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I have an original RC-10 Goldpan that I am fixing up for my son. It was working well until I broke the motor, at least that is what I have diagnosed as the problem. So now I am in the market for a new motor for just general "fun" use. He is only 6 so this will just be back yard and street driving and no racing. I am looking to stay with a brushed motor. My broken motor is a pretty, puuny, little, sissy, no idea what model but it was plenty fast. My speed controller is a Futaba MC112B. Any recommendations on what to replace the motor with? Would the Reedy 17 turn be too much for my ESC?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Brock

While that 112b will do a mild mod, they didn't necessarily last long with them. Id stick with a hot stock motor or very mild mod myself. The "wimpy" motor you had would have been a 27 turn. 17 would be the absolute hottest I would ever recommend on the 112b.

Two motors I would recommend are either the Traxxas Stinger or the Tamiya Sport Tuned motors. Both are basically bomb-proof, relatively cheap, and quick enough to do the job. Just make sure to break in the brushes and they should do the trick just fine for this project.

Could I run the Reedy Radon 17T or is that too much? Are the motors you mentioned comparable in speed to the wimpy?

The MC112B was an entry-level replacement for the switch/resistor-type speed controllers that came in pretty much every Tamiya or Kyosho kit back then. Looking at some other Internet forum posts, Futaba limited it to the common 27t motors that came in all those kits but people have run 'stock' and VERY light modified motors with them. They are also reported to be somewhat fragile so running a 17t Radon may not be a good idea if you want to keep it alive. The manual does not seem to be downloadable from Futaba anymore but this link will help:

http://www.tcphotos.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=735&sid=2193&secid=306&

Those 'classic' Mabuchi/Johnson 540 motors are common and cheap and give long run times so one would still be a good choice for a beginner. You could also try something in the middle like a Duratrax Photon Speed 2 which is a cheap closed-endbell 20t motor that sells for all of $12. If you try using the Radon, make sure you gear it WAY low at first and work your way up.

Just keep in mind that low-end brushed motors and ESCs are dirt-cheap and easily replaced so if you do happen to nuke the thing, it's not the end of the world!

Do you have any pics of the current motor? I'm curious as to what it is...

I could not get the pics to post from my phone but I looked the motor over. There is no indication of the model, just the make which is pretty puny sissy little wimpy motor. We called them wimpy' s for short. Bought it probably around 1990. I think it was pretty good for its time.

Those motors were were pretty decent from what I've read, the gonzo-wimpy's Apparently there were only 2 stock motor versions, one was better than the other since it was dyno-tuned. If you web search, you'll get some more info on them.

Anyway to answer your question, i'd buy something new with adjustable timing. Prices have come down quite a bit. I tried the new re-release speedgems and I thought they were pretty decent.