Just wrong

I am not sure if you can read the number there but this wheel set has gone for ninety three dollars without shipping. NINETY THREE DOLLARS for a orange wheel set that hasn't been made in a decade. If anyone is reading this - and I think they aren't - break out the fricking mold and shoot a couple hundred parts. You will make some cash.

Update: Email to Yokomo USA.

Essence of the YZ

So I have thought a lot about the changes I want to make to the car but the follow up question is. "What don't I want to change?" or "What do I want to restore?"

Well, in looking at everything on the car, I think the essence of the YZ is the magnesium bulkheads (Front, Rear and Motor) as well as the belt drive system.

This was revolutionary at the time and if you look at the evolution of the YZ-10. The magnesium parts and belt system stay pretty much the same while chassis and suspension change around them.

Working with that. I will try and restore the drive train the best I can, then take some liberties with the other parts. I have some dreams of making a custom 870c chassis with Fibre-Lyte. But that is further down on the list.

As it stands now, I will need to redo the front of the car to properly restore. I think the original owner both didn't read directions very well and at some point trashed the front end. It sounds like the magnesium parts were prone to cracking so I am thinking the front got torn up and was replaced by a RPM front bulk head - fine but I like the original design better - especially if it doesn't crack. Plus I have the mangled front pulley to replace and a general overall drivetrain rebuld to do. The belt seems pretty good, although my tensioner never worked really well so I will have to look up the design intention in the manual and see if it still can work.

I think I will start pulling off parts this weekend. Photos to follow.

What to do....

I was trying to think about what I want to do with the YZ. As I mentioned before I am not really in it to restore it to stock. Heck, I didn't even get it stock. I have been thinking and I am coming to a plan.

First things first. Fix the stuff in the first post.

My first pass on the steering is that the servo saver side was just not tightened down enough. I am still going to pull it and rebuild it, but a few turns dropped the arm down far enough that the interference enough to clear the pulley. The pulley is wreaked and I will have to rebuild it. I need to find a new universal joint for the left side - I have a line on some, but more on that later.

As for wheels and rubber. I was looking (and bidding) on these - Link

2.2's, Full set of Yokomos, and orange. ideal but when I last left($33 + shipping), too expensive. Part of me still wants to jump in and get then, as orange is exactly the color I was looking for. Ugh.

I will need to do some more research on the conversion to 2.2 (non-yokomo) wheels for the YZ. There is a lot of info on RC10Talk, more research to do.

So that is all the starting stuff. Breakdown, clean and rebuild is the next. I would love to track down some aftermarket (Andy's, RPM or other) arms. I wanted them when I was running the car so I want some now. If I can find some, that aren't as expensive as the orange wheels, is another matter.

From there I would like to get to this.
It's the '91 worlds car, but it has a lot of the stuff I thought would make the YZ better. Better suspension, refined chassis w/o the silly stiffener (that drives me crazy). I am not sure how I will get there but it is an inspiration. Even before I get to this, I have my work cut out for me.

More pictures soon.

Links:

• Masami Hirosaka - Yokomo driver extraordinaire
  

Steering Interference

Above shows the steering interference I was talking about. As you can see there has been a toll taken on the from pulley. Frankly, I am surprised I didn't screw it up more when I was running it. I need to look in the manual to see about how this set up is different.

Speaking of manual, after a few false starts and the realization that just saying "YZ-10" doesn't mean this particular model - 870c (I am pretty sure) I have found the manual online - here. I think I will have a night of saving and printing to have a copy of my own. Also there is a parts list in the scan section of RC10Talk - Link.

In reading online it is pretty easy to get ahead of myself and try and speed this all up. I have to realize the process is the point and the fun. It shouldn't be instantly over. So I need to take the manual and the parts list, sit down with the roller and see what I have......Then clean everything up........And then see what I have.......Then make some changes - u-joints, shocks, etc.

Links of interest

• Tub Lust - where can I get one of these? Speaking of getting ahead of myself.
  

Dusting Off

Alright, now I am beginning to realize why I put this up in the first place. The rebuild/ reviving of this may take some time, but it should be fun and there seems to be good groups/ resources on the inter-web to help make it happen.

Issues of note out the gate:

• Bent Front Left Universal Shaft - this is the real reason I put it up as it would blow front bearings in very short order. I assume I will need to find some new front bearings as well.
• Steering Interference - The steering linkage interferes with the front drive pulley, so much so that there are several chips taken out of the pulley. Still looks workable but I am not sure how to set things up to prevent interference. Hopefully, it wasn't design that way.
• Bumper Screw - Long ago cross threaded.
• Tires - Shot, need to find new ones? Are they still out there?

There are other questions as well but I am sure to get the them eventually.

Other things of note. The car was bought second hand and it looks like the original owner did some upgrades. The front hubs (I need to get a parts list to refer to stuff correctly) are plastic and are from Andy's (I still have the original mag ones - which might go back on). There is an RPM front bulkhead - not sure how that is an upgrade. I will keep looking to see if there is anything else.

The old set up was a Novak T5 with standard NiCads and a Futuba reciver. The Twister motor is the only one I ever drove. Worked fine but it seems from looking around we have entered the world of Brushless - another thing to looks into.

For anyone following at home, this is not meant to be a restore in the sense of getting it back to stock. The first set is to getting it running, make some of the upgrade I have wanted to do since I shelved it and see where we are from there. Also I am not much of a blogger but I will try and post something weekly to keep any followers up to date.

Wish me luck.

Edit:
In and effort to link to all the great resource -both people and information I will start tacking on some links at the end of my postings.

• RC10Talk First Posting - Be sure to check out Mr. Ed's project car nice and a good direction for my YZ.
• For rebiuld/ restore inspiration - check out it. Way to go Lennard.