Mardave Cobra quickie rebuild

[GoMachV]

Won this one on eBay cheap and although it looked pretty terrible… underneath wasn’t so bad.

I stripped it down and rebuilt the front and rear. Of course while apart I copied the parts I want to have on file. I rebuilt with imperial hardware since I felt like it was a little too British.

The chassis has some problems. I stripped it using goof off and since I couldn’t locate a powdercoat place locally I decided to spray it with epoxy white. I will have it coated later. Not sure what color.

And here she is as a roller. I’m still working on the ball bearing steering set, mild clearance issues. The towers of my own design allow modern wing mounts in the rear and a few more camber link holes.

That’s it for now. I’ll update when i coat the chassis and figure out how to order off the Mardave website They don’t like sending to the USA apparently.

[Dadio]

Too British splutter , I'll have you know old boy that we invented measuring things before you were even a country , by George it's heretical madness , now rebuild it metric like a good Frenchie
Seriously the chassis looks really nice in white , I never liked the Mardave yellow or blue paint colours ( propper British spelling of colours ) .

[GoMachV]

Any thoughts on the speed control that was in it? This isn’t a brand I’m familiar with and I’m not seeing much info on it. It looks like a very entry level unit to me.

[DerbyDan]

Cool to see a Mardave Cobra existing stateside - the adjustable turnbuckles, blue chassis, slipper clutch & GRP indicates that this is the 'TQ' spec car - which was the spec of the car at first release, then slightly later the 'Sport' model was introduced. The Sport spec cars proved popular as they came complete with a motor & mech speed controller & being quite cheap were a great introduction to into the hobby, I know that when I helped out in a hobby shop on a Saturday morning we sold a lot of Sport-spec cars to people who were looking to start racing at our local club.

It looks like you've done a great job on the re-build on this car - I like the new shock towers I'm sure during the re-build you were able to appreciate the buggies' simple but also quite clever design?

[GoMachV]

Oh absolutely. I have a Cobra Sport new in the box and picked this one up simply hoping the slipper and adjustable rods were good enough to put with my sport kit- they aren’t lol. But the slipper is perfect for a runner. Now that I see a lot of parts are available I’ll have to make an order with Mardave at some point. I’d like to pick up one of their 1/12 as well just to have. They are a smart company, simple works!

[RC10th]

Smart except for the metric nonsense

[GoMachV]

Hey I replaced #4 tapping screws with 4-40, to me that made sense Plus I have 6x as many imperial screws laying around. I built it like I would have back in the day

While I have some experts here, why are imperial self tapping screws used? Schuey does/did the same thing. Always thought it was odd.

[TRX-1-3]

Smart except for the metric nonsense

Sorry, kinda out of place here but I knew a guy that said, "dude, I bought a metric tape measure.....I'm a way better carpenter now."

[DerbyDan]

Smart except for the metric nonsense

To be fair, most of the screws in a Mardave Cobra are self tappers.... so if you've got a bunch of spare AE or Losi M/C screws then why not, sure an upgrade from 'wood screws'

The Mardave brand harks right back to the beginning of the 70s - right at the beginning for R/C cars! Their ethos was always about building simple & affordable models... ironically the Cobra is probably their most complex kit! The new owner of the business has continued this philisophy - though some of the top-spec GT12 cars with carbon etc can get quite costly!

I started out racing with a Mardave Meteor (the predecesor to the Cobra) - ignoring the Hornet which I actually initially started racing with - but was quickly retaired from actual racing duties! I later got a Cobra which I raced regularly at my local club - which raced on a tight short track inside a small community hall... it really was well suited to this style of track, so much so that when I got sponsored & given a Losi XX - I continued to race the Cobra at indoor meetings.... including some of the larger winter series races. I put the car's indoor performance down to the lack of built in rear toe, making it super nimble through the tight bends (less good outdoors in loose condition of course) On one of these bigger winter meetings - a certain Worlds A finalist, Mr Kevin Moore was in attendance. In the first round of qualifying I stuck my Cobra in the top three - ahead of Kevin. I may have stayed ahead for the 2nd round, but suffice to say he did out-qualify me by the end of the day but he did come over & have a good look over my car.... which by then I had modified to fit a XX gearbox