Vintage Restoration Project: Curtis Strawn 1990 SRP1

[Doug Carter]

Well guys, I'll let you in on my newest restoration project. It's a familiar car to me, as I have already finsihed an early one, but this one will be special. I had some lines in the water for a while trying to find a late-era SRP-1 like my original SRP-1 4wd. I had intentions of actually racing one, but when I found the mule for this project, my intentions changed.

I will be replicating the Curtis Strawn 1990 JG Dirt Oval Nationals Championship winning car. This car was the ultimate in state-of-the-art for that time, and was untouchable for more than a few years.

The best part, is that underneath the dirt and pain, is a really solid, clean base that will get a LOT of TLC and a lot of love. It's going to be fun turning this dirty bird into a swan.

Here's the debut of the base for the project, just as I received it:

http://www.apexspeed.com/doug/rc/srp-1_v2/srp1_v2_018.jpg

http://www.apexspeed.com/doug/rc/srp-1_v2/srp1_v2_002.jpg

http://www.apexspeed.com/doug/rc/srp-1_v2/srp1_v2_003.jpg

http://www.apexspeed.com/doug/rc/srp-1_v2/srp1_v2_005.jpg

http://www.apexspeed.com/doug/rc/srp-1_v2/srp1_v2_007.jpg

http://www.apexspeed.com/doug/rc/srp-1_v2/srp1_v2_010.jpg




The car is a Celcon-armed later model SRP-1 from Superior Racing, with the woven chassis (WAY ahead of it's time for 1990). It's been ridden hard and put away wet, but you can see from the photos, its all there, and it is in really good shape underneath everything.

Here's the plan:

http://www.apexspeed.com/doug/rc/srp-1_v2/srp_spread.jpg

An exact replica of the Strawn 1990 Nats winning car. I have the Premier body, NOS motor, the NOS Novak ESC and I have a line on the same Airtronics servo that was used there, and I'm on the hunt for another NER2x Novak receiver. Some of the decals may be a bit tougher to get than everything on the car. It may prove to be one of the most difficult parts of the replica restoration.

I'd still give my left nut for a box of NOS Sanyo SCEs or at least a few packs that were shrink wrapped so they are still new looking underneath.



This one is gonna be really fun. :D I'll keep this updated as the project develops, and show the process throughout the project.



There are some other ideas in the works, but this is the first one of 2007...

[Harris03]

Nice! I remember shipping more dirt. You must have already started cleaning. There should be Three layers as you dig down to the Graphite. A Sanborn, NY, gritty, sandy clay, 2nd A real nice redish, Dundee, NY clay and deepest you will find clay native to the Hamilton area of Ontario, Canada.

Had alot of fun with that Car, Cant wait to see it.

The Dominator Museum is short a piece (4 left) but I think Doug will take better care of it.

Doug If Dig around I think I have some SCEs around that arent too beat up.

[glgraphix]

Doug, I dont have any of the Yellow SCE's but I do have a lot of the old Sanyo Red 1400's that look brand new, no stickers or anything. They were in the stick pack Trinity Maxzilla packs, got them in a trade and really dont need them at all. If you would like some. Give me a shout. glgraphix@bellsouth.net

[outlaw4life]

I still have some of those old SCE batteries laying around with some of that old race stuff. Their were 3 of us that raced in the family, we ended up with quite a few cars over the years. We have 1 of those SRP-1 4wd cars that you hear people talking about every now and then. The 1 we ended up with has got the titanium a-arms on it. The car is still complete and in great working order. It spends a lot of time on the shelf with quite a few other cars that we no longer run.

[JohnBoy72]

I still have some of those old SCE batteries laying around with some of that old race stuff. Their were 3 of us that raced in the family, we ended up with quite a few cars over the years. We have 1 of those SRP-1 4wd cars that you hear people talking about every now and then. The 1 we ended up with has got the titanium a-arms on it. The car is still complete and in great working order. It spends a lot of time on the shelf with quite a few other cars that we no longer run.
Well don't just talk about it, lets see some pictures!