3573 replies to this topic

[havlicek]

I just finished up a pair of early Muras...one endbell drive and one can drive These had those oddball 26D sized arms in a 16D sized can. They came in need of some TLC and both arms were pretty gone. One had nicks across the bottom of the coils...maybe a screw hit them? The other had discolored and loose wire...so both were to be rewound. One was also missing the endbell hardware.




I decided to pretty them up some, even though the Blogger who sent them said it wasn't necessary...I couldn't help myself here they are on the way and already look better.


After I got the arms wound, I found that one had a bent shaft. Oh well...it looked nice anyway



I wound a new arm for the one with the bent shaft, but used a Mabuchi 16D blank with a Mura com. This meant replacing the magnets to correct the airgap. The stock magnets were very weak and of a "rubbery" feeling material...the replacements are better. I also had to use Tradeship endbell hardware since I couldn't find any of the early Mura stuff around here, and added a set of spring post protectors. They're a pretty close match visually and functionally anyway, especially when mounted on the existing Mura endbell. All in all, they both run well...easily as good or better than the very mild stock arms...and I think they look pretty snazzy.


-john

[Alchemist]

You'd never know they were the same motors!! Gorgeous gems as usual John!!

Ernie

[havlicek]

Thanks Ernie

The motor historians can fill in the blanks better than I, but I think these are the first generation Muras where they actually sourced all their own parts. Sort of Mura's way of telling the industry...'this is how motors should be done". They were a real sea-change from the Mabuchi-based stuff in about every way. Still "can" type motors, but with about every part improved...and of course Mura kept on improving things. Still these motors should be very familiar looking to anyone who ran Mura stuff for years to come. Change the dimensions of the can and endbell a little, go to endbell hardware based on formed brass "hoods" and integral post sleeves and it's only a short hop skip and a jump to the "Green Can".

-john

[Victor Poulin]

Nice job John !!

[boxerdog]

I hope this isn't a hijack, but here is one of those early Mura 16d size motors in a Riggen RTR with a few mods to stiffen up a very weak motor box:

[boxerdog]

and here is the same RTR only the 36d anglewinder version....they must have made millions of these things. This is a before and after, a little on the crude side but I got better with time.

[Alchemist]

Cook pix David! What year were those chassis made please? Are they 1/24 or 1/32 scale please? I've never seen chassis like these.

Also, what manufacturer brand of motor is the one pictured on the left that looks like it has no cooling vent please?

Thank you.

Ernie

[havlicek]

I hope this isn't a hijack

As far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as a "hijack" in this thread...not that it's "my" thread in any case! I love all this old motor stuff, but still feel things "peaked" with the Green Can and the big wire arms. Next to those, the later Champions are pretty lust-worthy as well I gotta go take a cold shower now

-john

[boxerdog]

Ernie, I am not sure when they were made, I would guess some time in the latter half of the 60s?? The historians will know better than I. Riggen used that same brass womp chassis design with variations for 16d, 26d and 36d anglewinders, and 26d inline versions. When we were racing them, I preferred the 26d versions because they were fast. One of the 36d variations (Cox nascar??) had an early version with only one vent hole, and I have found them in many of the Riggen RTRs. I usually disabled the drop arm and plopped a bunch of lead on the nose.

[boxerdog]

I'm sorry, they are 1/24 also but they made 1/32 cars as well.

[Alchemist]

Thanks just the same David. I appreciate the additional info too!

Oh - by the way, "Welcome" to Slotblog!!

I presume you race at the "TNT" track? I hope to get out there sometime in the near future.

Ernie

[Victor Poulin]

Dave,
Did you rebuild that Mura motor?


Vic

[don.siegel]

I'm not at home to check my catalogs, but these were introduced in about 1969, and as you say were available in 16D, 26D and 36D versions. There was also a slightly earlier inline chassis with the 26D, but the same basic brass slab with a drop arm. Bodies were the minimally detailed handling types of the time, although with a couple fascinating choices...

That motor on the left is the Cox Super Nascar, and is considered fairly rare and desirable. The regular Nascar is the one with the two oval cooling holes. Both pretty good motors, altho probably outdated by the time they came out. The Nascars had better magnets than the standard Mabuchi models so should make a good rewind candidate!

Don

[havlicek]

Thanks for the info Don. The Cox motors did have better magnets than the Mabuchis as you said. The ones I've played with weren't up to the Arcos though, but maybe they were "past their prime" The Champion/Arco 36D motor (even with the stock/original FT36D hardware) can still make a really fun and torque-y motor!

-john

[boxerdog]

Ernie, thanks for the welcome and I'm happy that Don got me off the hook with the info....John is right, the nascar motors do run a little better than the basic 36d motors, but the Arcos make a lot of difference and are fairly available these days. I was fortunate enough to run some VMRA vintage races a few years back and learned a lot from those guys about making this stuff raceable. Personally, I go back to the Pittman era and have started and stopped many times over the years. The TnT track is close to home and a great facility. John's 36d (I think it is a 30 dbl) was just overpowering on the Korkscrew compared to the nascar/rewind motor, I need to drop the gear. If I can contribute to this thread at all, I will!

