JRX2 20+years to shelf or not to shelf ? that is the questio

[License2iLL]

First off would like to greet everyone and thank you all for many a great readings on some highly informative threads here.

Here's my JRX2. Im the original owner 20+ yrs. I did give it to my newphew about a year or two before buying him a gasser car chassis/body...which gave him some incentive to learn to work and save money for electronics and engine which we completed recently.
While researching I came across LiPo and brushless engines....then later your site and beared witness to some of the glorious JRX2 builds you guys have carried out.

SO I TOOK MY JRX2 BACK. And Futuba Magnum Jr. which was only collecting dust due to lazyness towards batteries which I am thankful for if not the car would not have survived. Here it is.

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CIMG9485Comprsd.jpg (61.41 KiB) Viewed 1098 times

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CIMG9486comprsd.jpg (65.26 KiB) Viewed 1098 times

Trinity pink can motor...tekin esc....2nd (runner) body....futubu esc w/reverse currently installed.

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CIMG9468comprsd.jpg (71.45 KiB) Viewed 1098 times

Underside is not too bad scratches mostly no serious wear.

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CIMG9476comprsd.jpg (69.25 KiB) Viewed 1098 times

I bought this car many moons ago with my first wad of money ever. I'm on the fence on making her a shelf queen because I too don't really beleive too much in that which is why I gave it away....but now that I feel the bug has bit me once more and seeing the way these LiPo brushless setup run...im seriously leaning on making a runner out of her.

So far I bought a new 6cell 4300mah and a pair of good used stock yellow rear wheel/tires. And a full set of wheels but red. Because my currrent rear wheels are crumbling in the pin section.

Just trying to get her running for now while I figure out which way to go. Tell me what you guys think.
Hope you don't think my first post and greet is not formal enough. It's not my intent...just wanting to share and say hello in one shot. Thanks for all the great ongoing projects and inspiration.

[fredswain]

I understand why some people want shelf queens but for me personally I can't look at a car and not want to go drive it and see what it can do. I don't build them for their financial value so if they aren't in perfectly mint condition I don't really care. Saying that I don't necessarily want to subject them to all the rigors of racing with the modern cars either. I tried that already and was quite frustrated. For the old car like that I'd drive it if I were you but again that's just my personal opinion. Put something mild in it like an old brushed stock motor or a modern 17.5T brushless and just have fun with it. Then again if you don't really have any desire to drive it then go ahead and clean it up and shelf it. There are enough JRX parts out there that it isn't going to be terribly valuable for a very long time to come.

[JK Racing]

I, like Fred, am against shelfers....BUT....I do have one "shelfer" that is sentimental to me. I didnt keep any of my old cars, as the season changed, so did my car. I sold my LXT many years ago and by chance happened across the guy who bought it a few years back. He recognized me immediately and we began to talk. He saw me messing with a gold pan and mentioned he still has the LXT, at his parents house. After he bought it, he put it in their garage and it has sat all these years. He asked if I wanted it back and of course the answer was yes . I took the time to pull it all apart and put it back together completely cleaned up and "restored" it with a fresh set of wheels and a clear body (not period correct, but one of my favorite ST bodies from my XXT era).

If it means anything to you, clean it up all pretty and put it on the shelf. Search locally or eBay for another one and run the snot out of that one - or go full tilt and slap lipo/brushless in it and have a blast.

[kaiser]

refresh and run it! the jrx2 is such a joy to drive.
a couple of years ago i bought one, very close to shelfer quality but i race it a few times a year, awesome car.

[License2iLL]

You guys are hitting it right on the nail...I am going to do my best to try and not end up running this one in particular.
But if I have to I think I likely will. I am going to try to score a beater and build it up instead as suggested. I realize that maybe I should try to conserve this one if I can since it was my first purchase ever.

Of one thing I am almost positively sure...I want to run an updated fully modded JRX2.
I do realize that some newer cars maybe worthwhile and likely more agile. But for some reason I want to mod an old school JRX2 to be just as or as close as I possibly can to the modern cars. I think it's about the challenge as well as the like of the car and desire to see it run modernized.

The build I have in mind will run the largest brushless I can or maybe one step right under.
I think I want to stay faithful to either a JRX2 body or possibly a cousin that goes for cheap but still closely resembles it. (i havent found a jrx2 body for less than 25 bux!)
I'd like to also end up running threaded shocks....the robinson fiberglass trailing arm towers I think JK is running....where can I score those?

Has anyone ever tried running wider front arms?
Which shock towers would be best? I think I like one of the aftermarkets... the one that has the most holes in the rear...and 3 for the front.
Do you guys think this will be enough to complete a slipper clutch add-on for a stocker LRM tranny?

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SlipityslipComp.jpg (26.73 KiB) Viewed 1043 times

So far I bought a new 6 cell 4300 mah pack....8 rechargeable double AA's for the futuba jr. and a set and a half of stocker wheels/tires.
So i'm going to focus on some asthetics and upgrading what I can to stronger duty parts.
I'll hit the lipo and brushless powertrain conversion last. I'm going to retro a set of wheelie bars somehow when this happens to avoid backflipping.

In the meantime does anyone know how to possibly extend the range on the futuba jr a little bit? what is supposed to be it's range? I've forgotten. Yes I do realize this will have to go eventually..but with some luck it will be part of the semi-shelf queen build and not the hardcore runner setup I'll likely end up transfer all to....in one shot...this will likely end up happening during the time period I end up deciding and purchasing the powertrain.(lipo -brush) in an effort to avoid punishing this setup.

Please help with the slipper clutch question.

[mytimac]

Those parts are mostly useless to you. That is the transmission parts from a XXX most likely.

If you plan on running the stock transmission, reference the LXT manual for parts needed to add the slipper to the transmission. THe LXT instructions show you the required parts. http://vintagelosi.com/Manuals_files/LXT%20Manual.pdf

The top input shaft is probably the most import part to find.

[License2iLL]

mytimac thank you. you were right ill look out for that part.

I took you guys advice and picked up another car. I'll post it up later. For this car here I will mostly keep it in it's original setup.....and take it out a few times I think on pavement with pavement tires so it will be a semi-shelfer going out to run in less breakage prone grounds.

The other car will get lipo'd and brush-. Full tilt. Thank you for good advice.