January 7th, 2013 
Kevin Last year was my first time ever wheeling a pan car. I picked up a dirt cheap Associated L3O roller. I didn’t spend much time tuning it or trying to learn it. I just pretty much drove it as it was set up for me and it was not something I had a lot of luck with. After the season ended, I sold it and almost vowed to never be a part of pan car life again. Fast forward about 10 months and I talked myself into getting back into the class (although, again, WAY late in the season). This time I was going to do it the right way.
After speaking with and meeting the guys from Pemberton Raceworks, it appeared they put together a very nice kit. I opted to go with them over some others because they were local and could offer valuable setup knowledge and expertise. It was also the new hotness. After building it and running it for the first time, I do not regret the decision.
The following is my build up of the Pemberton Raceworks SJ-10 Chief. Below is the description of the SJ-10 Chief from their website.
The SJ-10 Chief is our newest and best entry into the highly competitive 10th Oval car market. It builds on the success of the original SJ-10 and is designed from the ground up to be the best of the best!! An early released prototype of this car won the 2012 Snowbirds. The SJ-10 Chief is the next generation of that 2012 Snowbirds prototype.
At Pemberton RaceWorks, we learn from each design. We were searching all last year for a particular combination of handling characteristics, but we knew what we were looking for. We went through 5 different prototypes and took the best features from all of them to come up with the SJ-10 Chief.
With the SJ-10 Chief, we are putting forth the best of the best!!
- Improved roll center, offset and forward bite geometry
- Custom designed carbon fiber layup to maximize performance
- Optimized ESC and Battery placement
- Award winning POP front end standard with every kit
With all that said.. let’s get to work. The kit was shipped to me, so it did not have a fancy label on it like you might find on a hobby shop shelf. The kit is in the unmarked white box. I also picked up some World GT tires, pre-cut to 2.12 diameter @ CRC Raceway. I also picked up some of their awesome new 64p pinion gears.
This will be a Sportsman TOUR truck, so the rules state I must run the Protoform ORT body I picked up from Pro-Line.
For electronics I’m running the Viper VTX1 ESC and the VST 17.5 motor. I’m also running a Futaba 9650 servo and the SMC 4000mah 25c TOUR spec Lipo pack.
For this build we are also using the Kimbrough #123 Large Servo Saver. Also make sure you have shock oils (I used 30Wt) and Diff Lube for the build.
That SHOULD be everything you need to complete this build besides radio gear, etc. From my build experience, I would also pick up a long shank RPM ball cup, and a few 4-40 ball ends and nuts (will explain later).
Here is everything nicely ready for the build on my trusty CowRC work mat. I also picked up paint @ CRC.
Below is the contents of the SJ10 Chief kit. Everything is bagged for easy organization, and hardware for each part is in the same bag to make it easy. One thing you will notice in the kit is a lack of instructions. Hopefully this is where I come in, and can help you get through the build. There isn’t that much to this car, but it’s enough to be confusing if you are not familiar with the world of pan cars (like myself).
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[…] is my Pemberton Raceworks SJ-10 Chief I build almost specifically to race here. I sold the old roller I ran last year. It handled ok. I […]