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Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 12:21 am
by juicedcoupe
Bought this on Ebay earlier today.

It looks like a Composite Craft or other similar aftermarket chassis. It has Andy's arms and what looks like Houge bellcranks. The front shocks look like Duratrax or Kyosho golds.

The esc is a Futaba MC109, which I'd never heard of. And the receiver is a Hitec Shredder.

Hopefully, most of it is in serviceable condition.

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 9:18 pm
by juicedcoupe
Car arrived today. It also came with a Magnum Sport radio and a couple old Sanyo 1200 SCR packs. The AE pack still has the price tag and Sanyo Cadnica label on the back, I thought it would be cool for a shelf car.

I haven't messed with the front shocks yet. I've got to figure out how to remove the caps without marring the bodies.

Other than being dirty, most of it looks to be in fair condition.

The radio equipment all works. I haven't tried the esc yet but posted another thread, asking for information about it.

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 9:23 pm
by juicedcoupe
Got the car stripped down and cleaned up. Other than a few scratches and scrapes, it looks pretty good. Maybe not on this car but pretty much everything looks usable.

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 9:30 pm
by juicedcoupe
Got to the transmission and things got interesting. I opened it up and found a full host of aftermarket parts and mods.

Thorp 48p gear set, diff tube with bearing, Trackmaster long diff shaft, and the outdrive bearing mod.

I'd never seen the carriers and only recently heard about the shaft.

It looks like someone put some money in this car way back. It was probably nice in its day.

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 9:37 pm
by ChisaiKuso
Please send those red parts my way if you intend to dye them black. :wink:

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 9:43 pm
by juicedcoupe
ChisaiKuso wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 9:37 pm Please send those red parts my way if you intend to dye them black. :wink:
That was my intent, and the red dye job is horribly faded. Also, I never really liked the red.

These don't have any cracks or stripped threads. If you have a similar set (black or white) I'll gladly trade you.

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Wed May 05, 2021 11:16 pm
by juicedcoupe
So, issues with the transmission.

It looks like the shield of the left outdrive bearing came off, allowing dirt into it. Once the bearing locked up, friction on that side went up tremendously, causing the press fit of the left diff pinion to break free.

It looks like they continued the tighten the diff, not realizing why the left wheel wouldn't turn. The spur gear was melted at the diff and the tension nut had ground into the spring.

Now, the diff shaft and pinion will no longer press together, from shaft spinning inside it. I put a little CA on it to keep it together for now but I doubt it would hold up to any use. I may put a little Belzona in it and leave it under tension for a while.

I hate it when people mess up good parts by being lazy and/or stupid.

Anyway, I have another six gear transmission that I can use until I figure it out.

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Thu May 06, 2021 10:21 am
by XLR8
Wow, that's disappointing. However, with those 48dp gears, you probably won't run a super hot motor so maybe the CA will hold okay.
Anyway, what a nice find. Clearly, the car was built to race and not just some thrown-together backyard basher.
Usually, when I buy a "box of chocolates", it turns out to be a complete pile of junk. Not so in your case.

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Thu May 06, 2021 11:10 am
by juicedcoupe
Most likely, a stock or super stock.

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Thu May 06, 2021 9:44 pm
by juicedcoupe
Took the front shocks apart. Unfortunately, they are Duratrax. Oh well.

I went ahead and cleaned and rebuilt them while I was at it. Since they are a single seal design, I decided to try an X ring (already had them. I also found that a standard Traxxas bladder was a good match. They seem fairly smooth.

But they aren't going back on this car. I don't have any plans for them but they may land on some random project.

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Sat May 22, 2021 1:48 am
by juicedcoupe
Quick update on this. I decided to do black and white plastic with blue accents.

- The CA is actually holding the diff shaft and pinion together pretty well. I tried knocking them apart but they wouldn't budge.
- Dyed the transmission case black. It was faded blue.
- Swapped out the bulkhead, bellcranks, and other plastics for white ones.
- Also got a blue JConcepts motor plate, with a new black motor guard on the way.
- Not pictured are blue truck shocks with white plastics and big bore springs.

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Sat May 22, 2021 2:12 am
by juicedcoupe
Electronics, tires and wheels, and shocks.

- Dynamite Micro Pro receiver, Hobbywing 1060 esc, Futaba S132, and a Tamiya Lightly Tuned motor (matches the colors).
- JConcepts Mono front wheels and Traxxas rears. Traxxas Alias front tires and Schumacher Mini Spike rears.

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 8:28 am
by MarkyDents
I really like the direction you’ve taken it in, a real deal resto-mod. Nicely done.

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 10:28 pm
by juicedcoupe
Got some more parts in and a little more work done.

Got some shock towers from Jeff. A&L Team rear and front for 1.02 shocks.

Rebuilt the T4 blue shocks and installed limiters as needed. Hot Racing bleeder caps, these were nicer than expected. While parts from some 10T shocks.

The big bore springs are Losi fronts and AE rears, with Traxxas locators. I don't really like the Traxxas locators because big bore springs fit loose on them, but they had the look I wanted. I slid a 12X1mm o ring on them to help keep the springs located.

Got a JConcepts battery strap and some AE thumb screws. I had to use an open ended battery cup because this chassis is drilled for early style stick packs. I'll add some foam rubber or something to help keep the battery secure.

The turnbuckles are all Schumacher. The rod ends are AE 6274 and 7230's. I think the front ball ends are old style Du-Bro (with Custom Works cone washers) and the rears are Traxxas.

Re: Ebay graphite purchase

Posted: Sat May 29, 2021 12:25 am
by MarkyDents
Man I’m loving this build ! So much style !
Admittedly when you began this post it got me wanting an period built hooked up mid 80’s machine. Thankfully just took position of one today. Chassis looks very similar to yours but not quite the same.