7 replies to this topic

[Slot Car Rod]

Monogram sold the Scarab as a slot car kit and also as a model kit.  Many people used the model kit as a slot car body, and many different chassis were used. 

 

I decided to modify a Revell chassis for use with the blue car.  Modifications to the Revell chassis include the installation of ball bearings, and a custom brass pan was added.  The car is very narrow, so the addition of the brass pan should help with the handling.  The hand-cut pan is 1/16" thick brass.

 

The 36D motor has a rewound armature installed.  The armature looks similar to an MPC or a Ram armature.  Rick told me what the brand is, but I forgot to write it down.  

 

Bevel gears are 3-to-1 ratio.  Rear tires are fresh Germans.  Dynamic guide.  Graham is driving the car.  Wheel inserts are the model wheels cut down.

 

 

 

 

 

Previous Scarab build is the white car.

 

 

[don.siegel]

Very neat Rod; do you still get any brakes at 3:1? If the arm is capped with some kind of black goop (epoxy or ??), it's probably an MPC Dyn-O-Can arm. 

 

Never saw that other Scarab of yours either, must be quite a handful with the Versitec motor. Did any of these rear-engine Scarabs actually run with the flared fenders? 

 

Don 

[Slot Car Rod]

Thanks Don.  The armature does have black epoxy.  Brakes are fine with the gear ratio.  The white car is fairly easy to drive.  The big crown gear helps. 

Here is a picture of one with flairs added.

 

[don.siegel]

Bingo, thanks Rod. 

 

Don 

[Slot Car Rod]

Thanks for identifying the armature Don.  I have asked Rick to share pictures and info on Torquemaster armatures.

 

This one is from the Ben Jones collection

 

Reissue model kit

[Martin]

I like the narrower windscreen on the white car, exposes the scoops on the rear fenders.Like the way you turned them into scoops.

Motor detail and rear wing look good too

[dc-65x]

Hi Rodney,
 
I forgot about this differences between the MPC and Torquemaster armatures when we were discussing this project. I keep thinking
they are the same....... ........... but they are not:
 

First I believe you guys are 100% "korrect" in that the arm in this picture is most likely an MPC:
 

 
 
You got my brain cells a stirring and here's what I believe happen over 15 years ago when I built my AW stocker:
 
I ran across a real boxed XL Torquemaster motor kit. I removed the arm and used one of my loose Ram end bells to build the motor for my AW stocker.
 
Years later I acquired a new MPC armature pictured above. Not having any other MPC motors or arms at the time I thought to myself, "Oh neat, another Torquemaster armature" and promptly put the MPC arm in the Torquemaster box to make the Torquemaster motor kit complete again.
 
 
Then.........I ran across another complete Torquemaster motor kit.........and here it is:
 

 
This baby differs from the stock MPC armature in several ways:
 
1. The epoxy is clear not black
2. Look at the WAY aggressive CW timing cranked into it
3. It is can drive not endbell drive
4. It reads only .2 to .3 ohms
5. It really hauls buns . It's way faster than my MPC Lancia Ferrari.
 
Maybe the Electronics Products Co. reworked MPC arms or bought their blanks from the same place as MPC...I don't know.

[don.siegel]

Thanks Rick, very educational as always! 

 

Yes, there's definitely a family ressemblance there, and they're both out of Detroit! 

 

MPC did a lot of different versions of their arms, including several hot versions for both the DynoCharger and the DynoCan - hmm, now that I mention it, are those arms the same? 

 

I stumbled into a very hot arm for my MPC Ramcharger, which made it into the finals of a proxy drag race some years ago - much faster than the other Dyn-O-Charger motors I've had. 

 

Don