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

Hello guys! I'm mainly a military scale model builder but have decided to switch up for a bit as I'm going through a burnout on scale stuff. I ran across this old RC12E on e-Bay while gathering parts for a scale PT Boat I had converted over to R/C. I remember seeing the adds for this car in an old magazine when I was a kid. Our school library had lots of old R/C mags to drool over back in the day. I never did get a chance to build an Associated car until now so here goes!

The car I received was mostly intact but none of the electronic components are salvageable. It appears to have been exposed to a lot of moisture as the motor and both servos were frozen with rust. My plan is to restore this car to running condition and in as close to the original configuration as possible. I've already secured a nos Associated resistor type speed control and am looking at some Futaba servos that might be candidates for this car. Hopefully I can get this machine back on the road again soon.


Here are the auction pics of the car.








I soaked this motor in WD-40 and got it running again just for fun. It sounds like a Sherman tank with rusty tracks though.

Here are some pics of the car after the tear down. Now you can really see the amount of work to be done.







The radio tray is really going to need some work as the resistor has come into contact with it. There is a nice melted spot in the middle and some warpage to boot.


The wing was home made by the original owner and will be restored. He did a great job and it's in the perfect shape of an airfoil. It's constructed of balsa so weight is not really a factor. It's also very cool looking!




Tires and rims on this car were toast. The rims split along with the foam tires.

that is a Very Cool car. you should keep that motor for display or rebuild it. I have never seen on like that. I have a lot of 1/12 cars I love them, and they dont take up a lot of space on the shelf. good luck on your build

And here is where she's at now. I would never have got this point without this forum.


The white plastic parts came out great after soaking in hydrogen peroxide for nearly a month.


Still need to find some axle washers as the old ones are toast. The car was not rolling when I got it.


I picked up a nos brushed stock motor for her. Should be good enough as this car will only see the odd run or two and will mostly sit on a shelf.




She now sits on new tires and rims. I trued up the rears on my drill press.


The chassis was wet sanded and then polished out with rubbing compund.


Damage was sanded out of the front bumper and then polished out with rubbing compound again.

WOW that really looks Great!!!!

bearrickster wrote:that is a Very Cool car. you should keep that motor for display or rebuild it. I have never seen on like that. I have a lot of 1/12 cars I love them, and they dont take up a lot of space on the shelf. good luck on your build

That motor will definitely be kept and I made sure not to damage the label. I've actually test polished part of the can and it came out nicely. Does anyone rebuild these old motors?

The car also came with this beautiful Futaba radio. The radio is in mint condition. If it works then it will be used.






How's that for cool!

bearrickster wrote:WOW that really looks Great!!!!

Thanks bearrickster ! It took a lot of work to get it to this point but it sure was fun. I'm really enjoying this resto build. It's fun hunting down old bits on e-Bay too. I ended up with two more Associated cars for restoration from all the e-Bay searching. This is just as addicitve as scale modeling.

And here she is with a new TOJ Sports body. This body had light damage to the rear and required some trimming. It's just rough cut in these photos and will require more sanding and polishing to fine tune the shape. Now to come up with a paint scheme.









This is not a diff car but I had to go with a diff spur as the old solid one was shredded.




Now I'm off to work on the radio tray. I plan on testing out the old radio and receiver on Friday to see if these are working. Hopefully these are not DOA. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I would keep it orange myself, it looked great that way and its my faverite color anyway you did a great job the car is Beautiful

Very nice
They are simple cars but it takes alot of work to bring them back. If you can't save the radio tray you might want to contact board member "reign79" He might be able to set you up.

bearrickster wrote:I would keep it orange myself, it looked great that way and its my faverite color anyway you did a great job the car is Beautiful

Thanks again bearrickster! I was actually kicking this idea around if I can find some decals that would work. Jager!

WOW !!!!! Super job these cars really deserve to be cherished I love them. Nice to see more people restoring the,. I have reproduction radio trays and bumpers if you get in a bind

RC10resto wrote:Very nice
They are simple cars but it takes alot of work to bring them back. If you can't save the radio tray you might want to contact board member "reign79" He might be able to set you up.

Thanks RC10resto! If I can't get the tray into decent shape then I may go the replacement route. It's quite thick though so I'm hoping I can just sand out the bad stuff and then straighten it out with a heat gun. We shall see.

reign79 wrote:WOW !!!!! Super job these cars really deserve to be cherished I love them. Nice to see more people restoring the,. I have reproduction radio trays and bumpers if you get in a bind

Thanks reign! PM sent.