59 replies to this topic

[Gil Aubin]

In the late 60's to early 70's Tom lived in Connecticut and was my ride to many a race. If I'm not mistaken he spelled his name Lindstedt. He would frustrate the dickens out of me because he would almost never race, only when he felt his car was perfect.

You guys have way more functioning brain cells than I do, but I seem to remember a Formula 1 / Indy Car race we attended together. Maybe at the old Glen Oaks? Those were the days when the fastest 18 (or was it 24?) after qualifying raced Pro, the top 24 amateurs raced, everyone else went home. Tom won the amateur race and since his qualifying time was fast enough he also ran in the pros and finished third.

Was that maybe the Car Model series? Cobra? Sorry but the synapses have moved on to many other things since then. I do remember Tom falling asleep at the wheel driving home from Nutley in the snow, executing a full 360 then pretending nothing happened. Ah, to be young and stupid again.....

[Gator Bob]

My first Pro motor. Bought in 1973 at Elmsford.
Can't remember exactly but I think it is a Rocket arm.
Sent out to Dan at ProSlot for recon. in 99 or 00. Comm is bad.. cut too deep to the point it can't be raced.

The later C can is NOS, one of two that I had left.

Gave the other one to Jairus no charge as he said he has been looking for years and years.

[Rick Davis]

To respond to another question, the armature winder at Dyna-Rewind was Ted Lech. He was an absolute genius as far as DC motors were concerned. He was, as Bud Stordhal, the Dyna-Rewind's owner, an engineer at General Motors.
Ted absconded in 1971, abandoning wife and children, and literally vanished along with a young blonde thing who was into substance abuse. No one knows of his or her whereabouts to this day. It is believed that they fled to Canada.
I have a full chapter about Dyna-Rewind with great pictures, ready to cook.
I thank Brad Blohm for his help on that particular chapter as he was able to get me in contact with Bud, now retired in Oregon. I had a fine interview with him last year as I visited MacMinville and its Evergreen aircraft museum, where Bud volunteers work.

Just stumbled across this thread today while waiting for a vendor to reply - seem to remember some of the local racers working part time in Ted's basement and I'm suspicious it was winding armatures , by the time I became friendly with Ted (shortly before the disappearance) pretty sure he was just buying Mura pre-wounds and balancing them himself. FYI I did end up with the Dyna Rewind Simco Magnetizer ( I still own it in a further modiifed state (lot's of big capacitors , a DC rectifier and a powerstat to load the caps to 200 volts)) along withthe Unimat SL with the WW spindle that Ted used to true coms (sold long ago)

[Horsepower]

Hi Rick! Not an argument here, just a thought. To me, it seems doubtful that Ted was buying pre-wound arms from Mura because Dyna-Rewind was big on selling their own high end armature rewind machines (I'd kill for an original!) in the slot mags. These were some nicely built, professional machines, but of course using manual power on the crank. Few racers could afford one back then. However, when it came to Mura, they sold to EVERYBODY they could (good business practice) so who knows for sure.

[TSR]

Bud was buying endbells and blanks from Mura but Ted was winding the arms to the end. Bud told me that there was a stack of unsold arms when he folded the business, They still had unwound blanks that Bud threw away.

[Horsepower]

Those would have made great Christmas gifts for John Havlicek!    Hey, by the way... Merry Christmas!!!  

[havlicek]

They still had unwound blanks that Bud threw away.

...sigh

 

 

-john

[TSR]

Just had those Rocket arms reconditioned by Mike Aguirre. They were NOS, but had light patina and copper corrosion from 41 years of sitting in someone's old slot car box in a humid basement... so they only needed the slightest of a lick on their comms and very minor re-balancing.

The three arms are wound on 1969-style Champion blanks with the red insulation coating.  Two are S25, one a S24. These must date from the partnership with Lindstedt because the later Rocket arms we have at the LASCM with only Dick Wittenauer's name use Mura blanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fourth arm is wound on a Mura stack, and is a S23 with unknown turns, likely 17 or 18. Not that tidy but probably another form of rocket! No idea who did it, but it is not a production Mura job.

 

 

[havlicek]

Gorgeous! (except for the 23)

 

-john

[zipper]

(necro) Isn't the Mura S23 a Mura Long John, el cheapo, looking machine wound, with a loooong stack. I remember they were used here by budget racers just because of the cheap price perhaps '71-'72, without bigger success. Probably have some still left - never raced with them.