=7 Dubro turnbuckles (x3 these need to be cut to length but is the cheap way to go, also good to use to determine length if you want to use titanium in the future

You will also need a truck front nose plate, these are no longer in production but are easy to find in the BST section or aftermarket ones are very plentiful on ebay like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Aluminum-Alloy-Front-Nose-Plate-Bumper-Fits-RC10GT-RC10_W0QQitemZ190311126494QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2c4f6d55de

There are other ways around it, but that is a pretty comprehensive parts list, it can be done pretty cheap (realatively speaking) if you get parts and help from members here, and scour ebay. If you want the slammed body look with the cut down chassis then you need to make your own rear shock tower or find a 10T rear tower which is no longer available from associated, but are still easy to find on ebay.

The assembly is very straight forward, Like mentioned above, you need to cut the nose tubes and redrill them so they work with the nose plate in the short wheelbase position, if you opt not to do this it will still work but the steering geometry will not be correct. It's good to have a dremel on hand as a couple parts may need a small tune up to fit perfectly, it's also a good idea to have a .126" chucking ream on hand to ensure a perfect fit of your hinge pins, those can be found at mcmaster carr for cheap http://www.mcmaster.com/#3087a31/=57tbxg hope this all helps those wanting to do the conversion!

I'm not sure what towers I'm going for yet, but I guess I'm a little confused on whether or not I will need to cut the tub if I do the Klien conversion? I also have an old rc10t that I am going to part out for this build! I guess I also need to get some parts to update the trans/slipper assembly and the steering components. Hopefully I'm on the right track, time to do more reading!

So would I be correct in assuming that I can simply add a b4 top shaft and b4 slipper to my stealth and I will be good to go with 17.5 -8.5 power?
Also, what seems to be the components of choice for the steering? seems like everyone does something a little different including low profile servos and dare I say LOSI parts?

Yes you can just drop in a B4 top shaft and slipper.

For steering try the A&L unit.

http://vintageteamaandl.com/

No need to cut the tub for the arms. The A&L Steering mentioned earlier works great, that is what I am using on my WOIN.


Good luck and have fun with the build.

ED

Yes I forgot to mention, as sonic said not need to cut anything for the Klein arms. Just use the 10t nose plate and front bulkhead off your donor truck.

8rad wrote:Yes I forgot to mention, as sonic said not need to cut anything for the Klein arms. Just use the 10t nose plate and front bulkhead off your donor truck.

Ahh I see now, when I read PBRs post I thought he was referring to the tub being cut to run the arms, but I assume he meant cutting down the sides of the tub as I have seen on many here before. Are there any performance benefits to cutting and powdercoating the chassis, or is it primarily a cosmetic thing?
I just ordered the steering kit, thanks for the link 8rad! I also have a bunch more parts to order and stuff to tear down today to get this project goin, thanks again for the feedback. I am a noob at this vintage stuff, so please chime in anytime!

People used to cut the tubs BITD to save weight. Not really an issue anymore. Any anodizing or powder coating is down to personal preference. If you have a black nose and a gold tub for example you may want to but its really just for looks.

8rad wrote:People used to cut the tubs BITD to save weight. Not really an issue anymore. Any anodizing or powder coating is down to personal preference. If you have a black nose and a gold tub for example you may want to but its really just for looks.

Well then, I guess I will stick with that classic gold for now, just so they know theyre getting passed by a 20 year old buggy
And ironically, I just read on their website that A&L is located here in my hometown of Corona CA, maybe I can get a kit cash and carry today!

Ok, Im off to the LHS to see what I can source locally for this build, also....
I was curious as to the differences in dimensions and geometry in the rc10 vs the b4 after the klien conversion.
I was looking through both OIN threads and was wondering after doing the conversion, and adding 2.2s, how similar can the pan be to the b4?
Sorry if this question is redundant, but I didnt find anything in those threads regarding performance comparisons etc.

With Bigjeepzz rear arms, SC10 front castor blocks and RC10GT wide axles you can achieve the same width as a B4.

The purchase of the SC10 castor blocks was a dummy mistake on my part, I thought B4 and SC10 shared the same blocks. But it worked out well.

soniccj5 wrote:With Bigjeepzz rear arms, SC10 front castor blocks and RC10GT wide axles you can achieve the same width as a B4.

The purchase of the SC10 castor blocks was a dummy mistake on my part, I thought B4 and SC10 shared the same blocks. But it worked out well.

ok, I assumed that the klien rears and b44 cvds would get me to the same width as the b4? guess not

It will get you really close though.

socal jared wrote:Ok, Im off to the LHS to see what I can source locally for this build, also....
I was curious as to the differences in dimensions and geometry in the rc10 vs the b4 after the klien conversion.
I was looking through both OIN threads and was wondering after doing the conversion, and adding 2.2s, how similar can the pan be to the b4?
Sorry if this question is redundant, but I didnt find anything in those threads regarding performance comparisons etc.

Jared, most of our LHS arent gonna have much for us vintage racer nuts. I run my goldpan occasionally, but always have it with me at the local tracks...I've been running my ::GASP:: JRX lately

Let me know what local tracks you run at, maybe we can meet up and drum up some more vintage cars for a full class.

soniccj5 wrote:It will get you really close though.

OK, I'm not really sure what direction I want to go now. Are these arms still available from member bigjeepz?
I'm sure there are also some considerations to be made regarding race legality? Would the jeepz arms make the buggy an illegal width?