A tale of two Losi's going old school.

[Bormac]

It's been a while since I have been this motivated and in all honesty up until very recently I thought my interest in r/c had come to an end.

Only recently I finaly tracked down my best mate from High School. We started out racing at B.O.R.M.A.C together, he with his SG Coyote and me with my Kyosho Optima. Sadly his Coyote never would afford him any real track time with it's reliability issues and he soon moved on to another buggy, the Losi JRX PRO. As it happens we now live only 45 mins from one another. (small world hey )

By this time we were out of school and discovered parties, clubs, ,girls etc... and our old r/c gear was sidelined.

Fast forward to now and he has expressed a renewed interest in r/c and I thought what better way than to pull these two cars out and get them up and going. The PRO for him and the X2 for me .

Not happy with modern day electrics, I have opted to stay with all the old gear that we would have liked to use back in the day but our limmited budgets could not afford us back then. I have been collecting matched sanyo cells, mod motors, vintage esc's, radios, FET servos etc... and these cars will utilise many of the items I have accumulated.

Here's a few preliminary pics to get the ball rolling. Obviously not pristine shelf cars but good enough for us to run and relive some old memories.

[fakiee]

this is exactly what this hobby is all about for me. Vintage buggys with great looking electronics, and setting them up to run with your mates.

Good for you Jason!

[DerbyDan]

Glad to hear that you are getting your R/C 'mojo' back Jason... I can quite understand how other things in life can/should take priority & that interests can wane, as other things take preference.

For me the fact that I'm actively racing modern buggies & TC both on a regular basis - keeps up the interest in the vintage cars as there are people that I race with that also share an interest in the older cars. I think if it was just me sitting at home surrounded with all this old 'stuff' then I would quickly get a bit fed up with it all

These two Losi's both look great.... have they been in your posession before - the paint on the JRX2 'rings a bell' & the paint scheme on the Pro is the same as your Radiant? I'm sure you'll both have alot of fun running these, + extra kudos for running old-school period electrics

[RedScampi]

Good for you Jason! I love the cars and look forward to your race reports. My interest in this hobby comes and goes. There will be months in a row that I won't think of it at all, preoccupied with "real life" or other hobbies. Then suddenly for no reason I can pin down, the spark is rekindled and I'm off again.
Hope to hear great things from you in the future!

[Bormac]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Both of these cars have been with me a while. The X2 came to me in a bulk lot that I won on eBay more than a few years ago now. This car was owned and raced by a very prominant Australian driver who attended both the 89 and 91 worlds. I can't be certain exactly where he used the car but it was nice to learn it had heritage. The paint scheme on the Pro was inspired by Team Race Prep's car that was raced here in the 89 worlds in Sydney. I really like Mike Dunn's schemes so this was a no-brainer for me.
Both this X2 and the Pro came to me in poor shape. The Pro was in very nasty shape and some items still need replacing but I'll get around to sourcing more parts when I have some spare cash to do some shopping.
I begrudgingly went with some XXX threaded shocks on the X2 as I dont have any short dampers for the front. Once I source these I will go back to the factory items and remove the more modern shocks.

[XxRONNxX]

I love the Mike Dunn JRxPro. It even has a matching Race Prep motor. Both cars appear to be in excellent condition. Looks good.

[Bormac]

Yes the Mike Dunn scheme really ticks all the boxes for me. Couldn't set this car up with out a Race Prep motor





On another note I would really like to complete this retro fit trans for the PRO. I am not sure what is needed to complete it but if anyone out there could help me out I'd like to hear from you.

[Joe P]

Awesome cars J.M and great story to go with it. Someone above hit it
right on the head- its all about having fun! I love the old school paint!
Please keep us posted.

[Bormac]

I should really admit that I've had a soft spot for the JRX2 ever since it was first released all those years ago. I still remember the hype when it first hit the racing scene and all for good reason. The X2 was a real winner and compared to what was around on the track back then I always felt it was in a class of it's own. As a late teen I used to watch these cars tear around the track and they always seemed to be dialled.

While these cars are not complete I wanted to try and shoot some footage of the X2 with the Go Pro mounted a little way behind the car. I have shot a little footage but it really needs editing. The Go Pro shoots nice and clear and even though it was only used in my driveway (with my 2 year old son in tow) it was exciting to see the 5 link and front end working in plain view.

More to come

[DerbyDan]

Wow the two Mike Dunn bodied cars look great together

Can't wait to see the footage from your GoPro - did you have any problems keeping the front wheels on the ground with the weight of the camera hanging out the back? I see you have wound your spring collers right down to take the extra load!

Looks like you have most of the parts for your retro fit gearbox - at first glance its obvious that you are missing the layshaft gear & all your bearings... i'm not sure if that thrust race is correct either? Also for your slipper - you need the spring & the plastic collers & washer along with your 4/40 nut.

Would like to eventually fit a retro-fit XX gearbox to the JRX2 runner that I have just assembled (will post pics shortly) - @ JM, one question I have with your LRM gearboxed JRX2, is whether you had an issue of the driveshaft just fouling the bottom of your RPM gearcover with the suspension in compression on that L/H side? Seems mine is just resisting the suspension slightly on that side!

[mytimac]

For retrofit transmission refer to this manual for part numbers needed.
http://vintagelosi.com/Manuals_files/RetrofitXX_1.pdf
While the manual says you need a3073 for outdrives, you should be fine with those molded outdrives in the picture. Of course you will be using the sliders then instead of bones for the drive shafts.
Probably don't want to use the thrust bearing (a3011) in the picture either. A3098 would be the modern equivalent to the original a3071 it lists in the retrofit manual.

[howsyouraspen]

Great looking cars dude. I've always loved the Losi's. Like you I def have a better feel for older electronics.

Sorry, side note here. Do you paint your own Mike Dunn replica bodies? If so, any tricks on getting the checkered flags so straight?

[Bormac]

Great looking cars dude. I've always loved the Losi's. Like you I def have a better feel for older electronics.

Sorry, side note here. Do you paint your own Mike Dunn replica bodies? If so, any tricks on getting the checkered flags so straight?

After years of studying Mike Dunn's paint schemes I finaly started reproducing some of my own. I have done the Jrx Pro, AYK Boost and even an 1/8 Kyosho BURNS. I'm far from a skilled painter but I do my best with masking out and Tamiya rattle cans. The trick is patience and attention to detail.
Here's a pic of my Pro almost done.

[minreg]

Nice bodies... and with spray cans too, wow.
Wonder what you use to do your masking?

[Bormac]

Almost ready to drive. My Turbo Burns fitted with an original Burns lexan shell painted in Race Prep colours.