Gliderflyer

iTrader: (10)

First post here, I've been poking around a few days and it looks like a great forum so far.

I picked up this old RC10 last weekend at a swap meet with a bunch of parts, graphite frame, extra body etc. The manual is dated 1984. I've done a bunch of searching around and picking up ideas for the clean-up. One thing I have not come across in any pictures is all the yellow parts. Was this a stock thing at one time? I don't see any branding on them. In case the pic isn't clear these are not yellow from age these are yellow molded parts.

Thanks!
Randy

hobbyten

iTrader: (39)

Chances are someone dyed the parts which was common and was believe to make the parts stronger.

Gliderflyer

iTrader: (10)

I've been reading about that since posting this. I've seen some pics of yellow dyed parts and they look much lighter than these. Not saying that these aren't dyed as I have no experience with it. I need to look it over a bit closer tonight. If it was dyed, does the dye really soak into the nylon or would I see wear marks in areas where the dye has rubbed off?

Randy

Bud

Rit dye..The stronger you make it and the longer you leave it in determines how dark it is. If it's not black or white, it's dyed.

Gliderflyer

iTrader: (10)

Thanks guys. Weather permitting I should have it ready for it's first run tomorrow.

emerilnut

iTrader: (2)

Have fun with it. I've had my RC10 since '92, and I ran it recently to get my daughter into RC. When I read about its current vintage status, I emptied the shocks to make it a full-time shelf queen (which it already had been) and bought a more current car.

However, now I think I'm going to do a full-on resto mod...
First is a new body with the box art livery with a modern twist.
Second is a conversion to brushless
Third is drive it around a couple of times then put it on the shelf again.

jamesbeat

I have dyed nylon parts and cut them open to see how deep it penetrates.
It doesn't penetrate all that deep, but it is a LOT thicker than paint. You would have to scratch pretty deep to get through the dyed layer.

I suspect that the rumors about dyed nylon parts being stronger has to do with water absorption.

Nylon has to have a certain moisture content or it becomes brittle.
Depending on manufacturing and/or storage conditions, nylon parts may not have enough moisture in them, which would lead to broken parts.

A side effect of the dyeing process would be that it adds moisture, thus making the nylon tougher - in my opinion it has nothing to do with the dye itself.

You can sometimes tell if nylon parts are severely dehydrated because they will sound different when you tap them together.
Dehydrated nylon will make a glassy 'tink' sound, whereas properly hydrated parts will have a much duller plastic sound.

This isn't a very reliable test though, because I expect the nylon has to be VERY dehydrated for this change in sound to be noticeable.
Whenever I get a vintage nylon part (gears etc) I always put it in a pan of very hot water for an hour or two to ensure that it is is thoroughly hydrated.

I just recently did this with a set of vintage Traxxas Cat gears - the difference in sound before and after the hot water treatment was considerable , and I am certain they would have shattered during use if I had not done it.

racer1812

iTrader: (31)

via Imgflip Meme Generator

emerilnut

iTrader: (2)

I always knew that the brittleness of a plastic part was due its moisture content with age, but I always wondered how to "remoisten" a dried out, old part. It's interesting to hear that a hot water bath will accomplish that.

rcmadkiwi

iTrader: (3)

When they re-released the original gold pan they made all of the parts to sell separate & you should find them at Amain Hobbies. I've got a factory team rc10 unused shelf queen with fluorescent green pan & nose which was released separate in limited number.

Milkdudd

iTrader: (13)

I built this in 1991. Ran it a few times including practicing at the Freedom Hill track where they had the 1991 World Championships. I painted a new body and it's been on the shelf since about 1992. The title of this thread caught my eye as there's no doubt I have yellow parts