Mardave Stockcar

[stevejc]

Recently ive been restoring losi, i really like the history and the brand, but my RC racing started with Mardave banger racing. After a flash of inspiration in the shape of a toptrumps card i decided to get on ebay and see what i could find. 2 days later id won a Mardave Mk1 stockcar, it arrived today and im well happy. Its by far the oldest RC ive owned.



Has the latest technology in the form of the speed controller


It came with a nice pin badge too


Plans are to restore it in some form, not sure what direction its going to take, all original details, or make it a bit more updated, either way it almost seems a shame to do anything with it such is the patina. Not in a rush to do anything yet, its nice enough as it is.

And one last pic of the card of inspiration

[Diamond Dave]

My problem is when I get something original in stock form I leave it that way. Clean it up, make sure it is functional.

I look for a second one that I can modernize, or mod it some way. Needing to keep the original intact.

Then a third one to make it even better than the second one. It goes on and on....

[stevejc]

lol similer problem here, i tend to buy one example of a car, restore it, then look into what came before or after it (ie; bought losi xx, then jrxs, then losi xxx) .As a collecter it seems i cant help it, so what i can see happening here is, take this one back too original as possible with afew minor upgrades, and as its a mk1 ill see what came next and its only a matter of time before I have 3 of them lined up. Or 4....

[Asso_man!]

I like these old and roughly designed stock cars, they have some charm for sure. Wasn't there a metal frame version as well?
I have been collecting mainly RC10s in the first place, then my collection became opened to other competition oriented buggies from the same era, then at some point I couldn't resist to buy a NIB RC12e with an early box. I thought it would stop there with the on-road stuff, but then I had to have that nice RC12 IFS and recently acquired the in between RC12i lol. Not sure what's next though.
I really love to stroll eBay and forums randomly and spot the one car that would look really good just be being restored nicely. The real fun only starts when meticulously cdismantling it all and cleaning/restoring it up to the last nut. Then it stays for a few months on a shelf in the living room and disappears at some point in a box in the attic and I replace it with the next one. The fun is then gone and I need another dose Hi I'm David and I have a vintage RC restoration problem.

[stevejc]

ha ha, glad im not alone. My first thorough restoration was the JRX2, bought one to start with, realised it needed alot of parts, bought a second one, and still needed more bits to make it as good and complete as id hoped so i bought a jrx pro. Thankfully the all had upgrades of some sort so the finnished car (in the losi section) ended up being quite a nice spec, and the box of bits ive got to sell is quite substantial lol. Mine end up decorating the dining room for a while much to everyone disgust, then when finnished the sit on a shelf for a bit before going into an old 1960's cupboard that i restored and fitted with a shelf purely for this purpose. Of course this needs filling up now! When I used to do Mardave banger racing id watch the stockcars between my races and always fancied getting one, but for some reason never got one, so im making up for it now. Ive also been to alot of short oval racing meetings and whilst i prefer the full contact banger chaos, the stockcar have the wow factor.

There was also the metal frame version, they were the 1/8 scale stockmaster which ran nitro. These are firmly implanted in my brain too because when i was a kid I used to get dragged around classic car shows by my father, an ex banger racer. At one show every year the local club raced their 1/8 stockcars and id spend all weekend watching them and can clearly remember the smell. Nitro fuel doesnt quite smell like it used too! They dont come up for sale very often as they tend to change hands within the clubs. If I can find one, it'd be rude not to buy one.

Feel free to highjack this thread and share your collecting habbits. I prefer collecting/restoring now to actualy taking them out and using them, my losi 8ight that started all this rc thing hasnt seen the light of day for ages!, Authough I do feel the need to get my Mardave banger back out on track.

[stevejc]

After having a closer look at the car its a bit butchered, its a mk1 chassis but the original motor mount has been swapped for a ministock one. Today I stripped the old broken upper chassis and fitted the nice new o/s one. I had to cut the original axle mount off but that was all. In the bag of bits that came with it were some wheels, they are a bit wider than the originals, probably ministock 2 red and 2 white. Ill get afew foam tyres made up at work and renew all the wheels. The bonnet scoop came with another body, but fits this quite well. But im not sure, probably look better without. Its just a mock up at the moment but it looks ok



Dont be alarmed by the shocking paint it wont be like that for long. Bumper irons need fitting, might paint them or polish them. Not going to bother too much with originality too much, might plasticote the chassis and give it some details.

[harold996tt]

This is so cool. Used to read about these cars in the old UK magazine Model Cars.

[stevejc]

Ok, something happened. Whilst browsing ebay I stumbled across a badly listed item. You know, one of those that makes you think 'im gonna get this for cheaps'. So, regardless of the fact that ive got plenty of cars, i bid. And won it. For very very little . The first one I bought is a Mk1, released in 1979, not made for long until the chassis was modified to make it stronger. Its been developed a little whilst it was being raced so the restoration will be simpathetic to its racing mods. However, the one i received yesterday is a little different. Its basicly the mk2 plastic chassis (ironwork), but the rest of it is really very different. Its not really a Mardave, its a Top of the range Bandit pro, with optional extras, thats hardly been used. It also came with all of its original paperwork, price list and all bodywork, parts of which are unique to the bandit and unavailable. Differences include cnc machined alloy front beam and motor mount (only on the pro), countersunk chassis, solid steering arms, conversion to later mardave v12 wheels (meaning i can fit my 4 spoke revolutions (whoop)) and adjustable inboard suspention on the rear pod. Most of this I didnt realise until it turned up, so to say im feeling quite happy with it is an understatement All it needs is bits putting back together but its all there, and a nice repaint, possibly a new body (cheap as chips)

alloy rear mount. special


alloy front beam and front hubs. More special.


Shows differences in rear end. There realy isnt alot left to go back on the white one.


Wheels fitted, might get some in a different colour though. Chassis is green. I dont do green, so ill either dye it black or buy a new one, available in white or black, the main difference between the mk1 and mk2 is the 'X' brace in the front.

The mk1 body is currently being painted. To keep it authentic I figured stockcars of this age wouldnt have been sprayed, so ive whiped out the enamel and paint brushes to attempt to do it properly. The bonnet scoop is gone, one coat is done, more to follow tomorrow.

[stevejc]

Ive got afew coats of paint on now, unfortunaly I havnt got the ideal brush to do it with so ill get a decent one this weekend. That said its not too bad, i did 2 coats, flatted with 1200 wet and dry, 3 coats and ill flat it off once its dry and do another coat with the new brush. Im so determined to get a nice flat finnish its gone a bit OCD. Im going to have a go at signwriting it too, taking ideas from the toptrumps cards.

An impulse buy means ive got another car on its way, just to get a matching set of wheels, but theres a strong chance they might look abit silly on it. Good!