17 replies to this topic

[Phil Smith]

I made fray style cars for my grand kids out of some Johnny Lightning cars I have. As maligned as JL stuff is, it was easier to get 4 decent JL cars than it was 4 decent Aurora cars. It still took me over a day, but at least I was able to do it. I still don't have 4 good Aurora cars.

 

I have some JW .225" wheels and .360" slip on tires that work well, but I need more. I got the JW stuff I have over 15 years ago. Maybe 20. I see JW has a website. I look on ebay and I don't find any of their stuff, which makes me wonder if they're still in business.

 

Any brand will work. I just need that size. Any suggestions as to where I can get this stuff?

 

I also need bodies. Dash has some that would work well. Has anyone ever ordered from them?

[mdiv]

Phil,

 

Call Joe at NJ Nostalgia Hobby, he sells super tires that might fit (?).

 

What type of bodies are you looking for?  Bunch of resins out there, and if you look at eBay you can find tons off stuff, Model Motoring is good, I've gotten several of their mustangs.  MEV is good, albeit a bit expensive (they have some that are around $18 and some that are $54).  Also look on ncp hobbies, they have some cool stuff too.

 

Mike D

[Revtor]

Dash stuff is all great quality. Cant go wrong. They dont have any true fray bodies, but the mclaren is nice and racy and all the colors!!!

For slip ons try https://www.flrproducts.com/
-Good parts, the guys are always tweaking and they actually race what they sell.

Regular super tires (Orange, etc) do not work as well as slip on silicones, their new super soft greys are the better choice Id say if you want to go with supertire brand.

True fray cars run silicone coated foam but theyre $$$ and dont last as long.

Steve

[SpeedyNH]

or email Nick and Sandy at supertires and tell 'em what cars you have. all my HO's have 'em, except for sizes that they don't make yet and some crazy dirt track cars that run ugly Bud's (probably NLA). 

 

Gee, i like the custom pink ones they made for me! a little softer than the blacks. haven't tried the new greys, which are probably the best for the non-high-magnet cars. 

[Phil Smith]

Thanks gentlemen! I ended ordering from Dash a couple of days ago. Dan is quite a nice guy.

 

Mike, I just looked at the MEV. Very nice, and like you said, pricey. I'm really wanting wide Fray style bodies.

 

Revtor, I ended up ordering McLaren bodies from Dash. Perfect for what I want to do.

 

Speedy, I ordered some Dash tires. I'm not sure they'll work, but they were cheap enough I thought I'd give them a try.

 

I'll try some of the tires you guys mentioned if the Dash tires don't work out.

[Phil Smith]

After changing the shoes to standard T-Jet copper shoes and tweaking them, I got the JL cars working pretty dang good. Their biggest shortcoming is their gears, which are crap. One accidentally has a good set of gears that mesh well and are really quiet. It's ballistic. I don't know what the arms meter but it must be fairly low, as it runs considerably faster than any Aurora Fray car I've ever run.

[SpeedyNH]

yeah, i've found JL to have poor gears sometimes as well, along with some other things.  pretty good speed for a pancake though. sometime you gotta get a bunch and mix and match. aftermarket parts exist if you need them, as do some really excellent tools. 

cheap tires? well, if they go around to your satisfaction and and all the cars have the same, it probably doesn't matter. if you can run side by side, you're there. 

[Phil Smith]

My experience is most of the gears are crap.

 

Fray cars ready for action when I have my grand kids tomorrow. Only had 2 yellow and one orange Fray type bodies, so colored tape will have to do until the Dash bodies arrive.

 

The one with red tape is the fast one. The gears are almost silent. I wish they were all like that.

 

[mdiv]

Cool stuff, Phil!  The Corona Virus ruined this year's HO season at NJ Hobby, but I've really been enjoying racing with the HO Slot Car Nerds, few tracks in guy's houses that are close by.  You may have seen the layouts and race formats we run on other posts of mine.  It is really chill and fun.

 

Mostly T-Jets, but we do have a portable "almost-scale" drag strip that we run a few heats on.  Another 4 or 5 ft and we'd be scale 1/4 mile.  Definitely longer than scale 1/8th mile.

 

If anyone reading is in the area and wants to check it out, feel free.  We're racing at Ernie's garage July 10th.  We're kinda on hiatus with club "membership" but I'll leave that up to the individual and the club elders.

