PROJECT: RC10 Cardinal

[Eau Rouge]

In about 1987 or '88 or so, the aftermarket for RC10s was in top gear, and EVERYONE was churning out parts to "improve" the best off road car ever produced. Some of them really worked, most of them worked like styrofoam packing material glued to your car. All of them today are coveted by all of us weenies.

I started collecting parts for a specific build that I had in mind about 3 years ago. To me, it would be the quintessential modified RC10 from the height of the electric off road heyday. Few original parts, and everything we used on the track in 1987 (even though we had no idea what we were doing). There was a hobby shop called Cardinal Hobbies that advertised in one of the old magazines that put together a "kit" of aftermarket parts to create a car they called the "Bird" (yeah, really stupid name). I was infatuated with it when I was 17, and it would be the base for my targeted restoration project. I want to build the exact same car I raced myself.

This project will include:

- Houge chassis
- Houge trailing arm rear suspension
- Team Losi or Houge bearing bellcrank steering
- Andy's front A-arms
- Pro-line Delrin wheels
- Schumacher tires
- Kyosho "gold" shocks
- Bud's wing
- RCPS Mirage body
- Robinson Racing 48p gears
- MIP tranny with planetary (gear) differential
- MIP CVD drive axles
- Litespeed LiteSink heatsink motor plate
- Checkpoint Platinum modified motor
- Sanyo SCR 1400 7-cell battery
- Novak T1/T1x ESC
- Novak NER2 receiver
- Futaba s148 steering servo


All items are subject to change, based on what I can and can't find. A lot of things are already in the bank, and some just don't ever turn up. I'm going to document the build as I go, and include photos wherever I can.

[Asso_man!]

great project car, I'm anxious to see it grewing

[badhoopty]

...I'm anxious to see it grewing

umm, you didnt quite word that right...

[Eau Rouge]

Since joining this board, I was lucky enough to find a car on eBay that very closely resembles what I am trying to build. The main item I have been searching for was the foundation of the car—the chassis. The lucky part was that the car I bought also contained a lot of other great little bonuses.

It also came with a bunch of items I won't be using or need, and I may build up a gold tub runner, or sell off the unused items to fund later projects. The gold found in this car was the almost brand new MIP diff. Under the dirt and grime, this car was almost brand new. The chassis is about as flawless as I will find, short of opening the new package myself. The kit also included Andy's arms, MIP CVD universals, Losi Revolution mod motor, Composite Craft shock towers, Proline wheels (that are broken), and a few other pieces...

Here are the original state photos, and a few of the teardown:

[Asso_man!]

...I'm anxious to see it grewing

umm, you didnt quite word that right...

sorry, I do the best I can, my mother tongue is French and I speak in total 5 languages...

[Asso_man!]

For the trailing arms, I think they would work better if the rear shocks would be in front of the shock strut and more at an angle in order to move in the trailing arm direction... like the A&L system

[Eau Rouge]

For the trailing arms, I think they would work better if the rear shocks would be in front of the shock strut and more at an angle in order to move in the trailing arm direction... like the A&L system

Exactly, that's how they are supposed to be, and that's how they will be in the final build. Lots of things that need to be fixed from that original car. It's already complete torn down to nuts and screws and the rebuild is in progress.

[coxy-ben]

good project !!!!!!!!!

[joeyskates]

Apex, what do the delrin pro-line wheels look like, are they like the ones on that car or something else?

[Eau Rouge]

Yeah, those are the RC10 Proline wheels, but three out of the 4 I have are cracked. The tires on that car were dry-rotted, too. I have a box of NOS Schumacher Cat tires to pick from, though, so they aren't an issue.

I have blown two clean auctions for NEW or almost new Proline wheels in the last 3 months. I don't plan to screw up a third.




The car is coming together nicely, though I'm encountering a problem with the holes in the chassis for the tranny. The front pair are not square in the car, and it cocks the MIP crooked. Not only that, it moves one of the dogbones closer to the outdrives, and it binds really bad through the suspension travel. I know it's a shelf queen, but I NEED the car to be built properly. I may just get to race it someday.

New photos tomorrow.


d

[scr8p]

these are the kind your lookin for?

[Eau Rouge]

YES!!!!!!

[Eau Rouge]

A few updated photos...

[joeyskates]

Apex, I raced almost the exact same car back in the 80s and it destroyed everything! Nothing came close to it except cars like it but they were few and far in between since to put one together would cost you a small fortune. I rememeber winning the A-mains by a couple of laps and after the race all the little kids would run up to me and ask me what was in it. My car was a bit different though, it had the Composite Craft chassis and the A&L trailing arms and different tires for different conditions but everything else was pretty much the same. Oh and I also had the PDI Zeta programmable speed control which cost like $300 back then. I was like 13-14 years old and saved my money for quite some time to buy that thing haha. I still have mine and it still even has a race "patina" with what is now almost 20 year old dirt still stuck to the tires. Other than that, I also started putting together another one a couple of years ago since I could never risk my original one. When I get home today, I'll try to post some pics or at least do it soon and good luck with your project.

[Eau Rouge]

Exactly the same for myself and my younger brother. He ran a rear A-arm car that was similar to mine, and then stepped up to a trailing arm car. We ran ONLY stock back then, but this one will be set up and restored as a full mod 2wd car. I even get to break oout my Checkpoint motors...