'Fun Buggy' RC10 - Graphite, mid mount Stealth, brushless

[Jeep-Power]

This is the 'Fun Buggy' I've been dreaming up.

I've had a RC10 since '87 (bought it used). I'm pretty sure my first was a 'Edinger' car. I am planning on reassembling that collection of parts n the future.

For now, this is some of the parts that I've collected over the years taking shape into something that I can bash abit with. Open space-- especially the beach, frozen lake, baseball field, etc is what I'm planning this to see the most of.



The front end is remaining unchanged-- I set it up this way years ago, before I mothballed it. I have a set of late model shocks that I'll be swapping in. The red/purple parts are that color from the tint/dye fading. They will *probably* get re-tinted one of these days. The turnbuckles are vintage titanium-- not sure who made them.


The power house-- Mamba max with the Traxxas 3500 Brushless motor. Planning on running a 2C Lipo & HiTech 225 'MightyMini" servo with a vintage Novak receiver.


I re-drilled the graphite for a stealth trans. The chassis isn't perfect, so I didn't feel *too* guilty about doing this.



Rear suspension-



With the trans flipped around, it seemed to make sense that the shocks were now going to be in the rear. Unfortunately this does not allow for the suspension arms to also be reversed, as the placement of the rear spindle will be about 1/2" forward of the transmission outdrives. This makes for a compound angle on the dogbones. I figured it was easiest to keep the suspension arms in place, thus keeping the driveline in plane, and simply fabricate some shock mounts.

[Jeep-Power]

went downstairs to tinker on it 'just for a few minutes'-- the next thing I know I am out on the street running it at 1AM.

This is my first brushless -- it sure has a TON of torque! I have to play with the gears-- It seems I can get a little more speed out of it. After 10 minutes the motor/esc weren't even warm.

The steering is binding (won't return to center) -- causing it to wander.

The front shocks are SUPER stiff-- have to tune them & play with he rebound on the rears...

Pics to come.

I'm still not sure what body it'll have-- I have a few buggy style bodies, as well as a few truck bodies.

[Jeep-Power]

Whew-- more test & tune on the street with a fully charged 2Cell Lipo. WOW-- this thing is quick & fast! Amazing how matting it at half throttle will break the rear tires free. These brushless motors are SICK!

Motor & ESC get just a little bit warm-- seems the gears (120/36 [64 pitch]) are fine. I really don't want it to be any faster right now.

Smacked a curb on the late night 'last' run-- broke a front a-arm in half & split the rear arm mount screw holes wide open I've pledged not to do anymore road testing-- the curbs & cars make it too risky.

To anybody who happens to be reading this thread-- is anyone mass-producing aluminum suspension parts for Gold Pans? I'm seriously thinking about making some one-off suspension parts, namely the rear frame-side mounts. They seem simple enough.

[EDIT] -- nevermind-- I found some sells them on ebay! The seller is ' kuongkw '
they also make F & R arms & other parts-- nice!

[burnsmonkey]

Is there a reason you are running 64pitch?

[Jeep-Power]

burns-

I "invested heavily" in that pitch back in the day-- it was considered the best thing then. It's what I have the largest selection of, by far.

I was concerned that the bushless would tear them up, but it seems to be fine so far.

Why do you ask? I see that 48 pitch is the popular pitch these days.

[burnsmonkey]

I just ask because a couple builds I have seen run 48p on brushless, im using CC 5700 and running 83/21 right now and I have had no heating issues and Im using the RPM 2.65 trans.

What differences in power have you notice between 48p and 64p, how affected is the powerband?

[Jeep-Power]

wow-- you are running a deep ratio -- almost 4:1. That'll keep it nice & cool. I'm sure it's crazy fast as well. What size rear tires are you running?

I didn't actually get a chance to run any 48 pitch gears-- I only have one pinion & spur combo, and it it too tall for what I need (about 2.75 : 1). I'm not sure what the ratio of the original Stealth trans is.

Funny you mention the power band-- I was thinking that it sure seems to have one. Kind of reminds me of a 2 stroke dirtbike. Not knowing much about brushless, I can't say much more than that. What I do know is that it spins the rear wheels & pulls the front wheels off the ground when I floor it, at half speed.

How is the powerband 'worked' with different gearing?

[Jeep-Power]

pics-


The front swaybar is not the OEM gauge wire-- I made this years ago out of coat hanger. I found the OEM was too thin & literally did nothing. This one allows for about 1/3 up-travel on the one side before the opposite side reacts.


At ride height, less battery, there is about an 1/8" of droop-- under power it squats a little more, making the arms almost straight across the bottom.

For anyone who's wondering-- NO, I did not cut up a perfectly good A chassis to make the graphite rear 'bumper'! Years ago I acquired the tail end (literally the last 3") of an A chassis that someone else had cut up. I figured this was an appropriate use of what was otherwise scrap.



Homemade bumper out of 3/16 hard urethane



Sooner or later I may die all the parts dark gray/black-- For now, I'm still testing/tuning. I did order a set of those gold aluminum rear suspension mounting blocks off Ebay. Please forgive the random hunk of fiberglass sheet scrap being used as a battery hold-down. It will be replaced sooner-or-later.



Those are Vintage Schumacher CAT pin spikes on the rear- I have a set of CAT fronts as well. The Fronts are vintage Associated off a Black Pan -- the front tires are are for sale (SOLD!)!






It's awesome to see the old girl at full speed floating though the bumps/swells at the field (all the grass is hibernating, so it's nice & flat). The brushless power/torque is amazing-- even with the old 6 cell NiCds! The motor, ESC, and battery get to be 'just-warm'. Of the three, the NiCd/NiMh batterys are the things that get the warmest.

I'm contemplating picking up a wing for it-- OPINIONS PLEASE!

I also have a NIP Chevy S10 body that I might fit to it-- I have to see how that turns out. The tires rubbing on the body are my biggest concern.

For all you purists cringing at the site of such a conglomeration/abomination of an RC-10 -- stay tuned for the 'Edinger Resto'. It won't be perfect, but I hope that it will help make peace/restitution with the Gold Pan gods...

[railey72]

Peter,
Great runner build. Glad the parts helped out. It is great to see a buggy that will get used the way it was intended.

[SMOKE-DOG]

Cool project. I vote for the wing. It wil look good back there since the back of the buggy is gone.

[soniccj5]

I like it!



ED

[vintage AE]

I like it too...you gotta find another body though. There must be something out there that will fit better. The buggy is way too cool to look just ok.

[burnsmonkey]

I vote wing to, the wing will just give it a whole new dimension. I also vote on that puppy crying for a lipo set-up!

[Jeep-Power]

Thanks folks--

I have an old wing here-- I'll see how it looks.

Not to worry-- I've got two 2 cell LiPo's & two 3 cell LiFe's. I haven't tried the LiFe's out yet...

[klavy69]

[EDIT] -- nevermind-- I found some sells them on ebay! The seller is ' kuongkw '
they also make F & R arms & other parts-- nice!

He also is a member here and goes by Atlas. Has all his stuff in the b/s/t area. You see posts once in awhile by him here and there but let us know how the parts work out for you...as far as durability anyway. Not plugging his parts but a 'kinda curious wanted to know for myself type thing'
I'm likin the whole project. More inspiration to finish up something here Todd