'85 Gold Pan Resto-Mod...Need Some Advice Here!

[VINTAGE10]

Hey, all! First time on the site...and this seems like the place I wanna be. I just unearthed my RC10 from the attic and I want to bring it back to life. But better...faster...stonger! The car will run as is. It is in complete original form, along with three piece wheels and Team Associated rubber. Technically, all I would have to do to have some fun is throw in a charged battery and go. But I want to mount up a new brushless system and make it ballistic. First, I need to know if I will have to do any mods to use modern 2.2 wheels/tires(i.e. axle diameter, drive pins, etc.). Secondly, drivetrain...will the original 6-gear stand up to a wicked brushless motor or am I looking at a meltdown if I try that? If I need to upgrade to a Stealth(which I have no experience with at all), what is the shortest route to completing that mod so I can bolt in the brushless and rip? If there are any other concerns I am overlooking here, please give me a heads-up! When I went down to my LHS to research this, I was sorely disappointed at their response. Those guys actually told me that it would be too much of a PIA and that I might as well just buy a new buggy! Blasphemy!!! Needless to say, I am eager to get this baby back in shape and relive that rush I had 20 years ago! Thanks in advance for any help you may have to offer...

[scr8p]

get a 2.25 stealth. you can find complete used ones on ebay.

as for 2.2 rims and tires, you'll need either b2 or b3 cvd's, or 3/16 stub axles (if you have dogbones). the b2, b3 rims are discontinued, but you can find them. you can also use duratrax evader front rims and nitro evader rear rims. you'll also need to get 3/16 x 3/8 flanged bearings for the rear hub carriers (if using the originals).

[JK Racing]

Personally, I would go with a MILD brushless system (traxxas venlion or mambe 4600)....

Reason 1....with a standard battery these systems are still pretty fast
Reason 2....eventually, you can upgrade to higher voltage and take a fast system into a stupid ballistic system
Reason 3....these systems are pretty inexpensive to pick up

[a01butal]

What was the car used for back in the day when you used to run it. Was it a runner then the chassis has a lot of scratches? If not and the chassis is nice and clean and scratch-free then get another chassis to make a ballistic missile out of. There are cheap chassis' for sale here and on eBay so don't destroy something that you can't easily go out and replace in the condition you now have. My .02.

[VINTAGE10]

Is the 2.25 stealth a direct bolt-on to my chassis? It is an A-stamped model. Also, I was hoping to be able to run Pro-Line Velocity discs(front & rear) and their Dirt Hawg rubbers. I really like the look and the tread pattern, since I will be doing a lot of street. Pro-Line's site says the Velocities fit the B4. What can I do to use them? As far as batteries, right now I'll be running 7-cell 4600 NiMh's...in the future, LiPo's.

[VINTAGE10]

Any thoughts on these wheels I saw on eBay...they are aluminum jelly beans from seller pargu2000? He wants $111/set...they look hot and it says they are for 2.2 tires. Seems like they would be a little heavy. What are your thoughts? As for my chassis, it was raced locally back in the '80s, street and dirt, has some scratches and needs to be run again.

[a01butal]

You will need a template to drill holes accurately in your "A" chassis. Not a problem I have several I believe. The Alum wheels are really nice but would be better to keep nice looking and plastic rims can be had these days so cheap and less rotating mass.

[PBR Allstar]

You can't run the B4 wheels on the car without some changes (there have been posts on here before), and to run anything other than early wheels you'll have to at minimum change the parts that scr8p mentioned. As for wheels yes, B2/B3 wheels, or the duratrax option nitro evader rears electric evader fronts both of which are available in several colors, and all the parts are easily attainable from tower if your local hobby shop doesn't want to deal with the vintage stuff.

