30 replies to this topic

[Steve Okeefe]

Mabuchi 15R Spotter's Guide

 

 

 

 

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Hey Steve,

I met the man that did the original dies for Mabuchi about 1983..... He got screwed as he had to hand the dies over to Mabuchi for production overseas.... back in 62 or so not many could make good deep drawn dies so they came to him....he assumed he was going to do the stampings. Ya know what they say...

 

He held patents on scuba regulators (deep drawn stampings as well) Thats how Mabuchi found him as he was the guy to go to many years. His son ran the business later and I have not seen them since about 1986 when I was looking to produce drawn cans for I-15..... till word of strap 15's got around in 1988.... And USRA made them legal in 1989.

[HarV Wallbanger III]

And if you guys that never got to see the 15R or take one apart.... I hear people complain about the arm stacks on the early 16D Mabuchi motors.... take a look at these and you will see where those came from.....

[Steve Okeefe]

HarV,

 

An interesting bit of history, and an object lesson.  Don't ever ASSume anything.

 

You wrote: I met the man that did the original dies for Mabuchi about 1983.....  In the interest of accuracy and for the record, is that date (1983) a typo?  Should it be 1963?

[HarV Wallbanger III]

HarV,

 

An interesting bit of history, and an object lesson.  Don't ever ASSume anything.

 

You wrote: I met the man that did the original dies for Mabuchi about 1983.....  In the interest of accuracy and for the record, is that date (1983) a typo?  Should it be 1963?

NO... I was only 11 years old in 1963...

I did not meet him till 1983-4? He had the cans in a display case when I walked into his office and I asked him what they were in there for..... along with the scuba regulators he had several patents on. This was why Mabuchi came to him because he was the guy in the field back then.

He did not write the contract up correct and did not think to add to the contract that he owned the dies and production was to be done by him. Mabuchi came after prototypes where finished and demanded the dies and the rest is history. They saw how he engineered the dies and after the 15R they used his ideas to produce the 16D cans. I showed him a Mabuchi 16D can when I was there. 

 

The above story was what he told me and I believe him.  

[Rusty Pinion]

Quick question...where does the Eldon  blue motors fit in...?  Or is that a different set of dawgs?

[Steve Okeefe]

Hugh,

 

There is only one set of Mabuchi 15R drawings.  If you know of an Eldon blue motor and it is a Mabuchi 15R, it would go here.

 

If you don't have a clear photo you can post or send, please look at the drawings and tell me if the Eldon blue motor configuration (can drive, EB drive, cooling vents, shaft length, etc.) matches any of the motors already shown (except for the color, of course).   If you find a match, it will be easy to create an additional motor drawing, in blue, and put it on the chart.  I'm guessing dark blue?

 

It is amazing how many different iterations of this motor there were!

[TSR]

I am pretty sure that the Eldon "blue" is shorter. One more thing on my list...

[Rusty Pinion]

I no longer have one but  the Dokk is right..I do believe they were shorter and dark blue with can drive.  If anyone had a pic please post it as I am just going off a memory here.

[Steve Okeefe]

Searching through my library of photos, I've found two of an blue Eldon motor:

 

 

 

Now that I see them, I realize why I didn't include them; I couldn't see how they are 15R motors.

 

I believe they are simply Mabuchi 15 (not 15R).

 

Anybody know what the the "R" stands for?

 

 

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Maybe R for race.....

Hey Steve are those as long of a can as the cooling hole can? They look short but it could be just the angle? I'll look and see what I have and see if I have any that are shorter than the 15R with cooling holes.

[HarV Wallbanger III]

I did measure the red can w/holes I have and it is 1.265" or 32.13mm.... After seeing your blue ones it just reminded me I had a blue can too .... I thought....

[TSR]

In Champion talk, "R" is for "reverse", meaning endbell-side drive VS can-side drive. But in the case of the Mabuchi type 15 motors, the endbell molding remains the same regardless of can length or drive side, with the "15R" engraved in the mold, so it means absolutely nothing...

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Hey Steve, here is a pic of a closed can long shaft 15/ 15R? motor I dug up for your info....

Attached Images

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[Steve Okeefe]

HarV,

 

That's a Strombecker long shaft 15R...

 

I don't see any vent holes on top; I wonder if that version of the 15R didn't have any?  I'll have to check my archives for other photos.

[don.siegel]

Hmm, I have two of these long shaft Mabuchis in cars, and one has the top vent holes, the other doesn't.... 

 

Don 

[Steve Okeefe]

Hmm, I have two of these long shaft Mabuchis in cars, and one has the top vent holes, the other doesn't.... 

 

Don 

 

Groan...

 

How many versions of the 15R are there??? 

 

Looks like it might be time to update the chart again...

 

Thanks HarV and Don!

[TSR]

The vent holes were a 1962 improvement. I think that after that all the Mabuchi 15R had the vents.

Here are pictures I took yesterday of the standard X10 (NOT called "Red Bomb") and of the metallic red BuzCo motor (supposedly the "Red Bomb") but i do not have a stock number at this time.

 

 

 

 

[Gator Bob]

Aristo-Craft # R-2A

 

 

[Steve Okeefe]

Thanks Bob, another update is in order...

[Gator Bob]

GIGO ....

These are a  RED  for sure.

[don.siegel]

Hi, 

 

Am putting this subject back on the front burners, because in the latest Model Car Racing, Robert Schleicher claims, in an article about the Strombecker Maserati 250F:

 

"... in 1961 the gray motor was replaced by a faster but nearly identical motor painted red that became known as the 'Red Bomb' (not for speed, but because they overheated quickly and melted the commutators to produce an unforgettable uric acid odor."

etc.  

 

Whoa, I said to myself, that's not the way it went - Strombecker never made a red 15R Red Bomb - that was BuzCo, but now I see what I thought was the Red Bomb is just the X10, even tho lots of us call it a Red Bomb. (and not to be confused with the original Strombecker red can, a shorter model that probably powered their first 1/32 cars in 1960...)

 

Looking through this site, I see it referred to as coming from Mini-Auto or even Kemtron, and Steve has a Strombecker Red Bomb listed... 

 

Does anybody have a Red Bomb in its original packaging, and who made it? 

 

Thanks, 

Don 

[SlotStox#53]

Haven't got one but can confirm seeing on epay a new in bag kemtron chassis with the red bomb motor. Or was it Buzco with that weird double sidewinder chassis with twin red bombs! ?

[don.siegel]

Just saw this listing on ebay, with a Kemtron 1702 sidewinder frame with the Mabuchi Red Bomb. 

 

http://www.ebay.com/...RgAAOSwwE5WWyn-

 

 

But that's the only reference to this name that I've found so far... I see earlier that Philippe referred to the metallic red can by Buzco maybe being called a Red Bomb, but that's still TBC! 

 

Any info, anybody? 

 

Don 

[dc-65x]

Hi Don,

 

My 3 packaged motors all are like the Buz Co X110's that PdL pictured above. I've read about the "red bomb" somewhere......