8 replies to this topic

[don.siegel]

I recently received this car (Chappy 2F body) from a recent eBay purchase: it was obviously not the chassis that interested me, but the motor lurking in it: a CJ 16D rewind, from about 1967 - yet another rewind by a small cottage-industry company; no address that I've seen, but I would guess California! It's epoxied and dynamically balanced, and it says something about the commutator on the package, but can't make out what from the photo. No special magnets, and it winds up very nicely. The 26D in the article below has #28 wire and I would guess this 16D has #29. 

 

 

 

 

The only reason I had heard of this motor is because of a series of articles that Model Car & Science ran in 1967, reviewing the hot motors of the time, almost all 16D and 26D models. Here's the article with the CJ motor (a 26D this time), along with entries from Thorp, GE/Dynamic, and Versitec. 

 

 

 

 

Anybody know anything else about CJ? Seems there was one that came up for auction last year, but I don't think I've seen any in the original box... And if you have any little known rewinds, feel free to share! 

 

Don 

[havlicek]

Neat, Don! I never heard of them, but being a West Coast rewinder, that's not surprising.  

Interestingly, the article mentions "balancing" for the CJ, but refines that by saying "dynamic balancing" for the other motors, and (of course) "one of the best dynamic balancing jobs around" for the Thorp. I'd be surprised if this was just a slip-up, as the artticle seems well-written and copmprehensive. This makes me think the CJ might have been static-balanced.  

Cool find.

[don.siegel]

Glad you like it, John - you probably had a lot more predecessors than you imagined, winding by hand in the kitchen or the garage or a small workshop. 

 

The package for this does say "dynamically balanced," so I think it was as well - it may have been an editing oversight, or a cut for space! (Back when cut and paste really meant that literally!). 

 

Don 

[Bill from NH]

I had never heard of CJ before, but you got both a vintage motor and a vintage chassis.That chassis appears to have been roughly repaired, but it could be cleaned up, if you do that sort of work to your vintage slot cars. Otherwise, just leave it as you received it.

 

The small cottage-industry rewinder during this period here in New England would have been Howkill Motors on the Boston north shore. These were just a rewound arm in a stock setup (usually Classic) with blue and gold paint. They ran like smoke or else they let out their smoke. Occasionally, these still show up. They could be 16D, 26D, or 36D.

[Lone Wolf]

Nice, sold one to Scott brand new in the package a couple months back. 

 

Maybe he or PdL can post a pic. 

[don.siegel]

That must be the one I'm thinking of Joe - didn't remember it had the box. Yep, hope they post a picture. Ever seen another one of these? 

 

Bill, the Howkill motors seem to be relatively findable for a small manufacturer - I've seen a few over the years, and these are the only two CJs I remember seeing. This was also the last generation to just bascially use stock motors and rewind them - after that, the big guys jumped to better magnets, comms, etc. 

 

Something like "Tracker" would be along the lines of the CJ, Howkill, etc. - plain vanilla rewinds! And just by chance I've found three or four Tracker motors in various scratchbuilt cars over the years... 

 

I think I will resolder the chassis, however....

 

Don 

[havlicek]

Glad you like it, John - you probably had a lot more predecessors than you imagined, winding by hand in the kitchen or the garage or a small workshop. 

 
Well, I knew there were a lot, just not nearly as many as there apparently were, Don! Of course, there were also boatloads of "regular racers" doing rewinds, and who knows... some of those may have put stickers or some such thing on the motors. "Those were the days"!

[TSR]

"CJ (CJ Manufacturing)
This rewinder (location unknown) produced both FT16D and FT26 motors under the “SST” moniker, motors that appear to have stock winding but have wrapped and epoxied commutators and are dynamically balanced. The red painted motors were just some of the myriads available in the day. "

[don.siegel]

Thanks Philippe - but those aren't stock windings! And according to the article the 26D was wound with 28 wire... Like I said, these look like about 29. 

 

Don