153 replies to this topic

[Pablo]

Finished June 2013:

 

 

Here's how it all started:

Chassis is in very good condition. Is this a Riggen, or a REHCO, or ??

Looks to me like a simple matter of cleanup, and installing the correct parts.

A couple of things are obvious right off the bat:

1. The chassis is for an EB drive, not can.

2.  The pink wires, flag retainer, brass pinions, and front wheels must go.

3.  Rear width is 3 1/4 vice 3 1/8.

 

Any and all advice is appreciated, as always.  What would be a good arm for this motor, a G20 ?

What type body ?

 

Thanks,

 

Pablo

 

[John Streisguth]

Grp. 20 for sure, with the "NCC" tag.

 

I think I still have a nice unpainted  McLaren body.

[SlotStox#53]

Nice looking car Pablo

 

Champion chassis? My Dad had one lingering in his slotbox from when he finished racing in the UK and it was always mentioned as a Riggen chassis.

 

Have recently picked up 2x identical chassis to the one pictured and they were labeled as "Riggen"
 

 

As for the armature definitely an NCC20 tagged arm Also if you can find them from back in the day , original metal anglewinder gears by Taylormade, awesome gears with a smooth as silk mesh.

 

Paul.

[n.elmholt]

 

Picture from scratchbuilt.com

[Bill from NH]

I believe these chassis were made by AYK in Japan. Various US companies, such as Riggen. REHCO, & others, bought & resold them under their own private labels, both as complete race cars & as bare chassis. Ebay still seems to have a few bare chassis for sale with the REHCO American Line label. I don't recall Champion selling this chassis, but perhaps they did.

[SlotStox#53]

I believe these chassis were made by AYK in Japan. Various US companies, such as Riggen. REHCO, & others, bought & resold them under their own private labels, both as complete race cars & as bare chassis. Ebay still seems to have a few bare chassis for sale with the REHCO American Line label.

 

Just the other day I saw one of these in the RECHO/American Line packaging that also had the "Japan" paper label inside. Very nice chassis.

[Don Weaver]

Isn't "Champion of Chamblee" normally stamped on the drop arm of Champion chassis'?

Don Weaver

[Pablo]

Thanks for the correction, everybody.

Would a mod please change the title to "Plated Plumber Car refurb"  

Thanks.

[MSwiss]

You don't have mod rights in your own thread?

 

I would, but apparently with it being a new forum, Cheater forgot to add me.

 

BTW, the above chassis was what I ran in my only "big" race as teenager.

It was plenty adequate for a 14 yr. old. 

[TSR]

ALL Champion chassis are marked with the company's trademark on some part of the chassis except for one, made after the "Classic Era" and manufactured after the company changed hands in the late 1970s.

 

The chassis shown by Pablo is the most common and abundant of the survivors, as REH bought the remaining inventories from both Mura and Riggen that marketed it, and probably still have several hundreds of them.

It was, as most such chassis from the 1968 through 1972 period, manufactured in Japan by AYK Aoyagi.

 

It is not a "Group 20" chassis and was not eligible to be one, because the only NCC-legal Group 20 chassis were made for Champion by AYK and are marked as such. It was only eligible as a Group 22 chassis or used in the open class where it would not stand a chance in hell.

It sure is pretty and can be made to handle very decently.

The Mura motor in Pablo's car is a Group-12.

[macman]

I have one of those & it handles GREAT!!! Mine has a Pactra long shaft 16-d with a Tradeship endbell. Would the magnets be good enough for a modern super 16-d arm? Motor is soldered in for can drive. 

[Pablo]

Thanks Mike and Philippe.

 

Mike, I do have mod rights, but AFAIK no ability to change the thread names. Or maybe I do, but don't know how to do it

[Pablo]

The tires must have been cleaned before storage, as they are still nice and fresh.
A little bit of Mill's Love Lotion and a truing should work fine.
Anybody know what a good style front wheel would be ?

[Hworth08]

That's a good endbell for the period but the spring post are showing some melt under the brass. Usually the brush holders had shifted before the springs got that hot.

[Pablo]

I'll soon be digging into it and fixing all the problems.
I have not even tested the motor yet.

[MSwiss]

 
Anybody know what a good style front wheel would be ?

I either had black anodized Riggen, Associated or possibly Steube (slightly modified Associated) on my car in early 1970.

[Pablo]

Thanks Mike. I should have something close to that.

[Jens Scale Racing]

Pablo,

 

answer on your body question: any CanAm racer between 1968 and 1970 should be a nice choice. McLaren M8A/B or a nice Lola T 160...

 

Regards

Dieter

 

[TSR]

Here are two cars built years ago using this Riggen-AYK chassis, Cox "Shelby" magnesium wheels with silicone or foam tires:

 

 

 

 

The axles were Cox tapered jobs, the front cut in half and glued with cya inside the front axle tube, since no Cox axle was wide enough.

 

The motors were Hemi with EBD arms and Cox gears. Ran great!

[Pablo]

Very nice, Doktorr.

 

This, I believe to be a 1968-ish Porsche 908 or 907 Coupe; it fits the car well. (No, I did not paint it; it looks to have about four different shades on it  )

I also found a Jairus Watson painted interior to match.

 

 

[John Streisguth]

Very nicely color-coordinated there, Pablo...

[SlotStox#53]

Very nice colors on the shell Pablo Should look right at home over the shiny chassis , especially with the mentioned black riggen rims.

[Pablo]

Before disassembly, I thought it may be useful for some readers to understand the problems with an abused orphan like this.

Here is what I need to correct:

 

 

[Pablo]

Disassembly: this just gets worse and worse.

 

A washer was soldered under the tongue. Very ugly. The tongue angle is (very badly) angled down.

 

[TSR]

A washer was soldered under the tongue. Very ugly.

 

Why?