211 replies to this topic

[racie35]

My brother did jairus...I think he shelved it for a parma or something...I'm gonna check mine and figure spacing before adding ca glue to it and trying that

[racie35]

Man does this thing twist easy--i gotta figure a way to add a few strategic braces

[TuscoTodd]

racie35 - I found my chassis stiffened up noticably with the addition of the hoop between the motor mount and axle uprights in the rear, followed by the mounting of the body to the center section of the frame.  The front still has the ability to twist more than I think it should, but the jury is still out on whether that is necessarily a bad thing in regard to handling?

Looking forward to seeing pictures of your build! 

[Marty N]

Where does one find a stock replacement motor for this kit?

[Jairus]

Martin, you have to buy another kit. 
Why do you need another motor?  I have one I can give you if need be.

[racie35]

I added a jail door kinda style thingy to the rear and oilites...then up front a tongue bar to move the guide...I'll try to add pics soon...its stiffened up alot

[Marty N]

 

Martin, you have to buy another kit. 
Why do you need another motor?  I have one I can give you if need be.

  

Martin, you have to buy another kit. 
Why do you need another motor?  I have one I can give you if need be.

Nah, don't need one just looking down the road Jairus, but thanks anyway.

[racie35]

Trying to add pics..test

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[racie35]

One more

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[racie35]

Moved the guide too.....last post for me till 9.15 pm.....guess I used up my new guy posts!

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[TuscoTodd]

Like the mods! 

Thank for sharing the construction shots - look forward to hearing what other mods you make and how it handles/runs!

[TuscoTodd]

A quick update on the effects different tires on lap times with the 442...

 

I had a chance to try out three different types of tires on the Olds this last week. As noted previously, I assembled the kit using 5-40 threaded axles to so I could utilize the older wheels with inserts I had on hand.  Based on this, the tires tested below were all "new old stock" vintage tires.

(I still have the factory tires mounted on vintage threaded rims and a set aftermarket urethane extra soft tires to try that I didn't have time to get to this week)

 

The tires tested/shown are:

Dynamic - Gray sponge

Mila Miglia - "soft" sponge rubber

Strombecker - rubber tires (these were the units originally used to test the car)

Champion - Orange sponge (shown in the second picture installed on the car)

 

 

 

As noted, the previous best lap with the Strombecker tires was 10.88.  Here are the performance notes for the others:

 

Dynamic - gray sponge:  These tires were fairly "firm" and while they did perform better than the Strombecker tires, the handling was still extremely "loose".  The best time was 10.22 with an average right around 10.34

 

Mila Miglia - "Soft" sponge rubber:  These tires would most likely be a very good fit for a rougher track surface - but did struggle with putting the power down on the painted surface, even through they were notable wider than the Strombecker tires.  The handling was extremely predictable however, and was improved over the much narrower Dynamic tires above.  Handling was still notably "loose" though, with spin out deslots being the results of pushing the car too hard.  The best time was improved to 9.96 with the average running 10.05.

 

Champion - orange sponge:  These tires offered the best lap times of the three tried, however were less predictable than the the Mila Miglia or Strombecker tires.  Handling was much tighter, with deslotting typically being tied to tipping/rolling verses tail/spin out.  Lap times improved to a best of 8.77 best with an average of 8.89. 

 

Will be interesting to see if I can improve on this further prior to exploring running smaller OD tires (to lower the center of gravity) and or adding weight. 

 

Happy building guys!

 

 

 

 

[Tex]

You say they are old tires.... have you "trued off" the outside layer, to expose fresh rubber underneath?

[TuscoTodd]

Tex,

Thank you for the thought, I did true the tires before testing. 

I didn't have to remove much material (.030" to .050") from any of the sets as they were all fairly true to start - so I did the rough down using 240 grit wet/dry mounted on a steel backer followed by a finish on 360 grit also on a steel backer, leaving a nice smooth finish.

None of the tires were hard / dry coming out of the package, and they felt pretty good after truing.  (but maybe further cutting would be of benefit?)

I think part of my traction issues may be related to the track surface that I am using for testing?  It is a flat track with an epoxy painted surface that has a minor orange peel texture and no glue.

 

 

(for reference - a picture of the track is here:  http://slotblog.net/...l-world-canton/ - it is the second track down in the post)

[Mopower71]

Saw the 57 chevy and the nova in hobby lobby a couple weeks ago. went back beginning of this week to check them out and they were gone. but i found them in the clearance rack. over half off the original price . have not taken them outof the trunk of the car to look them over. did they ever up date the original kit?