[boxerdog]

..and Vic, yes I rebuilt that Mura, but I am not an arm winder like John....I know my limitations!

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

When we voted in the new "NCC"rules that lead to USRA as the national rules: there were only a few classes:
1)Group 12, production frame with motors with no balencing(the conventional wisdom then was that hotter than 65/30 wouldn't survive without balence). With a maximum retail of 12.95

2)Group 15, one hinge scratch or production frame and spec Group 15 motor.

3)group 20, spec motor and spec production chassis reail 20 bucks

4)group 7.

The above chassis were marketed in early 69 as "NCC Group 12" cars from Riggen. Lots of them survive because the "pick of the litter" in Group 12 was the dynamic anglewinder with a 16d and they didn't get raced that much.

Fate

[havlicek]

I finished three JK Hawks for my buddy Ernie:



Two are #27 winds (one on a Bill Bugenis stack and com) and one is a #28. They all run really nicely and of the two #27 winds, the one with the Bugenis arm and com seems to have an edge. I wonder if it could have something to do with the larger com diameter because those large brushes seem huge with the stock com. Anyway, they all run very nicely and I even tried (and was successful) welding one of the stock coms ...the one on the other 27. I wasn't sure I could weld it without blasting right through the com metal, but had no problem. I still really like these little motors, there's an awful lot of bang-for-the-buck here.

Next project is something I've wanted to do for a while and have whittled away at it whenever I had some time. This one is another in my "Walnut" series of cut down mini motors. On this one, I'm using a different endbell of unknown origin. I've gotten some in the past from people and think they may be from some sort of very small RC motor or something. Anyway, Mura hardware can be adapted to this endbell without too much trouble and it's a direct fit for the S7 can without having to whittle it down. It seems to be nicely made and of a good type plastic, plus the design has good provision for airflow/cooling at the com:



It's all still rough around the edges, as I'm feeling my way through this build a little at a time. I will have to repaint it and smooth out things a little, but it's coming together nicely. The bigger difference with this one is what's onj the inside. The arm is only .470" diameter (don't ask me how I got it down that far...it's all very "black-ops"/hush hush/"need-to-know") and is wound with #26 wire. The magnets are the S7 neos and they're shimmed way-in for a super tight air-gap. So far, it all has gone pretty smoothly and there are just a few more things to go over to get it to the spin-up stage.



-john

[Alchemist]

Wow! Triplets John!!!!! What gemstones!

Thank you very much. Cant' wait - cant' wait!!!!!

Ernie

[Kim Lander]

John,
I recieved my package yesterday (Saturday) and was very suprized, many thanks my friend, I`m gonna have soooo much fun , damn those are some kinda good magnets. Will let you know what goes with them. Oh and by the way, the other day you told me I wasnt out of the woods yet, that I could get a Tornado, ....well thats just what we have had all weekend down here in middle Georgia. Luckily it has been all around me and no damage to speak of here in Macon, a little south of us in Byron Ga.but not much, all we had here was rain and some hail almost the size of a golf ball. Oh well , thats mother nature. Thanks again, will talk later.
Kim

[havlicek]

Hi Kim,

Sorry about the tornado thing, we've slipped back into winter temps around here for the last couple of weeks after a short taste of spring. I've been framing with gloves on again and my hands are so cracked and sore it hurts to stick them in my pockets. no...really! Anyway, I'm glad the package got there safely...enjoy!

-john

[havlicek]

One for my buddy Pablo. He wanted a Parma 16D rewound and timed as near stock as I could...but to run "backwards" (CW as viewed from the end bell). I had to cut off the stock coils, so I never was able to count what was on the stock loooooooong stack. I took a wild guess and did 65T/#30 awg, tied/epoxied/balanced it ...did a com cut and it's a strong and smooth runner that barely gets warm. I also did some cleaning up of the can after removing the "seal", to get rid of solder and gunk on there. The only other mod I did was to remove the stock spring posts and drill-out and install a pair of Mura posts so I could install better springs (Camen). Oh yeah...I re-used the brushes



-john

[Kim Lander]

Hey there John,
That is going to one fine 16-D for Pablo, wonder what he is going to put it in????? By the way, the gold colored 36-D in the last goody pack I sent...did you ever decide what make it was, it was in a real ols brass tube chassis, and had the old green com as I`m sure you saw, anyways, was just wondering what it was, felt likemit had some fair stock mags for you in it, was very pleased at how easy the wire stripped off , I wanted to send you a clean one for once...LOL...it had a wire slung on it when I got it.Well hope your snow I sent you after the nasty stuff came through here is gone...have a good weekend whats left . Tell Pablo to let us see what he installs the 16-D in.

Kim

[havlicek]

Hi Kim,

I really didn't take it apart and just filed it with my 36D stuff. I like that best anyway because when I go looking for motor parts for a project, I get those "surprise" moments when I discover cool stuff like that and can put them in a project

Well hope your snow I sent you after the nasty stuff came through here is gone

We did have mixed snow and rain this past Thursday and Friday, so please don't send any more this way...or I might just divert another tornado down your way to return the favor Everyone here is sooooo over winter, this one was a bad one!

Take care Kim, john

[Marty N]

Love the post modifications John. 5 turns short for a 16D though.