[upd June13th] RC10T runner resto COMPLETED (at last)

[Lonestar]

Hi Folks

I'll have to park the black-and-blue TRX1 for a moment (well, I haven't really touched it since november anyway)

The good news is, a club within driving distance (4hrs, still) is organizing a vintage offroad meeting They will run 4 classes, 2wd, 4wd, Stadium Truck (no shortbus crap 20yrs ago, thank god!), and grasshopper/hornet-like cars with 540 silvercan- and I decided I would very likely go The rule is pre-95, re-re's are allowed, no OIN, brushless-lipo is ok (David, si tu nous lis, ca fait office d'inscription)

The bad news is, it's end-june - in 2 months. In a normal vintage RC'er, this is nothing. In my life, this is a challenge to get any project done in less than a year!

So I went thru my stable... I don't want to run a shelfer, so it'll either have to be a bespoke build, or an existing runner. That's when one realizes there usually are way more project boxes full of bit'n pieces than finished builds

After a couple of hours of rampaging through the man-cave, I made up my mind:
- For 2wd: I'll run my black widow trx-1 It was time I went thru a tranny rebuild anyway. Backup plan is my poor man's WC (late CE with updates)
- Hornet-like: I have a NiB Hornet re-re that should do and it shouldn't take to long to build
- ST: Well... The LXT I have only accept "older" lipos, which I've run short of. Plus I don't trust its transmission, and it was time I restore a RC10 of some kind anyway...


So here we go with my RC10T "Quick-Resto" project. As the car's going to be run, there won't be any polishing, peroxyding and the like, just a good old-school teardown, clean and scrub, and rebuild properly with new parts when appropriate.

Other details:
- new bearing set
- new rims
- PL Edge front, JC 3D rear
- Turnigy servo + BL speedo
- BL mill still TBC, likely 10.5 Orion as I have a few spares and this is a workhorse
- Radio still TBC, if I have enough time I'll go for an old-school aitronics setup, otherwise my trusty EX-10 with one of is many RX will have to do
- for budget reasons, no tricks a la V2 slipper, etc...

That's what I'm starting with:



This is a late Team Truck I bought a while ago, with the intent of making it a runner (Mikea96's, maybe?!?). Sounds like I was clever It has way more hardware corrosion than I could recall, really. The 1-pc rims are lead-heavy and thrashed, so we'll go for modern PL ones.

The outdrives look primo, this thing hasn't been run much, but there is sooo much corrosion on untreated parts...



The (stock) turnbuckles are way corroded too but they are straight, I'll decide later if I keep them or not. If the car becomes too nice and pristine, I'm afraid I won't want to run it any more

I've started taking it apart:



Now I'm cleaning this all with dishwasher liquid and hot water...

To be continued. This one won't win any "build of the month" contest, but at least it'll run!

Paul

[Lonestar]

Extra comments:

- DARN I always forget how those roll pins (rear UJ's, top shaft) are so much of a PITA! Is there a modern alternative to this retarded technical solution?

- Guys... stop crushing shock "balls" #6473's... the top mount is supposed to move freely on its axle, otherwise bye-bye suspension movements

Paul

[kaiser]

ditch the uj's in favor of some t4 cvd's.

[RC10th]

I made a V block with strap to hold round things and drive out roll pins, best thing I've done in a long time.

Looks like a pretty tidy truck to begin with.

[Lonestar]

Kaiser, well, the UJ's on this one are barely worn out, plus I have the right rims and stuff already, I don't feel like dumping an extra $50 or so, but I reckon the newer parts are more user-friendly for sure!

I made a V block with strap to hold round things and drive out roll pins, best thing I've done in a long time.
.

would you mind putting up a pic for inspiration, please? The three on this car are done, but I have plenty more in the pipeline thanks!

Do you replace them with new ones too, or with something else, maybe "normal" pins?

Thanks!

Paul

[RC10th]

I'll try to get a picture soon, pretty simple but effective.

I too would put the uni's aside and replace with a CVD type drive shaft. The uni's aren't as strong, harder to come by and only came with pre 96 trucks I think.

[RC10th]

Found it.....

It fits anything round of any size to easily remove roll pins I usually reuse the old pin if it's not too torn up, if it is I'll replace it. I got tired of the pliar thing and tired of the top shaft always rotating while you try to punch it out. It holds everything firm so you can use two hands and also saves scratching the shaft.

[Lonestar]

Precision-engineered

Just pulling your leg. I'm jealous. I just HATE these roll pins with a PASSION!!!

Nice work thanks!

Paul

[harvey]

I was shocked when I worked on my first 3/16 rear axle. Those pins are a joke! I drilled my axles out with a 15/64 drill bit and then used the shank of same for a roll pin. However, this was on a buggy. I have since snapped my first 3/16 rear cvd axle, (not roll pin, although one of those failed too) so I'm having second thoughts on this mod. The axle I broke was using a regular roll pin, but on a truck with aluminum 1/8 wheel adaptors and a brushless setup.

