Upgrade to lipos

[Char]

At the risk of asking a stupid question..

I have an old Schumacher CAT 2000 EC that's been on the shelf for over 10 years. I've read quite a bit about new Lipo batteries and I was wondering if I could use them.

The car currently has an LRP ICS speed controller and a Reedy Modified Ultra Sonic S brushed Motor (12 double I think) - see picture.

The only cells I have for it are really old (10+ years) Sanyo N-SCRC 1.2v 1700mAh NiCads - arranged as a 7.2v saddle pack to fit the chassis. The charger I have is a Schumacher PC3 peak charger, again quite old. I haven't even tried charging them up to be honest as I've stripped the car to bits and I'm going to restore it.

I know I would have to buy a Lipo compatible charger and I may have to modify my chassis to make them fit, but would >these< batteries be suitable with my motor and speed controller or would I have to upgrade to a brushless motor and different ESC to go with the new Lipo batteries?

Cheers,
Andy