As far as the brushless stuff goes, I would personally upgrade my batteries first if you haven't bought the 4600 pack allready. I've been using a 3600 Yeah Racing LIPO pack from Ultralinehobbies.com and with a 27 turn stocker runs as hard around the track as my 19t with a 4200 nimh pack, which I attribute mostly to the much better punch of the LIPO batteries. Another big plus with the LIPO stuff is that you can run them a lot in one day, whereas a good nimh pack doesn't like to be cycled many times in one day, so for bashing and parking lot racing, can't beat the LIPO's. Personally I'm pretty partial to the brushed motors still and with all the racers going to brushless you can buy very nice brushed motors for very cheap, I bought two fresh checkpoint money 19's the other day for $30, on was new and never run but dynoed and worked, the other had one race day on it.

Whatever you decide to do, you're in the right place (website wise) to be doing it. Welcome to the board!

[VINTAGE10]

OK...I do have dogbones and I do plan on using the original hub carriers. So with that in mind, all I need as far as the wheel package is: Nitro Evader rear rims w/ 3/16" x 3/8" flanged bearings and Evader front rims? Will the stock bearings work up front with the Evader rims? How about bubber...will any of the currently available 2.2 buggy tires work on these wheels (like the Dirt Hawgs I mentioned above)? And about the tranny...you mentioned a 2.25 Stealth. Are there different ratioed Stealths out there or are they all 2.25? And why exactly is it necessary? Is it the 2.25 ratio part or is there a general durability issue between the Stealth and the stock 6-Gear? If it is the ratio, is there a way to change the ratio of the 6-Gear closer to 2.25? I apologize for my naivete, but I haven't touched this car for 20 years or so, and I feel like I just crawled out of a time capsule myself! So far, though, I LOVE THIS SITE! You guys seem to have it all down to a science! Teach me......PLEASE!

[a01butal]

You seem pretty up on things so as far as the trannys is concerned it is ratio and durability issues. 6 gear trans would probably disintigrate with a brushless lipo system and the suggestion you use a very mild setup is probably the best advice above, but if you really want to go ahead with this direction then have at it. Spur and pinion ratio adjustments will have to be made and that will only help in keeping the heat down to an acceptible level as you would have to do with any motor change but it had little to do with overpowering the trans thus the stealth is your best bet as the strongest of the 2 trans.

[VINTAGE10]

OK, I definitely don't want to disintegrate so Stealth it is. So, what's up with the Stealth? Are they all 2.25 internally? What's goin' on in there that makes it more durable? And this template...does it allow for super accurate drilling of the new mounting holes...and how many new holes are there?

[a01butal]

Less friction internally from less gears rotating. I'm not aware of any changes internally except to do a blueprint job on it and the details are in the scan section of this website(a magazine article by Cliff Lett I believe). As far as drilling holes the trans originally came out as an optional upgrade kit in 89 or 90 I believe and in the kit they provided a metal template to drill holes in the old A chassis' that were going to be upgraded. The template provide proper lineup by using the rear suspension mounts to correctly position the plate in order to drill the 4 holes in their proper spot. You not only have to get a certain size drill bit but a 82 degree countersink for the bottom of the chassis.

[PBR Allstar]

Here's a list to put the 2.2 wheels on your early car:

3/16" dog bone cups:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXCCZ6&P=SM

Nitro evader rear wheels:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXEWP3&P=Z

evader BX front wheels:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXCXT5&P=M

front wheel bearings (x4):
http://www.avidrc.com/shop/?action=item&id=48&prevaction=category&previd=1&prevstart=0

rear hub carrier bearings (x4):
http://www.avidrc.com/shop/?action=item&id=88


With that setup you can run any standard 2.2 buggy tire, just like what you'd run on the B4 or comparable new car.

[VINTAGE10]

Alright, the tools for the new mount holes are not a problem (I run a machine shop for a living), but the template...you say you may have one you could let go of, a01butal?! And on the wheel advice...Thanks PBR...considered those parts ordered!

[PBR Allstar]

Vintage10,
If you can't come up with a template I have a really beat up B chassis, that is beyond use that has the stealth holes in it, I could just cut the rear portion off and drop it in an envelope for you and you could use that to transfer the hole pattern.