[Lonestar]

Yes, I'm also worried about boring out roll-pin holes... not only do you have to do it right, but reliability might be alters as you found out

Anyways, I've done a bit more progress on the car lately.

All parts have been cleaned, gently, using hot water and dishwashing liquid - not perfect, but plenty enough for a runner.

Chassis and motor plate degrimed (not sure what double-sided tape the previous owner was using, but dang it stuck well!). The chassis is actually a lot less marked than the picture shows (light reflects a lot on the bare alloy)

I've also lighty polished the hinge pins - usually I give them the full polish treatment, but I was lazy and in a hurry, and 1000grit sandpaper was enough. The result is ok, although the pic, once again, mostly catches the imperfections

I've also sanded the turnbuckles, and sharpie'd them (but more on this later!).



Time to work on the shocks too:



They are moderately dirty... Again not sure the car has been run much, but there is still a lot of dirt.

And looks also like the previous owner didn't bother much about removing mold flashings



Curious to see what I find out inside... Well, see that oil... yuk! (the dirty one in my pot-o-used-shock-oil)



Maybe that car was run more than I thought!

Paul

[Lonestar]

More yuk



How on earth can people run shocks in this condition is beyond me...

The RPM tool is a must have when you run AE... I believe this one I bought in the last millenium



I used modern bleeder caps. The almost-immaculate black-ano caps (typically in better shape for trucks than buggies for obvious reasons) will get reused on other shelfer projects



shock parts now in a pot with water and diswashing liquid.... till the next step



As I was searching for ballcups in my stash-o-parts, I actually came up with this: The famous HD Tecna's... with period RPM ballcups (the newer ones come in a darker shade of grey). I ended up with these parts many many years ago as I took them out of my first 10T resto project, so it's a nice loop that's just been closed here! Perfect set of turnbuckles for my runner project, plus the cups are not that perfect cosmetically so I will have no afterthoughts for a runner:



Stay tuned - I'll try to kill this one before mid-month as I have a yokomo bd7 '15 to asemble then and to be completed before the 24th

Paul

[Lonestar]

Progress after a couple of hours in the workshop yesterday, during which I felt "picture-happy"

white shock parts now cleaned up, not perfectly, but plenty enough to go run in old-school dirt




And rebuilt shocks with the bleeder caps (one of the bleeder screw threads stripped right away, grrr...):




C-hubs and spindles (not touching the washer setup for now)




The front end is beginning to take shape. Note the non-webbed front arms...




Now with the Tecna's:




And the other side :




And bolted onto the motor plate:


(Crap, pic is blurry)

I said I would use new hardware, but in the end I figured out I'd just replace the corroded bits, if some stuff isn't, I won't replace it, again, it'll be plenty enough to be run in the dirt!

I also found out a few of the rpm HD ballcups were bored out for some reason... Hopefully there are matching (and non-standard!) ballstuds elsewhere in the car... we'll see. Modern and darker HD ballcups are on order

TBC'ed

Paul

[Lonestar]

Hi folks

long story short - I haven't gotten much work done on that team truck, there was a touring car race last sunday and more work on the VBC D07 that I was planning on... I didn't build a BD7 at all like I was planning to. Net, I haven't touched the truck since yesterday where I could log in a couple of hours on it.

It was time for a transmission rebuild

Starting with the diff as-is, and the needed parts to bring it back to its former glory:


I really, really like Kyosho's ball diff grease. I discovered it when I bought my RB6, and it's amazing stuff. Pricey though (K stuff).

Fist step is sanding the rings on some 1000grit, with a bit of motor spray:


New bearings - El-cheapo work just fine!


And then I figured out, what the heck, might as well go for a new idle gear too...


now rebuilt with some surface corrosion removed (yeah, I know, it just looks like the diff BEFORE the rebuild...)


New Stealth screw set


All 4 spacers are still here!!! (not always the case)


mmmh... that 20y.o. gasket's not gonna do it


Tadaaaam!


Couple of comments: I've built my share of stealth diffs, but that one was a PITA. it had a couple of rough spots despite the new parts and lots of building TLC, I had to disassemble 3 times and clean again until it felt (about) fine. There was probably a couple of weird dust bits at the wrong place, but It's never taken me so long to rebuild a stealth diff. Now it's ok though! The top shaft was also a bit of a hassle - there were some flashings around the rollpin hole and I had to pull out the fine file. Likewise, there was a flat spot on the other end and it wouldn't slide in the bearing (including the original one), a bit of sanding helped too. The trans feels "ok" but not as good as the last ones I built on B4.1's, the design's been really refined as the years passed by!

Will try to keep working on this at a more regular frequency

Till later!
Paul

[slotcarrod]

Nice detail on the build Lonestar. Your truck will make a great racer. I need to dig mine out wipe off the soot, and go play as well.

[SFC K]

Great build up so far. I like that jig for getting the pins in and out too.