Old guy looking into getting back into RC

[Twiggz]

Well I'm not that old, but I'm getting there. I've been out of the RC game for quite a few years now and the brushless systems are all new to me.

I found out that there is an indoor off road 1/10th scale track close to my work. I've been bitten by the RC bug again.

I was thinking of buying a new 1/10 SC model, because mostly I really like the look of the Short coarse trucks. But I figured maybe I should update my old RC10T before I dive into a new car.

I have an original RC10T that I bought new. Always planned to race it, but ended up just bashing it around and never did actual track time. Shes mostly stock and still in decent shape, she had a lot of shelf time. I'm a little late, but now I want to throw the old girl on a track. Aside from rebuilding the shocks, I'd like to upgrade it to the new brushless setup. But I'm not sure what's involved.

It looks like I need the Motor, new ESC, lipo battery and I assume a new style charger for the lipo battery?

Is there anything else I'm forgetting? Online people say the stealth transmission will be able to hold up to the torque. I see that the ESCs come in different amperages, how do I choose one that wont be too much for my old truck? How many lipo cels? So many questions!

Do you guys have any recommendations for a motor/esc/cel combo? I don't need insane speed, I'd just like it to hang with modern brushless cars.

Thanks everyone!

[Twiggz]

Since i wasntvgetting much help o the forums I went to Sheldon's hobbies and asked them what they suggested for my old car. So getting over the fact that they referred to my stuff as "Vintage" they told me its easy to set it up for brushless.
He started to look for the bottom end brushless motor and esc combos. He said any thing above that would rip the tires off the rims. Then suggested I go for an updated brushed motor and modern battery.

In short I bought a new 12turn brushed motor, a 4200mah NIMH battery, a shock rebuild kit and new shock oil. Turns out my old battery charger only does nicad. So I had to order a new charger before I can test out this new setup.

For the hell of it, I pulled four of my old rc cars down from the attic to try to get the RC10T running on its vintage electronics. I tried charging an old nicad battery. It charged but didn't have the amps. But it was enough to get my steering servo set up and piss off my dog.

Tomorrow I'll rebuild the shocks and maybe solder the caps and wires to the new motor.

[DaveM]

Hi Twiggz,

The answers you were seeking have already been covered in the,

R/C Tech Forum.

http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=24904

Nice truck by the way! Have fun!

Cheers, DaveM.

[RC10th]

Did Sheldons Hobbies open back up, they were on Old Oakland Road if my memory serves me right? My first RC car (RC10) came from there. What new track opened up?

A 12 turn motor would make your truck scoot along ok and the 4200 NiMh is a pretty good choice as a drop in battery. Lipo and brushless would have given you less maintenance but you would have had to relocate the battery cup to fit a lipo.

If you want to upgrade to brushless in the future pretty cheaply I would recommend the Hobbywing 60 amp EZ Run esc and a Hobbywing 13 turn or 9 turn EZ Run motor. Either would be plenty fast and give you good run time. You could then use your existing 4200 or make the jump to lipo. This would also give you the option to give your truck a fair bit of extra poke down the track if you wanted to (Hobbywing EZ Run 5.5)

[Twiggz]

Thanks, I don't know how I missed the tech section. Guess I was just searching in the truck forum.

Sheldon's never closed they just moved a few miles away from the old location. I think I've bought most of my cars there since the 90s. Things have changed though, the front section of the store has a rock crawler coarse setup with a running waterfall. In the back they have a carpeted drift track that looked fun, but not my thing. The indoor off road track is a little further into San Jose at a place I haven't visited yet named Nor-cal hobbies. I'm going to try to swing by after work and check them out soon.

Thanks for the suggestions. For now I'll keep it with the brushed setup. The more I think about it the more I want to pick up a short coarse truck.

This is the back of Sheldon's. I should have snapped a pic of the rock coarse.

[sschering]

For what it's worth Associated has a refurbished RTR SC10 for $175
http://www.teamassociated.com/parts/details/7028R/

Hard to beat that price even cobbling together a used roller chassis.

[RC10th]

Interesting, Sheldons shut the doors and everyone said another hobby shop bought most of their stock. Is Ron and his wife still running it?

Nor-cal hobbies was started by some friends of mine, the camp family, but then sold on to kevin Jelich. Last time I was there the facility was pretty top notch.

Make sure you take photos of your truck on the track for us

[limestang]

Welcome to the forum. That's a cool track!

For a low cost Brushless setup, I've had good luck from Hobbypartz.com. Their 120Amp ESC is easy to program and very reliable.

- Limestang

[Twiggz]

Interesting, Sheldons shut the doors and everyone said another hobby shop bought most of their stock. Is Ron and his wife still running it?

I'll need to double check. I talked with the owner but I'm horrible with names. I did get in the convo about his ex wife. He caught her cheating, divorced and is about to sell their old home. He's going to take the check from the sale right to the Lamborghini delear as a devorce gift to himself.

[Twiggz]

Turns out the guy getting the lambo is named Andy. I didn't want to pry further

The restoration is going slow on my 10T, but I now think I have every thing to make it track ready. I just rebuilt the leaky shocks. Next I need to solder the wires and caps to the new motor as well as replace the connector on my ESC to Dean plugs.

~20 year old O-rings. Some just fell apart when I was removing them. Lots of alcohol wipes and qtips


Good as new. Couldn't believe Sheldon's hobbies had a rebuild kit in stock.