Dirtier than the "Dirty Girl"... RC12e restoration

[templeofspeed]

Quite the find for my RC12 collection... This is one of the earlier RC12E kits, although not the earliest (it's got the 2nd gen servo saver). White Kydex top plate, non countersunk chassis with steel slotted screws and a Futaba brown box radio. Plus a bunch of Jerobee parts... Note how filthy it is on the top, and how clean it is on the bottom. Looks like an easy cleanup!

More when it shows up.

[templeofspeed]

OK, so it showed up... I'm having an issue with the seller as she did not include everything shown in the auction (I'm missing the antenna for the Kraft radio, which she apparently threw out along with the styrofoam box... ) She insists I got a "great deal" as a consolation Give me a break, I was the high bidder on a no-reserve auction...

This appears to have never been run...the Futaba FP-T 2F radio gear still has all the protective coatings on the Tx meter, frequency disc, servo labels, and Rx label. I didn't take any pics of the radio gear as I'm still cleaning it all up, but the chassis cleaned up amazingly! There are no scratches or other noticeable wear to anything! Looks like it was built and put away before even charging (the original GE Saft) batteries. I am soaking the battery in WD40 to get the fiberglass strapping tape residue off, but did give it a little romp on the old Victor IQ and it seems good!

The tires show no wear, but are quite rotten (I have new donuts and complete wheel/tire assemblies when the time comes ). The body looks like a prepainted AE Porsche 917K30, not trimmed the best but pretty good overall. Jay, if you could post a pic of an uncut version of this shell I'd appreciate it!

The only paperwork supplied was the original AE parts listing from 1980, it's an interesting read. I'll get it scanned at some point. This kit pre-dates the diff axle, athough there was a NIP one included with the earliest type AE package header card (maybe not as early as some of the RC100 stuff... ). I'll get some more pics up when I get the radio gear cleaned up and installed!

I'm pretty well pleased with this one, it's almost as exciting as my Delta car...

[mrlexan]

I have that body uncut, but as with everything else it is buried in storage (I am sure you guys are getting tired of hearing that). I will keep an eye out for it.

I don't think it is a Associated 917. All the AE 917s I have and have seen are different. I am about 99% sure it is a Jerobee/Jomac (later MRP) 917. I will post a pic of the Jerobee catalog later. It has a pic.

Looks good. I was watching that one, glad it went to a good home.

[templeofspeed]

I think you're right about the body being Jerobee/Jomac (2nd up from the bottom on the right):

I've been using the Jerobee website to sort out all the Jerobee/Jomac/Bolink parts that came with this...

[mrlexan]

That's the page I was going to post.

I am going to the storage unit this weekend. I will see if I can find it.

[templeofspeed]

Also nice how the AE TOJ body is now discontinued... I bought a few, but my 1/12th AE collection is now greater than the amount of bodies I have... No worries Jay, I still have the Zakspeed body with your name on it... I'm not a big fan of the Cook-Woods car or I would've been all over that one for one of my 12i cars...

[mrlexan]

The Cooke Woods car is really a landmark in the 1:1 GTP world. It was the first of the evolution into the true GTP cars from the highly modded 935s that were considered GTP. It spawned pretty much everything, the 962/956, March 85G, etc., etc., etc.

I have an original Cooke Woods Associated Decal Sheet, I am going to make repos just for my own personal interest. Also have a 1/8th T600, of which I am going to do the same livery. Also, I have the original TOJ decal that I was thinking of doing the same thing. Since the TOJ is discontinued, that doesn't help. Sorry to hear it is gone. But, I have quite a few of those around.

[templeofspeed]

I'd rather do the Porsche 956... I've got a few Bolink 962 bodies, but not really appropriate for the 12e/i/L cars. Ok for a LW or LS...going by the timeline. A couple of Schkee's would be cool for the early stuff. Isn't that the body Art Carbonell used on his Delta Super Phaser in 1982?

Man, I wish there was a site with pics of all the old ROAR and IFMAR WC 1/12th cars...

I stumbled on this completed auction (that I didn;t see in time to bid), but it's a nice reference pic of the old AE header cards:

[scr8p]

i watched this auction, too. i thought it'd be a nice addition to the collection.

nice car temple.

[templeofspeed]

Thanks Jason... I seem to have the ability to see through the filth on some of these...

[MOmo]

I want one of those Futaba radios!
My friend had one, it was SWEET! Thats what i need to racing vintage class!

Killer Find!


MOMO

[templeofspeed]

You really don't want one of those radios to actually race with...

7 cells, 100mw of power, "five foot" antenna, useless receiver... Great for display, but to use...nah...

[templeofspeed]

I got the radio gear cleaned up and dug out a 4 cell G plug Rx battery holder just to make the radio set complete... Cleaning the battery was fairly successful, but "goof-off" will remove the printed mfg codes on the battery labels... just a FYI... , I was reluctant to go much further with the cells. Also, I soldered new red and black Futaba "suicide cord" charge jack wires to the resistor and charge jack (replacing the speaker wire that was there) I also "broke the seal" on a set of wheels just for the pictures. I'm not sure that they or the radio gear will remain installed for very long, but I'll add more pics when it's complete. It's nice that all the protective film is still on the radio components.

Here's today's progress:

[templeofspeed]

Ok, so it's done. I included a before and after picture to simulate what it might have looked like when it went into the time capsule in 1980...

This could be run with a charge on the nicads and a set of transmitter batteries...but the damage that would be done when it glitched and ran out of control would not be good...

I restored the resistor with orange paint and then polished it with 600 grit...there were no signs that it ever had current passed through it.

An interesting note is that the antenna tube is "mechanical oil pressure gauge" nylon capillary tubing...right down to the milspec QC numbers... I didn't run the antenna wire due to storage concerns... But I did straighten it out by shoving 1/16" wing wire into it and hitting with a heat gun for a few minutes.

[scr8p]

looks like they cleaned up great. nice job.