28 replies to this topic

[Lorenzo Bali]

Ciao a tutti!!
 
Here is a picture of the car, almost complete. Just the front wheels are missing. This is a 1/24 Mini Dream Can-Am. It arrived on the market at the end of '69 or beginning of '70 and it was the last production 1/24 racing slot car mede in Italy.  
 
The company was called Mini Dream Car and had its headquarter in Trezzano sul Naviglio, a small town south of Milan. It had been founded in 1966 and closed in 1993.
The Can-Am 1/24 and 1/32 were the last slot cars made by them and followed the Mini A, Mini B, and few others.    
 
The central part is made in aluminum, and is quite soft. The side pans were moulded in plastic. The car was very light and needed lot of weight, in particular in the front, to be stable out of the corners. The body is a copy of the original one.
 
The motor on the car is the first motor I am assembling for Vintage cars so... any suggestion will be much appreciated. I have used the famous (and original) Hong Kong can, new endbell with Champion bushing, a pair of quite strong magnets that came out from a "magic box" of a local guy, with back spacer to keep them closer to the armature, "half moon" copper plates (made by me), and Parma hardware with Big Foot brushes. The armature is... Mura Group 20  .  I had to work quite hard to place correctly all the hardware on the endbell and keep everything aligned but the final result is clean.  
 
After run in the baby turns 69,000 RPM with reasonably softer springs. I am sure it could do more with harder springs but I am worried to keep temperature under melting level. I will make some tests on the track to decide which set up to use.  And in any case... I am not so sure all that RPM will be needed.
 
Any questions, I will be happy to answer, if I am able.
 
Ciao
 

 

[TSR]

John,

The box of motors you got dates from 1973 and was produced until 1977. The appellation FT160D (instead of the older FT16D) was applied in 1973 to a new generation of Mabuchi motors, such as the FT270S (an improved FT26 with all new parts) and the ones you got. The FT160D uses a new case, the same magnets as the previous generation issued in 1967, and a new endbell with a larger bearing, better plastic, and the same old brush-holder hardware and springs.

While they are hardly collectible since outside the "Classic Era" favored by the collectors, they are better "victims" to rewind as their endbell fits better in the new case as well as the older ones (the older endbells were loose as a goose in their cans since introduced in 1963), and the magnets are vastly better than the ones used in the first generation.

[Steve Deiters]

Are my eyes deceiving me or are the "Hong Kong" Mabuchis fitted with 36D size brushes? 

[havlicek]

he box of motors you got dates from 1973 and was produced until 1977. The appellation FT160D (instead of the older FT16D) was applied in 1973 to a new generation of Mabuchi motors, such as the FT270S (an improved FT26 with all new parts) and the ones you got. The FT160D uses a new case, the same magnets as the previous generation issued in 1967, and a new endbell with a larger bearing, better plastic, and the same old brush-holder hardware and springs.

While they are hardly collectible since outside the "Classic Era" favored by the collectors, they are better "victims" to rewind as their endbell fits better in the new case as well as the older ones (the older endbells were loose as a goose in their cans since introduced in 1963), and the magnets are vastly better than the ones used in the first generation.

... as always, thanks for the information, Philippe!
 

Are my eyes deceiving me or are the "Hong Kong" Mabuchis fitted with 36D size brushes? 

 
That is a (nicely!) modified Champion endbell, Steve. The HK Mabuchis come with the small FDT16D sized brushes and pretty much the same endbell hardware.
 
-john