Smoking Man Graphite Find

[Bubbleboy]

As the quest continues to build my collection I found a Graphite six gear this weekend. There were a few things that I noticed off the bat, like the RPM arms A&L bellcranks, but the condition of the chassis outweighed those concerns. Another noticeable flaw was this was in a smokers home....heavy smoker given the yellowish tinge to the parts. Regardless, it came home with me.





Let the tear down begin....and truth, as ugly as it may be, that comes along with it.

Degreasing began with Simplegreen, and what came off the surface looked like I had spilled coffee on it. Then a bath of hot water and Dawn got off the rest. It was into a boiling pot of water next, and holy crap, could you smell the cigarette smoke. It was only for a few minutes, but enough for the wife to complain, and banish me to performing this outside on the BBQ whenever I need to do this again. So now all the parts sit in a 3% peroxide bath....praying the staining disappears. An update in the next couple of days.



As for the mechanical, there are a few things. For a car that supposedly was run very little, the innards tell a different story. A fair bit of hardened grease was present. There was also the outdrive bearing mod that was performed, which included a hole drilled in the side of the tranny case to hold the bearings in. The idler gears were white, which has me wondering if this tranny isn't original, as I believe the graphite's came with black idlers. Another thing that has me wondering if this wasn't Frankensteined together was the dogbones...there are not the universal joints that are mentioned in the manual or Rod's RC10 history post. All four shocks have scratches too. Lastly, the bulkhead had a couple of extra holes in it too.

Below is the list of parts I would require to bring it up to an acceptable shelf queen. Not entirely hard to find, except for maybe the tires.

6334 Battery tray
Battery strap
6206 White front arms
6255 Bellcranks with 8/32 nuts
Bellcrank tie rod 1.5"
White ballcups
Front and rear tires
Protech II body
Wing
Ballstuds small
6901 inner hub bearings
White spur gear
6605 Gear case
6633 felt and retainers
6323 Bulkhead
6371 universal joints
Shock ball ends
Box
Wheel knockoffs
6231 Front shock tower
6378 Rear shock tower
6336 Servo mounts
Stickers

So what to do....continue on sourcing bits and pieces, or sell and wait for a NIB kit to come along. Love to hear your thoughts guys.

The bonus in finding this car, I was able to score a couple Edinger spring retainers.

[scr8p]

That chassis looks far too nice for the parts and hardware that's on it.

[jwscab]

Agreed. I would also make sure the bulkhead gets all the air bubbles out so it sinks....Partially submerged is going to tie dye that part and any other sticking out.....

[lmw94002]

Nice find. Some local clown here has two graphite cars for sale, but is insisting on $200+ each. They're in decent shape, but nothing exceptional. Would make a good runner. Been trying to talk him down for months and hasn't budged.

[klavy69]

Nice find. Some local clown here has two graphite cars for sale, but is insisting on $200+ each. They're in decent shape, but nothing exceptional. Would make a good runner. Been trying to talk him down for months and hasn't budged.

tell him if he wants ebay prices that he roll the dice and place them on ebay and deal with the hassle of listings and fees and final value fees and scammers that say they didn't get the item and get their money back from him while he is out the cars too...you know, THAT kinda thing

Todd

[Bubbleboy]

First batch of parts came out of the peroxide bath. 50% of them went back in and got a fresh batch to soak in for the next week while I'm away on business. Starting to source bits and pieces that were modified to return it to stock.

[Bubbleboy]

It's amazing what happens when bits and pieces sit in peroxide for weeks. Also got a fresh pack of gold screws.





Got a bunch of replacement vintage parts coming. Replica body and stickers have also been sourced.

[Lonestar]

As the quest continues to build my collection I found a Graphite six gear this weekend. T

where are all pix gone? not a hotlinking issue... just says "pix deleted by user"

[Bubbleboy]

Photobucket pissed me off and I deleted my account. One of these days I’ll fix my links, including this thread.

Some progress has been made, but still looking for some parts.

[DaveM]

Fix the pics!

[Bubbleboy]

Pics fixed. Will post up the latest state of the car this weekend.

As well, my parts wanted post has been updated with what I need to complete the build.

Stay tuned!

[mikea96]

Hey its long past this weekend!!!

[Bubbleboy]

This build is dragging on forever. Got a bit more of the rear end done. Found some vintage 6 gear felts that are on their way.

Still can’t find mint bottom load gold shocks or a set of tires that doesn’t cost me almost $100 CDN per pair after the exchange. This restore is not one of my better financial decisions.

It’s current state...

[XLR8]

Well, the car is looking fantastic, Bubble. Remember, it's a hobby not a financial decision. When it's finished and you can admire it sitting pretty on the shelf, you will completely forget about how much it costs - I promise.