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

Hello! I just joined this forum after browsing it over the past month. I haven't touched the RC hobby for 17 years, and pretty much everything I knew back then has escaped my mind, so I am pretty much a newbie. On this forum gathered a lot of great info and it essentially became my instruction guide to fully restore my original RC10T! Almost much every step I took on this resto I learned right here on this forum.

I have what I am guess probably one of the last RC10Ts that Associated manufactured. I vaguely remember the T2 being out when I purchased it. I know for sure I have a Sport Edition which was purchased in 1996. I had wanted this truck since early 90s but it took years for me to get the cash to buy it. Purchasing it is an incredibly vivid and exciting memory from my youth. Unfortunately, I did not have great attention to detail as a kid and my original build of the truck reflected it. It was all around poorly built and ran so poorly that I used it little. Once I was in college, I carefully packed the truck in storage where it sat for 13 years. All in all, when I removed it from the box last month the truck was in pretty decent shape, but not built all that well and a bit dirty.

Here is how it looked prior to the resto:


I now have daughters and a niece and nephew who discovered my old RC10T (I put a new HPI motor and ESCl to get it going again recently.) Most of the kids' interest lies in chasing it like they are playing tag (they are all under 5) but I'm hoping to get at least one of my very girly daughters into the hobby. I had the RC10t laying around, I remember how much it meant to me as a kid, and I decided to completely restore it with my daugher's input (you'll see a bit of her girly style in the new body) My goal was to get it looking nearly brand new and running far better than it had ever run.

I completely took the truck apart:


I cleaned the truck with dishwasher soap, goo gone and crud cutter. It was filthy and there was a lot of leaked silicon shock oil on it. The shocks had pretty much completely emptied.

Next, I died the plastic parts to give it a newer look: (my wife refused to let me use her kitchenware or our stove, so off to the grill!)


I decided to paint the chassis with Rustoleum Matte Black. I know, not as good as powder coat or other approaches, but I like the matte look it produced, and it was a super fast process.


After a lot more cleaning and a ton of trial and error (again, everything I knew I had completely forgotten) Now, I finally have the RC10T complete! Here is the restored RC10T:


WOW. It runs 100x better than it ever did. I ended up with a new Savox steering servo, so FAST compared to my old plastic JR servo. I also ended up with an HPI 15t motor, which I learned kills the cheap ESC i got so I just ordered a HPI speed control that can handled the 15T motor. Even with the current Duratrax control in there, the truck is super fast...although it sometimes freaks out so I'm not driving it around my daughters. I've also noticed my spur gear is badly warped and the pinion gear is a mess. Just ordered replacements.



And my amateur attempt at a racing stripe paint job. My four year old daughter and I made the design in Photoshop and she picked the colors, its pretty girly but a little more aggressive than I expected!


Overall, I had an absolute blast doing this project. I truly felt like a kid again back in the 90s when I thought the RC10t was the ultimate RC truck! I'm hoping to teach my daughter to drive the truck and maybe eventually go to brushless once she learns the ropes, and maybe gets a couple more years on her. The 15T is so much faster than my old 27T Reedy!

I am definitely still tweaking and learning and would appreciate in thoughts or feedback members of the forum has.

Thanks for looking!

Hey!

Your truck looks good, great job

The paint job is simple but is nice It would look even better with some decals. You can find some RC10T repro decals on ebay

I would put other tires on it because the ones you have are becoming rare.

Cheers,
Daniel

Looks good. Is this gonna be a runner? If so, you'll probably wanna upgrade to brushless, LiPo and 2.4 GHz, which can be done very economically these days. I just put together a nice 10T brushless runner for only about $250 total, and that's including an 8,000 mAh 2S LiPo and brand new tires & wheels.

I would put other tires on it because the ones you have are becoming rare.

I would change them out because they pretty much suck on any surface, very hard tread. They will last just about forever, though. As for rare, I dunno...........you can turn them up any time on the bay, and pretty cheap. I've got a couple sets of the front 7870 tires just hanging out in boxes. Rear 7820s are less common, but that's not what he has anyway.

Very cool, this is a similar story to mine, but I got started in 1993 so my parts are still all white. Did you race it when you first put it together? The parts all look in very good shape and not many upgrades like you see in other rebuilds.

Thanks all for checking my build out and your replies!

I actually decided against a brushless upgrade at this time because my daughter is so young and I want her to learn how to drive this. Did some calculations and when I get the new ESC, pinion and spur gears in there it still will hit 30mph. I'd guess the fastest it ever went previously was 15mph. Eventually, I will do a Lipo/Brushless upgrade, but could be a few years down the road.

