JRX PRO - Basket case to restored runner.

[RETRO R/C]

Hi Guys,

As Bormac may have mentioned we have a vintaqe enduro on here in Australia this weekend. I decided to try something different and pulled this junker I got for 21 Pounds from the UK out. Now the car wasnt pretty at all with tonne of grease and dirt, all bound up and rusty....not to mention no body for it. I had to strip a spare body that was falling to bits - but the end result was not too bad....cant make a silk purse out of a sows ear!!

Well - heres the story in pictures:

After a quick brush over and blast with the air compressor - the old girl was "stripped"



Lots of tricks to making these gearboxes super smooth bit dirty but overall still pretty good condition:



Stripped a body that was peeling and damaged anyway - as it is a runner - doesn't have to be perfect!



Fitted ballraced steering:



Just starting to clean up!



1am in the morning pic of her finished:



Outside shots - ready for action. ...





May not be the best paintjob around - but there are alot of hours in the chassis and set up.... Always beleived it took more than some paint to make a racer. I remembered so many tricks to building these things when I was putting her back together.

Hope she all hold together for the meeting......ahh - gonna be fun.

Cheers

Darryn Johnson

[pete]

What a cool old-school Losi! Excellent work, indeed!


Just checked your site...I'm going to add your place to my list of tourist attractions if I ever get to visit Down Under...the Kyosho section made my eyes water...so much sweetness there! My jealousy is immeasurable...

[RETRO R/C]

Sad thing is is that I have HEAPS more than my site shows - especially Kyosho and other more obscure brands - havent been able to update my site for over 3 years!!

Thanks very much for the kind comments.

Cheers

Darryn

[shodog]

That turned out really nice, and since it was a basket case to start, you won't feel guilty running it.

[Dr. Robotnik]

^ I agree very nice work mate.

[cybercrxt]

Looks great!

[Moggie XL]

I've always liked restoring old cars and parts more than looking for NIP stuff you've done a great job.What did you use to strip the shell.

[RETRO R/C]

I always get quizzical looks when I tell people my preffered paint stripping method..but here goes:

I always try 30% nitro fuel first! I soak the body in it - and more often than not the paint just lifts straight off! That being said I have come across some shells that just wont budge at all........

Thanks for the kind comments on the car. It performed flawlessly and handled a treat. Took a few laps to get used to the old girls handling - however after a couple of batteries I was back in the late eighties again !!

Ahhh - love vintage racing - I have some pics of the meeting if you guys are interested.

Cheers

Darryn

[Moggie XL]

I had ago at stripping paint from an old XLS shell and it worked well.cheers.

[Keyz]

Hi Darryn,
Been a big fan of your work for a long time. You really are a museum of r/c!

I'm gonna be sorting out one of these for a vintage runner, so am interested in your tips on the build very much, as I never ran one of these back in the day (started just after this with my T Falcon). Thankfully we are going to run 540, so I'd be happy to know some gearing info as well? What's the internal ratio of the LRM?

As for the paint stripping, do you use anything other than nitro?

Thanks very much for any help, and keep doing what you do best!

Jim

[RETRO R/C]

Hi Jim,

Thanks very much mate - always nice to get positive feedback.

The car performed brilliantly, it was a real pleasure to drive.

For paint stripping I have only ever used Fuel - I have probably been very lucky that it has pretty much (except on a couple of occasions), always worked for me - I think the secret is that the fuel is fresh as possible - as I am presuming it is the Nitro that is the "remover" as it is most volatile.

I would start with a 28 tooth pinion to begin with - you will probably end up with at least a 30 - 33 on there though - I am presuming you are running for 5 minutes with modern batteries?

Cheers guys - I have some pics form the meeting if you are interested.

Cheers

Darryn Johnson

[Asso_man!]

So Darryn, what are your building tips for the Jrx Pro?

[Camshaft]

Darryn, she looks a treat indeed. I've decided on a JRX2 as my next project as soon as the Team Car's done.

Just an FYI, you column in the back of R/C Car is the only reason I buy a copy every month. Those articles are why I got into collecting and restoring vintage R/C.