[Jairus]

Of course they updated them!
Read my post a few pages back to get the details.... but basically the new kits feature better tires, wheels and a crown gear that is marginally better.
 

[Mopower71]

Thanks Jairus . wasn't sure if they had done just the newer kits and not the original release ones. or if they had done them all.

[Champion 507]

Any idea when they will release the 1966 Mustang? Since my first slot car in late 1964 was an AMT 1965 Mustang coupe, I'm holding out for the 66.

[n.elmholt]

Just received the '62 Catalina

loves the box

loves the body

rest is really crap, the alu wheels, sprocket and axles don't even have the same diameter ...

sorry, Niels , DK

[TuscoTodd]

I just got an announcement from Tower Hobbies:

"...the following item can no longer be purchased from Tower Hobbies, therefore it has been removed from your Wish List:

AMT 1/25 '80 Chevy Monte Carlo Slot Car Race Kit "

 

I went to their site and all of the new releases have been dropped from their listings...  Does anyone know what the status of the delayed releases is? 

(I am hoping that Tower just dropped them and that they are still coming - but have a bad feeling)

[Jairus]

I've heard no news that the kits have been discontinued. Plus they are are still available on the Round 2 web site as well as Amazon.com. 

Most of my other model kit sources on-line still list the kits as well.

 

But that doesn't mean they won't eventually run out.

All the model car kit companies produce a set run of something. They probably only made 6000 of the slot car kits total. Probably less.

 

If they all sold then great! But they rarely produce a second run unless the kits sell very quickly and demand still seems high.
 

Tower Hobbies is huge. They probably ran out of the kits, felt they were selling poorly for them and dropped it from their line. No big deal.

 

But AMT is not like Parma and there are no sanctioned races for these kits. So... demand will probably dictate they go away eventually. Or... AMT re-tools with improvements for a 3rd run.

I have heard nothing from John since the last cars were released.

[TuscoTodd]

Jairus -

Thank you for the quick reply!  The kit that they sent me the notice on was one of the ones that is supposed to be part of the "third release" that was anticipated initially for the beginning of 2013? 

The dates of "availability" on Tower's web site for those next four kits kept moving out every couple months throughout the course of 2013 with the last update on Tower's site showing that they were "on order".  I had signed up for notification as soon as the kits were available and have been checking regularly as to to when they might be available - which is why I was concerned when all of the sudden I received the "no longer can be purchased" email from them about the cars from the upcoming third release.  (and when I went to the site - the third release listings, that previously showed with "proposed availability dates" have been completely dropped) 

 

In conjunction with this, I am not sure if I am looking in the wrong spot or ? - but I can not find anything about when/if the third release cars will be available on the Round 2 web site?  In fact, I can't even find a tab/page that shows the pending "third release" offerings on their site (if you have a link - could you share it?)  Now don't get me wrong, I can find things about the upcoming releases on things like the Baldwin Camaro model kit, etc. - so I am not completely missing the mark with my searches, and that also makes me thing that it isn't an issue with them making it a habit of "not showing" the upcoming / soon to be available items?

 

Again, I sincerely hope that they have not given up on these as a number of guys at the local track were looking forward to the third release cars. 

If they are just delaying them to potentially revert back to the chassis design they used in the 60's - that would be GREAT news and I would love to share that with my fellow racers as I think that has been the only real stumbling block holding back the sales of these cars.  (some of us don't care about that and have "fixed" the issues with the offered chassis as have been documented here - or, like some at my track, they have shelved the included chassis and gone with an aftermarket chassis, etc)

 

If you hear anything in regard to the third release car, I know I (and I am sure others) would really appreciate it if you could pass it along to us. 

 

Thanks again.

[Samiam]

They should just release the bodies, since they are the only nice part of this kit.

[Paul Jurczyszyn]

I agree. I just used the body.
And to pay $20 for upgrade is steep.

[Guy Spaulding]

Well, I feel sorry for the folks at AMT for their valiant endeavors.

 

Clearly, the cars didn't sell as well as they needed to sell.

 

I just picked up 4 different models from Ollie's Bargain Outlet for $14.99 a piece.  They tell me they're expecting shipment of more models and toys soon, with Christmas coming, and there may be more AMT cars included.