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Kayak

Do I just rebuild my old racer?

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I've rescued my original SuperChamp racer from the clutches of a friend I'd given it to long ago.  Other than no longer having the Thorp diff or any good remaining tires (probably gave ten different sets with the car!), it's as complete as it used to be.  The original bits and pieces disappeared long ago, I've picked up some re-re spares to replaced cracked and broken bits.  

Do I remove all the faux anodizing (Metal tint spray can) and bring all the aluminum bits back to bare metal and try to duplicate it again along with the new bits getting the same treatment?  Or go for the blast cabinet finish on everything?  I am going to run the car... there's so little left.  The Novak and steer servo still work perfectly!

Currently restoring an early 'Cadillac' RC10 into a runner, as it was my replacement for the SuperChamp when it just couldn't be kept competitive back in...'84 -  '85?

RIMG2358.JPG

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Life was hard for this car.  Bashed, raced outdoors indoors on a carpeted track with 2x4 borders, the rear arms were always a weak point.  The fix?  Add some rigidity... aluminum, JB Weld and tiny bolts.

RIMG2363.JPG

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Luckily, any broken parts for the SRB cars have been rere'd. Glad that you are giving it new life.

I would think that a soda blasting should be enough to make quick work of the paint. Glass bead might make for some difficulty in polishing back up.

Good luck with the resto.

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Thanks, I'm afraid to get carried away with it.  I have the ability to get all the smooth aluminum bits back up to a mirror shine before recoating... and then of course I'll want to polish the arms, uprights and gear case too.  I've been down that rabbit hole before... in the end, the journey might be worth it just for the joy of it... but then I might not want to bash it about... and I really do want to.

  I've already purchased a nearly complete set of plastics for the RC10 and dyed them purple, orange and yellow just like I did way back when.  But, it's just a refresh and dress up of a stocker... not the 80's pride n joy.

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15 hours ago, Kayak said:

The fix?  Add some rigidity... aluminum, JB Weld and tiny bolts

Awesome . I did this exact fix on my S/S many moons ago before the re-re was even a twinkle in Mr Tamiyas eye . Go for the full resto , you have the skills = enjoyment = and a great looking runner

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Kev, it was home made.  I had a few different pieces of music wire I tried before settling on the one that's been there for... forever.  The brass bits were RC boat or airplane control stuff, the upper end of the link rods are soldered onto the 4-40 and use a smaller ball than Tamiya standard (guess it was standard for scratchbuilt back when).  The real trick was tuning it by moving the ball on the wire to increase or decrease the action.  The short shocks keep the rear arms from drooping too far and the sway bar helps keep the rear level... without the ball diff, it allows the car to be slid around turns... with one, the car really handled acceptably.  Front sway bar I made, seemed to work against it, it got tossed (same with the RC10).

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Walnut shell in the blast cabinet turned out to be the perfect media for removing the 'metal tint' I'd applied so many decades ago.  The sad bit is there are almost no original bits left to go into the rebuild.

Front suspension bits,  steer saver and the gear box.  Is a brass idler gear even stock?  I know I had a full set of brass gears at one point and returned to the plastic for the largest, big brass gear was robbing power :)  At least the aluminum buts come up pretty shiny without a lot of effort (8" wheel and some green rouge).  I'm going to refuse to go through the mirror shine process as it's way too much labor.

RIMG2386.JPG

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The lack of original bits is almost an improvement - there are loads of people out there with rere or restored SWBs. But there's likely no-one else out there with a buggy quite like this one. Chapeau!

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On 11/9/2019 at 9:44 PM, Kayak said:

Walnut shell in the blast cabinet

I like the sound of that , big boys toys ;)

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