Yes, very few upgrades on this. It's 95% stock. I never raced it and ran it only in my driveway and a park near my house growing up. Relatively speaking, very little use.

I've also looked at new tires because the tires spin a lot, might do that in the near future. Any tire recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks again!

^^^^^^^^

You can make a brushed plenty fast. It's the efficiency of brushless & LiPo that makes the investment worthwhile. We had a Reedy brushed motor in my wife's buggy, was quick enough for her at 24 MPH. But it only had about 20 minutes run time on a 2S 5000 mAh. Swapped in a Hobbywing BL setup, only picked up 4 MPH, but added 15 minutes run time on the same battery-nearly double.

nano,

I enjoyed reading your post. I discovered my childhood 6 gear in the parents attic about 8 years ago. I have added about two cars to my collection every year since

I made the switch to lipo batteries about 1 year ago. Hobby King sells 5000 mah 2 cell batteries for around $30. I would highly suggest you make the switch. Trust me, you will be amazed.

Almost forgot, the truck looks great!

Thanks again for everyone's thoughts!

I had such a blast with this restoration that I just bought a t3 roller off eBay! I'm going brushless with this t3 and doing a complete restoration. The guy I purchased the t3 took good care of it and it appears to be a solid roller. i will document that resto as well and post here.

I'm keeping the 10t brushed and my daughter is already learning the ropes on that and having a blast! I couldn't resist not trying a brushless setup and I think I have a pretty cool platform to give it a shot on.

(I'm pretty sure this hobby is strongly addictive)

(I'm pretty sure this hobby is strongly addictive)

Just a little. lol. I currently have 21 vehicles, sold about a dozen others just this year. Yet I'm still looking constantly. Lol. 'Bout to pull the trigger on a Tamiya 801XT 1/8 nitro truggy.

And my collection pales in comparison to some of the members here......

nato (not nano ), I also have a t3 with a brushless setup. It is my only rig that I don't mind bashing. It has proven to be a solid platform. I managed to break two parts to date... rear arm mount and top plate. I tweaked the nose and broke the top plate after hitting a telephone pole going about 30mph. I couldn't believe that was the only carnage. I beat the nose back into shape, the top plate is on order. I also ground down both shock mounts approximately 1/4 inch. Note... keep the tire side down

Any recommendations for an entry level brushless system for a T3? I'll be running the truck off road mostly. Definitely not racing, just casual fun. Water resistant would be ideal.

Right now I'm looking at the very affordable Turnigy 5200 sensor less combo. I'm concerned it could be a bit cheapy though, even for entry level.

I saw the Castle Creations Sidewinder 5700 and that looked solid, but more pricey.

I've heard reco's for an EZrun setup.

What's worked well for others? I have 87/18 gearing for the T3 and Proline Gladiator wheels and I'd love to do 45mph+ on road and get decent torque for some offload fun. Thanks!

Definitely consider Hobbywing if you want a solid, economical set-up. The castle sidewinder systems are a very good value, but all a bit high on KV, IMO (lowest being 3,800), and they are either coggy or don't seem to run at all below 4-5 MPH.

The Hobbywing 60A ESC will take 3S with a moderate 540 can (>12T; 3,500KV or lower), and is available for ~$40 shipped.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EZRUN-60A-Sensorless-Brushless-ESC-RC-1-10-Hobbywing-Car-Buggy-V2-/271093959027?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f1e758973

But since you said waterproof, might look at this combo:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HOBBYWING-EZRUN-13T-3000KV-RC-Model-Brushless-Motor-WP60-60A-ESC-/171176430220?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27dae90a8c

Another option are the Dynamite combos:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dynamite-Fuze-Sensored-Brushless-Combo-17-5T-Motor-70A-Electronic-Speed-Control-/201002471361?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2eccae4fc1

My personal experience with Hobbywing has been very positive. I'm running the 60A EZrun & a 9T motor in a B3 on 2S, and the SC8 ESC with a 10T motor in my 10T on 2S. That 60A ESC was in my other buggy with a Venom 3,300 KV motor on 3S for awhile, did just fine.

As for the Dynamite stuff, no experience with the cans, but I'm using the 150A ESC in my desert buggy with a 3,500 KV 550 can, primarily on 3S. It'll take up to 6S, but the buggy is already retarded on 3S.

I also think pretty highly of the Beeman stuff, got an X8/2150KV combo in my Prolite 4x4.

Are these budget units as good as Novak, Tekin, LRP, etc? Of course not. But they are also 1/3 the price (or less), and they do represent an excellent value for the hobbyist/amatuer.