 

Keep it going Phil!  Have a blast with the grandkids! 

Mike

[Revtor]

Yeah Phil, I hope you have a blast! J
Ls are definitely hit and miss in terms of fit and finish. I have a couple and yes they all vary in terms of quality and speed. I do think the overall gear ratio on the JLs is different than the dash and the Aurora so youre gonna have a little more top end with the JLs in general.... If you dont get a dog out of the box.

Have fun with the dash tires great value and quality, but when you move to true slip ons youll see a world of performance difference.

[Phil Smith]

Thanks guys!

 

This was much better than the race we had last week with small tire Aurora cars, which entailed me pushing the cars a lot because they weren't getting good contact. I only had to do that a few times with the JL Fray cars.

 

It was fun. I didn't race. I ran the race, re-positioned the cars after each heat (IROC) and marshaled. The JL cars ran well. We only ran 3 races throughout the day, the last one right before I took them home. And by the last race they were getting pretty good at driving, and much more into it.

 

I think this is something the kids will want to do for a long time. I have cars to eventually run 4 or 5 different classes, including Tyco 440x2 trains. That should keep it interesting.

[mdiv]

Very cool, Phil!

 

Is it a local raceway or basement type racing?

 

I can't wait for next week, and I cannot wait for the shows to start up!  I'm on the lookout for a Blue Mustang Hardtop #1372 for my collection, I'm sure it will leave me walking around with "Hoover Flags" if ya'll remember what those are...LOL!  I love looking for good deals, too!

 

During this whole Corona Virus lockdown I'm kicking myself for not cleaning out my Father's old office and putting a small track in there with all the free time I had with reduced workload.  Ah well..."some day...."

 

Keep on enjoying, Phil!  And just FYI Wizzard Storm cars are a hoot, and at $40 for RTR and FAST box stock they are a deal!

Mike

[Phil Smith]

Mike, I'm "dining room" racing. It's the type of track you can have when the type of wife you have is an ex-wife.

 

I'm a hoarder, and have hoarded many different things in my life. Luckily I don't suffer from separation anxiety , and usually sell off my old obsession to pay for my new obsession.

 

I bought literally hundreds of HO cars in early 2K. Mostly 440x2 NASCAR, and JL T-jet and X-traction cars. I sold most of them the last 2 years to finance my latest hording disorder infatuation, vintage  1/24th drag cars, but I still have a lot. I got tired of listing them on eBay.

 

Cars I have ready to race.

 

Aurora T-jet small tire. Brass wheels with narrow silicone tires. This is what I started with and have had lots of trouble with. I think I know how to fix them now.

 

JL Fray cars. Working great.

 

Tyco 440x2 NASCAR. I still have a lot of them. Saving those for when the kids learn to drive.

 

440x2 trains. I have more than 10 of them complete. Back in the day I planned on having races at my house with them but never did. 4 of those going around the track at the same time seems like it would be a blast. Or a disaster. I'll eventually find out.

 

Cars I can race.

 

Aurora big tire Indy cars. Aurora T-jet with large diameter, narrow brass wheels with large, narrow silicone tires. I only have one built that I raced locally, but I have enough parts to build 3 or 4 more.

 

I had a bunch of G-jets with spare parts and tools that I got a with a used MaxTrax track I bought. But I sold those, and the track, to buy vintage 1/24th drag  car stuff. I still have one G-jet. I can't say I like it all that much. It's still got a lot of magnet down force. I like slippin' and slidin'.

[Phil Smith]

Here's a pic of my track I just took.

 

[SpeedyNH]

nice! i take it the 'real' dining room table went with the ex. 

[Phil Smith]

Haha!    Actually it really did. 35 years ago.

[Matt Sheldon]

Wizzard or RTHO pinions with RTHO crown gears and all your T-Jet drivetrain issues will go away.

 

Here is the link for the SuperTires for T Jets. it is a good matrix that even shows tire o.d. when mounted on the 2 most popular rim sizes.

 

https://www.supertir...es-tires-specs/

[Phil Smith]

Thanks, Matt. We're racing IROC so performance is not really all that important. I just need the cars to run somewhat the same and be fun to drive. I've pretty much accomplished that, although it took quite a while.

 

The Dash tires are actually silicone and work well for what I'm doing. I have them on .250" flanged wheels for Tyco 440x2 cars. I have a bunch of them for reasons I do not remember, so I might as well use them.