16 replies to this topic

[robbovius]

Hi

 

I recently discovered that the track I used to frequent as a kid in the 60's (and early adulthood in the 70s) is, amazingly, still in operation (Modelville Hobby in Massachusetts) so I thought I'd break out my old car, overhaul it,  and have a go.

 

I can't for the life of me remember when I bought it, though it was defeinitely the late 70's at Modelville, I've looked at a few other pics hereabouts, and though maybe its a champion? I dunno.

 

anyway here it is, in all its 45 year old glory. the rear axle gear is ground away and doesn't engage the motor pinion, and the rear wheels are pressed on.

 

 

The body is a cut-down AMC Javelin of unknown manufacture, (painted by yours truly) with that groovy stapled-on clear nose spoiler. My friends named it, "The Buyers Protection Plan Special"

 

Thanks in advance

 

Robb

 

[TSR]

The chassis is an REH production job that they sold from the late 1970s all the way to the early 2000s when they ran out. Guide is Dynamic from the 1960s, motor a C-can mounted the wrong way... the body is indeed a M.A.C. Javelin that appears to have had a very tough life of its own.

 

[Pablo]

Pretty knarly.  Motor is in backwards and I like the way the left rear tire automatically trims it's own width by the pinion grinding away at it   

[robbovius]

Thanks for the replies! interesting about the motor being in backwards. I dont' recall I ever crashed it particularly hard, though I can't imagine it didn't wipe out into a wall here adn there. the rear gear is some fiber composite 

 

the body was originally on a chassis that looked just like this one: so, Classic industries. I can recall having several different bodies on the Classic, my favorite being a version of the Dodge "Little Red Wagon" dragster.

 

 

But I must have bought the REH chassis and suitable running gear and built it up with the Jav body. I don't recall really, though. what I do remember is setting up a 1/24th track in my attic bedroom at my parents house, and running the car at home, while it still was on the Classic chassis.

 

Anyway, I am assuming I can get parts to turn the thing into a runner again, tho from what I've been reading here, I should replace the ancient motor as the commutator may have dessicated too much for the heat gnerated by running and will burn out..is this accurate?

[TSR]

Unless the motor has been run to death, as long as the commutator is not completely deformed and the brushes worn out, it likely does not need anything to keep running a long time.
You will need new rear tires, likely 13/16" diameter for a 1/8" axle. Very easy to find from the Parma website.
The rest of it consists in cleaning the chassis and bearings, lubricating and trying to fit a body that does not look like it went through WW3...

[Tex]

I think the body is cool... very dirt trackish.

[robbovius]

kewl thanks again! surfing to parma in 3-2-...

[Bill from NH]

Robb, stop in at Modelville again & ask Rich Payne, the raceway owner, what 13/16" tires for 1/8" axles he carries. He's apt to stock several different brands. Parmas are good, but they're not to only 13/16" tire manufacturer by a long shot.

[slotcarone]

The rear tires are not pressed on--you just cant see the set screws under the rubber I believe. The motor is not really in backwards I think what Pablo means is the cutout for the axle is facing forward instead of the axle.

[Bill from NH]

The endbell is right side up. The can was placed on the endbell upside down. That's why the can's cutout for axle clearance faces forward rather than back toward the axle.

[robbovius]

Bill thanks I think I might go by there today. Mike, yeah I figured that out after I got home from work Thursday. took the car assist and forms the f set screws vision by the ratty old tires. the axle gear is a 30 tooth cobra, or so it says on the gear. been fun messing with ithe car again.

[Pablo]

If you are going to rebuild it, get rid of that Cobra spur gear and replace it with a Cox. The reason it is chewed up is because those Cobras did not mesh correctly with other normal 48 pitch gears. Been there done that got the Tshirt

 

If you really want to get that thing up and running well, consider having me do a complete refurb on it.  Send me a PM if interested. You can see some of my work here:

http://slotblog.net/...-pablos-builds/

There are several refurbs in there of old cars I brought back to life. You would be surprized at how well it runs when cleaned up and assembled with fresh parts as it was designed. 

 

Or if you want to do it yourself I'll be glad to advise you.

[robbovius]

Well, I took the car over to Modelville saturday afternoon, got a fresh pair of rear tires, a new rear axle gear (turns out the original was a 36 tooth, not 30, replaced with a 34),  new braids, and a general cleaning. ran really good, when it ran. had a problem with the motor coming ot of engagement with the rear axle, that turned out to be bad solder joints in two places on the motor mount, Rich  (Modelville proprietor) resoldered it for me, and also put a dab of solder between the motor can (which he fixed up so that the clearance slot is correctly oriented towards the axle ) and frame. bought 30 minutes and had a good time running and sorting it out. only one big crash when a rental (from a Bday party) slid accross my lane on the red track and I centerpunched it going full speed at the end of the straight. most likely what broke the motor mount. broke the guide flag too, but fixed that.

 

here it is on the big track...good times!

 

 

just as much fun as when I was 13 YO ;-)

 

Bought a Parma controller - that looks like Russkits I used to see kids using back in the day, though its got a big old resistor poking out the top. Anyway I can absolutely see myself heading over there once a week to bomb around the track for fun.

 

thanks to everyone for the advice and help!

 

PS, Pardon the partially unintelligible post from before, courtesy autospell on my Android phone. My typing stinks anyway, accuracy-wise, and the android swype autospell doesn't help, ever.

[Bill from NH]

Congratulations on having so much fun with your old cars Robb. Modelville is now quite a place.

[robbovius]

Bill, yeah it really was a lot of fun. Paul, thanks for the offer of help and advice. 

 

The were a couple factors in play that caused the original drive gear (outside of the engagemtn issue Paul mentioned) couldn't push the motor back into full engagement becaseu the of the can hitting the axle tube, and the white wire was pinched between the axle tube and can. I moved the wire to get it out of the way so the motor could back into the gear fully, but this put it so close to teh right side tire that it got draggedintothe tire several times, such that the insulation got ground off exposing the conductor. after that I stopped running and took it home to fix it.

 

I wound up replacing the wire entirely with one long enough to exit out the back and come up around the back of the axle tube. the original white wire appeared to have been shortened several times, it was just long enough to reach the flag and not impeded movement, but the conductor in the flag had torn so it needed to be shortened again soo...replace! 

[Gator Bob]

Cool old car Robb.

 

Oh .. and thanks for tormenting me/us with the long shot down a purple mile straight.          

 

Welcome back  

[robbovius]

Cool old car Robb.

 

Oh .. and thanks for tormenting me/us with the long shot down a purple mile straight.          

 

Welcome back  

Thanks Bob!

 

Its really a blast to drive, Lately I've been calling it the "Crazy Car" it can be a quite a handful, especially after the tires get slick from all the tire product on the Purple Mile. Its really fast, though it has almost no braking. I have to really work to get it under 10 sec on the Sovereign.  

 

after I resurrected it last year, I also bought a Parma Flexi 4 with a Deathstar 16D (its got a Porsche 917 body on it that I installed) thinking the new car woiuld be faster, and it is quicker around the track because it handles better and easier to drive, but in a dragrace down the straight and around the hi bank, the old Buyers Protection Plan Special KILLS the Deathstar Flexi on speed.  

 

over the past couple months I've gotten back into slots as much as I was when I was a teen, only now my fabrication skills are way better. ;-)