I haven't been involved in the R/C hobby probably since I turned 16, which was in 1993, so I know a lot has changed. A basement re-organizing caused my RC10 to surface and I decided to see about getting it going again. She had a broken left front A-arm for years,... and I refused to buy anything but the original white nylon arms like it came with. Only a handful of times over the last 20 or so years I had tried to find the original arms to no avail. But this time was different. I remembered the fun I used to have with this thing and attempting to find original equipment was not going to stop me from driving it again. I discovered that Associated re-released a couple of old models with a parts infrastructure to back it up, so I quickly purchased a set of new (albeit black) front A-arms and attempted to source a new battery pack since mine had long been deceased. Looks like everything is now LiPo or Nimh.... and I have no idea if that will work with my brushed motor and ESC. Off to Batteries Plus to find that they stock SUB-C size NiCd batteries in 2100mAh! Recalling they old days, you were lucky to get 1700mAh packs. So I gladly paid them $30 to assemble a pack for me and off I went to revive my beloved RC10.
The first 3 runs netted 3 problems. The end bell of the motor was apparently loose and came off. Luckily, nothing was lost, so I repaired that, and went back out.... to find that I had reversed polarity on the motor and I can't drive backwards. Back in the house to undo my mistake. This next run found another weak spot. the right rear upper ball joint pulled from the bulkhead. UGH! Come to find out BOTH sides were loose and it appears the holes are wallowed out and will not hold well in the future. Nevertheless, I made a repair and went at it again. A clean run! while cycling the energy out of my new pack, I discovered cracks in the front A-arm mount and the front shock ball mount.
It's sad, but I think it's time to retire my old RC10CE.
Here's a quick vid I made of my re-acquaintance with driving it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgcYSw6Qkag
Backstory on my car will be in the Gallery section soon.
